wo Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams will be pursuing top-three finishes in their respective class championships at this weekend’s season-ending Pirelli World Challenge SprintX tripleheader at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), September 1 – 3. The No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 team of co-drivers Ryan Dalziel and Daniel Morad are currently third in the SprintX Pro division championship standings while Tim Pappas and Jeroen Bleekemolen will be looking to clinch their own top-three championship finish in the SprintX Pro/Am division in the No. 54 Black Swan Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The Pirelli World Challenge SprintX season finale on the 3.427-mile, 20-turn COTA road course southwest of Austin will be the busiest weekend of the year for the series with three 60-minute races in as many days. The scheduled Saturday and Sunday SprintX races at COTA will be preceded by a special Friday evening sprint that is a make-up round for a rained-out Sunday race earlier this summer at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Dalziel, Morad and CRP Racing set their SprintX championship bid in motion at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) in April where they won Sunday’s second race of the season-opening doubleheader. The team has shook off a challenging summer stretch of races to stay in contention in the SprintX Pro championship top-three heading into the COTA weekend.
With 109 points, Dalziel and Morad are third in the SprintX GT Pro championship standings, just five points behind the second-place competitor with three races looming this weekend.
Pappas and Bleekemolen come to COTA in top-three Pro/Am title contention in the No. 54 Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the strength of a class win at VIR in April and a pair of third-place finishes in two of the last three race weekends at Lime Rock Park in May and Utah Motorsports Campus earlier this month.
The No. 54 teammates are in third place in the GT Pro/Am championship standings with 127 points. They trail the second place competitor by 25 points but gap the fourth-place challenger by nine points.
Black Swan’s chase for maximum championship points this weekend should get off to a fast start on Friday at COTA when Bleekemolen starts tonight’s make-up race first on the grid. He earned the race’s overall pole position after setting the fastest lap in the Saturday sprint at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
After a test session for all SprintX classes Thursday at COTA, official competition began today, Friday, September 1, with a morning practice session. A second practice run is scheduled for this afternoon at 1:55 p.m. CDT.
The 60-minute make-up race is slated to start Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. CDT.
The schedule on Saturday, September 2, includes SprintX qualifying for all GT classes starting at 11:45 a.m. CDT before the weekend’s second one-hour race that afternoon at 4 p.m. CDT.
The season-ending SprintX race is the only on-track session for GT competitors on Sunday, September 3, and is scheduled to go green at 12:30 p.m. CDT.
All three Pirelli World Challenge SprintX races this weekend from COTA will be live streamed on www.motortrendondemand.com and www.world-challenge.com.
The SprintX tripleheader races will also be televised on the CBS Sports Network on September 10 at 3:30 p.m. EDT.
Ryan Dalziel, Driver – No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “This weekend at COTA is going to be a really important one for us as it's a triple race weekend adding the Mosport make-up race that was cancelled. We had a challenging Utah event and the full CRP Racing/DeVilbiss team wants to turn this season around. We can still have a strong finish in the SprintX points, so the goal is to win all three races. We've not been able to find the speed from our Mercedes-AMG GT3 in recent events, but I'm hoping COTA favors our package and we can be strong from the minute we unload. But the absolute main goal this weekend for the whole Pirelli World Challenge paddock needs to be showing support for the families and State of Texas. I have mixed feelings about going to compete with the recent tragic and devastating events, but I'm hoping we can bring some joy and distraction to the people of Texas at least for a few hours of their weekends. My thoughts and prayers are with all the families affected.”
Daniel Morad, Driver – No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “The COTA weekend marks the last event for me with the CRP Racing team this season. It also marks the conclusion of the SprintX championship. With three rounds remaining, we sit third in the standings. In saying that, we need consistent podium results in order to have a shot at the championship. If we can maximize our personal performance as a team, I'm confident a good result will be waiting for us on the other end of the checkered flag.”
Tim Pappas, Driver – No. 54 Black Swan Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: "The top-two in the SprintX championship definitely have a sizable gap to us, but we're a championship team that has proven it can win this year, so we're not arriving without some belief that moving up in the standings is possible. There are three races this weekend, which should be unique, and we're due for some good luck. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is incredible, there's no doubt about that, but we've been out to pasture for much of the season on Balance-of-Performance (BoP), and there's no point in speculating on performance until we get out there and race. Circuit of The Americas literally requires everything from a car. Top-end speed, torque out of the corners, downforce through some of the high speed sections and also a compliant car through the esses. It's very demanding. This is a track where the car should be exceptional, as it's really strong in all areas if the BoP is balanced."
Jeroen Bleekemolen, Driver – No. 54 Black Swan Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “This is a big weekend with three races, one that we’re going to start in the overall pole position, which is going to be fun. I’m sure we can have good pace at COTA with the way the car is and the way the team is running it. It’s been going really well, and every weekend I’ve joined them we’ve been one of the quickest cars on track, so I’m really looking forward to that. We’re really far back behind the first two in the championship, so it’s not realistic to overtake them, but you never know. We have a pretty decent lead on fourth, so I think the main goal is to take third in the championship, but we might make it up there. We won’t give up until it is over.”
