5/10/2013
Max Hanratty
Toyo Tires F1600 Championship: Max Hanratty - Successful Canadian F1600 Debut
Max Hanratty (19, Hartland, WI) made his debut in Canadian F1600 competition with Exclusive Autosport May 4th and 5th in the opening two rounds of the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP). Although he was exposed to a lot of a change - a new country, a new car, a new team - Max adapted and rose to the challenge and finished in the top ten in both races (P7 and P6) in a highly competitive field. Hanratty is currently fifth in the overall championship. A huge feat for the F1600 and series rookie in a field that has four current and past USF2000 championship drivers, one of whom is leading the 2013 championship and one who is third.
Throughout the weekend, Max showed significant improvements in each session. He qualified P9 on the 21 car grid for Saturday’s race. During the race Max continued to improve his lap times and successfully navigated the field and moved up to P6, however was passed on the last corner of the last lap and ended up P7.
Hanratty qualified P8 for Sunday’s race. He ran an excellent race, matching the leaders lap times. He gained track position and took the checkered in sixth position. His hard work and positive attitude, session to session, paid off as Max put down his fastest lap of the weekend during the qualifying Sunday.
“Coming into the weekend, I wanted to try and get a better feel for the car. I am used to driving Skippy (Skip Barber) cars so I really wanted to push myself outside my comfort zone. The Spectrum cars are unbelievable to drive - by far the best car I have had the opportunity to drive. They are built extremely well and so far we haven’t had any issues. I trust the car and know I have a competitive car. Knowing that makes a huge difference when I’m on the track,” said Hanratty. “I wasn’t expecting to put down a fast time from the start, but rather stick to the process by improving every session. Michael Duncalfe, EA team owner and my coach, stressed all week that we need to hit our marks - that’s the only way we will find more speed out on track. This was helpful advise as it allowed me to put down some competitive times.”
Prior to joining Exclusive Autosport (EA), Hanratty competed in a full season of the Skip Barber Winter Series while working with Exclusive Management Inc. coach Thomas McGregor . He finished 12th in the championship and gained valuable experience and seat time. To further his development and continue down his career path in motorsports, Hanratty moved on to F1600’s with EA this spring.
EA has opened the doors to the inner workings of motorsports, in particular the technical aspects of the sport. Max has had the opportunity to work with the team’s Engineer, Remi Lanteigne - a positive experience for the young driver.
“Working with Remi has really helped me to see exactly where I was losing time on the track, in comparison to my teammates. From the data I can see what I am doing incorrectly and find ways to fix my errors and to find more speed in different corners. I really like being able to see the technical aspects of racing. I have a better understanding of the dynamics of the car,” said Max.
Hanratty has returned home to Wisconsin to prepare for the opening round of the Formula Tour 1600 Championship May 24-26 at Circuit Mont Tremblant, Quebec.
“To prepare for Mont Tremblant I am going to make sure I know the track like the back of my hand. The field will be competitive so I will make sure I spend time studying video to make the most of each session on track. Most importantly though, I need to approach the weekend with a good attitude and a need to push myself every session. That is where all my focus is,” he continued. “I would like to thank the Duncalfe’s (Michael and Kimberly) for assembling an outstanding team. SynerComm Inc., Exclusive Management Inc., Spectrum, HPD, my teammates, Remi, Mitch Martin from Spectrum Race Cars and especially the team mechanics for all their hard work the last two weeks to make all of this possible.”
Submitted By: Admin Account
