Event Press Kit -...

Replay XD Grand Prix at Long Beach

Presented by CadillacApril 15-17, 2016

Event Press Kit

TV Listings Available on www.world-challenge.com

All races live onwww.motortrendondemand.com

15 – 17APRIL

Grand Prix atLong Beach

presented by

REPLAY XD GRAND PRIX AT LONG BEACH PRESENTED BY CADILLAC PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE GT, GTA CHAMPIONSHIPS, ROUND 5 STREETS OF LONG BEACH, LONG BEACH, CA; APRIL 15-17, 2016

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Press Kit Information ......................................................................... Page Weekend Schedule ................................................................................... 2 Entry Lists ................................................................................................. 4 Pronunciation Key ..................................................................................... 5 Weekend Facts/Story Leads ...................................................................... 6 2016 Driver Performance/Career Driver Statistics ................................... 12 2016 Driver/Manufacturer Championship Points ...................................... 16 2016 Driver/Manufacturer Statistics .......................................................... 18 2015 Long Beach Recap .......................................................................... 21 2016 Series Race Recaps ........................................................................ 25 2016 Pirelli World Challenge Event and Broadcast Schedule ................... 37


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Weekend Schedule Wednesday, April 13, 2016

8:00 AM – 6:00 PM Facility Open to INDYCAR Series/Team Transporters

8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Facility Open to IMSA Team Transporters

8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Facility Open to Formula D Team Transporters

12:00 PM – 5:00 PM Facility Open to Pirelli World Challenge Team Transporters

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM "Roar in the Shore" on 2nd Street

Thursday, April 14, 2016

6:00 AM IMSA/PWC/Drifting Paddocks Open to All Participants

8:00 AM Load In of INDYCAR Team Transporters

8:00 AM Load In of SST Team Transporters

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Pirelli World Challenge Tech and Scales Open

9:00 AM INDYCAR Paddock Open to All Participants

10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Pirelli World Challenge Registration (Series Transporter)

1:00 PM – 1:30 PM Pirelli World Challenge Crew Chief Meeting (PWC Transporter)

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Track Walk (Open to all participants)

6:30 PM – 10:00 PM Thunder Thursday on Pine Avenue

Friday, April 15, 2016

6:00 AM Facility Open to Registered Participants

7:00 AM – 3:00 PM Pirelli World Challenge Registration – Long Beach Hilton 701 W Ocean

7:00 AM Spectator Gates Open

7:40 AM – 9:40 AM IMSA Practice


10:00 AM – 10:45 AM INDYCAR Practice P1

10:55 AM – 11:25 AM VIP On Track Activities

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM Pro/Celebrity Practice

12:20 PM – 12:40 PM SST Practice

1:00 PM – 1:45 PM VIP On Track Activities

1:00 PM – 1:30 PM Prelli World Challenge Driver Meeting – Seaside Ballroom

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM Pirelli World Challenge Tire Marking

2:00 PM – 2:45 PM INDYCAR Practice P2

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM Pro/Celebrity Qualifying

3:45 PM – 4:45 PM Pirelli World Challenge Practice 1

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM INDYCAR Fan Appreciation Activity – All Driver Autograph Session (INDYCAR Paddock)

5:00 PM – 6:30 PM IMSA Qualifying

6:45 PM – Tecate Light Fiesta Concert

7:00 PM – 7:45 PM Super Drift Practice

7:45 PM – 9:00 PM Super Drift Qualifying


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Saturday, April 16, 2016



7:00 AM – 3:00 PM Pirelli World Challenge Registration – Long Beach Hilton 701 W Ocean


8:15 AM – 8:30 AM Pirelli World Challenge Practice 2

8:40 AM – 8:55 AM Pirelli World Challenge Qualifying Group 1 (TBA)

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM Pirelli World Challenge Qualifying Group 2 (TBA)


10:00 AM – 10:45 AM INDYCAR Practice P3

10:45 AM – 11:30 AM Pirelli World Challenge Driver Autograph Session (Paddock)


11:40 AM – 12:40 PM Pro-Celebrity Race

1:05 PM – 1:35 PM SST Qualifying

1:45 PM – 1:55 PM IMSA Series Pit Set Up

2:00 PM – 3:15 PM INDYCAR Qualifying & FIRESTONE FAST 6

3:30 PM – 4:00 PM Commence IMSA Pre–Race

4:05 PM – 5:45 PM Start of IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship (100 min)

6:45 PM Rock-N-Roar Concert

7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge Competition

Sunday, April 17, 2016


7:00 AM – 10:00 AM Pirelli World Challenge Registration – Long Beach Hilton 701 W Ocean


7:00 AM – 8:45 AM Pirelli World Challenge Tech and Scales Open


9:00 AM – 9:30 AM INDYCAR Warm Up

9:35 AM Release Pirelli World Challenge from Paddock to Grid Start/Finish Line

9:53 AM "Drivers Start Your Engines" – Release PWC for 2 Pace Laps

10:00 AM – 10:50 AM Pirelli World Challenge Race


12:00 PM – 12:10 PM Mothers Exotic Car Parade

12:30 PM INDYCAR Pre Race

1:30 PM "Drivers Start Your Engines

1:30 PM Release INDYCARS for 2 Pace Laps

1:37 PM – 3:30 PM START OF TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH

3:55 PM – 4:05 PM Drifting Demonstration

4:30 PM – 4:50 PM SST Race #1

TIME CERTAIN SCHEDULE – All sessions to start and finish on schedule


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GT/GTA Combined Entry Lists

Long Beach Entry List – 24 Entries: GT: 18; GTA: 6

Class # Driver Hometown Team Car/Sponsor GT 2 Kyle Marcelli Toronto, ON CRP Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra / DeVilbiss, Hawk Performance

GT 3 Johnny O'Connell Flowery Branch, GA Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R GT3

GT 6 Austin Cindric Charlotte, NC K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 GT 8 Michael Cooper Syosset, NY Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R GT3 GT 9 Alvaro Parente Porto, Portugal K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 GT 13 Colin Thompson Doylestown, PA K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3

GT 14 James Sofronas Villa Park, CA GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R / GMG/Spyder/Mobil 1/Thermal Club

GT 31 Patrick Long Manhattan Beach, CA EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R / EFFORT Racing/World PMO

GT 33 JD Davison Denver, CO AE Replay XD Nissan GT Academy

Nissan GT-R GT3/ Nissan/GT Academy GT3 GT-R

GT 41 Michael Lewis Laguna Beach, CA EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R / EFFORT Racing/Curb-Agajanian

GT 42 Peter Cunningham Milwaukee, WI RealTime Racing Acura TLX-GT / Acura/HPD/RealTime GT 43 Ryan Eversley Atlanta, GA RealTime Racing Acura TLX-GT / Acura/HPD/Red Line Oil/RealTime

GT 67 Duncan Ende Los Angeles, CA TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 / Merchant Services LTD/Linospresso USA/LaSalle Solutions

GT 76 Andrew Davis Athens, GA Calvert Dynamics Porsche 911 GT3 R / Phoenix Performance GT 87 Andrew Palmer Los Angeles, CA Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3 GT 88 Adderly Fong Hong Kong Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3 GT 99 Jon Fogarty Bend, OR McLaren 650S GT3 McLaren 650S GT3 / GainscoAuto Insurance

GT 05 Bryan Heitkotter Fresno, CA AE Replay XD Nissan GT Academy Nissan GT-R GT 3 / Nissan GT Academy GT-R

GTA 4 Jorge De La Torre Mexico City, Mexico De La Torre Racing Motor Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 / Delgac LLC

GTA 11 Bill Sweedler Westport, CT Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia GTA 44 Brent Holden Newport, CA GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3

GTA 54 Tim Pappas Santa Monica, CA Black Swan Racing Dodge Viper GT3-R / Papent.com

GTA 66 Frank Montecalvo Highlands, NJ DIME Racing Mercedes AMG SLS GT3 / Dime R&D

GTA 07 Martin Fuentes Mexico City, Mexico Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia / Hublot, Under Armour

Pronunciation Keys

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Pronunciation of some more commonly mispronounced names in the Pirelli World Challenge: Jason Alexandridis Al·ex·an·dre·dis Lawson Aschenbach AH·shihn·bahk Martin Barkey Bark·ēē Austin Cindric Sin·drik Jorge De La Torre de·la·tor·eh Derek DeBoer dee·boar Scott Dollahite Dough·la·height Jasper Drengler Dren·glur Duncan Ende en·dēē Nick Esayian e·say´in Charles Espenlaub E·spin·lawbb Ryan Eversley Evers·lēē Matt Fassnacht Foss·not Jason Fichter fick·tur Ricardo Flores Floor·ez Martin Fuentes foo·when·tēēs Anthony Geraci Jer·Ahs·E Lou Gigliotti ji·lah·tee Toby Grahovec Graah·hoe·vek Elivan Goulart Gooul·art P.J. Groenke gren·kēē Dennis Hanratty Han·rat·tēē Bryan Heitkotter height·caughter Ted Hough Hoe Mark Klenin kleh·nin Pierre Kleinubing kleye·u·bing Steve Kohli Coe·lēē Mac Korince Core·inse Vesko Kozarov Kahhz·ah·roff Kevin Krauss Kev·in Krhouse Kyle Marcelli Mar·cell·ēē Dan Moen MOW·en Frankie Montecalvo Montēē·cal·voh Álvaro Maia Parente PAIR·en·TAY Chase Pelletier pel·tee·aye Drew Regitz regetts Jack Roush Jr. r·ow·shhh Michael Schein Shine Johan Schwartz schh·wartzz Marc-Andre Seguin say·gehn Patrick Seguin say·gehn Steve Taake tah·kee Joe Toussaint too·sawnt Alec Udell U·dell Sloan Urry Err·ree William Ziegler zē´glər Oxford American Dictionary Key used. For multi-syllabic names, accent the syllable followed by ´.

Weekend Facts/Story Leads

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What: The Pirelli World Challenge Championships continues its 2016 and 27th consecutive season with the Replay XD Grand Prix at Long Beach Presented by Cadillac, April 15-17, part of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend. The weekend will feature GT and GTA Pirelli World Challenge classes in action. Television (on CBS Sports Network): GT/GTA: April 17, 2 PM All times listed Eastern. RACE LENGTHS: Pirelli World Challenge races are a specified length or time limit, whichever comes first. This weekend’s race length for the GT, GTA classes will be 50 minutes. TRACK RECORDS: GT: Qualifying Lap: Olivier Beretta, Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia, 1:19.313 / 89.327 mph, 2015. Race Lap: Chris Dyson, Bentley Continental GT3, 1:21.101 / 87.357 mph, 2015 RECENT FORMER RACE WINNERS (2015) GT: Olivier Beretta, Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia GTA: Michael Lewis, Porsche 911 GT3 R The Most Relevant Road Racing In the World The Pirelli World Challenge Championships have built a legacy around providing fans the most competitive road racing in the world, and the series has earned well-deserved praise the past few years from publications such as Autoweek, Car & Driver and RACER Magazine for doing just that. But what really sets Pirelli World Challenge GT, GTA, GT Cup, GTS, Touring Car, Touring Car A and Touring Car B-Spec races apart from all other series is the “everyday” element it brings each event. World-class drivers piloting production-based cars that come from more than 15 auto manufacturers – it’s a formula that has and will continue to serve the interests of manufacturers, drivers and, most importantly, automotive enthusiasts and race fans. Changes for 2016 GT/GTA/GT Cup races will no longer feature standing starts as rolling starts are in place for all races in 2016 for these classes. GTS, TC/TCA/TCB races will feature rolling starts on Saturday races, while standing starts will still occur for Sunday races for these classes. The SprintX Class is a new class for 2016 and is open to GT/GTA and GTS teams. SprintX races will take place at the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge headliner events, with the inaugural race scheduled for the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park weekend, May 19 – 22. There will be a total of six rounds throughout the season, two per weekend. SprintX races will be 60 minutes in length and feature mandatory driver and tire changes. These extended sprint races will run as separate races during the Series' “headliner” event weekends in addition to the existing sprint format championship. Championship points will be calculated as a combined score from the two drivers piloting each car. A mandatory driver change will occur at the 30-minute mark of each race and drivers will be scored on their position as they cross the stripe at the end of that session. The second driver piloting the car then gets


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behind the wheel and will finish the race. At the race completion, the second driver will accumulate points based on what position that driver finishes the race in. The total combined point total from those two drivers is then calculated and dictates the total points received from that race. FIA driver criteria will be utilized to determine the approved team matching of drivers. For example, FIA listed Bronze drivers can drive with other bronze drivers as well as Silver, Gold and Platinum, while Silver drivers can be matched with Bronze, Silver and Gold drivers. Gold drivers can pair with Bronze and Silver drivers, while Platinum drivers can only be paired with Bronze level drivers. Diverse Championships This weekend, Pirelli World Challenge has 24 cars on the entry list. The GT/GTA entry list includes the Acura TLX-GT, Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3, Bentley Continental GT3, Cadillac ATS-V.R GT3, Dodge Viper GT3-R, Ferrari 458 Italia GT3, McLaren 650S GT3, Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS GT3, Porsche 911 GT3 R, and Nissan GT-R GT3. Local and International Talent There are eight California-based drivers in the field: GT: James Sofronas, Villa Park, CA Patrick Long, Manhattan Beach, CA Michael Lewis, Laguna Beach, CA Duncan Ende, Los Angeles, CA Andrew Palmer, Los Angeles, CA Bryan Heitkotter, Fresno, CA GTA: Brent Holden, Newport, CA Tim Pappas, Santa Monica, CA Internationally speaking, there are a number of drivers in the field based in other countries besides the U.S.: GT: Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, Canada Alvaro Parente, Porto, Portugal Adderly Fong, Hong Kong GTA: Jorge De La Torre, Mexico City Martin Fuentes, Mexico City Something for the Fans The Pirelli World Challenge offers great access to the drivers and machinery of the series. According to venue policies, the Pirelli World Challenge allows spectators of all ages to walk through the paddock to meet their favorite drivers and see the sleek race cars moments before they take to the track for competition. Long Beach Fast Facts: The Pirelli World Challenge series makes its 11th appearance at Long Beach in 2016. The GT division first competed on the famed street circuit in 2006 and returned in 2007, 2008, and 2009. The 2010 event


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marked the first time all World Challenge classes (GT, GTS, and Touring Car) competed at Long Beach, and they did so again in 2011. In 2012, 2013, and 2014 only the GT and GTS classes competed. The 2015 format featured GT and its accompanying GTA and GT Cup competitors. In 2016, Long Beach will be contested by the GT and GTA competitors. The Long Beach GT class has featured seven winning marques in 10 races: Cadillac (CTS-V) has won three times (2006, 2012 and 2014) and Ford (Mustang) twice; Audi (R8 LMS), Chevrolet (Corvette), Porsche (911 GT3), Ferrari (458 GT3 Italia) and Dodge (Viper) have one win apiece. Chevrolet's Corvette won in 2007. Ford and Davis Racing won GT in 2008 and 2011. Porsche and Global Motorsports won in 2009 with James Sofronas. Dodge was victorious in 2010 with Kuno Wittmer. Global Motorsports Group and Audi won in 2013. Olivier Beretta and R. Ferri won for Ferrari in 2015.

The first race, 2006, featured the closest victory margin, 0.730 second. Each succeeding race through 2010 featured a larger victory margin, although it took until 2009 for the margin to exceed two seconds. The 2010 margin of 8.475 seconds is the largest to date overall Long Beach World Challenge victory margin, as in 2011 the overall margin was only 2.410 seconds! The 2012 overall and GT margin was 6.337 seconds. O'Connell won in 2014 by 1.528 seconds. Beretta won by only 0.999 second in 2015. The nine-race total is 24.913 seconds, producing an average overall victory margin of 2.879 seconds. The 2013 race ended under the caution flag. Five of the 10 GT racewinners came from the pole (Brandon Davis in 2008, Kuno Wittmer in 2010, James Sofronas in 2013, Johnny O'Connell in 2014, Olivier Beretta in 2015) with Ron Fellows’ 2006 win for Cadillac coming from deepest in the pack (fifth). James Sofronas won from second in 2009 as did Brandon Davis in 2011 and Andy Pilgrim in 2012; Eric Curran won from third in 2007. The average starting position for the racewinner has been 1.90. GT lead-lap finishers have ranged from 21 in 2008 and 2015 to seven in 2013. The 2014 GT class had sixteen lead-lap finishers.


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Pirelli World Challenge Drivers Set to Race on the Streets of Long Beach and the ‘Roar by the Shore’ April 9, 2016 / For Immediate Release Long Beach, Calif. – Twenty-four Pirelli World Challenge drivers across the series’ GT and GTA classes are set to battle it out April 15-17 on the Streets of Long Beach, part of the Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix weekend. Drivers will race Round 5 of the 2016 season and the Replay XD Grand Prix at Long Beach presented by Cadillac. This weekend marks the 11th straight season PWC will race at the 11-turn 1.968-mile street course. Cooper and O’Connell lead Championship Heading into Long Beach – GT Preview The Pirelli World Challenge GT class features some of the best sports car racing on the planet – over 10 world-renowned manufacturers including Acura, Audi, Bentley, Cadillac, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Porsche are represented by some of the top drivers in the world. Michael Cooper, the 2015 GTS Driver’s Champion, holds a slim two-point lead in the driver’s championship over his teammate Johnny O’Connell, the four-time and defending 2015 GT Driver’s Champion. Cooper, with 362 championship points heading into the weekend, will pilot the Cadillac Racing No. 8 ATS-V.R GT3, while O’Connell, with 360 points, will drive the No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R GT3. O’Connell won in Round 2 at Circuit of the Americas, while Cooper looks for his first career GT win. You have to go back to 2011 to see another driver listed as the PWC GT champion. Porsche factory driver Patrick Long came out on top that season and he has returned to the series piloting the No. 31 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. Long won Round 1 at Circuit of the Americas, and the Manhattan Beach native comes into what is essentially his home race fifth overall in the championship. Long’s teammate – up-and-coming driver Michael Lewis – will drive the No. 41 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. Lewis, from Laguna Beach, California, comes off a tremendous St. Petersburg weekend where he scored back-to-back wins – his first two career GT wins. Lewis sits 3rd in the championship only 21 points behind Cooper. Long and Lewis will not only look to dethrone O’Connell, but help Porsche repeat as GT Manufacturer’s Champion in 2016. Porsche currently leads Cadillac by five points in the championship standings heading into Long Beach. Nissan Motorsports and Always Evolving return with two GT-R GT3s for JD Davison and Bryan Heitkotter. Davison comes into the weekend sixth in Driver’s Championship points – he will pilot the No. 33 AE Replay XD Nissan GT Academy Nissan GT-R GT3. Fresno, California’s Heitkotter will drive the No. 05 Always Evolving/Replay XD/Nissan Nismo GT3 GT-R and comes into the weekend 11th in the championship points standings. K-PAX Racing returns with three McLaren 650S GT3s for McLaren GT Factory Driver Alvaro Parente, McLaren GT Academy Driver and 2015 PWC GT Cup Driver’s Champion Colin Thompson, and young up-and-comer Austin Cindric. Parente comes into the series with an impressive racing resume including winning the 2005 British Formula 3 Championship, the 2007 World Series by Renault Championship and the 2015 International GT Open Championship – he will drive the No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S. Thompson dominated in GT Cup last year winning 13 of 18 class races and will pilot the No. 13 K-PAX Racing machine. Cindric has raced in a number of series previously including Mazda’s Road to Indy’s USF2000 series and the Global Rally Cross Championship and will pilot the No. 6 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S. Parente is fourth in the championship points standings while Thompson sits eighth.


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Sports car veteran Jon Fogarty enters his second year in PWC and will pilot the No. 99 Gainsco Auto Insurance / Bob Stallings Racing McLaren 650S. Fogarty’s impressive racing resume includes 16 career Rolex Series victories, while being the 2007 and 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Co-Champion. Fogarty finished 3rd in Round 2 at COTA and comes into the weekend seventh in the championship. Absolute Racing will run two Bentley Continental GT3s with Adderly Fong and Andrew Palmer piloting the cars. Fong won the 2013 Audi R8 LMS Cup and was Vice Champion of the 2015 GT Asia series, while Palmer returns to PWC last competing in the series in 2014 – Palmer was the 2015 North American Endurance Cup (LMPC) Driver’s Champion. Fong will drive the No. 88 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3, while Palmer drives the No. 87 machine. Palmer currently sits ninth in the championship. Rising sportscar racer Kyle Marcelli will drive the No. 2 CRP Racing Audi R8. Marcelli sits 10th overall in the GT Driver’s Championship coming into the weekend. Calvert Dynamics Racing enters the No. 78 Phoenix Performance Porsche 911 GT3 R for Andrew Davis. Davis comes off a 2015 campaign that saw him co-drive the Championship-winning car in the GS Class of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Championship. Among many racing accomplishments, the Athens, Georgia resident has an extensive history with Porsche, winning the 2011 Rolex GT Championship for the German manufacturer. Davis sits 13th in the driver’s championship. Seven-time series Driver’s Champion Peter Cunningham owns almost every statistical record in the series and will look to add to it in 2016 behind the wheel of the No. 42 Acura/HPD/RealTime Racing’s Acura TLX-GT. Cunningham’s teammate Ryan Eversley will run the No. 43 Acura/HPD/Red Line Oil/RealTime Acura TLX-GT and sits 12th overall coming into the weekend. An additional note on the Acura TLX-GT – the platform is now in line with FIA GT3 standards and moves from an all-wheel to a rear-wheel drive platform matching all of the other platforms in the GT class. Rounding out the 18-car GT field is Villa Park, California’s James Sofronas, piloting the No. 14 GMG/Spyder/Mobil 1/Thermal Club Porsche 911 GT3 R, and Los Angeles’ Duncan Ende, in the No. 67 Merchant Services LTD/Linospresso USA TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Sofronas won the Long Beach race back in 2009. Fuentes Leads GTA Driver’s Championship after Sweeping COTA and St. Petersburg – GTA Class Preview The GTA driver classification recognizes gentlemen drivers competing in GT class machinery. At season’s end, the GTA driver that accumulates the most points will be awarded the GTA Championship and the Sportsman Cup presented by B.R.M Chronographes. Along with the cup, a B.R.M championship chronograph will go to the champion. Martin Fuentes has had a great start to the 2016 season winning all four GTA races. He enters the weekend leading the GTA Driver’s Championship with 440 points and will pilot the No. 07 Hublot, Under Armour Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia. The 2015 GTA Driver’s Champion Frankie Montecalvo sits second in the championship with 374 points and will pilot the No. 66 DIME Racing Mercedes AMG SLS GT3. Montecalvo put together a dominating second half of 2015 winning seven of the final nine races and will be sure to challenge Fuentes throughout the 2016 season. The GTA field also includes Jorge De La Torre in the No. 4 De La Torre Racing Motor Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 (De La Torre sits sixth in the GTA championship coming into Long Beach); Bill


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Sweedler in the No. 11 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia; New Port, California’s Brent Holden, in the No. 44 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 and Santa Monica’s Tim Pappas in the No. 54 Papent.com Black Swan Racing Dodge Viper GT3-R. Event/Circuit: Streets of Long Beach: 11-turn 1.968-mile street course Qualifying: Saturday, April 16 8:40 AM – 8:55 AM Pirelli World Challenge Qualifying Group 1 9:00 AM – 9:15 AM Pirelli World Challenge Qualifying Group 2 Race Lengths: 50 minutes (GT/GTA) Sunday, April 17 GT/GTA Round 5: 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM All times listed above Pacific Television (on CBS Sports Network): On CBS Sports Network Sunday, April 17, 2pm Eastern

Driver Performance/Career Driver Statistics

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LAST NAME FIRST NAME STARTS WINS TOP 3 TOP 5 TOP

10 FQs

CAREER-BEST FINISH

YEAR & VENUE (MOST RECENT FOR MULTI WINNERS)

ALEXANDRIDIS JASON 4 0 0 0 0 0 12 16 COTA II, ST. PETERSBURG I GTS

ANDERSON KEVIN 20 0 5 6 16 0 2 15 RD AM I, LS III TCA; 14 THUNDERBOLT I & II TOURING CAR

ASCHENBACH LAWSON 81 19 46 59 76 11 1 16 COTA I GTS BALLARD RON 2 0 0 0 0 0 13 16 COTA I, II GTS BARKEY MARTIN 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 16 COTA I GTS BICKERS JOEY 2 0 1 2 2 0 3 16 COTA II TOURING CAR A BOWLIN WALT 11 0 0 0 1 0 6 16 COTA I GTA BURNS STEVE 12 0 0 1 8 0 4 15 MILLER PARK III TOURING CAR BYRNE PATRICK 2 0 0 0 0 0 12 15 LAGUNA SECA GTS CALVERT PRESTON 39 0 2 7 22 0 3 16 ST. PETERSBURG I, II GT CUP CARINI GINO 8 0 0 1 4 1 4 15 ROAD AMERICA I TOURING CAR A CHAPONICK, JR. DORE 4 0 0 1 3 0 5 16 ST. PETERSBURG I GTS CHASE PARKER 4 0 2 4 4 0 3 16 COTA I , ST. PETERSBURG II GTS CINDRIC AUSTIN 7 0 0 1 2 0 5 16 ST. PETERSBURG I GT

COOPER MICHAEL 47 14 23 32 42 11 1 15 COTA II, M-O I, MLR PK II, SNMA II GTS; 13 TOR I/II, M-O I/II TC

COURTNEY JEFF 99 0 0 5 43 0 4 10 MILLER PARK GT; 06 MID-OHIO TOURING CAR CUNNINGHAM PETER 258 43 118 158 205 50 1 12 LAGUNA SECA, MID-OHIO I GTS DAVIS ANDREW 4 0 0 0 3 0 6 16 COTA II GT DAVISON JAMES 24 2 9 12 18 1 1 15 BARBER PARK I, ROAD AMERICA III GT DE BOER DEREK 11 0 0 1 5 0 5 16 COTA I GTS DE LA TORRE JORGE 25 0 0 0 2 0 6 16 COTA II GTA DOLLAHITE SCOTT 2 0 1 2 2 1 3 16 COTA II GTS DRENGLER JASPER 2 0 0 0 2 0 10 16 COTA I, II TOURING CAR B ENDE DUNCAN 37 0 1 5 13 0 2 13 SEARS POINT GT ESAYIAN NICK 152 2 13 24 83 0 1 14 MILLER PARK I, 10 VIR I GTS ESPENLAUB CHARLES 93 1 9 22 44 4 1 05 MOSPORT TC EVERSLEY RYAN 28 3 3 4 18 1 1 15 ST. PETE I GT; 10 MID-OHIO I & II TOURING CAR FASSNACHT MATTHEW 2 0 0 0 2 0 7 16 COTA II TOURING CAR A

FERGUS COREY 22 3 8 17 20 2 1 15 CTMP (MOSPORT) II & III, LAGUNA SECA II TOURING CAR


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LAST NAME FIRST NAME STARTS WINS TOP 3 TOP 5 TOP 10

FQs CAREER-BEST

FINISH


FICHTER JASON 34 0 2 6 31 0 2 15 COTA III, 14 MOSPORT II TOURING CAR B FLORES RICARDO 2 0 0 0 0 0 16 16 COTA II TOURING CAR FOGARTY JON 5 0 1 1 3 0 3 16 COTA II GT FONG ADDERLY 4 0 0 0 0 0 12 16 ST. PETERSBURG II GT

FRANCIS, JR. ERNIE 49 14 30 34 37 10 1 15 CTMP I, RAM III, M-O I, LS III TC; 3 2014 TCA & 7 13 TCB WINS

FUENTES MARTIN 24 4 4 4 6 4 1 16 COTA I, II, ST. PETERSBURG I, II GTA GALLAGHER PATRICK 3 0 0 0 1 0 6 16 COTA II TOURING CAR GAPLES TONY 153 0 2 7 81 0 2 05 SEARS POINT GT GERACI ANTHONY 2 0 0 0 1 0 9 16 COTA I TOURING CAR GIBBONS SEAN 2 0 0 0 2 0 9 16 ST. PETERSBURG II GTS GOULART ELIVAN 4 2 3 3 4 3 1 16 COTA I TCA; 15 CTMP (MOSPORT) I TC

GRAHOVEC TOBY 14 2 8 8 12 1 1 16 COTA II TOURING CAR; 15 MID-OHIO III TOURING CAR A

GROENKE P.J. 50 0 2 10 42 1 3 14 MOSPORT III, 13 HOUSTON II TOURING CAR B

HALE RANDY 25 0 0 3 11 0 5 15 RD AM III, 14 THUNDERBOLT II, 13 LIME ROCK II TOURING CAR

HARDEMAN WILL 2 0 2 2 2 0 3 16 COTA I, II GT CUP HEITKOTTER BRYAN 31 0 5 7 20 2 2 16 COTA I GT

HOLBROOK SHEA 60 6 15 32 50 7 1 14 BARBER, TBOLT I & II, RD AM I, M-OH II TCA; 11 LONG B TC

HOUGH TED 5 1 1 2 3 2 1 16 COTA I TOURING CAR B IMPERATO ANTHONY 2 0 0 1 2 0 5 16 COTA II GT CUP JOHNSON MICHAEL 2 0 0 1 2 0 4 16 COTA I TOURING CAR B

JORDAN JOEY 8 4 5 5 6 2 1 15 MILLER PARK III, LAGUNA SECA I, II, III TOURING CAR B

KEMPER DRAKE 2 0 0 1 1 0 5 16 COTA II TOURING CAR A KLEINUBING PIERRE 133 29 77 96 109 36 1 09 LAGUNA SECA TC KLENIN MARK 42 0 0 0 7 0 8 16 COTA II GTS KOHLI STEVE 8 0 0 1 4 0 5 15 MID-OHIO III TOURING CAR A

KOZAROV VESKO 25 8 12 12 15 4 1 16 COTA I, 15 COTA III, RD AM I, M-O II & III, MLR PK I, II, III TC

KRAUSS KEVIN 8 0 0 2 4 0 5 15 LAGUNA SECA II, III TOURING CAR LEWIS MICHAEL 24 2 2 8 15 2 1 16 ST. PETERSBURG I, II GT


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FQs

CAREER-BEST FINISH


LONG PATRICK 17 6 9 14 16 6 1 16 COTA I, 12 MILLER PK, 11 ST. PETE I & II, INFINEON I & II GT

MANTELLA ANTHONY 1 0 0 0 0 0 DQ 16 COTA I GTS MARCELLI KYLE 4 0 0 1 1 0 5 16 COTA II GT MARSHALL KEVIN 8 0 0 0 3 0 7 16 COTA II GTS MICHAELIAN BOB 1 0 0 0 0 0 17 16 COTA I GTS MILLS MICHAEL 18 0 2 2 7 0 2 16 COTA I GTA MOEN DANIEL 2 0 0 0 0 0 17 16 COTA II TOURING CAR MONTECALVO FRANK 24 0 3 4 12 0 2 16 COTA II, ST. PETERSBURG I, II GTA MORSE HENRY 2 0 2 2 2 0 3 16 COTA I, II TOURING CAR B O'CONNELL JOHNNY 83 18 40 56 74 17 1 16 COTA II, 15 CTMP I /II, MP I/II, 14 LB, DET I & II GT O'GORMAN TOM 8 0 4 6 6 0 2 16 COTA I, II, 15 LAGUNA SECA III TOURING CAR B PALMER ANDREW 20 1 4 9 17 1 1 14 BARBER PARK II GT PARENTE ALVARO 4 0 1 1 3 0 2 16 ST. PETERSBURG I GT PEGRAM LARRY 1 0 0 1 1 0 4 16 COTA II GTA

POLAND ADAM 29 3 14 22 28 5 1 15 LAGUNA SECA I, 14 ROAD AM II, MILLER PARK I TOURING CAR

POWELL ERIC 2 0 1 2 2 1 3 16 COTA I TOURING CAR A RAINS ANDREW 11 0 1 1 6 0 3 15 LAGUNA SECA III TOURING CAR A REGITZ DREW 42 0 2 3 10 0 3 14 MILLER PARK I & II GTS RIDDLE MAX 4 0 1 1 4 2 2 15 CTMP (MOSPORT) I GTS

RIVERA TONY 39 7 14 20 33 4 1 15 COTA I & II, RD AM I, II, III TCA; 09 SEBRING, ROAD AM GT

RODGERS WILL 2 1 1 1 1 0 1 16 COTA II TOURING CAR B ROUSH, JR. JACK 33 2 6 10 23 2 1 16 ST. PETERSBURG I, II GTS RYDQUIST CARL 5 0 1 1 1 1 3 16 COTA I TOURING CAR SALINSKY JAY 11 0 1 2 8 0 3 15 MID-OHIO III TOURING CAR B

SANDBERG BRETT 46 5 16 22 39 3 1 16 COTA II GTS; 13 COTA III, LIME ROCK I & II, HOUSTON I TC

SCHEIN MICHAEL 2 0 1 1 2 0 3 16 COTA I GTA

SCHWARTZ JOHAN 34 12 15 25 30 10 1 15 CTMP II/III, COTA I/II/III, M-O I/II/III, MP II, 14 BRD I & II, MP II TCB

SEGUIN PATRICK 47 0 14 24 39 2 2 15 CTMP III, MID-OHIO II & III, MILLER PARK I, II, III, LS I, II TCA


15


FQs

CAREER-BEST FINISH


SNADER AUSTIN 25 0 1 4 20 0 3 15 LAGUNA SECA III TOURING CAR

SOFRONAS JAMES 187 7 33 60 122 7 1 13 ST PETE II, LG B, COTA II, 10 M-O II, 09 LB, LS, 08 TBOLT GT

STACY NATHAN 35 1 9 15 26 2 1 14 MOSPORT III TOURING CAR B STREET PAUL 14 0 0 0 6 0 8 15 MID-OHIO II TOURING CAR TAAKE STEVE 10 0 0 0 1 0 9 16 COTA I TOURING CAR B

TAN SAMANTHA 19 0 0 4 18 0 4 15 CTMP (MOSPORT) II, MILLER PARK I TOURING CAR A

THOMPSON BLAKE 2 0 0 0 2 0 6 16 COTA I TOURING CAR B THOMPSON COLIN 22 13 17 18 21 16 1 15 LAGUNA SECA GTC & 12 OTHER 2015 GTC WINS TOUSSAINT JOSEPH 8 0 0 1 2 0 5 16 COTA II GTA

UDELL ALEC 66 4 21 30 51 2 1 16 COTA I, 15 MID-OHIO I, MILLER PARK I , SONOMA I GT CUP

URRY SLOAN 22 3 17 20 22 4 1 16 COTA II, ST. PETERSBURG I, II GT CUP WEISBERG JOHN 22 0 3 6 14 2 3 15 MID-OHIO I & II, MILLER PARK III TOURING CAR WELCH ALEX 37 0 3 9 24 0 2 15 MID-OHIO III TOURING CAR WHITING PAUL 8 0 0 3 8 0 4 15 MILLER PARK III TOURING CAR A WILLIAMS DANIEL 2 0 0 0 1 0 9 16 COTA II TOURING CAR A WILMOT PATRICK 2 0 0 0 2 0 8 16 COTA I TOURING CAR B WILSON JAMES 13 0 0 3 9 0 4 15 COTA I & III TOURING CAR B WITTMER NICK 10 1 5 6 9 3 1 10 TORONTO TOURING CAR

WOLFE JASON 34 14 24 30 34 5 1 16 COTA II, 15 COTA III, M-O I/II, MP I/II/III, LS I & III , 5 WINS 14 TCA

WRIGHT KRIS 19 0 1 8 15 0 3 15 MILLER PARK I TOURING CAR A

Driver/Manufacturer Points

16

2016 Championship Standings

Michael Cooper 362 Johnny O'Connell 360 Michael Lewis 341 Alvaro Parente 281 Patrick Long 273

Martin Fuentes 440 Frankie Montecalvo 374 Michael Mills 188 Michael Schein 158 Drew Regitz 156

Porsche 36 Cadillac 31 McLaren 21 Nissan 16 Audi 5 Bentley 5

Driver/Manufacturer Points

17

Driver/Manufacturer Statistics

18

2016 GT Manufacturer’s Statistics Wins

Ps. Manufacturer Wins

1. Porsche 3

Cadillac 1

Poles

Ps. Manufacturer Poles

1. Porsche 3

Nissan 1

Fast Race Laps

Ps. Manufacturer Fast Laps

1. Porsche 2

2. Cadillac 1

Nissan 1

2016 GT Driver’s Statistics Wins

Ps. Driver Wins

1. Michael Lewis 2

2. Patrick Long 1

Johnny O’Connell 1

Poles

Ps. Driver Poles

1. Michael Lewis 2

2. Patrick Long 1

Bryan Heitkotter 1

Fast Race Laps

Ps. Driver Fast Laps

1. Michael Lewis 2

2. Bryan Heitkotter 1

Michael Cooper 1

2016 GTA Driver’s Statistics

Wins

Ps. Driver Wins

1. Martin Fuentes 4

Poles

Ps. Driver Poles

1. Martin Fuentes 4

Fast Race Laps

Ps. Driver Fast Laps

1. Martin Fuentes 3

2. Frankie Montecalvo

1

Performance Charts

19

Pirelli World Challenge GT Driver’s Scoreboard

Winner’s Speed Fastest Speed Fastest Speed

Circuit Winner (mph) Qualifier (mph) Race Lap (mph)

COTA 1 Patrick Long 96.708 Patrick Long 99.14* Bryan Heitkotter 96. 739

COTA 2 Johnny O’Connell 96.926 Bryan Heitkotter 96.739 Michael Cooper 96. 941*

St. Petersburg 1 Michael Lewis 87.850 Michael Lewis 88.746* Michael Lewis 87.850

St. Petersburg 2 Michael Lewis 87.872 Michael Lewis 87.850 Michael Lewis 87.872

Long Beach

Barber 1

Barber 2

CTMP 1

CTMP 2

Lime Rock 1

Lime Rock 2

Road America 1

Road America 2

Mid-Ohio 1

Mid-Ohio 2

Utah 1

Utah2

Sonoma 1

Sonoma 2

MRLS * - Denotes Track Record

Pirelli World Challenge GT Season At-A-Glance

DATE CIRCUIT

RACE DISTANCE # OF # OF # OF # OF # OF VIC MARGIN # OF LEAD

(MILES) LPS ENT. QUAL. ST. FIN. (SEC.) CHG

March 4-6 COTA 1 78. 913 23 19 19 19 19 2.107 0

March 4-6 COTA 2 75.482 22 18 18 18 17 6.069 1

March 11-13 St. Pete. 1 72 40 17 17 17 16 10.113 0

March 11-13 St. Pete. 2 52.2 29 17 17 17 17 1.298 0

April 15-17 Long Beach

April 22-24 Barber 1


May 27-28 CTMP 1

May 27-28 CTMP 2

May 27-28 Lime Rock

May 27-28 Lime Rock

June 23-26 Road Amer. 1


July 29-30 Mid-Ohio 1


August 12-14 Miller 1

August 12-14 Miller 2

Sept. 16-18 Sonoma 1


Oct. 7-9 MRLS

Total 278.595 114 71 71 71 70 19.587 1

Average 69.648 28.50 17.75 17.75 17.75 17.5 4.896 .5

Performance Charts

20

Pirelli World Challenge GTA Driver’s Scoreboard

Winner’s Speed Fastest Speed Fastest Speed

Circuit Winner (mph) Qualifier (mph) Race Lap (mph)

COTA 1 Martin Fuentes 95.624 Martin Fuentes 98. 298* Martin Fuentes 95.624

COTA 2 Martin Fuentes 96.525 Martin Fuentes 95.624 Martin Fuentes 96.525*

St. Petersburg 1 Martin Fuentes 86.378 Martin Fuentes 87.914* Martin Fuentes 86.378*

St. Petersburg 2 Martin Fuentes 85.994 Martin Fuentes 86.378 Frankie Montecalvo 86.355

Long Beach

Barber 1

Barber 2

CTMP 1

CTMP 2

Lime Rock 1

Lime Rock 2

Road America 1

Road America 2

Mid-Ohio 1

Mid-Ohio 2

Utah 1

Utah2

Sonoma 1

Sonoma 2

MRLS * - Denotes Track Record

Pirelli World Challenge GTA Season At-A-Glance

DATE CIRCUIT

RACE DISTANCE # OF # OF # OF # OF # OF VIC MARGIN # OF LEAD

(MILES) LPS ENT. QUAL. ST. FIN. (SEC.) CHG

March 4-6 COTA 1 78.913 23 6 6 6 6 16.616 0

March 4-6 COTA 2 75.482 22 6 6 6 6 8.576 0

March 11-13 St. Pete. 1 72 40 2 2 2 2 5.459 0

March 11-13 St. Pete. 2 52.2 29 2 2 2 2 1.831 0

April 15-17 Long Beach



May 27-28 CTMP 1

May 27-28 CTMP 2

May 27-28 Lime Rock

May 27-28 Lime Rock





August 12-14 Utah 1

August 12-14 Utah 2



Oct. 7-9 MRLS

Total 278.595 114 16 16 16 16 32.482 0

Average 69.648 28.5 4 4 4 4 8.1205 0

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Last Time at Long Beach

Beretta Wins in GT at Long Beach. Lewis and Thompson Score GTA and GT Cup Wins LONG BEACH, Calif. – Olivier Beretta of Monte Carlo won the Round 5 GT Streets of Long Beach race, at the Pirelli World Challenge ‘Roar by the Shore’ presented by Replay XD, part of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Michael Lewis, of Laguna Beach, CA won in GTA, while Colin Thompson, of Doylestown, PA won in the GT Cup presented by MOMO class. For Beretta, it is his third win of the 2015 season. Lewis and Thompson each scored their fourth wins of the season. From the standing start, pole-sitter Beretta, in the No. 61 Ferrari of Ontario/Toronto/Alberta R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia took the lead into turn 1. Johnny O’Connell, of Flowery Branch, GA, in the No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V R GT3, who started third, passed second-on-the-grid Kevin Estre, of Lochau, Austria, in the No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3. Ryan Dalziel, of Windermere, FL, who started fourth in the EFFORT Racing/World PMO Porsche 911 GT3R tucked in behind coming out of turn 1. Lewis, in the No. 41 EFFORT Racing/ Curb-Agajanian Porsche 911 GT3R led in GTA. Behind the leaders, Bret Curtis, of Austin, TX, in the No. 32 Turner Motorsports/SPECTRA Resources Corp/United Steel Supply/Valspar Paint BMW E89 Z4 GT3 stalled and his car remained wounded on the front straight bringing out a full-course yellow. In GT Cup, Thompson, in the No. 11 Porsche of Bucks County/Penn Valley Constructors/Sherwin Williams Automotive Finishes/Austin Hatcher Foundation Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup maintained his position from pole in class as the race went yellow off of the start due to the stalled car of Curtis. Off of the lap 2 restart, Beretta led O’Connell, while Dalziel got around Estre for third. Ryan Eversley, of Atlanta, GA, in the No. 43 RealTime/Acura Motorsports/HPD Acura TLX-GT following in behind in fifth. Behind the leaders, contact between the No. 05 of Bryan Heitkotter, of Fresno, CA, and the No. 20 Bentley/ Breitling/Mobil1 Team Bentley Dyson Racing Bentley Continental GT3 of Butch Leitzinger, of Rebersburg, PA coming out of turn 5 resulted in a damaged No. 20 car sitting on the track bringing out a full- course yellow. The incident resulted in a drive through penalty for Heitkotter. In GTA, Lewis maintained his lead ahead of Martin Fuentes, of Mexico City, MX in the No. 07 Hublot/ Samsung/Under Armour/Telcel Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia. Lewis sat 7th overall in GT with Fuentes 8th. In GT Cup, an incident through turn 11 under the yellow collected Thompson moving Sloan Urry, of Salt Lake City, UT, in the No. 2 Engel & Volkers TruSpeed Autosport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup into the lead in class. On the lap 7 restart, Beretta held his lead over O’Connell into turn 1, while Estre made a deft pass over Dalziel to grab third. Eversley slotted in behind them in fifth. Lewis maintained his lead in GTA and 7th overall in the race with a great restart, while Fuentes remained in second and 9th overall. Thompson had a tremendous restart and rocketed up to first over Urry and Phil Fogg Jr., of Portland, OR, in the No. 18 Zoro/ Truspeed TruSpeed Autosport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Another full-course yellow occurred on lap 9 when Robert Thorne, of Littleton, CO, in the No. 6 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 went too deep into turn 11 and contacted the No. 66 DragonSpeed Bayshore Racing Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS GT3 of Frank Montecalvo, of Highlands, NJ. Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, FL in the No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-VR GT3 was also collected in the incident. The incident left Montecalvo’s car wounded on the front straight. Thorne received a drive through penalty for the incident. On the Lap 14 restart, Beretta again won the drag race to turn 1 over O’Connell, with Estre, and Dalziel holding positions. A big mover on the restart was Chris Dyson, of Pleasant Valley, NY in the No. 16 Bentley/ Breitling/Mobil 1 Team Bentley Dyson Racing Bentley Continental GT3 who moved up to fifth. A full-course yellow was issued shortly after the restart as Beretta, O’Connell and Estre went three wide through turns 7 and 8. Beretta went under both O’Connell and Estre on the inside through turn 8. Without the room to have all three cars go through cleanly, O’Connell and Estre contacted and went into the tires at turn 8. Beretta was able to get through with Dalziel now into second and Dyson into third.

- 22 -


On the Lap 16 restart, Beretta led Dalziel and Dyson, with Lewis still leading over Fuentes in GTA and Thompson still leading Urry. On lap 20 another full-course yellow was issued for an incident with multiple cars at turn 11. On the restart, Dyson got a great jump and passed Dalziel to take over second through turn 1. Dyson earned the Cadillac ATS-VR Move of the Race for the move. Lewis jumped up to fourth overall on the restart. As the checkers flew, Beretta won over Dyson in second, and Dalziel third. Lewis won over Fuentes, with Eric Lux, of Buffalo, NY, in the No. 08 Rembrandt Charms/Monticello Motor Club DragonSpeed Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS GT3 in third. Lux won the Optima Batteries Best Standing Start Award for gaining four positions off of the start. In GT Cup presented by MOMO, Thompson won, with Mitch Landry, of Lake Charles, LA, in the No. 97 Deep South/VersaCrane Landry Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in second, and Victor Gomez, of San Juan, Puerto Rico in the No. 81 Porsche San Juan DragonSpeed Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, in third. Urry, ended up in fifth. Of note, James Sofronas, of Pound Ridge, NY, in the No. 14 GMG Racing/Spyder/Mobil 1 Audi R8 LMS Ultra was awarded the VP Racing Fuels Hard Charger Award for gaining 14 positions during the race. JD Davison, of St. Petersburg, FL, in the No. 33 AE/ReplayXD/NISSAN NISMO GT-R GT3 was awarded the Invisible Glass Clean Pass of the Race Award for moving up from 15th to sixth on the lap 2 restart. The MOMO Turning Point of the GT Cup Race was the turn 11 incident that collected Thompson and shuffled the lead to Urry. “It was difficult because each time you went under yellow, you had to restart everything,” said Beretta. “Each time on the restart, it is a challenge. I’m happy with the result, I just feel sorry for Johnny (O’Connell) — we went three wide into the corner and there was contact. I am sorry for him — I don’t think it was my mistake, it was just that on a street race right there, we could not be three wide. This is a very good series, a very good championship. I have a very good team, they work very hard to give me this car. It is good for Ferrari. This is the last year for this 458 Italia, so we need to win the most that we can.” “It’s been a really great season in the Porsche so far and I want to thank my team owner Mr. Toups who is always enthusiastic as is the team,” said Lewis. “Honestly, the fourth place overall I wasn’t really expecting. I was driving around in 7th and focused on the GTA race with Fuentes who was pressuring on the restarts. The wide track into narrow spaces made it a challenge to work through. And with those corners were some tangles around me. With all of the restarts, we were just trying to survive. Really pleased on the win in front of my home crowd. Congratulations to my teammate (Dalziel) on his podium. The Porsches are really hooked up. I can’t thank my team enough for the support on the restarts.” “The Kelly-Moss boys put on a great show in the garage which allows me to put on a great show on the track,” said Thompson. “We were just focused on the same type of expectations as we went into St. Petersburg. We know that the only way to get the victory is to survive and play it safe during the race. We were just thinking about the championship and if it meant losing victory today, then we were prepared to give up a position on the track.” With the win, Beretta builds his championship points lead over Dalziel (572-514) in GT, with Lewis continuing to lead in GTA. In GT Cup, Thompson leads over Trefethen (603-449).

- 23 -


- 24 -


25 -

2016 Race Recaps

Lewis, Fuentes and Urry Sweep Weekend at St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Fla. – Michael Lewis scored his second straight flag-to-flag GT victory in Sunday’s Round 4 race at the Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Martin Fuentes and Sloan Urry also swept the weekend in GTA and GT Cup respectively. The 50-minute race was held under overcast skies in 75-degree temperatures. When the green flag flew, pole-sitter Lewis, in the No. 41 EFFORT Racing/Curb-Agajanian Porsche 911 GT3 R launched cleanly into the lead. Fourth-on-the-grid JD Davison, in the No. 33 Nissan/GT Academy Nissan GT-R GT3 moved up into second, while second-on-the-grid Alvaro Parente, in the No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S pursued in third. Patrick Long, in the No. 31 EFFORT Racing/World PMO Porsche 911 GT3 R rocketed into fourth from his seventh starting position. In GTA, Fuentes, in the 07 Hublot/Under Armour Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia led in class, while Urry, in the No. 20 Security National/Avasis Porsche 911 GT3 Cup led in GT Cup. On lap 2, Race Control issued a full-course yellow as the No. 00 Byers Porsche/US LED Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Corey Fergus contacted the wall through turn 4. The car sustained heavy damage. Fergus was taken to medical as a precaution but was released. At the yellow, Lewis led over Davison, Parente, Long, and Michael Cooper, in the No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R. Fuentes maintained his lead in GTA 16th position overall in the race, ahead of Frankie Montecalvo, 17th overall and second in class in the No. 66 DIME R&D Mercedes AMG SLS GT3. In GT Cup, Urry continued to lead over Alec Udell, in the No. 17 Amsource Capital/Panther Pipeline Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, and Preston Calvert, in the No. 77 Calvert Dynamics/Phoenix Performance machine. After a lengthy delay to repair a track barrier that had been moved by the contact with the No. 00 car, the race went green with just over 18 minutes remaining. From the lap 16 restart, Lewis again launched cleanly into lead, with Davison, and Long in pursuit. Johnny O’Connell, in the No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R. picked up fourth in front of his teammate Cooper. Fuentes and Urry remained in the lead in their respective classes. By lap 19, Lewis had built a 1.2-second lead over Davison. Further back in the field, an intense battle developed with Parente, Ryan Eversley, piloting the No. 43 Acura/HPD/Red Line Oil/RealTime Acura TLX-GT, and Andrew Palmer, in the No. 87 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3 jockeying for position in sixth, seventh and eighth. As the group entered turn 1, Parente and Palmer came together resulting in a spin for the No. 9 machine. As oncoming drivers avoided the No. 9 car, Austin Cindric in the No. 6 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S contacted with Adderly Fong, in the No. 88 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3. Cindric’s machine contacted the wall and a full-course yellow was issued. Cindric was not injured. The race went green again with just two minutes remaining and Lewis again launched cleanly into the lead, with Davison in second. Long would go deep into turn 1 and Cooper was able to slide underneath for third. Long was able to hold off O’Connell and slotted into fourth. At the checkered, Lewis scored his second career PWC GT win in as many days, while Fuentes and Urry also collected their second straight wins on the weekend. Davison and Cooper finished second, and third in GT. Udell and Calvert finished second and third in GT Cup. Of note, the Optima Batteries Best Start Award went to Long for gaining three positions on the first lap of the race. Cooper won the Cadillac ATS.V.R Move of the Race for his pass over teammate O’Connell. Palmer was awarded the VP Racing Fuels Hard Charger for gaining seven positions during the race. “First off, thank you so much to EFFORT Racing, Porsche and Curb/Agajanian Racing for the 2016 season and putting me in the car,” said Lewis. “Today’s race was very hectic. It was a great weekend for me. It’s not easy to win one race, let alone two. You never know when you will win the next one. So we’ll soak this one up a little tonight. We knew everyone was going to be better in the second race after the other teams looked over their data from race one. It’s going to be to a dog fight at Long Beach now too. My restarts were not as strong as Saturday in terms of getting into the first corner. Other guys were really throwing their cars into turn one today. It was important to get through that first corner and I could then set my sights on hitting my marks. The restart battles were key today. I hope the drivers in the crashes are okay. Those were hard hits. Great job by the marshalls today. The rubber was different on the track from the IndyCar race before ours. My team was on the radio to me to watch my brakes and tires on the restart. They wanted me to get the heat inside the tires and not just on top.” “Today’s race was more complicated than Saturday’s race,” said Fuentes. “I don’t know why the second race of a weekend is more challenging than the first race. We were trying to stay away from the crashes in front of us and have a

26 -

2016 Race Recaps

clean race. We were able to move up the field and I was fighting a little overheating again. With the yellow flags, we came out with a little luck today. We always know that luck is part of racing. So winning our fourth race in a row is a tribute to the Scuderia Corsa team. We are very happy to leave St. Petersburg with double wins and move to Long Beach now.” “It was a lot more difficult race today,” said Urry. “All of the restarts were tough and I had to open the gap. I knew Alec (Udell) was hungry to go for the win today. He really raced me clean. He really shocked me with his pace today. To be honest, I had to run qualifying laps to stay in the front. There was no messing around. It was a great weekend for the TruSpeed Security National Mortgage team. The restarts were difficult today due to the rubber from the IndyCar race.” Results are provisional until posted final. Unofficially, Cooper leads in GT Driver’s Championship points, Fuentes and Urry lead in GTA and GT Cup. GT, GTA and GT Cup drivers now get set for Round 5 of the 2016 season at Long Beach and the Cadillac Roar by the Shore, presented by Replay XD, April 15-17. Watch expanded coverage of the races from St. Petersburg on CBS Sports Network, March 20, at 12 noon Eastern.

27 -

2016 Race Recaps

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2016 Race Recaps

Lewis Victorious in GT Round 3 at St. Petersburg. Fuentes and Urry Win in GTA and GT Cup St. Petersburg, Fla. – Michael Lewis scored a flag-to-flag GT victory in Saturday’s Round 3 race at the Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Martin Fuentes and Sloan Urry won in GTA and GT Cup respectively. The 50-minute race was held under partly cloudy skies and 71-degree temperatures. When the green flag flew, pole-sitter Lewis, in the No. 41 EFFORT Racing/Curb-Agajanian Porsche 911 GT3 R, launched cleanly into the lead through turn 1, with second-on-the-grid Alvaro Parente, in the No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 slotting into second, and third-on-the-grid Johnny O’Connell, in the No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R. in third. O’Connell’s teammate Michael Cooper, in the No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R. followed in 4th. In GTA, pole sitter Fuentes, in the No. 07 Hublot/Under Armour Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia slotted into first in class and 12th overall in the race, while GT Cup pole sitter Urry, in the No. 20 Security National/Avasis Porsche 911 GT3 Cup led over Alec Udell, in the No. 17 Amsource Capital/Panther Pipeline machine. Of note, Patrick Long, in the No. 31 EFFORT Racing/World PMO Porsche 911 GT3 R started from the back of the field in 19th after the team worked tiredlessly to repair his car following the significant damage the machine sustained in Round 2 last Sunday at Circuit of the Americas. With repairs ongoing, Long was unable to take to the track for Round 3 qualifying completed on Friday. By lap 5, Lewis had built a .968-second lead over Parente and a 3.5-second lead over O’Connell in third place. Lewis continued to open up the gap and by lap 13 led Parente by over 2.045 seconds, with O’Connell running 6.6 seconds behind. In GTA, Frankie Montecalvo, in the No. 66 DIME R&D Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS GT3 closed the gap to two seconds on Fuentes with the two running 16th and 17th overall in the race. Urry still led over Udell by just under a second in GT Cup. On lap 15, Montecalvo dropped a few positions after spinning in turn 4. The car did not contact the wall and he resumed under power. By lap 21, Lewis continued to lead Parente with the gap up to four-seconds with O’Connell still in third, Cooper in fourth and 17-year-old Austin Cindric, in the No. 6 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 in fifth. A hard charging Long had moved up to 10th. Further back in the field an intense battle raged with Andrew Palmer, in the No. 87 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3 and Ryan Eversley, in the No. 43 Acura/HPD/Red Line Oil/RealTime Acura TLX-GT going door-to-door for a number of laps vying for 8th with the drivers trading the position back and forth. Long joined the battle and was able to get around both. At the checkered, Lewis scored his first career GT win, over ten-seconds ahead of Parente in second. O’Connell finished third, Cooper fourth and Cindric fifth. Fuentes and Urry took their third straight wins of the season in GTA and GT Cup respectfully. Long finished in seventh, gaining 12 positions overall during the race to secure the VP Racing Fuels Hard Charger Award. Long also won the Optima Batteries Best Start award for gaining three positions on the first lap of the race. Lewis registered the fastest lap during the race and will start on pole for Round 4. Fuentes and Urry also secured the poles for tomorrow’s race with fastest laps in their respective classes. The Cadillac ATS.V Move of the Race was awarded to Eversley for his pass on Adderly Fong, in the No. 88 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3. “It is so special to be sitting in victory lane especially with the overall win,” said Lewis. “The race was a tough one with no yellow flags and it was flat out all the way. I knew that Alvaro (Parente) had a quick car in the McLaren but our EFFORT Racing Porsche was just a terrific car today. I had some pressure in the first five laps. My engineers said just to keep my head down and don’t worry about the things behind you. It was hot out there and I wanted to hit my marks every time. I was actually preparing for a restart because I was sure there was going to be a yellow flag or a green-white-checkered situation. So I was trying to conserve my tires for a late race caution. Starting from pole position really makes things so much easier for the race. So qualifying is extremely important here or any street course. We look at video from practice to qualifying to the race and study the track. A lot of the work starts before we get to the track, then throughout the weekend. I want to thank Patrick Long for his mentoring and assistance in setting up the car. He couldn’t qualify for today’s race due to the crash at COTA last week but he did a super job driving through the field for seventh. He would have been right up there if he could have qualified yesterday. Following the COTA events last weekend, the team did a spectacular job preparing my car as well as rebuilding Patrick’s Porsche. Just a sensational effort by the EFFORT Racing team this week.”

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2016 Race Recaps

“This was a very difficult race for us today. We had overheating problems in the middle of the race,” said Fuentes. “We saw that Montecalvo, my closest competitor, was falling back a little so I slowed the pace. It helped the car too since I shut off the all of the air conditioning to cool things inside the car. So it was a hot race for me today. With the walls of a street circuit, the air doesn’t get to the car as well and overheating can be a problem here. As usual, Scuderia Corsa gave me a great car and it feels great to win our third race in a row. Again, just like COTA, I was in the mix the GT cars and they were really fighting for their positions. I needed to be careful around them and not get in an incident due to their battles.” “It was a pretty straight forward race for us today,” said Urry. “We had a great car right out of the trailer. I was very impressive how quick the car was immediately. We had the race to lose today and I felt confident. I just drove it like qualifying with my head down. I made one mistake that I’m not too happy about. But luckily I had a big enough gap that it didn’t matter. It’s great to get the win for Security National Mortgage here. Results are provisional until posted final. GT, GTA and GT Cup drivers now get set for Round 4 of the 2016 season. Watch the race live at motortrendondemand.com starting at 3:15 p.m. Eastern Sunday. Follow live timing and scoring at world-challenge.com.

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O’Connell, Fuentes and Urry Win Round 2 in GT/GTA/GT Cup at COTA Austin, Texas – Johnny O’Connell, Martin Fuentes and Sloan Urry scored victories at the Circuit of the Americas in GT, GTA and GT Cup respectively, in Round 2 of the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge season at the Nissan Grand Prix of Texas presented by VP Racing Fuels. With the green flag out, Bryan Heitkotter, in the No. 05 AE Replay XD Nissan GT Academy Always Evolving/Replay XD/Nissan Nismo GT3 GT-R, led from pole on the rolling start but contact between Saturday winner Patrick Long, in the No. 31 EFFORT Racing Porsche GT3, and JD Davison, in the No. 33 AE Replay XD Nissan GT Academy Nissan GTR GT3, led to Long’s car sliding into the wall at the end of the front straight bringing out a full-course caution. Long exited the No. 31 car under his own power immediately following the incident. On the restart with 40 minutes to go in the 50-minute race, Davison took the lead from his Nissan teammate but was soon issued a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for avoidable contact with Long off the start. That penalty gave Heitkotter the lead back over Cadillac teammates Johnny O’Connell, in the No. 3, and Michael Cooper, in the No. 8, with Alvaro Parente, in the No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S, behind them. GTA pole-sitter Fuentes, driving the No. 07 Scuderia Corsa Hublot Under Armour Ferrari 458 Italia, led in class slotting into the 7th overall position in the race, with Frankie Montecalvo, in the No. 66 DIME Racing Dime R&D Mercedes AMG SLS GT3, in second (10th overall), and Michael Schein, in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche GT3-R, third in class (16th overall). The GT Cup class saw pole-sitter Urry, in the No. 22 TruSpeed Autosport Security National Mortgage/Avasis Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, hold the lead over Alec Udell, in the No. 17 GMG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, and Austin-based driver Will Hardeman, in the No. 18 WPD/Moorespeed Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The 20-minute mark of the race saw Heitkotter continue to manage a five-tenth-of-a-second lead over O’Connell, with Cooper and Parente following. In fifth it was Andrew Palmer, in the No. 87 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3, who was just ahead of Kyle Marcelli, in the No. 2, CRP Racing Audi R8. A little further back, Jon Fogarty, in the No. 99 Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing McLaren 650S GT3, passed Austin Cindric, in the No. 6 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S, for 10th. In GTA, the lead margin was six seconds with Fuentes ahead of Montecalvo, while Urry was managing a three-second lead on Udell in GT Cup, with Hardeman running third in class. The half-way point continued to see a challenge at the front of the field with Heitkotter holding off O’Connell and Cooper as the pace at the front continued to pick up. Fogarty continued his moves as well, passing Colin Thompson, in the No. 13 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S, for eighth. With 17 minutes to go, O’Connell pounced going through turn 13, passing Heitkotter for the lead and then pulling a gap. The pass earned O’Connell the Cadillac ATS-V Move of the Race Award. That allowed Cooper to challenge Heitkotter for second, as Parente also closed on the two and then went around both the Nissan and the Cadillac for second as a multi-car battle erupted. Through turn 12, Palmer followed Parente, while Heitkotter slowed and then entered pit road with a suspected flat tire. Moments later, Parente was handed a drive-through penalty from race control for exceeding track limits, which promoted Palmer to second ahead of Cooper. Palmer then received the black flag for exceeding racing limits as well, also putting him on pit road for a drive-through penalty. As the field shuffled at the front, O’Connell, series GT Champion for the last four years, opened a gap over Cooper in second. Marcelli was up to third ahead of Fogarty and Thompson. Fogarty’s Gainsco car continued to move forward, catching Marcelli with six minutes to go in the race. Using traffic to his advantage, Fogarty passed Marcelli for third position slotting in behind the two Cadillacs. In GTA, Montecalvo continued to close on Fuentes, bringing the gap down to 2.5 seconds, but not getting any closer, while a similar race was unfolding in GT Cup, with Udell closing in on Urry for the race lead. O’Connell would go on to take the victory ahead of Cooper in second and Fogarty completing the podium. The last lap saw Thompson execute a solid maneuver on Marcelli on the outside, exiting turn 1, to take over the fourth position. Marcelli finished fifth on the day.

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In GTA, Fuentes won his second straight race in as many days finishing sixth overall, with Montecalvo in second, ninth overall, followed by Mills, third in class and 15th in the final order. In GT Cup, Urry scored his first career PWC win, with Udell and Hardeman completing the podium. “The key for us was to get a decent start,” said O’Connell. “Saturday (Round 1) I managed to go from third to ninth in the first corner as everyone seemed to be doing a rim shot on the outside. Today was better in turn one as I went from third to third. I thought there might be a penalty for the 33 Nissan (Davison) as he went on the far outside to pass me. When I saw the misfortune that Patrick Long had (with the front straight crash), I knew this was an important day. Patrick is a top line driver with a great team. When you see something like that happen, you need to make the most of it. You have to connect the dots. Heitkotter did an amazing job leading that race. I had an idea in my mind how the pass would go and I was doing little things to try and setup the pass for the lead. It took me a lot of time to get in position to make things right for the pass. I was able to set up the pass in turn 12 with more momentum. I faked like I was going left and went right. Then I didn’t want to make any mistakes. Then you hope everyone behind starts battling among themselves and they slow each other down. That is pretty much what happened. I’m very proud of everyone at Cadillac. They dug deep and it’s a good way to start the season.” “I can’t complain about the weekend at all. Winning both poles and both races,” said Fuentes. “The Scuderia Corsa Ferrari team gave me a tremendous car all weekend. Today’s race saw me in the middle of the GT fight with some of the McLarens, Audis and others. They were really fighting each other hard today. I think I wore out my tires a little too much early in the race. The car was moving around quite a bit at the end of the race. I just wanted to keep the car under me and be smooth. The street circuit in St. Pete is next and anything can happen there. So we really wanted to score as many points as possible this weekend at COTA. Our goal is the championship and we need score points each weekend and on a consistent basis. Overall, it was a great weekend for us.” “It feels amazing to take my first Porsche GT Cup win here at COTA,” said Urry. “Last year was a little frustrating by not getting on the winner’s podium. So today is very special. I’d like to be up here many more times. Our race was pretty clean. I took the lead and had to battle Alec (Udell) in the early portion of the race. He put the pressure on me the whole race. I knew I couldn’t make any mistakes. Of note, Montecalvo earned the Optima Batteries Best Start Award advancing 11 positions at the start of the race as well as the VP Fuels Racing Hard Charger Award for gaining 10 positions overall in the race. Catch all the action from COTA on an expanded CBS Sports Network broadcast, scheduled for Sunday, March 13 at 10:30 a.m. eastern. Unofficially, O’Connell leads in GT Driver’s Championship points, while Fuentes leads in GTA, and Urry in GT Cup. GT, GTA and GT Cup teams next take to the track on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, for Rounds 3 and 4, March 11-13, with live timing available on world-challenge.com and live video on motortrendondemand.com.

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Long, Fuentes and Udell Open GT/GTA/GT Cup 2016 Season with Wins at COTA Austin, Texas – Patrick Long, Martin Fuentes and Alec Udell took GT, GTA and GT Cup victories, respectively, in Round 1 of the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge season at the Nissan Grand Prix of Texas brought to you by VP Racing Fuels at the Circuit of the Americas. Long, in the No. 31 EFFORT Racing Porsche GT3, led into turn one from the pole on a rolling start as the field spread out four and five wide dramatically behind him. Charging on Long’s No. 31 from behind was Bryan Heitkotter, in the No. 05 AE Replay XD Nissan GT Academy Always Evolving/Replay XD/Nissan Nismo GT3 GT-R, who took over the lead with an outside maneuver exiting turn 1, earning him the Cadillac ATS-V Move of the Race Award. Heitkotter also was awarded the Optima Batteries Best Standing Start for improving five positions on the opening lap. In GTA, pole-sitter Martin Fuentes, driving the No. 07 Scuderia Corsa Hublot Underarmour Ferrari 458 Italia, led from the start with 2014 GTA Champion Michael Mills, driving the No. 46 Mills Racing BMW Z4, in second and Michael Schein, in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche GT3-R., in third early. In the GT Cup class, Udell, in the No. 17 GMG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, took the lead on the rolling start from pole-sitter Sloan Urry, in the No. 22 TruSpeed Autosport Security National Mortgage/Avasis Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, with Austin-based driver Will Hardeman, in the No. 18 WPD/Moorespeed Porsche 911 GT3 Cup following in third. By the end of lap one, Urry had regained the lead from Udell. Contact on the opening lap between James Sofronas, in the No. 14 GMG Racing GMG/Spyder/Mobil 1/Thermal Club Porsche 911 GT3 R, and Duncan Ende, driving the No. 67 TRG-AMR Merchant Services LTD/Linospresso USA Aston Martin Vantage GT3, brought out a short full course caution as both cars sat damaged. The No. 90 Autometrics Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Joseph Toussaint also had to be removed from the track after incurring a bent right-front corner suspension. With the green flag back in the air with 39 minutes to go in the 50-minute race, Heitkotter kept the lead in GT as the battling got dramatic behind him, with Long holding second ahead of Michael Cooper, in the No. 8 Cadillac Racing ATS-V.R and JD Davison, in the No. 33 AE Replay XD Nissan GT Academy Nissan GTR GT3. Davison then passed Cooper later on in the restart lap and then started to challenge Long for second. GTA saw Fuentes hold down the lead as Schein passed Mills for second, as those two were running 19th and 20th overall, with Fuentes a bit further up the track in 13th overall. On the move early in GT was Michael Lewis, in the No. 41 EFFORT Racing Porsche GT3, who had worked his way up to fifth after just five laps, having started in ninth. In GT Cup, Urry remained in the lead over Udell and Hardeman, with Alex Welch, driving the No. 08 GMG Red Beard Racing/Morgan Adams Foundation/Torque Branding Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, in fourth. Udell was able to close on Urry for the lead, however, and Hardeman at the same time was challenging Udell for second position in a close GT Cup race. On lap eight, Johnny O’Connell, in the No. 3 Cadillac Racing ATS-V.R, got around Lewis for fifth in GT. Lap 11 saw Udell and Hardeman use traffic to their advantage to get around Urry, with Udell pulling a gap over the next lap to the tune of 2.5 seconds. At the halfway point of the race, Long had turned up the pressure on Heitkotter for the race lead as the two had pulled a small gap from Davison and Cooper, with O’Connell in fifth and Lewis in sixth, ahead of K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 teammates Alvaro Parente and Colin Thompson. The lead gap maintained at half a second as the laps clicked away, with Heitkotter’s Nissan out front on Long’s Porsche, but with 12-minutes to go, the lead margin was down to just over three tenths of a second. In GTA, Fuentes continued to lead, having built a 16-second gap over Mills in second with further distance back to Schein’s Porsche in third. A bit further back, a nose-to-tail train of hard-battling cars – from positions ninth to 16th – was being led by Andrew Palmer, in the No. 87 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3, and Ryan Eversley, in the No. 43 RealTime Racing Acura/HPD/Red Line Oil/RealTime Acura TLX-GT. With 10-minutes to go the lead battle intensified as Long executed a decisive pass to take over the top spot and pulled away from Heitkotter to take the win in the season opener in GT. It Long’s sixth career Pirelli World Challenge victory. Heitkotter finished second ahead of Cooper, who passed Davison late on the last lap to complete the podium in his GT

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debut for Cadillac Racing. Davison finished fourth ahead of O’Connell in fifth in GT. In GTA, Fuentes took the victory for his second career class win, with Mills second and Schein completing the podium. Udell was able to build a gap in GT Cup to take the victory, the fourth of his PWC career, with Urry passing Hardeman for second in the late stages of the race. Udell’s drive earned him the VP Racing Fuels Hard Charger Award, having improved seven overall positions during the race. “At the start, I saw a bunch of smoke in my mirrors and I knew something fast was coming up. I didn’t leave him (Bryan Heitkotter) the outside but he made some race track that I didn’t know was there,” said Long. “I had to settle in and I was scratching my head about where I was going to make a pass if possible. Towards the end, I could see he might be getting a little warm as he put his hand out the window and his tires were getting worn too. So I just kept hitting my marks and tried to wear him down a little. When I forced a little error in turn 12, I kind of over-undered him in 13. Then I had to run because traffic was difficult at times and I didn’t want to get held up. I couldn’t stay close in the high-speed stuff because I had a lot of aero push. I was poking my nose out to get some air over my car. I knew I had to pass in the esses due to the agility of my car. I knew in the tight stuff I could rotate the car a little better. Traffic is tough at times and I’m going to learn how different things work in the races. I knew it was an all-out sprint type of racing in PWC. When you are on the Porsche factory team, you know that every single time you sit in the car that it is a sprint. Overall, just a great way to start to the 2016 PWC season for Effort Racing and Porsche.” “I am very happy to start the season with the win today,” said Fuentes. “It started out tremendously with the pole and then a win in the first race of the season. Scuderia Corsa gave me a great car today. We started out strong in the practices on Friday too. The track was very hot today and it was completely different from this morning’s qualifying when it was cooler and we didn’t have the best grip. Then, this afternoon, it got hot and the track was slippery. So it was really one extreme to the other in a single day at the track. We had a very good setup for the hot weather. We were able to manage it as we have a lot of things on the car to help us. No issues with the car so far this weekend. I was getting in the middle of some wild GT action at the end of the race. But the team said to stay away from the GT cars and drive my own race. It’s a great way to begin the year.” “It was very tight racing in the early portion of the race today,” said Udell. “It usually is in the Porsche GT Cup class. Once I was able to open a margin, it was smooth sailing after that. I just kept my head down and ran clean laps. It’s so exciting to win in my home state. I can’t give enough credit to GMG for setting up a great car today. It’s just a super way to open the 2016 season. I’m ready to race again right now. I’m anxious for the race tomorrow (Sunday).” “The start is always an improvisation and you have to be able to make the proper move in the heat of the battle,” said Heitkotter. “I saw a place to go and it opened up for me and I took advantage. As the race went on, we were struggling a little bit with the tires wearing a bit. And we knew his car would be stronger towards the end as the Porsche has more weight in the back. In the esses, he had his best opportunity and he took it. It was good racing though and Patrick raced clean. I think we had the fastest lap today so it will be very nice to start on the pole in race two. (Bryan will start 1st in Sunday’s race).” All results are provisional until posted final. GT/GTA/GT Cup drivers next hit the track at COTA for Round 2, scheduled for Sunday at 2:15 p.m. central time. Watch the race live on motortrendondemand.com and live timing on world-challenge.com. Catch all the action from COTA on an expanded CBS Sports Network broadcast, Sunday March 13 at 10:30 a.m. eastern.

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2016 Series Schedule

Date Venue With TV March 3-6 Circuit of The Americas**

Austin, TX GT/GTA/GT Cup, GTS, TC/TCA/TCB

Headliner GT: March 13, 10:30 AM TC: March 17, 8 PM GTS: March 17, 9 PM

March 11-13 Streets of St. Petersburg* St. Petersburg, FL GT/GT-A/GT Cup, GTS

IndyCar GT: March 20, 12 Noon GTS: March 27, 3 PM

April 15-17 Grand Prix of Long Beach* Long Beach, CA GT/GTA

IndyCar/WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

GT: April 17, 2 PM

April 22-24 Barber Motorsports Park* Birmingham, AL GT/GT-A/GT Cup, GTS

IndyCar GT: May 1, 4 PM GTS: May 7, 1 PM

May 19-22 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park** Bowmanville, ON, Canada GT/GTA/GT Cup, GTS, TC/TCA/TCB

Headliner GT: May 29, 12 Noon GTS: June 2, 8 PM TC: June 2, 7 PM SprintX: June 2, 9 PM

May 27-28 Lime Rock Park** Lakeville, CT GT/GTA, GT Cup, GTS

Headliner GT: Sunday, June 5, 4 PM GTS: June 9, 3 PM

June 23-26 Road America* Elkhart Lake, WI. GT/GTA/GT Cup, GTS, TC/TCA/TCB

IndyCar GT: July 3, 3 PM TC: July 7, 8 PM GTS: July 7, 9 PM

July 29-30 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course* Lexington, OH GT/GT-A/GT Cup, GTS, TC/TCA/TCB

IndyCar GT: Aug. 7, 4 PM GTS: Aug. 11, 10 PM TC: Aug. 11, 9 PM

August 12-14 Utah Motorsports Campus ** Tooele, Utah GT/GT-A/GT Cup, GTS, TC/TCA/TCB

Headliner GT: Aug. 21, 2 PM TC: Aug. 21, 4 PM GTS: Aug. 25, 8 PM SprintX: Aug. 25, 9 PM

Sept. 16-18 Sonoma Raceway* GT/GT-A/GT Cup, GTS

IndyCar GT: Sept. 25, 4 PM GTS: Oct. 2, 5 PM

Oct. 7-9 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca** Salinas, CA GT/GT-A/GT Cup, GTS, TC/TCA/TCB

Headliner GT: Oct. 16, 3 PM TC: Oct. 23, 3 PM GTS: Oct. 23, 4 PM SprintX: Oct. 23, 5 PM

*Events with IndyCar / **Pirelli WC Headline Events. All five headline races will feature SprintX and TC/TCA/TCB rounds Broadcast schedule subject to change. All times shown are Eastern.

www.world-challenge.com

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