24 H. of Daytona – Ben Keating : "This is the most difficult switch between two different cars that I've ever had"

Sunday marked your 16th IMSA pole, your fifth in a row in LMP2 at Daytona. How do you feel about your achievement?

The track was unbelievably fast. It was almost perfect conditions. You've got the sun's out, it's cold, you' got a headwind coming into the bus stop and a tailwind going down the front straight... And I never really knew what quite to expect. It's not that much different than my quali sim saturday afternoon. I did a 1'39''0 in my qualifying sim which was a really really fast lap. And I thought that if I could do that again, that would be enough. It did not feel like I was that far up on the delta, but I believed the dash and it said that I was up. It showed up as a 38.3, and I was shocked. I couldn't believe how quick it was. I actually came on a radio and said the guys : ''I'm not sure I've got any more than that''.

And yet the competition gave you a hard time...

Nick Boule is a good friend of mine. He was a teammate of mine here in 2020. We were both with PR1, he lives in Texas right down the street. When I did that lap that was so much faster than what I I expected, I didn't expect anybody to be close. Nick, is one tenth behind me, and George Kurtz another couple of tenths behind that. It really speaks to the high level of competition in LMP2 this year.

Do you think this the best LMP2 field ever ?

I feel like every car has a good shot. I really do. To have doubled the entrance, it's going to make it that much harder to win a championship or to win a race. As I look across the LMP2 field for the 2024 IMSA Championship, 2/3 of the cars are really strong. It's going to be an epic year and I'm looking forward to it.

How well is the team United Autosports working together to keep building that momentum and get better and better ?

Traditionally, I really don't like having a two-car team. But United Autosports has done it for so long, they're really good at it. They know what they're doing, there's definitely quite a bit of benefit from having eight different drivers and two different cars to get it dialed in and get it set up right. We've been working on a lot of different things throughout the week of the Roar, which is what it's designed for, and we've learned a lot. I think we've come away with a really good car for the race.

What can you tell us about the way it operates ?

They were here a couple of years ago for the full season with Jim McGuire, so they're very familiar with IMSA racing. And then they've won every Championship around the world in the LMP2 class, wich really shows how good they are. It's very professionally run and a a great team to be with.

Do you hope to be at the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

I can even tell you that I'll be there. I don't know what United Autosports' intentions are, but I'll be driving their Oreca which has automatic entry.

What can you tell us about the first feeling you had when you discovered the Porsche 963...

John Church (JDC-Miller owner) says he sent it to me but I missed it somehow if he did so I came to the test of the Porsche 963 a month ago without seeing a driver manual... I had Phil Hanson go through that car with me uh in the driver's seat for about 15 minutes before I took off, and I'll just tell you it's a lot to take in. I've never driven a car that had more than one paddle on each side of the steering wheel. But this one has got three paddles on each side and they do different things. I've never driven a car that didn't have the clutch on the floor, and one of those paddles on the steering wheel is the clutch. It kind of boggled my mind that if you want to leave the box, you pull the clutch and hit the throttle. If you want to come into the box, you pull the clutch and hit the brakes. Understanding how the the EV systems and the ICE systems are completely separate but they work together it's a lot to wrap your mind around.

With the brake by wire system it takes a while to get a feel for what's going on with the brakes in the GTP car. They have lots of tools to be able to work with that : we've got the ability to adjust the break at the the beginning of the braking zone, at the middle of the braking zone and at the end of the breaking zone. I can set it to do so many cool things for me but I don't really like to fiddle with that stuff when I'm behind the wheel. I just want to go out and drive.

This thing, when you're sitting in the driver's seat, you feel like you're in a rocket ship. Just from all the controls that you have to be responsible for and look at.

How difficult has it been to go back and forth between the Porsche 963 and the Oreca 07 LMP2 ?

One of the things I love about driving two different cars is I do feel like I learn a lot in both. I get more seat time obviously, because I'm driving in two cars, but they're really different. This is probably the most difficult switch between two different cars that I've ever had. The GTP is just different enough from the LMP2 that it just makes it a challenge. I was much more comfortable here at the Roar than I was when I tested it a month ago. A month ago, it was a lot to take in, especially going out on cold tires and learning how to warm up those GTP tires is a special kind of challenge.

The GTP cars have so much power, you have to learn how to kind of manage that as you're coming out of a corner but they're a little heavier than the LMP2 car is and I feel like I can be a little bit more aggressive with the LMP2 going into braking zones and into the corners. But where I've struggled with the LMP2 car throughout the test has been in the Bus Stop and the JDC-Miller Porsche 963 just glides over the bumps at the Bus Stop so nicely that it's given me a lot more confidence in the LMP2. I feel like it's really helped me on both hands.