CTSC Daytona Review
It wasn’t long after I arrived Thursday to the track, I noticed a crowd….yes, a major crowd on Thursday. From what I noticed, the fan attention was divided into three categories: Cadillac’s, Jeff Gordon, and all other. Weirdly, on Friday which is Continental Tyre Sportscar Challenge (CTSC) race day, the crowd was gone again but only to return Saturday. I do not know the official attendance for Saturday or for the full event, but it was the largest crowd I have ever seen in the grandstands for the start of the race.
Image Porsche Media
I don’t remember a year with so much change coming into Rolex 24 weekend. The addition of new manufacturers, teams, drivers, and of course there is always the BoP controversy. For me, I was keeping one eye on the new Acura NSX cars at Michael Shank Racing, half an eye on the Mazda Motorsports DPi’s, and half an eye on the Cadillac DPi’s.
With CTSC first running a four hour race, all teams were are equal ground trying to strategize when to change tires, take on more fuel, and driver changes. With the cars never racing hard for four hours, “what part would break first?” was the question of the day. Many teams I talked with were concerned about the gear box and had installed a new one on race day. At the time of this report, I have not heard of a gear box failure during the race.
The weather was picture perfect for the start of the CTSC race on Friday with a field of 38 cars. While the #59 Ford Mustang had won the top spot for pole, the word of the day was Porsche, in the GS battle, the #15 Multimatic Ford Mustang with drivers Scott Maxwell and Jade Buford looked like an early winning ticket. The team suffered two penalties which would result in a fifth place finish.
Whether the race is two hours or four hours, it all comes down to the last few laps where fans saw 21 year old Trent Hindman #12 Bodymotion Porsche holding off #33 CJ Wilson Porsche driven by veteran (age withheld) Marc Miller and Till Bechtolsheimer.
In the ST battle, I was keeping an eye on car #44 Nissan Nismo with my good friend, Owen Trinkler at the wheel. A good race finish was dashed when the team received a violation for a crew member not wearing fire-proof socks. I’m still not sure how this was caught and why it was so late in the race. Even with the penalty, the team finished a very hard-fought fifth. Owen did have the fastest ST time at lap 90 at 2:03:639 going 103.6 mph, which is also a circuit record by class.
On Friday, before his race win and his second place finish in Rolex 24, I had the pleasure to chat with Trent Hindman. For the Daytona weekend, Trent Hindman co-drove the Bodymotion Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 with Cameron Cassels in CTSC and also drove the BAR1 Motorsports ORECA FLM09 in WTSC. I first met Trent in 2013 which was the first of three years driving for Fall-Line Motorsports and a successful champion with the BMW Motorsport program. Let’s get to know Trent a little bit better!
Favorite Food: Burritos
Favorite music or group: Johnny Cash
Is there anything similar between the Porsche and ORECA? Only the beautiful Continental Tires! Trent is able to hop in the car and adapt immediately to whichever race car he is in and he totally focuses on that car at that time. So going between the two cars and two series was not an issue. Trent clears his mind and devotes 100% of his attention on the car he is driving.
What race and what series is on your bucket list to race and attend as a fan? Before this weekend, the Rolex 24 was on Trent’s bucket list. That one has now been checked off. Trent would love to race a Porsche LMP1 in 24 Hours of Le Mans. He would like to attend the 24 Hours of Nurburgring as a fan. With Trent’s amazing talent and love for racing, something tells me, both items will be checked off in the near future.
If you weren’t a race car driver, what career would you purse? USA Naval Aviation
If you could spend the afternoon with anyone, who would it be and what would you do? Mark Donahue and talk racing.
One fact about you which is not on social media and no one might know? Trent basically has an unexciting life away from the track. When Trent is not racing himself, he is coaching. Yes, Trent is 21 years old and is in demand for coaching. I’m not surprised.
Race fans can support Trent by following him on Instagram trenthindman Facebook
Twitter @trenthindman
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