Habul ‘Smokes’ GTA Field in Personal Best; Happy With Power

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Kenny Habul said he’s been impressed with Will Power’s quick transition to GT3 racing and was beaming after setting his personal-best lap time around Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this morning in a GT America powered by AWS test session.

The 75 Express team owner/driver, who is fighting for a recored-extending fifth Intercontinental GT Challenge class championship in this weekend’s title-deciding Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS, reeled off a chart-topping 1:23.955 in his SunEnergy1-sponsored Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in Thursday morning’s second GTA test session.

It marked the Bronze-rated drivers’ fastest ever lap around The Brickyard, and put him within only a few tenths of his Platinum-rated co-drivers Chaz Mostert and Will Power, who is making his GT3 debut this weekend.

“It was a good time,” Habul told Sportscar365. “I’m really, really happy. I don’t normally try to go for qualifying; It’s not my strong point.

“I usually just try to set the car up nice for the race and for the long run.

“This time I thought, ‘You know what, I’ll have a go.’

“It was a good time. There was a lot of fuel on board. It was a strong time; the car was good.

“I think I could have done a [1 minute] 23.5. Will and Chaz are 23.2s, so for me at 103kgs, I’m pretty happy.”

When asked about Power’s early pace in the No. 75 Mercedes-AMG, having posted the third quickest time in the final test session prior to Free Practice for the Indy 8 Hour, Habul said he’s been happy but not necessarily surprised by the two-time NTT IndyCar champion’s speed.

“He’s amazing,” said Habul. “He had the fastest Sector 2. It was a shock for him because, as much as we were telling him about, he couldn’t figure it out until he got in it.

“When he got in it, he said, ‘There’s something wrong.’ We were like, ‘What do you mean?’

He said, ‘This thing is rolling around too much.’ We said, ‘It’s actually stiff right now. There’s nothing wrong with this car.’

“That’s a shock coming from IndyCar.

“But the way he’s gone from not knowing anything about the car, completely in shock, doing 27s the first couple of laps to a purple middle sector agains the best [GT3] guys in the world, that shows you who he is.”

While the Munich-based 75 Express squad has consistently been in the top-five of the time charts in each test session so far this week, Habul stressed the focus on the race, amid his IGTC Independent Cup title fight.

“It’s the same as everywhere,” he said. “We need to stay out of trouble until the end, that’s it.

“I have to calm these guys down because they just want to go and fight. Let’s just stay calm until the last hour.

“I think the BMW still has too much power. We don’t know what’s going on with BMW but the speed is just off the scales.”

While Habul’s direct competitors for the Independent Cup, Ralf Bohn and Antares Au, are in Porsche 911 GT3 R machinery, Habul still expressed his displeasure over the current speed of the BMWs, fearing it could turn into a one-make race up front.

“For me, no, but for Chaz and Will, they want to win the race,” he said. “I think the BMWs are just playing with us right now.”

Source: Sports Car 365