PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE SPRINTX HEADS TO TEXAS
The Pirelli World Challenge SprintX and GTS series travel to central Texas this weekend for a weekend of racing at Circuit of The Americas. Despite the flooding in the nearby city of Houston, the programme of events in the Lone Star State for the Pirelli World Challenge meeting are set to go ahead.
Racing with K-PAX Racing in SprintX, Factory Driver Alvaro Parente and GT Academy Driver Ben Barnicoat will pilot the Californian team’s #9 650S GT3, hoping to add a win to their results tally this season. Teammates Michael Lewis and Bryan Sellers will also be out for a good points finish this weekend in the #6 650S GT3.
Both driver pairings will face stiff competition in the series this weekend. The entry list for the race at Circuit of The Americas is enormous, with 34 GT3 cars set to race in the two-hour contest on Sunday.
In GTS, KPR and GMG Racing are back in action this weekend with their GTSA class entered 570S GT4s. Both are looking continue fighting for the class title to after multiple podium finishes and wins between them this year.
As well as fighting against tough opponents, the GT3 and GT4 teams and drivers will have to master the challenging CoTA track. At 5.513km, it’s lengthy, and features severe undulations, and multiple sections littered with tricky corners. Known for its steep hill up to the Turn 1 hairpin, and Esses section before the cars plummet to the bottom of the circuit, CoTA is popular among drivers. Since it opened back in 2012, it’s hosted the Formula One United States Grand Prix, Moto GP Grand Prix of Texas and rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship since 2013.
For SprintX, the first hour-long race is on Saturday at 16:00 with the second at 12:30pm, local time in Texas. GTS Race 1 is at 13:45 on Saturday, ahead of Race 2 on Sunday at 10:00am. (UTC -5).
