Spirit of Daytona driver Matt McMurray says that the result of the heavy impact at the end of the Sebring 12 Hours, which saw its Cadillac DPi V.R damaged beyond repair, shouldn’t see the team out of action for much longer.
McMurray, who spent time testing at Paul Ricard earlier this week with Algarve Pro Racing, told DSC that he was using the test as a chance to fill a gap, with Spirit of Daytona team skipping this weekend’s IMSA round at Long Beach due to it being unable to field its car.
However, Troy Flis’ team is hoping to be back very soon, as he explained to DSC that a return for the fourth round of the season next month is likely.
“We’re planning to go to Mid-Ohio, we should be able to do that,” he said. “There’s just been a delay in getting a tub because Dallara didn’t have a spare and they’ve been busy making IndyCar parts.
“The season will continue for us as soon as we can, we’re coming back. I don’t know exactly what the deal is, but the plan is Mid-Ohio.”
Once the team rejoins the series, McMurray feels that good results should come. At Daytona, the team ran at the head of the field, but retired with mechanical woes, before setting pole at Sebring, before Tristan Vautier’s enormous shunt at the end of the race denied the team of another good result.
“We’ve been really quick all year, the Cadillac is a great car and I have two great teammates,” he continued. “Tristan is my teammate the whole year, and at Sebring he was the fastest guy, he got pole and the fastest average race lap.
“We’ve shown multiple times that we have great pace in practice and the race. It’s just a shame that mechanical issues and mistakes have cost us two good results.
“The team has a lot of potential this year. They’re a great bunch of guys to work with, we just hope that that begins to reflects in the result sheets.
