Pressure and Preparation: K-PAX Racing and Flying Lizard Motorsports Race on Home Turf

As the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge race season nears its end, the pressure is at an all-time high this weekend for K-PAX Racing and Flying Lizard Motorsports.  With three races remaining, K-PAX Racing remains deep in the fight for the championship, leading the GT Team Championship by 49 points over Cadillac Racing, and McLaren GT driver Alvaro Parente sits a mere 22 points behind GT Driver Championship leader Patrick Long.

This weekend, the Sonoma Raceway based team will fight to regain the points lead in front of their home crowd at double header event. Parente has clinched five race wins, and will be a main contender to finish on the podium this weekend.

“So far the championship has been ultra-competitive,” said Parente. “We had incidents happen beyond our control at Mid-Ohio and Utah that set us back, and all we can do is get our heads around it and move on. We are all very motivated to fight this weekend, and I will give all I have, as always, as we work hard to come out with the championship as winners.”

The team hosted many hours of testing in preparation for the event, utilizing their home field advantage.

“We have put in a lot of miles here so we feel good going into the race,” said Program Manager Darren Law. “Not only is this our home track as our shop is based here but it is a great track for the McLaren 650S GT3. However, as we have all seen, there are several great drivers and teams in the Pirelli World Challenge and everyone will be fighting hard to stay on top.”

Both Austin Cindric and Colin Thomson have recently celebrated their own strong performances in recent races. Eighteen year old Cindric earning his first Pirelli World Challenge GT pole position and podium finish in Round 14 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Twenty-two year old Colin Thompson celebrated his second top-five finish in Round 16 at Utah Motorsports Campus, after a frustrating previous event at Mid-Ohio.

In addition to supporting the three K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 race cars, Flying Lizard Motorsports has added two more entries to their home race weekend. Returning for his second Pirelli World Challenge event, Andy Wilzoch will again be racing his No. 45 Flying Lizard liveried Porsche 911 GT3R. Wilzoch showed a strong performance in his opening Pirelli World Challenge GTA run, earning two third place finishes. The GTA field this weekend will be highly competitive, fielding nine cars.

After a successful weekend in the Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA at Sonoma Raceway, where he finished first and third in his debut weekend, Mike Hedlund will also return to Flying Lizard Motorsports to compete in this weekend’s GT Cup class with his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

“It means a lot to us to be able to run a Lizard Porsche again at our home track,” said Law. “Andy has been doing a great job all season long, and it’ll be great to put him in an even more competitive environment. Mike did a great job last weekend, and we’re excited to see how he’ll do this weekend in the Cup class. With five cars under our garage this weekend, we’re looking for several home race podiums.”