In Pro-Am, the success of NOLASPORT’s #47 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR, and drivers Matt Travis and Jason Hart is most clearly measured by their points lead – with a 70-point advantage over the #15 BSport Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 driven by Kenton Koch and Bryan Putt. Koch and Putt come to Road America as the most recent race winners from VIR in June, but face mounting pressure from the #59 WR Racing car and drivers Paul Terry and Brandon Davis in their Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

Stephen Cameron Racing’s Sean Quinlan and Gregory Liefooghe aim for the WR Racing and BSport racing battle as they sit just six points behind the WR pair in their #119 BMW M4 GT4. More familiar names like Bill Auberlen (#34 BimmerWorld Racing BMW M4, paired with teammate James Walker) and Spencer Pumpelly (#66 TRG – The Racers Group Porsche with teammate Derek DeBoer) will also make appearances in Elkhart Lake to contest the class.

Joining the Pro-Am fight in Road America are several new entrants. GT World Challenge America champion Kyle Marcelli will co-drive alongside Christopher Gumprecht in the #79 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4. Adam Adelson adds to his GT America campaign, teaming up with Elliott Skeer in the #120 Premier Racing Porsche 718 Cayman Clubsport MR.

The Silver category features eight cars, highlighted by the current points-leading car, the #72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 piloted by Kenny Murrillo and Christian Szymczak. The duo is fresh off a sweep of the rounds from Virginia International Raceway and look to continue their success at Road America.

Directly behind them in the #22 CCR Racing/Team TFB BMW M4 GT4 is the pairing of Tim Barber and Cole Ciraulo who have gathered momentum from the previous two races. The unique KTM X-Bow GT4 returns with Mads Siljehaug and Nicolai Elghanayan for their #71 MarcoPolo Motorsports entry; the pair sits fifth in the Silver class standings heading into the 7th and 8th rounds of the season.

James Pesek is back in Pirelli GT4 America in the #40 PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4, paired with co-driver Chad McCumbee for Road America. Conquest Racing West is also set for its series debut with a Silver class entry featuring drivers Michai Stephens and Colin Mullan in a Mercedes-AMG GT4. ST Racing is also expected to field a strong line-up featuring the always-quick Harry Gottsacker and TC America champ Tyler Maxson.

In the Am category, points leaders John Geesbreght and Kevin Conway maintain a 26-point lead in the #68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 over John Allen and Kris Wilson in the #16 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4.

Thomas Merrill and Alain Stad share a Stephen Cameron Racing entry, piloting the #619 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 ClubSport MR at Road America. NOLASPORT with OGH adds a second Porsche – the #48 – for Dominic Starkweather and Anthony Geraci.

Automatic Racing will also debut this season with an Am entry for Paul Kiebler and Mikel Miller, driving the #09 Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Motorsport USA is back and will run three McLaren 570S GT4s, all in the Am category; Michael McAleenan and Dan Rogers in the #5; Cavan O’Keefe and Jason Alexandridis in the #23; and Todd and Ty Clarke in the #11.

The race weekend kicks off with the GT Parade starting at Road America and running through the streets to downtown Elkhart Lake, ending at the Siebkens Resort Welcome party and SRO America race cars on display along Lake Street. The procession kicks off at Road America at 5:00 pm CT.

Tickets for the Road America race weekend are available at www.roadamerica.com. Enjoy an open paddock, camping, various fan activities, and fun for the whole family at the National Park of Speed.

If you can’t make it to Wisconsin, Rounds 7 and 8 of the Pirelli GT4 America championship from Road America can be streamed live for free on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel. CBS Sports will feature highlight broadcasts following the race weekend.

Don’t miss a moment! Follow along on social channels @GT4America and #GTRA.

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ELKHART LAKE, WI (Aug. 24, 2021) – It’s been a perfect season so far for young Jacob Ruud of Racine, WI, during the debut of the TCX racing division in the TC America competition, a portion of the big SRO America road racing weekends.

Driving the No. 81 Light Speed/Classic BMW BMW M2 for Fast Track Racing this year, Ruud, the 21-year-old college student, has won six main events in six starts in the TCX division including six pole positions and five fastest race laps.

Now, Ruud returns to his home track, historic Road America, on Aug. 27-29 looking to extend his winning streak in the SRO America doubleheader sports car weekend. Joining Rudd in the Fast Track Racing/Classic BMW lineup this weekend at Road America will young Olivia Askew and newcomer John Hennessy in BMW M2 sports cars.

The senior at Rochester Institute of Technology in update New York is very familiar with the four-mile Elkhart Lake racing facility as he was an infant running around the paddock with his dad, Chris, racing in the Ferrari Challenge and his mom, Chantil, chasing him down.

At age 16, Jacob was able to make his Road America debut in a club racing event and his career as competitor took off.

“I have a lot of laps around Road America between testing and racing,” said Ruud. “We tested last week, and we learned a lot with the car. It’s an all-new BMW race car and the Fast Track Racing team has been learning along with me. We have won this year at Sonoma, COTA (Circuit of the Americas in Texas) and VIR (VIRginia International Raceway). But to be honest, those tracks are much different than Elkhart Lake. So, we need to improve a few chassis settings for the upcoming events.”

Ruud led wire-to-wire most recently in the two TCX feature races (40-minute sprints) at VIR and holds a big advantage in the TCX class point standings.

“Again, the Fast Track Racing crew gave me a fantastic BMW M2 to drive at the VIR weekend,” said Ruud after his Sunday win. “The VIR track was fast and so much fun to drive, especially with these BMW M2 cars. Now, we want to continue our winningest streak at Road America in front of a bunch of family and friends.”

Ruud started his college classes this week and will be anxious to finish up activities before heading back to Wisconsin for the on-track action which gets under Friday with practice rounds.

“It will be a little hectic with classes in New York and flying back home for the Road America,” he explained. “But it’s a blast to race at Elkhart Lake again.”

Askew, a young Utah alpine skiing star in addition to her motorsports activities, comes to Road America after debuting in the No. 3 DXDT/Fast Track Racing BMW M2 at VIRginia International Raceway in June with fourth and sixth place finishes.

Hennessy, the successful businessman from Bellevue, WA, returns to the TC America tour after a few months away in the No. 50 Fast Track Racing BMW M2 machine. In his TCX debut at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), Hennessy scored third and fourth places for Fast Track Racing.

Ruud, Askew, Hennessy and their Fast Track Racing squad will be in TCX action at Road America starting with practice on Friday, Aug. 27. Qualifying is scheduled on Saturday, Aug. 28, at 9:10 a.m. CDT with Race 1 (40-minute sprint) set for Saturday at 5:10 p.m. CDT. The second 40-minute race will take place at 12:05 p.m. CDT on Sunday, Aug. 29.

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The weekend will be significantly less busy for Wright than the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Road America weekend two weeks ago, which involved 43 team members, eight transporters, and six cars racing in two different cities. The SRO America event will run two cars this weekend: the No. 20 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Fred Poordad and Jan Heylen in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America and the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Charlie Luck in GT America.

“While this may be a lighter weekend logistically than our last time here, it’s no less important,” said Team Owner John Wright. “Both of our cars are looking incredibly strong with their championship leads, but we’re only halfway through the season. We have to stay focused, stay vigilant, and keep those consistent podium results coming.”

The event will begin on Thursday, August 26 at 5:00 PM Central Time, with a parade of GT cars driving from Road America to Siebkens Resort in downtown Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. There, fans can come to the official Welcome Party of the race weekend, enjoy live music, and see the race cars on display into the evening hours. The fan engagement will continue into the weekend with the return of autograph sessions in the paddock on Saturday, August 28 at 10:30 AM for GT World Challenge America and 3:30 PM for GT America.

Fanatec GT World Challenge America
After a strong double-podium weekend at VIRginia International Raceway in June, Fred Poordad and Jan Heylen have a solid, 28-point lead in the top SRO race series. With 25 points being awarded for each win, the pair can stay at the front by continuing to net podium finishes consistently. To date, they have finished on the podium in all six races, with seven races remaining. In the team standings, the gap Wright Motorsports holds over the second-place team is a narrow two points, keeping the pressure high heading into Road America. Poordad had a strong performance at the Wisconsin circuit in 2020, securing back-to-back wins with co-driver Max Root. This weekend, Poordad and Heylen will be one of eleven cars competing in the class, and one of only a few to have tested privately at the circuit just last week.

Fans unable to attend the event can stream the races live on YouTube.com/GTWorld on Saturday, August 28 from 1:15 PM to 2:45 PM CT, and Sunday, August 29 at 2:15 PM Central.

DRIVER QUOTES | No. 20 Porsche 911 GT3 R

Fred Poordad
Road America is an exciting track with great fans and a long racing history. The track is fast and requires focus and no mistakes for a good outcome. I’m looking forward to getting back in the saddle after a two-month layoff. The team will rise to the occasion and go out there and have some fun!

Jan Heylen
It’s always fun to go back to Road America. It’s one of the classics on the schedule and it’s especially fun to drive in a high downforce car like the Porsche 911 GT3 R. I am really excited to go there in the lead of the championship and, hopefully, we can leave the weekend with another podium, extending our points lead. We’ve had a really good season so far. The Wright team, Fred, everybody’s been super consistent and we’re going to try to continue on that path. We are looking to come away with a lot of points and another podium.

GT America Powered by AWS
While the GT World Challenge competitors had an almost three-month break, the GT America championship jumped back into action earlier this month with the Music City Grand Prix in downtown Nashville. Despite contact from another car early into one of the two races there, Luck was able to navigate the Porsche through the tight course to secure two second-place finishes in the inaugural event. His double-podium weekend gave him his seventh and eighth podiums in eight races. He now leads the overall point standings as well as the Masters class by over 30 points. Wright also currently reigns in the team standings, holding the lead by five points.

The GT America races will also air live on YouTube.com/GTWorld, with race one taking place on Saturday, August 28 at 4:15 PM, followed by race two on Sunday, August 29 at 8:30 AM CT.

DRIVER QUOTE | No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 R

Charlie Luck
Coming out of the Nashville street course, Road America will be totally different. There are lots of high-speed corners and driving the Porsche 911 GT3 R here for the first time means I need to adapt a lot of my techniques to this specific track. We tested here and learned a lot. I can’t wait.

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Transcript:

Eddie LePine: Welcome to Raod America, how does it feel to be here?

Daniel Morad: Right now it’s hot, but good I mean, anytime you drive a GT3 car on this track Road America is a really nice feeling. For us so far this weekend it’s been a bit of a challenge because the Mercedes AMG GT3, it’s a great car but, unfortunately, we struggle on straight lines, on the straightaway. So yeah, we’re just a bit down on top end speed and it kind of shows the results right now but driving through the corners, the cars a dream to drive, it’s so well balanced.

Eddie: And this is a new challenge, Daniels been driving a Porsche for Carlos de Quesada for three years and he won the 24-hour Daytona last year with them, got a Rolex and this is like a new challenge brand ambassador for Canada…

Daniel: …and Moradness.

Eddie: Don’t forget the hat. You know what, these hats are just so cool. Let me tell you.

Daniel: the best part… we measure speed in Moradness per hour.

Eddie: They’re awesome. Look at the raised [logo], you know I mean…

Daniel: I’m gonna shamelessly plug it. It’s Moradness.com, you can buy them now. Theres not many of these ones left actually. These are the limited run.

Eddie: So where are you starting for the race?

Daniel: We’re seventh, which is not like terrible, but we’ve had such a good season, seventh does become terrible. Right? So I get to kind of like look at it from a different perspective, right now we have an opportunity to have a good race and we get some good points. We’re still third in the championship for the Sprint. We’ll see, anything can happen, it’s a 50 minute race. It’s a combined race with GTS and GT so you gonna have mixed traffic, it’s gonna be interesting. There’s gonna be a lot to manage the track.

Eddie: So it’s gonna be some traffic.

Daniel: Oh, there’s gonna be at least.. we’ll lap the GTS field twice in the race in fifty minute. So yeah, that’s gonna come into play for sure. So yeah, like I said it’s a long race anything can happen. I’m just looking to stay in it to try to get as many points as I can. And you know as a racing driver you always want to win but you have to understand when you can win and when you need to just get the most out of a weekend. And, and not to say that we can’t win. So anything can happen.

Eddie: And that’s what the listeners, with this racing, it’s not like endurance racing this is sprint racing and you know the old saying you don’t win the race in the first turn? Well it happens here. It’s going to be some exciting racing and watch this kid. He is definitely somebody to watch. Perfect. Thank you. Good luck.

Daniel: Thanks.

Eddie LePine

Eddie has been involved in motorsports for over 30 years as photographer, columnist, and driver. Eddie also is now a retired racer (well, retired unless a good ride pops up).

The post An Interview With Daniel Morad appeared first on RacingNation.com.

Transcript:

Eddie LePine: Welcome to Road America, Pirelli Challenge 2018. I’m here with Michael
Christensen fresh off his win at the 24-hour of Le Mans. Welcome Michael.

Michael Christensen: Thank you.

Eddie: It’s really good to have you. How was your week this week after the race? Was it worse than the race?

Michael: No, it’s been better. After the race was definitely one of the best days of my life. I think just realizing that what you have actually done because after the race, you’re happy of course because you know that it went well but you don’t really get the emotional feel yet that’s because you’re tired I guess. Of course it would be nice to have it like that straightaway but, the day after just sinks in a bit better and you’re like relaxed and yeah just enjoying yourself
and so yeah, the last last week basically has been great for me, realizing, also having all the
messages and the people being kind and congratulating me with what happened, this has been a great week.

Eddie: Lots of beer? Lots of beer German beer?

Michael: On the Sunday evening, yes. But then, nope, back to business.

Eddie: Back to business and now we’re here at Road America and this is pretty exciting. I mean but it’s a big difference from being at Le Mans all last week and having the plan and strategize for a 24 hour race. You’re here having to race a 50 minute race big difference huh

Michael: Yeah it’s definitely a big difference just everything about it is. You know, the Le Mans
race is an event this is just something else that any other race that I do over the year, and I think for any other driver it’s just different event. It’s just something special and so for sure just that it makes it quite a different approach to the race itself. And then just being a 50 minute race, instead of a 24 hour race is also very different approach of course. Different car, different type of track, everything is different. But yeah, I like it.

Eddie: Well I mean, you said yesterday it was funny because, you mentioned that you slept really well during the race last weekend. Did you normally do that?

Michael: Depends, depends. I’m not sure I can’t really tell, what that makes a difference. Sleeping well or not, but sure we have good have good facilities too recover that’s for sure. But I think maybe just I was really confident in my own abilities and what I had to perform and what else and of course my teammates, confident in them makes you, I guess more relaxed, and I was able to to recover well and slept like probably the best races in terms of sleep I’ve ever had so it
was great.

Eddie: Well, the other thing that was the big deal was the the retro look and it was just really exciting to see the the pink pig. Such great memories of that car in the 70s and here you are. How did that all come about to take place, you know with the retro with the Rothman’s car?

Michael: I thought it was a great move from Porsche side, to do this especially this year it’s the
17th anniversary year. So it was good reason to do something like that and you had these
two cars with iconic liveries from the past are very well known and to be part of that was just great. I mean just to be able to drive an iconic race livery like that in a Porsche works car it’s already special, but yeah I guess it all happened just because the magazine people were
creative and we have this 70 years of anniversary of Porsche road cars so, I guess that’s how it happened.

Eddie: You know, Michael is from Denmark and you know everybody associates Tom Kristensen, no relation. You know Mr. Le Mans, nine time winner and you know I mean he was in the booth and I actually watched some of him standing behind you, and giving you a little plug there and it’s really cool to see you know you coming and you know having such a good race and and winning for Porsche and the one thing, with Michael, he has one up on Tom already he won the 24-hour Daytona last year with Carlos and with the Alegra racing and how does that
feel now? I mean, I think you guys probably put that and the watch in the background right now?

Michael: Yeah for sure, you know, like last year was a great year for me, just do to Daytona
really. I had a good year in WEC and all other good races in IMSA with Alegra motorsports but you know everything comes to the race at Daytona. You know that was the highlight, it was
the first race of the year but also the highlight of the year as it’s just difficult racing with high competition. Everyone is going there to win. Yeah, it’s a career goal I think for most sports car drivers, so to get that one last year was great of course, and to put that on the CV. Then you have done that kind of thing and for sure you want to do more of that for them, yeah.

Eddie: Well, to put it in perspective, it’s just going out and winning the biggest, I mean it’s like winning in a Super Bowl of racing basically.

Michael: Yeah, having Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans on the CV now is of course, just what I wanted you know, just what I dreamed off and now it’s like well there’s no bigger race than Le Mans for me to win as you said. So it’s just about what are you gonna do now, what is the next goal for me, that is World Championship in the WEC. That’s the next thing we’re doing well, we’re leading at the moment, me and Kevin Estre in the 92 car. So we are on our way, but there’s for sure theres a long way to go but the next goal is that.

Eddie: It’s a big year this year with Porsche’s 70th year and Rennsport being later this year, this is gonna be a big deal and is the Pink Pig going to be at that?

Michael: I don’t know, I don’t know, but I can’t tell. I think I’m just gonna keep it quiet for
now if it’s gonna happen with the Pink Pig. I would love it to be everywhere to show
it to everyone and maybe even drive it. That would be great as it’s something big for myself, what happened to my career, so it’ll be good. It’ll be dream of mine to do again.
Eddie: What about the Pink Pig about driving, was there some sort of bet that if you
guys did win, could you drive the 917 Pink Pig?

Michael: Somehow, we spoke with Fran about that exact thing when we chose livery back in February that if we did well, would we then get to drive this 917/20 Pink Pig. And he said yeah, of course, we’re gonna make you happy if you do win we’re gonna do that for you. Okay, good.
Then this on Sunday at the party, Laurens Vanthoor, my teammate, made a clever prank that we actually had an agreement and then I was like, oh well, I guess we have to do something about it. So we’ll see, but I’m quite confident that we might get a shot at that.

Eddie: That’s great. We really enjoy having you here at Road America, especially after winning the Superbowl and coming here. And we wish you all the luck today and tomorrow. That’s two
races this weekend at Road America and this is a big year. Thanks a lot for being here, thank you very much.

Michael: Thank you.

Eddie LePine

Eddie has been involved in motorsports for over 30 years as photographer, columnist, and driver. Eddie also is now a retired racer (well, retired unless a good ride pops up).

The post An Interview With Le Mans Winner Michael Christensen appeared first on RacingNation.com.

by Paul Gohde

Saturday: Italy’s Alvaro Parente was the overall winner Saturday in Round one of Road America’s Pirelli World Challenge multi-class GT event.

Parente, the 2016 GT series’ champion took his Bentley to the lead on a lap 2 restart and stayed in front of a large field of GT cars for the remainder of the 50-minute chase around the 4.04-mile circuit. The win was the third for Bentley at RA in the past four years.

This was Parente’s second 2018 win after two early-season crashes, finishing 1.313 seconds ahead of the Ferrari of current GT overall point leader Toni Vilander of Finland.

Rounding out the top-5 in GT were Scott Hargrove, pole-winner Daniel Mancinelli and Michael Christensen.

“It was really good to win at a track that I really like. For the last two years I was here with a different car (McLaren), with not such good speed. So, getting to win here today is great,” Parente exclaimed. “This is also great because it’s a win in the 50^th race for our team, K-Pax Racing.

Winners in other classes were: GTA-Martin Fuentes (Ferrari) / GTS- Ian James (Panoz)/ GTSA-Mark Klenin (McLaren).

Sunday: Danish factory Porsche driver Michael Christensen passed pole-winner Alvaro Parente on the first lap Sunday and held the GT class and overall lead in his Porsche 911 to defeat Parente and his Bentley by 2.210-seconds at Road America. Parente, was Saturday’s winner in the Pirelli World Challenge GT race. Today’s win was the Dane’s second in the last four series races. Saturday’s pole-winner Daniel Mancinelli was the last man on the podium as his Ferrari edged Scott Hargrove’s Porsche 911.

In GTA Audi R8 driver Parker Chase grabbed the class win and finished seventh overall defeating Martin Fuentes Ferrari by just 0.008-seconds.

GTS winner Ian James repeated his Saturday class win, this time edging James Sofronas’ Audi R8 by just 0.437-seconds.

GTSA’s Saturday’s class winner Mark Klenin repeated that fete Sunday. This time his McLaren edged Jeff Courtney’s Maserati by 1.565-seconds. The race was marred by a long caution period when Jason Bell had his Audi R8 turned by the Mustang of Alan Brynjolfsson.

Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.

Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.

The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.

He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.

Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”

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Milwaukee-based sports car team assists in Soldiers Education Program

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 7, 2018) – Veteran sports car racer Jeff Courtney of Milwaukee has made plenty of laps around the legendary Road America four-time circuit over the years, but the Maserati driver may be making his most important tours of the track on June 22-24 in the Pirelli World Challenge portion of the Kohler Grand Prix weekend.

Courtney, the driver of the No. 99 JCR Motorsports Maserati Grand Turismo MC GT4 sports car, comes to Road America for the PWC GTS doubleheader with a little more on the line as he races to make money for the charity, Patriot Education Fund.

Courtney, currently third in the Pirelli World Challenge GTSA point standings following an impressive second place finish last month at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, will be generating funds for the Patriot Education Fund, which provides financial and educational assistance to enlisted military veterans (E1 to E5) and their dependents.

“The Patriot Education Fund is deeply appreciative of the financial support from JCR Motorsports in addition to a collaborative partnership to raise awareness of the need to support the education of our military families,” said Mark Slaby, Patriot Education Fund Co-Founder.

The Patriot Education Fund addresses funding needs not covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill, by providing financial support to individuals pursuing postsecondary degree programs, accredited technical training diplomas, and certified apprenticeship programs.

“I have been racing at Road America for many years now,” said Courtney, who’ll compete in a 50-minute sprint events on Saturday (June 23) and Sunday (June 24) at Road America. “Now, we have teamed with the Patriot Education Fund to raise money for a great cause. Helping veterans with their education is an important aspect to their future.”

Through an investment in education, the Patriot Education Fund is honoring U.S. service members and military families transition from their service to the country into successful careers in the public and private sector.

“We are hosting guests from the Patriot Education Fund and created packages from Road America weekend to help the charity and that is a great feeling,” said Courtney. “Anytime we can help an important group like the Patriot Education Fund through racing, it is good for all who are involved.”

The Patriot Education Fund is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt, charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Since 2011, the Patriot Education Fund has awarded over $400,000 in scholarship grants to veterans and military family members, assisting them in their pursuit and completion of a college education. Learn more at www.patrioteducationfund.org

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Grand Prix of Virginia Presented by Audi Sport April 27-29
Vilander, Molina lead GT SprintX Field with R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3

ALTON, Va. (April 23, 2017) – The “Prancing Horse” logo has been making its mark over the years in the Pirelli World Challenge road racing series with the popular Ferrari marque winning GT races with its familiar Ferrari GT3 sports car.

In 2017, the TR3 Racing team captured three PWC GT SprintX races (60-minute, two-driver format) with drivers Daniel Mancinelli, Andrea Montermini and Nicolo Schiro taking the No. 31 Ferrari 488 GT3 to wins at VIRginia International Raceway, Utah Motorsports Campus and Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Mancinelli won again a week ago in the streets of Long Beach, Calif., in the GT Sprint event with his TR3 Ferrari.

With this weekend’s PWC Grand Prix of Virginia presented by Audi Sport set for April 27-29, the Ferrari machines look to be favorites again in the GT SprintX doubleheader at the fast 3.27-mile, 17-turn permanent road circuit in southern Virginia.

While Mancinelli sits out this weekend, the Ferrari duo of Finland’s Toni Vilander and Spain’s Miguel Molina must be listed as the pair to beat when practice rounds get underway this Friday at VIR. Vilander, the two-time 24 Hours of LeMans winner, and Molina, the factory Ferrari racer, come to VIR with the potent No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3 machine in search of another doubleheader victory weekend.

Last month at COTA, Vilander and Molina proved to be the class of the GT SprintX field with two impressive wins over a solid field of cars from Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini.

“The COTA event was my first race with Miguel, but he has a lot of experience with the Ferrari in the Blancpain Series in Europe,” said Vilander. “We had great pit stops there and that helped us gain the advantage. We practice the driver change a lot. His input on the car and the various information we received was a big help too. We were aiming at that minimum time in the pits. Miguel pulled out of the pits with the lead and he did a great job extending the lead to the checkered flag. The team is really professional and gives us a great car.”

Vilander and Molina enter the VIR doubleheader this weekend with a five-point margin in the current GT SprintX point standings and, with the Ferrari victory last year at VIR, the Ferrari duo will be the team to beat in Saturday’s GT SprintX Round 3 event set for 1:25 p.m. EDT.

“When I was told I would do the SprintX championship, I was looking up some of the old races, checking out which cars and drivers and manufacturers were involved with the championship,” said Molina. “I took that information to Toni and we had long conversations about it, so that put me in a good place to start off the championship. I knew the car and the tires so, in the end, it was a little easier to transition into this year.

“We were really happy with everything at COTA and we’re doing a good job together, especially since this was my first race with Toni and the team. I think there’s no better way to start the season or a championship than this. Toni tested at VIR too and really liked the circuit. I’m anxious to get there this weekend.”

“Overall, it might look easy or like we have it under control, but it’s always a hard battle, a hard fight,” said Vilander. “The Mercedes was not allowing us to win easily. Also, the Porsche picked up some more speed and was a little more competitive and had two wins in St. Pete, so these are exciting races.”

In addition to Vilander and Molina’s Ferrari success in 2018, the 2016 GTA series champion Martin Fuentes has taken his Squadra Corse Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3 to four victories already in the GTA Sprint and GT SprintX Am class. The Mexico City veteran driver took wins GTA Sprint wins in the streets of St. Petersburg and teamed with Caesar Bacarella to capture the two GT SprintX Am events at COTA. Fuentes also took second place a week ago at Long Beach in the GTA category.

While the “Prancing Horse” has been a regular in victory lane in 2018, the Ferrari contingent will have a strong group of contenders at VIR including the North Carolina pair of Mike Skeen and Scott Heckert, both of Charlotte, in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Skeen, the pole winner at COTA, is the GT qualifying track record holder at VIR with a lap of 114.30 miles per hour. Skeen and Heckert placed second and third at COTA.

Other GT challengers including current GT overall point leader Scott Hargrove of Tsawwassen, B.C., Canada, a double winner at St. Petersburg, pairs with factory Porsche driver Wolf Henzler of Germany in the No. 96 Pfaff Motorsports/Castrol Porsche 911 GT3 R, while another Canadian, Daniel Morad of Toronto, brings the Charlotte-based No. 2 CRP Racing/DeVilbiss Mercedes-AMG GT3 sports car with Germany’s Fabian Schiller.

Denmark’s Michael Christensen will be another top competitor at VIR this weekend when he teams with veteran Spencer Pumpelly of Atlanta, Ga., in the No. 24 Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, and former PWC GT champion Alvaro Parente of Portugal is yet another strong contender at VIR with Spain’s Andy Soucek in the No. 9 K-RAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3. Parente placed third at Long Beach behind the Ferraris of Mancinelli and Vilander.

The Grand Prix of Virginia presented by Audi Sport begins this Friday (April 27) with practice rounds for all eight Pirelli World Challenge classes with some 100 entries. Qualifying runs and the first races of the weekend are scheduled for Saturday (April 28), and Race 2 events will take place on Sunday (April 29).

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With Sunday GT SprintX Pro-Pro Victory in Round 2 Event

Segal/Lu Ferrari Wins Pro-Am, Bacarella/Fuentes Ferrari Take Am-Am Class

Austin, Texas (March 25, 2018) – The Ferrari brand swept all three Pirelli World Challenge GT SprintX classes Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in the Grand Prix of Texas led by Toni Vilander and Miguel Molina co-driving the No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3 for the second round GT SprintX race.

Vilander, the past LeMans champion from Finland, and Molina, the factory Ferrari driver from Spain, drove to another impressive win Sunday in the 60-minute, two-driver feature by defeating the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 pair of Mike Skeen and Scott Heckert by 2.521-seconds in the 28-lap Round 2 contest in the Pro-Pro category.

Another Ferrari victory came in the GT SprintX Pro-Am class with Jeff Segal of Miami, Fla., and Wei Lu of Vancouver, B.C., Canada co-driving the No. 31 Ferrari of Vancouver/TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 over the No. 3 K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3 duo of Rodrigo Baptista of Brazil and Maxine Soulet of Belgium.

And the Am-Am class victory went to former GTA champion Martin Fuentes of Mexico City, Mex., and Caesar Bacarella of Miami, Fla., in the No. 07 Squadra Corse Garage Italia/Hublot Ferrari 488 GT3.

“I found a good pace at the beginning,” said Molina, who began the one-hour event for R. Ferri Motorsport Sunday. “I overtook the white Ferrari in the last corner early. Things were a bit easier after that when I started to find my own rhythm and pace. After that I tried to just increase the gap as much as possible to make Toni (Vilander’s) job easier in the car. Today, we struggled a little bit more than we did yesterday, but what matters is that we scored our second consecutive win. We are really happy with everything and we’re doing a good job together, especially since this was my first race with Toni and the team. I think there’s no better way to start the season or a championship than this weekend.”

“I think overall what mixes up the field a little bit is that we have a limited amount of tires,” said Vilander. “Some cars in the field had sticky tires, some had used tires and some had qualifying tires. We did a later stop – everything worked out to plan. I had the gap but the Mercedes behind me was closing quite aggressively. I was building up the tire pressures and temperatures because I thought it would be a difficult race. So, I still kept pushing and the car started feeling better and better each lap. I saw behind me that they were going into some corners side-by-side. There were cars that we were lapping in traffic and I knew that was the key moment. I think that was the crucial moment. What’s funny that you might not see out there is that every session, we had a very different setup from yesterday’s race.”

The Pirelli World Challenge GT SprintX Rounds 3 and 4 are on the SprintX schedule at VIRginia International Raceway in Danville, Va., on April 27-29. The next PWC GT Sprint event will be a GT/GTS event in the streets of Long Beach, Calif., as part of the 44th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13-15.

AUSTIN, Tex. – Results from Sunday’s 60-minute GT SprintX Round 2 event in the Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of Texas at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Results are provisional until posted Final.
Pos,PIC,Class,Name,Hometown,Car,Laps,Status,Race Time,Gap
1,1, Pro/Pro,Vilander/Molina, R. Ferri Motorsport,,,Ferrari 488 GT3,28,Running,1:01:30.772,
2,2, Pro/Pro,Skeen/Heckert, Lone Star Racing,,,Mercedes-AMG GT3,28,Running,1:01:33.293,2.521
3,3, Pro/Pro,Hargrove/Henzler, Pfaff Motorsports,,,Porsche 911 GT3 R (991),28,Running,1:01:34.938,4.166
4,1, Pro/Am,Segal/Lu, TR3 Racing,,,Ferrari 488 GT3,28,Running,1:01:46.937,16.165
5,4, Pro/Pro,Morad/Schiller, CRP Racing,,,Mercedes-AMG GT3,28,Running,1:01:48.056,17.284
6,2, Pro/Am,Baptista/Soulet, K-PAX Racing,,,Bentley Continental GT3,28,Running,1:01:49.719,18.947
7,5, Pro/Pro,Parente/Soucek, K-PAX Racing,,,Bentley Continental GT3,28,Running,1:01:56.257,25.485
8,6, Pro/Pro,Christensen/Pumpelly, Alegra Motorsports,,,Porsche 911 GT3 R (991),28,Running,1:02:00.020,29.248
9,3, Pro/Am,Chase/Dalziel, TruSpeed AutoSport,,,Audi R8 LMS,28,Running,1:02:09.536,38.764
10,7, Pro/Pro,Udell/Jaminet, GMG Racing,,,Porsche 911 GT3 R (991),28,Running,1:02:29.393,58.621
11,4, Pro/Am,Harata/Bressan, Dream Racing Motorsport,,,Lamborghini Huracan GT3,28,Running,1:02:38.697,1:07.925
12,5, Pro/Am, Pappas/Bleekemolen, Black Swan Racing,,,Porsche 911 GT3 R (991),28,Running,1:02:53.960,1:23.188
13,1, Am,Fuentes/Bacarella, Squadra Corse Garage Italia,,,Ferrari 488 GT3,28,Running,1:03:09.104,1:38.332
14,2, Am, Askew, DXDT Racing,,,Mercedes-AMG GT3,28,Running,1:03:20.295,1:49.523
15,1, ,Perez,P1 Motorsports,,,Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo,27,Running,1:02:42.159,1 LAP
16,2, ,Metni, AM Motorsports,,,Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MY 2014-2016,27,Running,1:02:44.056,1 LAP
17,3, , Baker, Topp Racing,,,Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MY 2014-2016,27,Running,1:02:44.302,1 LAP
18,4, ,Amaduzzi/Hardwick, Dream Racing Motorsport,,,Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo,27,Running,1:02:54.998,1 LAP
19,8, Pro/Pro,Heilwitz/Curran, Callaway Competition USA,,,Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R,25,Not Running,56:20.472,3 LAPS
20,5, ,Radisic/Roberts, Precision Driving,,,Ferrari 458 Challenge,0,NC,,

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With a Back-to-Back 1-2 Hyundai i30 N PWC TCR Performances

Mark Wilkins Scores Sunday’s TCR 40-minute sprint race; Michael Lewis 2nd

AUSTIN, Texas (March 25, 2018) – Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian put in one of the most dominant performances in a debut in Pirelli World Challenge history this weekend at Circuit of the America (COTA) in the Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of Texas with back-to-back TCR 1-2 placings with Mark Wilkins and Michael Lewis in the BHA Hyundai i30 N TCR cars.

On Sunday at the 3.427-mile, 20-mile racing facility, Wilkins, the 34-year-old veteran from Mulmur, Ont., Canada, matched Lewis’s Saturday TCR 40-minute sprint win with a great start and a brilliant drive to victory in the inaugural PWC TCR Class weekend for the TCR hatchback sedans.

Wilkins, whose No. 99 BHA Hyundai i30 H TCR machine hadn’t turn a wheel until Thursday’s testing session, paced the 14-car TCR field for most of the COTA weekend, leading practice, qualifying and Sunday’s 14-lap event. Only Lewis’ Saturday race win interrupted a perfect weekend performance by Wilkins.

In Sunday’s Round 2 event, Wilkins held the inside line into turn one and advanced his position through the esses over Lewis, who started on the outside of row on in the No. 98 BHA Hyundai i30 N TCR. The two Hyundai racers diced among themselves throughout the 40-minute event as they pulled away from the competition.

The sensational debut of the Hyundai i30 N TCR cars at COTA was a big story throughout the Pirelli World Challenge paddock which was filled 104 entries in the doubleheader race weekend. In addition to the paddock conversation, the Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian squad was the talk of the media center as many journalists met with Herta, Wilkins and Lewis as well.

Third for the second day in a row in TCR Rounds 1 and 2 was veteran driver Ryan Eversley in the all-new No. 43 RealTime Racing Honda Civic Type-R TCR car.

“We used Michael’s Hyundai i30 N TCR in preparation for the COTA weekend as my race car arrived this week and we ran it for the first time last Thursday,” said Wilkins. “The car ran flawlessly, and it was a great first weekend for Hyundai and Bryan Herta Autosport. It’s going to be a very exciting season with many top drivers, teams and TCR cars. It’s always great to win and this weekend seemed like a perfect way to start the year for us. Now, we move to VIR next month (April 27-29) and we hope to continue this trend.”

Lewis drove superbly all weekend as well including setting fastest lap of Sunday’s TCR race. Before this weekend’s two events, Michael had not raced a front-wheel-drive machine.

“For today’s race, Mark got off to an excellent start and it is a team effort for me,” said Lewis. “It really didn’t matter if I won or Mark won. He had a strong Hyundai i30 N TCR this afternoon. Yesterday, I got in a good move to take the lead on the first lap and today, it was Mark’s turn. As long as we are 1-2, that is the goal. Once Mark grabbed the lead, I want to slot in right behind him and protect the 1-2 for Hyundai. It was a spectacular debut for the Bryan Herta Autosport team and the Hyundai i30 N TCR at COTA.”

The top five TCR finishers drove four different auto makes in Sunday’s 40-minute sprint event.

The COTA Pirelli World Challenge TCR events will be feature on CBS Sports Network on Thursday, April 12, at 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT.

The Pirelli World Challenge TCR series moves to VIRginia International Raceway on April 27-29 with another full weekend of all eight PWC divisions.

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