Elkhart Lake, WI – America’s National Park of Speed was the scene of Rounds 9 & 10 of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s GR Cup North America. In just his second weekend with the series, Christian Weir was able to show he has the speed and experience to run in the front of the pack. “Fortunately, I got a lot of seat time at VIR because there was very little opportunity to get any laps in at Road America due to weather and red flags during planned testing and practice sessions.” said Weir. Late Saturday morning qualifying under dry conditions, Weir was able to place his TechSport Racing GR86 #71 11th on the grid for the first race of the weekend. “I felt I had pace to have the car starting in the top 5 or even top 3, but I made a small error in turn 14 on my flyer lap that cost me.” explains Christian. Still, he was becoming much more comfortable in the car with each lap turned so Weir felt good going into the first race of the weekend.
The late afternoon green flag flew with the field in a single file safety car start. It was a mostly wet, but quickly drying track and Christian worked his way up to P8 before the sun disappeared and the rain started to fall. “It was crazy how fast the track got treacherous. My window fogged up and the spray made it so I could see nothing.” Race control very quickly called a full course yellow, smartly preventing potential catastrophe for many of the 25 car field. With 8 minutes left, the race went green again and Christian made the most of it and finished the race just shy of a podium in the 4th place position. Christian adds “Congratulations to my teammate Spike Kohlbecker and the TechSport family on their win. It was a brilliant drive for Spike and I am very happy for him and the team.”
At the start of the 8:05 am 15 minute qualifying for the second race of the weekend the skies were cloudy, but dry. Christian surprised everyone when he earned pole position on the very last lap of the session. Everyone was surprised except for maybe Christian. “Everything just clicked for me in the car this weekend. I know I haven’t had a lot of time in the GR86, but once was able put everything together, it felt incredible and I knew I was fast enough to be up front.” said Christian. Unlike the first couple days of the long weekend, Sunday’s Race 2 maintained dry conditions. Starting the race with a standard two wide formation, Christian held onto P1 for the first 7 minutes of the race. “I knew I had my work cut out for me being up front with all 4 of the series leaders within the top 5 starting positions. I was the single outlier amongst the mighty Copeland drivers all being in the top 4 alongside me. Once they were able to work together and get that freight train moving, I didn’t really stand a chance.” tells Weir. Making things even harder, Christian was given a penalty for a situation in Canada Corner while still running 4th. Shortly before the 30 minute mark of the race, Christian was asked to move back to P8 and before he could make up positions, a full-course yellow was called due to an incident in the kink. The driver involved was cleared and the track quickly cleaned up so it was once again time to go racing. The race resumed with 13 minutes remaining and Christian immediately started making moves. Capitalizing on every opportunity and pouncing when others made mistakes he fought his way up the grid and crossed the finish line in his TechSport #71 GR86 with a P3 podium finish. He also threw down the fastest lap of a 2.31.530 on the penultimate lap of the race.
“This was the most fun I have had in a race car in a long time.” tells Christian Weir. “There is non-stop action and the driving standards have been remarkable. To leave Road America with a pole, a podium, fastest lap and a P4 is one of the highlights of my career. Given I wasn’t able test with TechSport prior to my first race weekend, they did an amazing job getting me up to speed quickly and gave me a fast car. I have no definitive plans for the remainder of the season, but hope to be behind the wheel soon so I can build off the momentum of the last 4 races. My family and supporters are working hard to help me put together a full program for 2025 and the results of this last weekend will hopefully aid in that effort.”
For information on how you can help Christian please email: christianweir@christianweirracing.com