AIM Autosport: UPDATE - Pirelli World Challenge Progress Report with Always Evolving Replay XD Nissan GT Academy

Exclusive by RaceCanada Staff 
May12th, 2015

There are now seven races complete on the Pirelli World Challenge Championship 2015 tour and AIM Autosport has certainly had some ups and downs. As we prepare for two kre rounds this coming weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, we once again turn to AIM Team Principal Ian Willis for some updates covering the last two race meetings at Long Beach (California) and Barber (Alabama). Sort of our version of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. 

And in just a few days we'll get to see first hand just how the AIM Autosport-managed efforts for the Always Evolving Replay XD GT Academy Nissan GT-R GT3s will do at the team's home track, a place where they have tested (and raced) everything from open-wheel F1600 all the way to Daytona Prototypes. I knw that everyone at RaceCanada is looking forward to it.

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RC: Barber seemed to be both really good, and really bad all at once. Let's start with the good. Could you have predicted at the beginning of the season that the team would take an overall win in just the 4th round of the season, with James Davison taking the pole along with the win at Barber?

IW: Some motorsport friends have joked; what took us so long! We actually had quicker results in 2012 winning only our third ever GT race at Homestead. That was an opportunistic win when the race was red flagged for torrential rain and we happened to be leading under yellow at the time. We did back it up with a proper win at the next race in New Jersey which was round 4 of the GRAND AM championship. This program however started very late compared to 2012, so to get a win in such a short time is very satisfying.

RC: Backing up Davison's win on Saturday, was a GTA win for Heitkotter, which has in turn boosted him into the top 5 in GTA points. He was in a bit of the controversy in Long Beach race, but looks to have bounced back in Barber.

IW: Bryan had a rough couple of events, so Barber was a great turnaround for him. He was unceremoniously dumped into the wall at St. Petersburg in race 1, the car so badly damaged that he could not race on Sunday. Then to be involved in an incident which heavily damaged the Bentley at Long Beach was a tough learning experience. He is a clean driver, however his relative lack of experience showed as he got caught out when the Bentley came off the corner slower than expected. He was very sorry it happened, learned a very hard lesson and spoke with Butch (Leitzinger) at Barber to apologize for his mistake. He knows what it feels like having been on the receiving end the previous weekend. The series came down hard on a lot of drivers at Long Beach and it was certainly justified, the driving standards throughout the field were, quite frankly, abysmal!

RC: With the wins at Barber, have you sights changed at all on what you expect out of the season?

IW: Our expectation is always to compete for the championship victory. Barber was an indication that we can run in the top five, up until then we were looking at our competitive level being fifth to tenth place. This is a very competitive championship with factory supported programs and experienced pro drivers and I am happy we have made some gains since the start of the season.

RC: With 4 events now in the books, has the Nissan GTR surprised you in any way, with regards to its performance or how it responds to changes, either good or bad?

IW: Coming from a background of mid-engined cars the GTR has been an interesting challenge to engineer. It has a significant front weight bias and a higher center of gravity compared to most of the competition which poses challenges in braking, mid corner speed and traction. Half the events we have run so far have been on street circuits with bumpy braking zones and slow speed corners which have not suited our car well. We still have lots of work to do at places like Detroit but tracks with faster corners will suit us better.

And the bad...

RC: After the race win, there were penalties assessed against the #33 of James Davison, and while Davison was allowed to keep the win, penalties assessed included a loss of driver points, manufacturer points, prize money and starting position. The only description of the penalty was "Out of compliance post race impound" Can you talk anything about the penalties and whether they will effect any of your preparations going forward.

IW: There was a problem in post race tech inspection and we are working with the series to figure out how to prevent this from happening in future. It has been a common problem for teams new to the series and centers around understanding the data logging system mandated by the series.

Looking forward...

RC: With Davison losing driver points, and currently sitting 9th in the points, will that effect how you move forward, will you look more to winning races than chasing championship points and position?

IW: There are still thirteen races left so lots of opportunities to climb up from our current 9th place. The series is very deep in talent with six to ten drivers that have a solid shot at winning so we must push to win when we are at tracks that suit our car and be smart and gather points at tracks that do not favour us.

RC: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is up next, your home track, how does the Nissan stand to perform here?

IW: On paper it looks good, the GTR works well in high speed corners and there are certainly enough of those at CTMP! We should be strong up the hill on the Andretti Straight and the torque of the GTR engine should work to our advantage.