Welcome The Age Of Callaway Competition In America's 2018 Pirelli World Challenge

Sideview of the Corvette C7 GT3-R, designed, manufactured and homologated on behalf of General Motors by Callaway Competition. Image Credit: Callaway Competition (2017)

Welcome The Age Of Callaway Competition In America's 2018 Pirelli World Challenge

Thursday morning at the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show, Team owner Reeves Callaway and Pirelli World Challenge President and CEO Greg Gill opened the press event alongside a matte black carbon Corvette C7 GT3-R, one of two that will be entered as full season factory efforts in the GT class. The GT3-spec homologated Corvette C7 GT3-R will compete in the GT class in both the sprint races, as well as the two driver format SprintX races. Drivers for the SprintX events will be announced at a later date.

"We are proud to have Daniel and Michael on board for our 2018 effort," said Callaway. "Both drivers have won several championships and will be excellent brand ambassadors for the Corvette C7 GT3-R's debut year of American Competition. Daniel brings with him a wealth of knowledge about our team and the car, and Michael has years of experience on the tracks we'll be competing on. Together, with the team we're assembling, this will be an excellent program to show our future customers what the Corvette C7 GT3-R is capable of."

While Daniel Keilwitz may be new to competition in the United States, the 28 year old German is no stranger to sports car racing or Callaway Competition.

Keilwitz began his career in go karts in 2000, spending four years there before moving up to the German Production Car Championship in 2005. After finishing tenth in the championship, he competed in the ADAC Procar series, finishing second in the 2006 championship. In the three years to follow, he continued his driver development in the Mini Challenge, twice finishing in the top five championship results.

Image Credit: Callaway Competition (2017)

The first of three championship titles came in 2010 when he clinched the FIA GT3 European Championship with Callaway Competition.  Keilwitz joined the ADAC GT Masters series in 2011, and has risen to become the most successful driver in the series with 19 overall race wins.

Together, Keilwitz and Callaway clinched the 2013 championship, and have finished in the top three in the 2014, 2016, and 2017 championship standings. In 2017, Keilwitz earned the ADAC GT Masters team title, with teammate Jules Gounon also on the effort.

Although Keilwitz will be new to all the tracks on the 2018 Pirelli World Challenge calendar, his eight years of experience with Callaway Competition and two years behind the wheel of the Corvette C7 GT3-R will prove invaluable to Callaway Competition USA's North American Debut.

"I'm really looking forward to join Callaway Competition for the Pirelli World Challenge in 2018," said Keilwitz. "I have done a lot of races for them in Europe and now I'm really happy to join them also in the USA for my ninth year with the team. The car is really amazing and was performing really well in Europe against all the big manufacturers, so I'm sure that it will perform also well in USA. Of course we have to get some experience with the car on the new tracks, but we also bring a lot of experience from Europe to the USA from the past two years racing with this car. We clearly want to show that the Callaway C7 GT3-R is a great performing and winning car. I'm really proud to be part of this team."

Image Credit: Callaway Competition (2017)

Fresh off winning the 2017 SprintX Championship, American racer Michael Cooper joins the team, bringing with him four championship titles in six years of competition.

The 28 year old began his racing career in the 2010 Skip Barber MAZDASPEED Challenge, earning two wins and three podiums in his rookie season. In 2011, he clinched the Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup championship title, and the following year, the Pirelli World Challenge rookie again wheeled his way to the top of a championship, as the 2012 TC champion.

In the two years to follow, Cadillac racing twice tested with Cooper, and in 2015, made him a GM Factory driver in their Pirelli World Challenge efforts. Cooper wasted no time proving himself, earning the 2015 GTS championship title with Blackdog Speedshop, and finishing third in the 2016 GT championship with two wins and seven additional podiums representing Cadillac Racing.

Cooper returned to the GT class with Cadillac Racing in 2017, finishing second in the driver championship, and earning the inaugural SprintX Championship alongside Jordan Taylor.

"I'm very proud to be joining Callaway Competition USA for their factory effort next year," said Cooper. "The Corvette C7 GT3-R has already proven itself on track in Europe, and I'm eager to start testing. The team that is being assembled by Callaway is top-notch, and will no doubt put us in contention for the championship. This will be an exciting year for the car's debut in the Pirelli World Challenge."

Image Credit: Callaway Competition (2017)

Introduced to competition in 2016, the Corvette C7 GT3-R, designed, manufactured and homologated on behalf of General Motors by Callaway Competition GmbH produced a successful debut and sophomore season, winning the 2017 ADAC GT Masters Series Driver and Team Championships with Jules Gounon and Daniel Keilwitz.

Now available for competition in the United States, the Corvette C7 GT3-R will no doubt be a championship contender again in 2018. The American season will begin March 9-11, 2018 on the streets of Saint Petersburg, Florida ... along side of the season opener for the Verizon IndyCar Series.
[Reference Here]

Looking forward to having a local Southern California racecar manufacturer back in the saddle of competition on it's home turf - welcome the age of Callaway Competition in America's 2018 Pirelli World Challenge.

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Callaway Competition, Pirelli World Challenge, Corvette C7 GT3-R, Daniel Keilwitz, Michael Cooper, SprintX Championship, ADAC, Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup, The EDJE

“Roar By The Shore” Shootout Expected This Sunday In Long Beach.

World’s Most Exotic Sports Cars Featured in Premier U.S. Street Race

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 3, 2017) – The annual trek to the streets of Long Beach is always brought with enthusiasm for the Pirelli World Challenge GT and GTA teams and drivers and the 2017 “Roar by the Shore” is no different with the 43^rd edition of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach set for April 7-9 in the PWC Grand Prix of Long Beach presented by Optima Batteries. 

Featuring the fine line of precision driving between the concrete walls and aggressive all-out pursuit to win, the PWC competitors thrill the large contingent of racing fans each year over the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary road circuit around the Long Beach Arena and Convention Center complex with North America’s premier GT Production-based road racing campaign. 

This weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge field is another outstanding list of sports car stars and their exotic machinery from Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren, Cadillac, Mercedes, Audi, Bentley, Aston Martin and Acura, which features the all-new NSX GT3.    

GT Preview – Superb GT field of drivers and cars should give fans thrills in 50-minute sprint race 

The most important street race in the United States – the 43^rd annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – brings another stellar GT field this weekend with the Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix presented by Optima Batteries and some of the world’s finest sports car drivers and their wild machines. 

Leading the list of contenders for Sunday’s 50-minute sprint race will be the defending Long Beach winner and reigning PWC GT champion Alvaro Parente of Porto, Portugal in the No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S.  Parente, a six-race winner in 2016, had never seen the tight Long Beach temporary course before his 2016 appearance but the personable factory McLaren racer left little doubt in qualifying with a track-record pole position speed. 

In the 50-minute event, Parente led early before four-time PWC GT champion Johnny O’Connell took his red No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R. to the front on lap 15.  O’Connell took the checkered flag that day but lost the win in post-race tech inspection.  It was Parente taking his first PWC GT victory when all was said and done.  And O’Connell, the four-time Le Mans winner from Flowery Branch, Ga., was penalized to second. 

Both drivers will return for another street fight this weekend along with the 2011 PWC GT champion and local star Patrick Long of Manhattan Beach, Calif., in his No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. Long and Parente won the opening GT races in 2017 in the streets of St. Petersburg last month. 

Joining O’Connell, the 2014 Long Beach GT winner, on the Cadillac Racing team will be young Michael Cooper of Syosset, N.Y., in the blue No. 8 Cadillac ATS-V.R., who finished third in the 2016 GT points and scored two race wins. 

A strong list of veteran contenders will be in the mix at Long Beach including Ryan Dalziel of Scotland and Bryan Sellers of Braselton, Ga., who’ll handle double duty in the PWC and IMSA events. Dalziel will pilot the No. 2 CRP Racing/DeVilbiss Mercedes AMG GT3 in Sunday’s feature, while Sellers will drive the No. 6 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S.   

Joining Dalziel and Sellers in the veteran lineup will be former sports car champion Jon Fogarty of Bend, Ore., in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Stallings Racing “Red Dragon” Porsche 911 GT3 R, Pierre Kaffer of Germany in the No. 4 Magnus Racing Audi RS 8 LMS, Ryan Eversley of Atlanta, Ga., in the No. 43 RealTime Racing Acura NSX GT3, Peter Kox of the Netherlands in the No. 93 RealTime Racing Acura NSX GT3 and Daniel Mancinelli of Italy, St. Pete GT pole winner, in the No. 31 TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3. 

Another Ferrari challenger at Long Beach will be St. Pete Round 2 pole winner Alex Riberas of Spain in the No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3. Riberas was impressive in his PWC GT debut with third and fourth place finishes at St. Petersburg. 

Young GT star Adderly Fong of Hong Kong brings the popular No. 88 Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3 to Long Beach as Fong attempts to repeat his podium performances from 2016.  Also entered in the Sunday PWC main event is the No. 11 Dime Racing entry with the driver and car to be name this week. 

Alec Udell Moves Up to GT Category for Long Beach Pirelli World Challenge Weekend

Alec Udell, the 21-year-old Clemson University mechanical engineering student, captured the 2016 GT Cup title with 12 wins and moved to the GTA division at St. Petersburg last month.  And The Woodlands, Tex., driver didn’t disappoint with two impressive pole positions and two class victories.  

In fact, Udell recorded the fourth fastest lap time overall in the GT/GTA/GT Cup Round 2 event at St. Pete and ran in the Top 5 for the first half of the 50-minute sprint contest.  Due to that sensational performance, it has been determined by the PWC stewards and PWC race director Dorsey Schroeder that Udell will compete in the GT division at this weekend’s Long Beach GT Round 3.  

Udell drives for the local Southern California-based team of GMG Motorsports and will wheel the No. 17 GMG/Euroworld Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. 

GTA Preview – Solid lineup of veterans and youngsters should have great races in 2017

A great contingent of veterans and youngsters will make up the GTA class this weekend at Long Beach including two-time Long Beach PWC winner James Sofronas of Villa Park, Calif., in the No. 14 GMG Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.  Sofronas captured PWC honors in the 2009 and 2013 Long Beach contests. 

Michael Schein, a six-time 2016 winner, is expected to battle the GTA at Long Beach with the sister car to Long’s Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. Schein drove the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche to two second place finishes at St. Petersburg. 

Joining Sofronas and Schein in the veteran GTA listings for Long Beach will be Mike Hedlund of Redwood City, Calif., in the pretty No. 98 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S, Tim Pappas in the No. 54 Black Swan Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 and John Potter in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS.

Other young drivers entered in the GTA division at Long Beach include personable Jorge de la Torre of McAllen, Texas, in the No. 04 De la Torre Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, local driver Yufeng Luo of Arcadia, Calif., in the No. 78 Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3 and former Indy Lights racer Pablo Perez Companc of Buenos Aires, Argentina in the No. 69 Champ 1 Mercedes AMG GT3.

Event/Circuit: 
Streets of Long Beach, Calif: 14-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street course

  

Practice:  
Friday, April 7 3:30 -- 4:30 p.m., GT-GTA Practice 

Practice:  
Saturday, April 88:45 – 9:00 a.m., GT-GTA Practice 

Qualifying:  
Saturday, April 89:10 – 9:25 a.m., GT-GTA Qualifying (Group 1)

9:30 – 9:45 a.m., GT-GTA Qualifying (Group 2)

Race Length: 
50 minutes (GT/GTA)

  

Sunday, March 12

10:00 – 10:50 a.m. GT-GTA Race 

All times listed above are Pacific Daylight Time

  

Television (on CBS Sports Network, Same-Day Coverage):  

GT/GTA: April 9, 2:30 p.m. (EDT) 11:30 a.m. (PDT)

Story Courtesy: Tom Blattler of PWC.