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[h=2]PWC: Michael Cooper - Meeting Expectations[/h] Richard James (words & Images)

The phrase "meeting expectations" is often code for, "Yeah, he's alright. Nothing spectacular." It takes a different tone, however, when those expectations come from the manufacturer and team that has dominated a series and produced the champion for four years running. To come into that team as a rookie, win three races and finish third in the championship (and beat your four-time-champion teammate), even with high expectations, is pretty darn spectacular.


That's Michael Cooper in his first season with Cadillac Racing in Pirelli World Challenge. Stepping into the seat vacated by Andy Pilgrim, up until that point Cadillac's longest-standing driver in World Challenge, he made his mark immediately.

"I don't think I would have predicted these kinds of results," he says, looking back on the season. "But I think that was probably what was expected of me. I definitely hoped to win some races by the end of the year. I never thought I would come out of the gate as strong as I did. That was definitely a pleasant surprise. To be on the podium three times out of the first four races was an amazing start to the year."

Those podiums were followed by wins in Round 7 at Barber Motorsports Park and in Round 15 at Mid-Ohio. Those results should come as little surprise given that he has already won championships in Touring Car and GTS, the GTS title coming last year in a Blackdog Speed Shop Camaro. Cooper was installed in that ride to groom him to join Cadillac Racing this season, and it seem to have worked. Still, there were some surprises.

"The aggressiveness of the other drivers was definitely the most surprising to me straight out of the gate, particularly on starts and restarts," Cooper says. "GTS, at least last year, you could pass a little easier than the GT3 cars. In GTS, if you had the fastest car, at the end of the day you'd probably be the one out front. That may not be the case in GT. If you have the fastest car and had a bad qualifying result, if you're fifth or eighth on the grid, it's going to be really, really hard to win from there. So the guys are trying to make up as many spots as they can in the first few laps with whatever it takes."

Beyond that, getting used the the traction control and getting the settings right was an adjustment, and he notes getting those settings right with all the possible variables was critical to getting a good result. But with Pratt & Miller, builder of the Cadillac GT3, helping with some of the engineering on his GTS Camaro, it wasn't a completely alien experience. That enabled him to achieve some impressive results, and one that sticks our in Cooper's mind was the Mid-Ohio weekend.

"I think we qualified somewhere around 10th for the first race, and that was a really interesting race where the track was super slippery," he says. "Our qualifying times in Race 2 are set on our fast laps for Race 1, so every lap I'm getting a call where I'm qualified for the next race. We were sitting sixth or seventh lap after lap, maybe I'd go down to eighth or pop up to fifth. I told my engineer, 'OK, I know how this is playing out and what I need to do; let me know when there's three minutes left.' Those last two laps I went for it and we ended up P2 on the grid with what was really a seventh- or eighth-place car. I was able to pass [Alvaro] Parente the next day and go flag-to-flag to win the race."

That was one of many times he went toe-to-toe with the man who would become the Pirelli World Challenge GT champion, and he developed a respect for the McLaren driver, he says. "I can remember going door to door with Alvaro several times, a lot of the time it was for a podium position. We definitely had some contact throughout the year, most of it being clean – I think we each had one time where we each got the short end of the stick. But I definitely had a healthy rivalry with Alvaro and I'm looking forward to more racing with him in the future."

At the end of the season he finished third behind Parente and Patrick Long, and ahead of teammate Johnny O'Connell, the four-time defending GT champ heading into the season. He scored two wins, had seven other podium finishes and three fast laps. That's not a bad season by any stretch, and he credits the team with helping get him up to speed. He's not at all disappointed with not winning another championship, but he knows that there can be more.

"I'm just proud of my overall performance, to come into a team of such high caliber and be able to run at the front all year, win races and be on the podium consistently and prove that I belong there," he says.

"I wasn't sure what to think heading into the championship. I didn't know what to expect, if I'd be flirting with the top 10 and having to fight to find more speed all year long ... I never thought I would come in and be pretty much right on the pace with the guys at the front. It's always about trying to find more pace throughout the year, but the places I was looking for it were a lot smaller than I expected.

"The same could be said of last year going into GTS," he adds. "That's just the kind of mindset I've taken into championships - I haven't proven anything yet. I'll take that into next year. I didn't win the championship, so I'm not satisfied. I still have something to prove."