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IMSA: Tom Blomqvist Looks To Continue Strong Season At Boss’ Home Track

(Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)

Tom Blomqvist is no stranger to the world of sports car racing and challenging circuits.

However, there is always a little extra pressure for a driver when there is a home tie to the track.

After flying into Columbus, Ohio from Europe on Thursday, Blomqvist spent the day at the Meyer-Shank Racing shop in Pataskala before making the hour-long drive north to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Sunday’s Lexus Grand Prix is always a big stop for MSR and Blomqvist knows the importance for his owner.

“This is a big race for this entire team,” Blomqvist noted. “We started off with the Rolex 24 win which was big for the entire organization. But we know Mike wants a win on his home track.”

Blomqvist will make his first start at Mid-Ohio since 2019 when he ran for BMW in the GT class. The last two years have seen the New Zealand-born driver out of IMSA, mostly due to COVID travel restrictions.

For Blomqvist, he’s excited to be back and says it’s been a great start to 2022.

“You couldn’t start off in a better way than winning in Daytona,” he said. “That’s one of the biggest races in the world. I was just so excited after that.”

Entering Mid-Ohio, the fifth race of the season, Meyer-Shank Racing finds themselves tied for the DPi class lead along with the Wayne Taylor Acura team.

Blomqvist said, “They’ve had a couple of races that haven’t suited them very well, but, we’ve got a bunch of tracks coming up that suit us well.”

One of those tracks that Blomqvist said didn’t suit the team very well was Long Beach.

“We worked on some different set-up programs going into Long Beach knowing that wasn’t one of our strongest tracks and we really over-delivered and felt confident going into Long Beach,” he observed.”

Reflecting on Long Beach, Blomqvist believes it really should have been their race.

“I got caught up in traffic and the other Acura did a good job in getting by there,” he recalled. “Performance was strong and we feel like we’ve made a lot of improvements on the car which we really believe should translate at Mid-Ohio.”

Mid-Ohio always puts on a very competitive race. In fact, drivers across all series have called this a road course that races like a stock car short track. Contact is the norm on this 2.4-mile road course.

Then, throw in the challenge of racing in the rain, and with a 40-60 percent chance of rain this weekend, Blomqvist said he thinks his rain skills are “OK” for this weekend.

“I haven’t had to put them to the test much this year,” Blomqvist said. “We had a little during practice at Daytona, so we’ll see.”

If it does rain, who does that seem to benefit? Or is it just a similar situation for everyone?

Blomqvist seems to think it will benefit the Cadillacs a little more than the Acura’s overall. But, it is the same for everyone.

For Blomqvist and his MSR teammate, Olly Jarvis, they expect the next three races of Mid-Ohio, Detroit, and Watkins Glen to be a roller coaster. They feel Detroit will be a lot like Long Beach, and the street courses just haven’t been kind to them.

Despite the high speed and technical challenges that Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen present, they feel that opportunities to gain points and battle for wins should be good at both locations.

So far this weekend, the MSR Acura has shown a lot of speed. In the final practice on Saturday morning, Blomqvist and Jarvis led nearly all of the hour and forty-minute practice session. In the final minute, on a qualifying run, the No. 01 Cadillac driven by Sebastian Bourdais would jump to the top of the charts with a 70.507 second run.

That would leave the No. 60 Acura team in second place, but happy with the car going into qualifying and Sunday’s Lexus Grand Prix.

Blomqvist expected the Cadillacs to be fast as he noted.

“It’s been a little bit weird in regards to the weight changes made,” he said. “We got a little bit of a weight break before Long Beach as we were really running about a second off the pace of the Cadillacs last year. Depending on the track. Ten kilos can equate to about two-tenths of a second a lap.”

Blomqvist pointed out how strange it would be that IMSA would give Cadillac an additional 10 kilos at Laguna Seca which would slow them down about a tenth and a half. But, Laguna Seca was a track that would suit the Acuras well.

Now entering Mid-Ohio, IMSA gave the 10 kilos back to Cadillac because they showed a little slower at Laguna Seca. So, to see the Cadillac at the top of the charts isn’t a real surprise.

For Blomqvist and Jarvis and the entire MSR team, they are not going to be phased by the rules. They know they have a fast car, and after starting off the season with a win at Daytona, winning Mid-Ohio is important for the championship battle. It is even more personal for Mike Shank to move up one step on that podium and finally bring home a win at his home track.

As Blomqvist said, “We know how much it means to him and we want to make it happen.”

They’ll get that shot, rain or shine, come Sunday afternoon in the Lexus Grand Prix.

If it races, I'll write about it, talk about it or shoot it with a camera. I began pursuing a career in motorsports journalism immediately after attending college at Kent State University. I have hosted multiple Motorsports talk shows, worked in Country Music radio, and now i spend every day on the air in the morning with 1300 and 100.9 WMVO and in the afternoons watching the roadways around Central Ohio for 93.7 WQIO. The excitement and the fans make everything I put out there worth while, it's been an exciting 15 years having covered everything from the Daytona 500 to the Rolex 24 and you can find me at pretty much any event run at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. What I like to bring is a look behind the scenes, a look at what and who makes the sport grow. From the guy that welds pieces back at the shop to the host in the tv booth. Everyone has a story and I like to tell it. My main focus here at TPF is looking at the men and women behind the microphone and cameras. My life long goal is to become a member of MRN or PRN Radio and bring the races to you. I hope that what I share now is enjoyable and gives you a unique look in to the world of motorsports. See you at a track soon

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