Peregrine Unlucky, Resilient at Sebring
Sebring, Fla. (March 22, 2022) — Racing is unpredictable. The most random events can hinder the most promising runs. That was the case for Peregrine Racing’s Carbahn Motorsports prepped No. 39 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO at the 70th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts on Saturday afternoon. One and a half hours into the race, a plastic bag got caught in an air intake, overheating the engine and bringing the team’s forward progress to a halt, forcing a tow back to the paddock. After running in the top 10 early, the team recovered from the setback and eventually finished in 13th position. The Peregrine crew worked tirelessly to finish the race under green, gathering valuable data and information on their car that will make them stronger for the upcoming West Coast swing.
Robert Megennis qualified the No. 39 GTD machine in 11th position and started the race for Peregrine. He drove admirably, advancing a pair of positions in the opening 30 minutes and completed a double stint before the incident with the plastic debris occured. The team pitted, but was forced to stop on track shortly after. They re-entered the race several laps down.
Corey Lewis drove the next stints, proving that Peregrine possesses the pace to mix it up with the fastest cars in the GTD field, running wheel-to-wheel with lead-lap GTD Pro cars. Jeff Westphal took the helm at hour seven, continuing to set top-level times. The Peregrine Racing veteran took advantage of several caution periods to gain laps lost earlier in the race.
As the sun set on the Florida wetlands, Corey Lewis and Robert Megennis put in another stint each. With both drivers laying down impressive laps, the team was able to gather valuable data, continuing to increase their knowledge bank with the new platform.
Sameer Gandhi qualified the Carbahn Motorsports prepped No. 93 Porsche 718 Cayman GT3 RS in P27 for Round 2 of the 2022 Michelin Pilot Challenge, the Alan Jay 120 at Sebring International Raceway, on Thursday. He drove a clean opening leg of the race to hand the car to teammate Tyler McQuarrie on the lead lap. McQuarrie wasted no time advancing through the field, running as high as 12th before a late caution threw off the fuel strategy and shuffled the order. The team eventually finished 17th after an unfortunate incident on the last lap.
“Unfortunately, we were plagued by bad luck at Sebring,” said Team Owner Mark Siegel. “In the Michelin Pilot Challenge Race, our pit strategy didn’t quite work out, and then Tyler was hit by another driver re-entering the track which crippled the car. The Porsche GT4 might have had a top-5 finish with better luck. In the WeatherTech race, we ended up in the garage early on and went down a few laps. There’s just no way to make up for that kind of deficit. I’m very proud of our drivers and crew and everyone at Carbahn Motorsports. It’s gutting to have the two longest races of the year end up with such disappointing results, but it’s just part of our sport. Our luck will turn around, and I’m certain we have been doing all the hard work and preparation to take advantage of it.”
Peregrine Racing will return to action for the third round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 9. Green flag for the sprint race waves at 5:00 p.m. ET. Full coverage can be streamed on Peacock with network coverage on USA. Peregrine Racing’s Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign will resume when both cars take on WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on April 29-May 1.
INSIGHT FROM THE GTD COCKPIT:
Robert Megennis
“Sebring was very challenging, but we were still able to learn a lot about the car. We had the unfortunate incident with the plastic bag in the first few hours, though. We turned the race into a test session. We tried a lot of different stuff and made a lot of changes on the car. As drivers, we learned a little more about the car and a lot that we can take to Long Beach. It’s just bad luck right now. Everyone’s doing the right things–I’m proud of the whole team for sticking it out for the whole twelve hours. I’m excited, Long Beach is only a few weeks away!”
Jeff Westphal
“We finished. We made it. I think we’re all pleased with seeing the checkered. It was definitely a trying weekend for us. The beginning of our race was foiled when Rob was in the car. We found a plastic bag somewhere that spread over the entire radiator and, within half a lap, boiled the coolant. We lost heaps of time getting back to the garage to fix it so we made the decision to make the remainder of the race a test day and try and learn. I think we did make small improvements but we have a lot of work to do because the car’s behavior is very challenging at the moment.”
Corey Lewis
“Sebring was a tough event for us overall. Unfortunately, lady luck wasn’t on our side and took us out of contention early on in the race. A large shopping bag got stuck in one of the radiator ducts and caused some serious overheating issues. As a team, we rallied and got the car back into the race and tried to learn more about how to develop the chassis to build for future success.
“With completing the race I believe we found some positives in a few of the setup changes we had made. Unfortunately, my driving duties are on hold until the Watkins Glen six hour, but I know the team will continue to build and be true contenders in the sprint cup!
“Thank you to everyone on the team - we have all the right ingredients to be a championship team and it’s only a matter of time until we will be on the podium! I’m Proud of everyone and best of luck in the sprint championship!”
INSIGHT FROM THE IMPC COCKPIT:
Sameer Gandhi
“We accomplished our goal of getting away cleanly, maintaining position, and handing the car to Tyler in good shape. Tyler drove a great stint to move us up the field. Unfortunately, the late yellow threw off our fuel strategy, but I couldn’t be happier with the effort the entire crew put in this week. We’ll have our sights set on our home race at Laguna Seca next.”
Tyler McQuarrie
“As a team, we have had a lot of success at Sebring over the years and we were hoping this year would be no different. Sameer has been working so hard on his racing and I feel like he has been driving at his best. He did a great job to hand off a good car to me after his first stint. We had great pit stops and we’re looking good for a solid top 5 but a hand full of teams gambled and stayed, which paid off for them and I was simply hoping for a top 10 at that point. A last lap optimistic move by another car damaged our left rear and I was forced to limp it across the line. Obviously, we were disappointed with the final result, but there are many positive takeaways to take with us to our home race!”
