As the penultimate round of the 2013 Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship, Global Motorsports Group (GMG) walked away from the Sonoma Grand Prix taking second and third, with team owner James Sofronas regaining the point lead in the process.“What a wild race,” stated Sofronas. “I don’t even know where to begin on this one. We were looking really good, then the race turned, then the race turned again, and even when it was over we weren’t quite sure of the results. Either way, I’m thrilled that we finally got Duncan on the podium this year; it’s been long overdue. With one race to go we’re back in the lead, but it’s definitely going to be a fight, we’re all going to have to deliver in Houston.”Following a disastrous start to the weekend, the star of the race was Los Angeles native Duncan Ende. While Ende has threatened for a podium position in the No. 24 STANDD / Merchant Services, Ltd. Audi R8 LMS at nearly every event this year, the 2013 season has been fraught with an endless series of circumstances that have kept it from happening.During Saturday’s qualifying session, Ende’s bad luck seemed to continue before he ever took the green flag. During his warm-up lap to begin the session, rear contact from the No. 80 Audi of Elton Julian would send Ende spinning, suffering enough damage to prevent him from ever completing a timed lap. This meant Ende would have to start from the back of the grid during the race.For James Sofronas, however, the tight championship battle with Johnny O’Connell’s No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V.R would lead to a critical qualifying session and race start. With O’Connell taking pole, and gaining valuable points in the process, Sofronas in the No. 14 Thermal Club / Mobil 1 Audi R8 LMS would have to maximize what he could from his fourth place starting position.When the green light flashed to start the race, the entire race would take a dramatic change of fortune. O’Connell’s Cadillac stalled on the start, dropping the No. 3 to the back of the grid and advancing Sofronas in the process. Unfortunately, just three turns later Sofronas was sent spinning by the No. 2 Corvette of Mike Skeen, only further aggravated by secondary contact from the No. 80 Audi once again.With Ende benefiting from all of this, he had the No. 24 machine in the top five by the third lap and was in hot pursuit of his first podium.Meanwhile, Johnny O’Connell’s Cadillac would get caught in yet another incident just one lap later, making contact with GTS traffic that would eventually retire him for good.With O’Connell out, the opportunity for Sofronas to maximize points on the race became clear, and the Villa Park, California resident began a remarkable charge through the field.As the race progressed, Ende would find himself third in the field with Sofronas fourth. Just ahead of Ende, however, was Mike Skeen’s Corvette. Following the first-lap incident with Sofronas, World Challenge officials imposed a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact on Skeen. As officials waved the black flag at Skeen’s Corvette, failure to acknowledge the flag would mean that officials would stop scoring him three laps later.When the checkered flag fell, Skeen would cross the line in second with Ende and Sofronas taking third and fourth, respectively. However, since Skeen failed to acknowledge the black flag, Ende and Sofronas would each be scored one place higher, meaning Ende would be credited with second and Sofronas third.It was a big day for the two drivers with Ende taking his first podium in the series, and Sofronas taking a 21-point lead over O’Connell with one race remaining.“It was great to finally come home with a trophy,” stated Ende. “After practice and qualifying I thought we were done, but the guys on this team really worked hard to get the car ready for the race. They really pushed hard on Saturday to get the car back in perfect condition, and I owed it to them to really perform. I’m glad we were finally able to make it work.”Finally, in only his third campaign with the No. 95 Audi R8 LMS, Bill Ziegler drove a steady weekend en route to an eighth place finish. Having run much of the season in the GTS ranks, Ziegler’s progression and use of GMG’s driver development tools have paid dividends with the Floridian taking his best result of the season during Sunday’s race.“We made a lot of progress this week, I’m pretty happy with the results,” stated Ziegler. “We knew with this track if we could keep our noses clean we could get a good result out of it, and I’m pretty satisfied with a top ten.”With only one race remaining, the Pirelli World Challenge championship will take a break until it returns for the 2013 season finale in Houston, Texas on October 6. As another temporary street circuit in Houston’s Reliant Park, the championship battle between Sofronas and O’Connell promises to be a good one.About GMGFounded in 2001 by James Sofronas and Fabryce Kutyba, GMG has quickly established itself as North America’s premier performance tuning and racing facility. What began as a small 1200 sq. ft. shop, maintaining two race cars, has grown into a 30,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art performance tuning, racing and service facility located in (Orange County) Santa Ana, California. The staff's experience, attention to detail, and passion are what make GMG the choice of professionals and enthusiasts world wide. Whether you want to maximize the performance of your street car, or race wheel-to-wheel on both amateur and professional racing series across North America, GMG’s reputation for service and quality is unmatched.Learn more at www.gmgracing.com

About The Thermal ClubThe Thermal Club is the premier private motorsports facility in the world. In addition to 4.5 miles of members-only racetrack, the Club facilities include a fully amenitized Clubhouse and Village unrivaled in the motorsports world. All 4.5 miles of our exquisite racetrack are designed to push both amateurs and professionals to their limit, giving members the thrill of driving at peak performance amidst the endless desert skies. Featuring three different private circuit configurations, trackside villas, a motorsport village with a state-of-the-art clubhouse, tuning shop, a fuel island, as well as member storage garages, The Thermal Club will bring the country club lifestyle to Southern California’s diverse car culture. More information can be found at www.thethermalclub.com.