St. Petersburg Debut
New Team Improves To Second Fastest Friday Afternoon in Hot Wheels, InvoicePrep, Voodoo Ride Porsche Cayman SJack Baldwin and the No. 68 Hot Wheels™/GTSport/Porsche Napleton Racing Cayman S had an outstanding opening day in the team’s Pirelli World Challenge debut Friday at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg where the former Trans-Am road racing champion clocked in an impressive second fastest in the GTS division in afternoon practice.
Hot Wheels® and Baldwin – in cooperation with GTSport Racing and Porsche Napleton Racing (PNR) – are kicking off a full-season GTS campaign in a Porsche Cayman S in the 2012 Pirelli World Challenge with Team Hot Wheels™, Invoice Prep and Voodoo Ride as major partners.
Earlier on Friday, Baldwin posted a lap time of 1:23.638 (77.476 mph) in morning practice to rank third overall in the GTS class. By the time the day’s second and final practice session came around later in the afternoon, however, Baldwin improved to a 1:22.989 (78.083 mph), the second quickest GTS lap of the day.
“The effort that’s been put forth by the guys, Isaac, Marc, Joey, Michael, Jeff, and Matt back at the shop, and just everybody that’s been involved with this car for the last two weeks, they have literally been working around the clock,” Baldwin said. “Even to the point that last night they worked until four in the morning, just trying to get the car properly prepared and ready. Everybody is just working hard doing their part. It’s a team effort, and I am trying to do my part as well as they are doing their part, but they are working so hard and doing such a good job, it’s hard to keep up with it.”
Baldwin and Hot Wheels joined forces to capture the 1992 SCCA-Pro Trans-Am Championship and now return a full 20 years later in search of more title-winning success in a premier SCCA-Pro division. The team’s car of choice is a Pirelli Cayman Interseries-based Porsche Cayman S that has been modified to compete in the GTS class.
“We are proud to be here, and really happy and proud to be part of the Pirelli World Challenge,” Baldwin said. “I want to thank Napleton Porsche for the opportunity, they have put in a lot of effort too, as have all of our sponsors at GTSport Racing, including Hot Wheels®, InvoicePrep, Voodoo Ride and a whole bunch of others.”The Cayman S was built and will be maintained by PNR, the racing division of leading Chicago area Porsche dealer Napleton Porsche of Westmont. The car will be entered by GTSport Racing.
“The incredible effort the Porsche Napleton crew has put in before we even arrived in town for the opening race has been amazing, completely selfless,” said Porsche Napleton Racing Team Principal Ron Barnaba. “If you don’t put in the time, the work and preparation back at the shop weeks, even months, in advance it is going to show right away in your first few laps. In our first few laps today, our guys showed us right away that the hard work did pay off, and Jack rewarded them with some great laps. We look forward to keep it going for the rest of the weekend and all season.”
StopTech, another key team partner, has given the No. 68 Cayman S what could be an edge on some of the competition.
“The best thing about the car, the one thing that we have never had to worry about in the whole process of getting the car ready, honestly, is the brakes,” Baldwin said. “StopTech has done a great job, we haven’t had to worry about brakes at all, and on a track like this, brakes are everything.”
Although it has been two decades since Hot Wheels and Baldwin captured a record-setting Trans-Am championship, the combination quickly got right back into the groove on Friday.
“I feel pretty good out there,” Baldwin said. “It’s like the old saying about getting back on a bicycle, or just picking up a guitar and starting to play it again. I have still been racing, I still drive all of the time, and while this is my first full season in a series of this level in a long time, I know the drill. I feel good physically, I am hitting my marks, I am not sloppy, and that’s how I grade myself. I grade myself on how well am I driving this car, how precise I am, and I am good, feeling great actually. I am happiest when I am driving a race car. That’s who I am and what I do.”
Pirelli World Challenge action at St. Petersburg resumes with qualifying Saturday at 8 a.m. and the first of the weekend’s two races later that day at 6 p.m.The No. 68 Team Hot Wheels/GTSport/Porsche Napleton Racing Cayman S is also supported by Napleton Porsche Motorsports, BBS, JRZ Suspension Engineering, StopTech, Jamestown Fish Restaurant, RaceLink, TPC, AIM, RS683 and Schnorr Art.
