MSR is looking to return to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship podium after seeing a potential third-place finish slip away in the final minutes on the streets of Long Beach. Oliver Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist were in the fight to place on the podium throughout the 100-minute event, only to be nosed out by a mere 0.966-seconds at the checkered flag.
MSR opened the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season by winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona, joined by IndyCar regulars Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud. The team placed fifth in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, joined by Stoffel Vandoorne. Jarvis and Blomqvist are currently third in the standings, trailing first by only 32 points.
IMSA last raced in Monterey in September, when Dane Cameron and Olivier Pla placed fourth in the No. 60 MSR Acura DPi.
Jarvis raced in four IMSA events at WeatherTech Raceway from 2018-2021, finishing fifth the latter two years. Blomqvist also has a race at Laguna Seca under his belt, competing in the GTLM class and finishing fifth in 2019.
Since claiming pole at the track in 2005, MSR has had several years of success at Laguna Seca including three race wins. The team’s first win was onboard a Honda Ligier in 2016 with drivers Ozz Negri and John Pew. MSR went on to race to two additional victories in 2018 and 2020, both with the MSR Acura NSX GT3 racing from the pole position to class win.
The 2020 MSR win was extra special with the team’s sister Acura NSX also finishing on the podium in third.
Driver Quotes:
Tom Blomqvist:
“I think coming off of Long Beach we’re all quite confident and optimistic heading to Laguna. We know it’s a track that suits the car well and last year the guys had a competitive package. Obviously everyone has been working super hard and we made great progress at Long Beach. And now we’re hoping to continue that at a track that we know suits our package. Ultimately the goal is to win the race and there’s no reason why we can’t do it.”
Oliver Jarvis:
“I am really excited to be heading to Laguna Seca, it’s a track where the Acura ARX-05 has excelled at in the past. After two tough races that favored our competitors I feel that Laguna offers the first opportunity since the Daytona 24 hours for us to fight for victory on outright performance. It is an extremely important race for us as a team to maximize the performance of the car and come away with a strong points finish for the championship.”
Source. Sunday Group
Sportscar Racing News 
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