News

David Ostella and JDX Racing get a soggy reception at NOLA Motorsports Park

Posted on: April 15th, 2015 | No Comments

LOVELAND, Col. (April 14th, 2015) – David Ostella made his JDX Racing debut in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, in the inaugural race at NOLA Motorsports Park this past weekend.

The first race of the weekend saw the 2013 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada Champion starting on the inside of row two, however a quick spin on the first lap proved costly.

The second race of the weekend was a washout, as the skies opened early and the IMSA race stewards cancelled the race due to unsafe track conditions. At press time, a make-up venue and date for round four of the championship has yet to be announced.

JDX Racing arrived at NOLA Motorsports Park along with the wet weather. David took to the 2.75-mile road course for two practice sessions Friday, which ended up being the only dry practice sessions of the weekend. Wet weather continued Saturday morning for qualifying on the rain soaked surface. Ostella managed to wheel the No.13 JDX Racing / Hertz Porsche to 3rd position, a fitting start to his first race with JDX.

Though it had rained on and off throughout the day, race one on Saturday afternoon found the track in an almost fully dry condition. In GT3 Cup fashion, the field of 21 cars rumbled down the straight into the bumpy Turn 1 brake zone, with all cars making it through safely.

Ostella continued to battle through the first half of the lap, but Turn 9 greeted him with a snarl, as the tight pack forced him wide, putting two wheels over the curb. A combination of a wet curb and water soaked grass tossed the No.13 into a wicked spin, drivers left – delivering the JDX Racing / Hertz Porsche into a very deep and muddy grass runoff next to the tire wall.

Due to many hours of hard rain and a lack of drainage, the JDX car was now stuck in a swamp. Once Ostella and the car were extracted, the crew went to work so Ostella could get back out and turn some laps with hopes to qualify for the second race of the weekend. Qualifying positions for race two are determined by your fastest lap time in race one.

Ostella commented, “The JDX Racing / Hertz team gave me a great car. The crew did a lot of work to prep the car for the weekend and my luck ran out pretty quickly on the opening lap of the first race, while I was running in a very respectable third position. The racing was tight and I just pushed slightly wide in Turn 9 and my right side tires got too much curb. I didn’t have a chance once the tires grabbed some of that wet grass – I just accelerated off the track and ended up stuck in a mote.”

Team principal Harrison Brix said, “That’s racing – but this result is not reflective of David’s talent or the hard work by our team. David had limited time in the car and did a great job qualifying P3 – he has plenty of talent and he had plenty of car for the field to contend for a podium finish. We understand and support the decision not to race Sunday, but it’s too bad, because David was very quick in the wet sessions and I’m convinced we would have been a threat in race two.”

The green flag for Rounds 5 and 6 of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama 2015 are scheduled for June 25-27 at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, during the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

Stay tuned to jdxracing.com, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/jdxracing and on Twitter @jdxracing for more news, announcements and imagery from the 2015 race campaign.