Four hours at Laguna Seca suits Ende just fine

Los Angeles, Calif. - On the heels of his first ALMS podium of the year at the Tequila Patron American Le Mans at Long Beach, Duncan Ende is looking for another one at this weekend's American Le Mans Monterey at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.

#9 RSR Racing ORECA FLM09: Bruno Junqueira, Duncan Ende

Photo by: Jeff Davidson

After that performance netted the duo a podium position, Ende is hoping to continue the team's momentum into the hills of northern California.

"If I am looking at this logically, we were fourth at Sebring and third in Long Beach, so we should be second or maybe event first this weekend," said Ende.

"Actually, joining RSR Racing and driving with Bruno has been a fantastic experience because we've been in a position to win both races this year.

After leading at Long Beach and getting on the podium, I have really high hopes for this weekend. They're a great team to be a part of and Bruno is just the kind of teammate you want to share a car with."

The race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which will end under darkening skies at 7:30 PM local time, is unique in the schedule for its four-hour length.

Despite being shortened from its six-hour length last year, which means most teams will opt for two drivers instead of three, the race will present a lot of challenges for the drivers.

"The four-hour length of the race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca has some unique challenges for us," said Ende. "Depending on how the yellows fall and the strategies play out with our drive-time requirements, you could end up in the car for half the race.

Now, two hours in an PC car is a long time but not too many drivers will complain about driving that much at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca because it's such a fun track.

It has a lot of fast corners where you use the downforce of the PC car, good passing zones, elevation changes, and of course the famous Corkscrew. If they leave me in there for three hours, I think I can find a way to make it work."

RSR Racing