The IVRA GT Sprint Series powered by Heusinkveld could hardly have started better for Prestanda NOMAD. Two championship leads and one class win as only the first half of the season is complete, Team Principal Jason Dilworth is very positive about their start.
He said: “The IVRA championships are always right at the top of our list of ones that Prestanda NOMAD want to compete in”, and previously Prestanda NOMAD have done the Endurance Championship. They grabbed two 4th places in the Winter Season but a DNF at Road Atlanta put them 8th in GT3 Pro/Am.
This season, however, they entered the IVRA GT Sprint Series powered by Heusinkveld, and Dilworth said: “This year was our first year entering anything outside of the endurance championship and our expectations were very minimal”. None of them could have predicted how well the first half of this season has gone.
“Our consistency, especially in Division 2 where we’re yet to have a race win, seems to have put us ahead of cars that you could easily argue are objectively faster”. GermanSimRacing will be of most concern to the team, as they have a win and two second places so far.
However, a DNF at Daytona has allowed Prestanda NOMAD to get a 23 point lead at this stage, demonstrating Dilworth’s point about consistency being key in this championship fight. While that may be true in Division 2, it’s harder to argue that their Division 3 team is undeserving of their lead.
Their Mercedes has collected three podiums so far and hasn’t finished below 6th yet, combining both consistency and strong results. This is highlighted by a win at Imola.
Dilworth has also spoken of new partnerships that have helped to better performances so far. “Our partnership with Prestanda on the data side is definitely helping us to be more productive with the time we have available for practise and racing”.
It’s also safe to say that none of the team were quite expecting to be leading the championship at any point, and certainly not at this early stage. However, Dilworth said: “Whatever happens I think we’ll be able to end the season happy with the step forward that we’ve made as a team, and use that as something to build on in future seasons”.
Winning the championship is not the be all and end all for this team. It’s something positive for the future, whether there is short term success or not. They’ll have another challenge coming soon, as they take to Suzuka for the next round in February.