For most drivers, the work they do behind the wheel is the easy part of their job. When a driver leaves the race track, the real work begins. IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship driver Kyle Marcelli gave us a look into the weekday work of a driver.
Marcelli, driver of the No. 14 “3GT Racing Lexus RC F” in the GTD class made a stop in Columbus Ohio this week to do a little promotional work.
Coming up May 4th-6th IMSA will make a return to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Marcelli was invited by Lexus to watch the Columbus Blue Jackets game. They used this as both Marcelli and the Blue Jackets are Lexus partners. As part of the promotion, Marcelli was given the keys to a new Lexus LC-500 street car to drive on to the ice. There is no question he was told, “no doughnuts” Nice and gentle as seen in the video from Kyle’s Instagram post.
Marcelli On Ice
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhIUqQngNNF/?taken-by=kylemarcelli
We talked with Marcelli prior to game and, without sounding stereotypical, I asked if hockey was in his blood. And as a born and bred Canadian, he said, “No, you’re absolutely right. Canadians come out of the womb on a pair of skates, and that was certainly the case with me.”
A lot of racecar drivers have clauses in their contracts of things they can’t do, but for Marcelli, Hockey is not one of those, in fact he said that he plays in a weekly league, and hockey helps him stay fit and in condition to race. He added that hockey was a big part of his childhood until he got his first go-kart at 10 years old. After that day, racing was where his passion was and he loves what he does.
For the IMSA sports car series, they have different types of events. The series starts off with back to back endurance races at the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona. Then they will head to the 12 hours of Sebring. Marcelli said that hockey was a way he keeps in shape, and when you are running multiple stints with anywhere between 1 and 3 different teammates, keeping in shape is vital. So, when he gets a chance it’s nothing to go out and run a 5 k or a 10 k race. He said he likes to run and keep his heart rate up.
After the early endurance races, the series heads in to the middle portion of it’s schedule. These races consist of two, three and maybe four hour races. Mid-Ohio coming up is one of those “sprint” races as Marcelli called it.
Marcelli said that the great thing about this series is that with multiple classes, you could end up with small car counts, but this season, each class is full. That scenario going in to a track that he said “You get no rest”. Mid-Ohio offers a lot of different challenges according to Marcelli and with the full fields, you should expect a bit of contact. He says with sports car, compared to Indycar there is probably more contact in this series. But, when you compare it maybe NASCAR, maybe not as much.
The teams will certainly have a sense of urgency as this is only a two hour and forty minute race. Marcelli says from a driving aspect, Mid-Ohio is very rewarding and a lot of fun to race on. The technical aspect is something he really enjoys and should give the fans a great show.
Marcelli is a fan of racing, and he says if he was sitting in the grand stands, this technical, close quarter racing is exactly what he would want and hopes he is able to give the fans when they return in May.
You can listen to the full interview
You can be a part of what Kyle calls the Marcelli mob on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter by searching “KyleMarcelli”
