Tom Kirk – June 25, 2025
International GT Racing at Mid-Ohio
My third race weekend with International GT (IGT) was on June 19-22 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, which is about equal distance between Cleveland and Columbus in America’s Heartland. Built in 1962, this venue has hosted a number of racing series, including IndyCar, IMSA, NASCAR, and Trans-Am. This weekend, IGT was there along with Formula 4, and Trans-Am, as part of the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) Speed Tour.
Practice on Thursday was rained out. This left only one thirty-minute practice session on Friday morning to sort out the new Pirelli tires that were required (for the first time) before having to qualify on them that afternoon. After some suspension adjustments, I qualified with a new personal best lap time, but fourth in class. The gap in qualifying times between second and fourth in class was less than one second. We were all driving similar four-liter, Cayman GT4RS Club Sports. I figured I was in the game. Initially, I was not.
Sprint races one and two on Saturday were very discouraging. Starting on new sticker Pirelli slicks, you get only one pace lap to put some heat into the tires and bring the cold pressures up a few pounds before the green flag. But the tires are nowhere near the proper operating pressure when the race starts. Cold – 17 psi. Hot – 29 psi. Race start – 20 psi. The tires don’t work like they should when you are battling for track position in the critical first few laps of the race.
My starts were ok, but while I was gradually building speed over the first few laps, my competition was pulling away from me. I was eventually able to match their best times, but by then it was too late. I finished in the same position where I started, but significantly behind my peers, and off the podium. I had to figure out how to go faster … faster.
The problem was my execution. I was competing against cars just like mine … same horsepower, same tires, same aero, same challenges. If they could drive faster than me in lap one on cold, slippery tires, then it’s not the car or the conditions. It’s me. I was being too tentative and needed to match their pace sooner, and not let them gap me on the early laps.
In the fifty-minute enduro on Sunday morning, I did just that. I started fourth again, but was able to stay on the rear bumper of the third-place car for my entire stint. When I turned the car over to my co-driver, Ron Zitza, at the mandatory pit stop, we were in third place. He finished the race with our team second in class. In the final sprint race that afternoon, I started and finished third after a hard-fought race where the gap between second and fourth was only 1.093 seconds at the checkered flag.
I am very thankful for the coaching and encouragement from Ron, and the hard work of Jason and Chris of Zotz Racing, who keep me and my car in top working order. With their help I was able to eventually “go faster … faster”. With 263.5 points, I am now in second place in the Stuttgart Cup championship, only 6.5 points behind the leader, with four races left in the season.
Next up is Watkins Glen.
