Watzinger Brings Smarts, Speed To First Season

By:
On:
In: Racing News

 Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda driver Gerhard Watzinger is a rookie in the series but a pro at analyzing data – and not only when it comes to racing.

 

Watzinger, a resident of Naples, Florida, is the chairman of the board at CrowdStrike, an IT security software company in Silicon Valley. Watzinger built and then sold a software company before beginning his tenure at CrowdStrike in 2012.

 

The parallels between race car analysis and tech software are similar, Watzinger said.

 

“There’s a lot of analogies between the two businesses,” Watzinger said. “When you’re in IT security, it’s all about data and needing to analyze data. This is very important because it’s not just finding new malware; it’s finding behaviors and data flows.

 

“Driving race cars, specifically the Prototype Lites cars, you also have to analyze data every time you come in from a track session. What did you do right? What did you do wrong? Where can you improve? The analysis of data is pretty much the same thing.”

 

Watzinger finds analyzing information very important in the Prototype Lites machine, which is new to him this season in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Development Series.

 

“I came from driving a Radical SR8, and it’s a very different driving style,” Watzinger said. “If you make a mistake in a Radical, you still have almost 500 horsepower to get your way out, but in a Prototype Lites car you can’t make many mistakes.

 

“The Lites cars have much better grip and handling. The horsepower of the SR8 is more than double than a Lites car, but the Lites car is so nimble and so fast around the turns and the downforce is just unbelievable, which makes it much more fun to drive.”

 

Watzinger has one advantage as he adjusts to the new machine – team familiarity. He is in his eighth season with Las Vegas-based ONE Motorsports, as he competed for the last seven years in Radical events with the team.

 

“ONE Motorsports decided to join Prototype Lites last year, and I visited a couple of the races and decided that this was exactly what I wanted to do,” Watzinger said. “There’s really tough competition in IMSA, and everyone is driving for the win.

 

“There are very good drivers, and from my point of view, I also learn a lot because the competitive level is extremely high. I also believe the drivers are all pretty experienced, so there’s not too many mistakes that I have seen. It’s a fun group to be around.”

 

That includes his teammates at ONE Motorsports, which has the potent Lites 1 Masters lineup of reigning class champion John Falb and series newcomers Watzinger and Dave House. The team also features Lites 2 championship leader Todd Slusher.

 

Watzinger, 54, began his racing career later in life, but his love for cars began as a youngster in his native Germany.

 

“I have been a car nut since I was a boy,” he said. “Growing up in Germany, I was obviously a big Formula One fan. One of my big idols was Niki Lauda — he’s from Austria, but he’s European. Growing up around Formula One really inspired me to go into racing when I moved to the U.S.”

 

After four rounds of competition this season, Watzinger is third in the Lites 1 Masters class, with two third-place finishes earlier this month at NOLA Motorsports Park.

 

“My goal this first season is to be consistently in the top 10 overall and be in the top three in the Masters class,” Watzinger said.

 

If he analyzes his data enough, he might accomplish that.

 

The next Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda race weekend will be June 25-27 at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. The race weekend features the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup race.

 

For more information about Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, visit www.imsa.com, follow hashtags #CTPL and #MRT24 @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.

Adam Sinclair
Latest posts by Adam Sinclair (see all)
Post Views: 41