P1 in Pro-Am: First Win at Road America

Some wins come out of nowhere. This one had been building since July.

Road America was brand new to me when I arrived with Zenith for two 7-hour races a month ago. Fourteen hours of racing on a 4-mile circuit is a crash course like no other, every braking marker, every kink through the Carousel, every bit of the long run down to Canada Corner. Coming back with the McLaren and the RWE team, I didn't have to learn the track. I could go straight to learning the car on it. That head start is the reason this weekend went the way it did.

Then, right before qualifying, an e-bike got the better of me. The left leg took a proper hit, and instead of walking through data with the team I was getting it checked by the medical staff. Racing with an injury changes how you think about everything, getting in and out of the car, the braking pressure, whether you can do a full stint at the level the car deserves. We made the call to keep going. The leg wasn't going to decide our weekend.

Race 1 was racing the way you hope it will be, close, busy, and full of good moments. The pace was there from the start, the car was hooked up, and the team made every call count. When the checkered flag came out we were first in Pro-Am. Our first win in the class, on a weekend that looked like it might be over before it started.

[Race 2, a couple of sentences on how Sunday went: start, key moments, and the result.]

None of this happens without the people around the car. Huge thanks to the RWE crew for a flawless weekend, to the medical team who got me back in the seat, and to Zenith, the laps we did together in July paid off in a big way here.

One win doesn't make a season, but it changes how the next race feels. Homestead is up next, back with Zenith for another 12 hours.