Wednesday, September 27, 2017 – Fresno, CA –PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports finished P7 at the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday.

José Gutierrez qualified the No. 52 Ligier P5 for Sunday’s 2 hour and 45 minute race with a 1:17.822, only two-tenths away from P2 in class.

“It was a little bit of a complicated weekend. The first practice we were a bit off pace and finished P7. We were able to work during the next sessions to make big improvements on the car and finished P2 by the end of the third practice,” explained Gutierrez.

“We had a tough time with the tires in qualifying, but I was able to qualify P5. Unfortunately, I had a bad start for the race on Sunday and we went to P8. I struggled with over steer during the race, so every time I tried to turn into a corner, it felt like the car was going to snap on me.”

“Olivier (Pla) did a great job when he got in the car and was able to turn some very fast laps and make up one position. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our day at Laguna Seca, but I’m looking forward to starting fresh at Petit Le Mans in a few weeks and having a better result for our final IMSA race of the season.”

Gutierrez’s co-driver Olivier Pla scored the fastest race lap of the weekend with a 1:17:921. The Frenchman was the only driver to record a race lap under 1:18 on Sunday.

“With a two hour and forty five minute race, it’s all about track position from the beginning. Unfortunately, we lost a few positions at the start of the race, which made for a very difficult race for us,” said Pla.

“I did my best to push as hard as I could, but it was not enough. The car was maybe a bit difficult for José to drive. It was definitely very fast, but perhaps a bit difficult in the corners. I was very pleased with the pace of the car during the race, but now we will work to make the car more drivable and push for a better result at Petit.”

The final round of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship is the Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Saturday, October 7. On track action will begin Thursday, October 5 and continue through Saturday. Coverage will begin on Fox Sports 1 at 10:30 AM EST on Saturday and switch to Fox Sports 2 at 11:30 AM EST. Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with current broadcast times and all of our racing news!