DragonSpeed ‘Going in Right Direction’ After Laguna Podium

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Albert Costa said that DragonSpeed is “going in the right direction” after he and co-driver Giacomo Altoe scored their first GTD Pro class podium at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca this past weekend.

The Elton Julian-led squad made the jump up to GTD Pro this year with a technical alliance from Risi Competizione to run a single Ferrari 296 GT3 for full-season driver Costa and ex-Lamborghini factory driver Altoe, who was named the Spaniard’s co-driver from the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring onwards.

Costa and Altoe’s second-place class finish at Laguna Seca marked their best result of the season, with the lone GTD Pro Ferrari on the grid earning increasingly higher results at the season-opening Rolex 24 and later in Sebring ahead of Laguna.

“In Daytona, our first race together without testing, we finished P6,” Costa told Sportscar365. “The second race before now, we were in fourth position. Step by step, we are going in the right direction.

“I am really proud of every member. Also, thanks to Ferrari because they are giving us a really good car. It’s a good start to the championship. I’m really happy.

“We started a new project this year. To be honest, it was a new team; DragonSpeed joining Risi. When you join two teams at the same time, it’s not easy, but we are matching each other, we are learning from each other and altogether we are doing a really good job.”

Altoe started the two-hour and 40-minute Monterey SportsCar Championship race from pole and led a total of 34 laps, but appeared to lose out to the class-winning No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 of Laurin Heinrich and Klaus Bachler in the opening round of pit stops.

The AO Porsche emerged from the first GTD Pro pit cycle at the head of the class on Lap 45 after DragonSpeed elected to stay out longer compared to its rivals.

“I think we lost time because we pitted too late compared to the others,” Costa said. “Laurin was doing really good times. He was gaining time against us.

“We lost two positions. I gained one back after because I pushed hard. But I’m happy, and now the motivation is the win. So I will keep working.

“I was pushing in all the laps. I knew from last year that this track was physically quite hard because at the end you are pushing all the time up and down. I managed to save the tires at the same time while pushing, so that was for me, the key for myself to keep cutting time to the AO guys, but it was not enough.”

Costa now sits third in the GTD Pro standings behind AO’s Bachler and Heinrich and the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports duo of Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims and feels that the team’s first win is not far off.

“I go back home with a podium,” said Costa. “If you told me on Friday that you’re going to be on the podium on Sunday, for me, it’s a great result.

“The win is close. I know it. We already got two pole positions, and as I said, DragonSpeed is giving me a really nice car, a really fast car. It will come, I’m sure, but we need to keep working.”