Double Podium at Laguna Seca for Hampton in Trans-Am and IGT
We recently made a trip to Monterey to contest the third round of the Trans-Am Western Championship with David Hampton driving his Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport. David also competed in the International GT series (IGT) in the Cayman 3.8 liter class to maximize our track time. David had only raced at Laguna one other time before in Lucky Dog, so it was a lot to take in all at once. “This time, I was in my GT4, and it was a whole new experience. I had to learn the track all over again, but it was an enjoyable process,” said David.
Two IGT races Saturday plus Trans-Am qualifying made for a busy day for David and the car. “The IGT races were really fun. Those guys are fast but also really good drivers and very nice people. The first race was good, and I got to pass some guys; the second didn’t go as well. I had a guy in my mirror and got pushed throughout the race. Very challenging mentally, but I learned a lot.”
Team owner Eddie Nakato joined David for Sunday’s IGT enduro without practice time, but we threw him in and knew he would do alright. David started the race and did a superb job doing exactly what he needed to do. “I had time to settle down overnight and was ready to do battle with Eddie Sunday! At the start, many of the cars swept to the inside line, so I went outside, passed several, and came out in mid-pack! The car was perfect for me, and I felt very confident for my half of the race,” said David. When a caution came out around halfway, we decided to do our driver swap and got Eddie in. “He went out and struggled with my setup a bit just because he drives much harder than I do, so he was having trouble keeping the rear under him. We ended in P3, and I think we showed the IGT world who we were!”
Later that day was the Trans-Am feature race. David started third behind two Corvettes in the GT class. “I pushed hard at the start to gain some places,” said David. “The car setup was good but was a challenge for me with all the fast cars all over the track. My head was on a swivel for most of the race. Martin told me that I was catching my class and to keep pushing as much as possible.” Unfortunately, a caution came out right after I was passed by the overall leader, which put us a lap down to our competitors in class. We couldn’t recover from that but had good pace at the end of the race. “I was going hard at the end and catching my class with ¾ of a lap left when I ran out of fuel! I still ended up P3! So two podiums in one day! What a weekend!”
Considering this was David’s second-ever time competing at Laguna and his first with his GT4 Cayman, we’re really proud of what he accomplished and how much he improved from the start of the weekend to the end. David told us how much he learned throughout the weekend through data saying, “The numbers don’t lie, so if you lift or brake early, it shows. The fun part is that the more information I got, the faster I was able to go. The guys did an excellent job for me with the car and encouraged me to keep at it. I could not have done all this without the team’s support, with great prep on the car and words of encouragement! I can’t thank them enough!