Articles, In the News, Michelin Pilot Challenge

Hyundai Drivers Wrap Up Fitness Camp, Turn Focus Toward Season Opener

Posted on by Katie Brannan
25
Jan
BMW Endurance Challenge
Round 1 of the 2023 IMSA MICHELIN Pilot Challenge
January 25 – 27, 2023
Racetrack: Daytona International Speedway
3.56-mile road course, features 12 turns
Race: Friday, January 27, 2023, at 1:00pm EST
TV: Live on NBC’s PEACOCK: www.peacock.tv
Listen: Live radio commentary for every session at www.IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com Live timing and scoring from each session available at www.IMSA.com. Live updates are available throughout the weekend on BHA social media and www.bryanhertaautosport.com
FAST FACTS:
The Roar: The three BHA Hyundai Elantra N TCR cars completed a total of 960 trouble-free miles testing at The Roar last weekend.
New Combos: Two of the three BHA driver pairings are new for 2023. Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi are co-driving the #98 Elantra N TCR, with Chris Finch engineering their entry. Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker are teammates in the #33 entry with Kyle Compton engineering.
Familiar Faces: Continuity is the name of the game for defending back-to-back Champions Taylor Hagler and Michael Lewis. They return for their third season co-driving, Stefano Galante is back as their engineer.
Hyundai Journeys: Taylor Hagler was recently featured in the “Journey of Breaking Barriers | Hyundai x Annie Leibovitz” a national campaign, where she was photographed by the legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz. The photo (below) was captured at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The video portion of the campaign highlights Taylor’s journey to becoming the first female IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Champion:
Camp: The North American Hyundai drivers completed the 4th annual “Hyundai Drivers’ Camp” this week. Usually in Indianapolis in March, the camp produced by PitFit and BHA moved to Daytona Beach for this year’s program. With the intention of keeping the Hyundai drivers’ mentally, cognitively and physically focused in a race setting. The camp included a ropes course challenge more than 50 ft in the air, gym workouts, karting and circuit training relays, kayak and bike team relays, trust and communication challenges and more. The 2023 camp wrapped Wednesday morning with a yoga session prior to the first offical practice of the season a few hours later.
Challenge Champion: Jordan Wisely, a 3x Champion of the hit reality show “The Challenge” joined the Hyundai Drivers’ Camp. Jordan will handle the “lollypop” duties for the #33 Elantra N TCR of Harry Gottsacker IV and Robert Wickens. “Drivers’ Camp has been an awesome experience for the team! The activities and workouts all had great team building aspects with functional training that can be applied in actual race situations. Perfect for team building!” – Jordan Wisely
  Images below Driver quotes.
#1 Hyundai Elantra N TCR
2021 and 2022 Drivers/Team CHAMPIONS
Taylor Hagler: “I love the Roar because it’s an opportunity to really put in a bunch of laps in different conditions and work out the kinks in a low stress environment. It’s also really need to see everyone’s new livery designs on track and I think our Hyundai Elantra N TCR is one of the best looking out there. We finished with two cars on the podium here last year and will be looking to put the #1 in victory lane on Friday.”
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Michael Lewis: “A lot of good things happening for Taylor and I coming off of our second championship together and even more importantly Hyundai’s third straight manufacturers title. BHA and Hyundai are becoming synonymous with winning and it’s an honor to be part of that. Tom Brady said: “what’s your favorite championship? The next one,” and that’s where my head is going into the 2023 season.” It’s all about survival, these races are never easy, you’ve got to be there at the end.”
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#33 Elantra N TCR
Harry Gottsacker IV: “We have really gotten back into the swing of things with the Roar test and Hyundai Driver’s Camp over the last week. It’s been nice to stay fully focused on our objective of visiting victory lane on Friday after four hours of hard racing. Robert and I have been working hard to find a good balance in the car setup and I think we’re getting close to being where we need to be. We are more prepared as a team than we have ever been.”
Robert Wickens: “The Roar was really good for us. We had a pretty extensive test program and I believe we found some things that can make us stronger for the 2023 season. That said, I am looking forward to getting the season officially started. Harry and I are working well together and we seem to be on the same page for what we want from our Elantra N. I am hopeful we can be back on the podium like we managed to do in 2022!”
#98 Elantra N TCR
Mason Filippi: “I’m so excited to be doing the double-header this weekend, driving with JDC in the LMP3 car and back in the Elantra N TCR with Mark and BHA. The Hyundai Drivers Camp was the perfect way to keep us drivers in race mode this week and prepared for the race ahead this Friday at Daytona. I absolutely can’t wait to race with Mark, he’s one of my best friend and a mega teammate. 2023 is looking good.”
Mark Wilkins: “It’s been a great week with the Hyundai Drivers’ Fitness camp. It’s such a great resource for Drivers and doing it between the Roar and the race is a great way to prepare us for the endurance race ahead. The Roar test went really well for us. We learned a lot and are hitting the ground running with a solid race set-up, so I am looking forward to Mason and I staying out of trouble and seeing what we can do.”
Taylor Hagler, driver of the #1 Elantra N TCR photograph by Annie Leibovitz for the Hyundai Journeys campaign at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Hyundai Drivers participate in the 4th annual Hyundai Drivers’ Camp in Daytona Beach, FL.
Katie Brannan

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