Ben Keating says that an impromtu, unplanned session in a simulator ahead of the Six Hours of Monza was the key to the Texan securing GTE Am pole for TF Sport.
Keating went quickest in the ten-minute session aboard the #33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR, securing the top spot with a best time of 01:47:647 to beat out AF Corse’s Francois Perrodo.
After the session, the American gentleman driver explained to MotorsportWeek.com that an important part of him getting pole was a late stint in a simulator at Monza.
Keating took part in a Michelin Le Mans Cup round at the Italian track the previous weekend but found himself struggling due to very limited preparation time, and stumbled across the simulator by accident.
“I had a party at my house on Wednesday night that I could not miss,” Keating said. “And so I flew here a soon as I could. I missed free practice one, in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, in a GT3 car with Ross Gunn. It was a big deal.
“I got the 30 minute Bronze practice, I got a one hour practice, and then I got one hour in the race.”
“When qualifying or racing is so close, when you’re trying to find a tenth of a second here, there, wherever, it makes a big deal for me to be able to slowly find the time and improve.
“I rented a bicycle and I was riding around the bike on Monday here. And I saw signs at the track for a simulator.”
“I went and knocked on the window and I ended up spending three days in a simulator here at the track during the week while I was here, waiting on the WEC race [weekend] to start.”
When asked if the additional simulator time was an important part of his qualifying performance, Keating replied:
“Absolutely! Mostly because I raced here in the Michelin Le Mans Cup and I knew where I was struggling, I knew where I was missing time to Ross [Gunn], where I was struggling to, you know, get the apex or hit the min speed or whatever.”
“And it allowed me to go get back on the sim after being on the real circuit and, and learn what I was doing wrong or learn how to fix what my problems were.”
“And so you know, when I got into the car for the first session in the GTE car here, man, it felt so good. Really felt like we were on it from the beginning.”
