There is more and more gray hair in his hair, but regardless of his 45 years, he continues to enjoy the adrenaline of being in the passenger compartment of his car, accelerating hard in search of more and more triumphs. This is Juan Pablo Montoya, the most important pilot in the country’s history, who on Saturday (15:40, with Fox Sports 3 TV in four blocks of three hours), will go out in search of his fourth title in 24 hours from Daytona.
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Now with the team Meyer Shank Racingand, along with Olivier Pla, Dane Cameron, his old IMSA racing partner with Penske and Nascar man AJ Allmendinger, will try a new triumph on a circuit he knows as if it were his own. parking space.
In an interview with TIME, Montoya, winner in 2007, 2008 and 2013, talked about what this test will be.
How do you analyze this 2021 for you with new challenges?
The truth is that the new challenges are quite interesting. I think it’s a special year, because I will drive all the races he would dream of. I will drive the Indianapolis 500, run 24 hours a day from Daytona and Le Mans. We hope it’s a good year.
How do you live the car race in the middle of the pandemic?
The truth was very affected by the fans, who failed to walk the slopes, although here in the United States it opens a little, but very limited. The part of the teams is a little different, because there are no live driver meetings. Many of these things have changed, but we need to work with what is there.
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How is the car?
It’s complicated, because we’re four drivers, so none of them had much time to drive. The two full-time drivers have changed a little more than we have. But, well, the car had a few things that we needed to improve, that were changed and that were improved. I feel like we’re going to be very competitive this weekend.
The car that Juan Pablo Montoya will drive in 24 hours from Daytona.
Who do you think will be the strongest rivals?
Undoubtedly the strongest rivals are Cadillacs. There are cars that adapt very well to this track, they are very powerful and they complicate our lives a little, but we expect things to go well and have a good weekend. You still have to run and see how competitive we are and see what opportunities there are. The car still has to take good points for the championship with full-time drivers.
Is it seen as a favorite?
The chances of winning are very high. For the last two years, the car had been very fast, but I had mechanical failures, very stupid. So, if we can have a race in which the car does not fail us or we have no problems, the result will be good. This is always the million-dollar question: “What will happen during the race?” This added to the possibility if something will fail, if everything survives and based on it he looks at what it is.
Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombian pilot.
Mistakes can condemn a career …
We were very strong in practice, but you have to see when the race starts who shows what. A 24-hour race is difficult, because the track changes a lot, there are mistakes and there are other things that influence. The temperature was very cold, on Saturday (today) it also looks cold, but on Sunday (tomorrow) it will be a little warmer. We have to wait for what the track brings us. This team was also with Acura, but with the NSX car and now they are with the prototype, they learn a lot, they stop in the pit. You need to minimize mistakes, rather than do things right. A mistake costs 15 things to do correctly.
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What will be the strategy they have devised?
They planned to finish my studies, but that is always changing. They tell you that we will make three or four shifts, but if we are very hung up or we lack a certain speed and there is a person who walks faster, rides it and puts more hours on it. If it’s as planned, I drive about six or seven hours in the car, but I almost always get to drive about 10.
FELIPE VILLAMIZAR M.
Editor THE WEATHER
And Twitter: @ FelipeVilla4