Big Field of Stuttgart Cup and Mission Foods GT3 Cup Competitors at Road Atlanta This Weekend for HSR Atlanta Fall Historics
The Stuttgart Cup and Mission Foods GT3 Featured in Own Run Group at Road Atlanta
The Stuttgart Cup and Mission Foods GT3 Cup Trophy USA have combined for one of the series' biggest starting fields of 2015 for this weekend's Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Atlanta Fall Historic at Road Atlanta, September 18 - 20.
The Stuttgart Cup and Mission Foods GT3 Cup return to the classic Georgia road course for the second time this season after participating in the 38th running of The Mitty in April.
The strong entry was in response to a weekend schedule that features Stuttgart Cup and Mission Foods GT3 competitors in their own practice, qualifying and three sprint-race sessions. Stuttgart Cup and Mission Foods GT3 teams will also participate in Sunday's B.R.M. Enduro Challenge, a one-hour event that will be the weekend's points-paying Enduro race.
Eight different drivers - including two co-driver pairings - were victorious in the various Stuttgart Cup and Mission Foods GT3 classes at The Mitty. and even more race winners could emerge this weekend.
The Stuttgart Cup features the closest championship battle in either series. Rick Stavola leads with 336 points in his No. 22 Bodymotion Racing Cayman S prepared by Racelink. A highlight victory of Stavola's season was a Cayman-class triumph in the Enduro at the season-opening Palm Beach Grand Prix.
Just behind Stavola in the standings with 303.5 points is Dominique LeQueux who competes in his No. 30 MOMO-themed Cayman S prepared by Atlanta-based Goldcrest Motorsports. LeQueux's winning season moved off to a fast start with at least one victory in each of the year's first four event weekends.
Bill Riddell drove his Racelink-prepared No. 05 Cayman S, which features a flat black and while livery reminiscent of the Porsche 918 prototype race car, to the Cayman class Enduro win at The Mitty. The two-time and reigning Stuttgart Cup Champion is currently third in the 2015 standings with 237.5 points.
Tom Kievet earned his first Stuttgart Cup podium finish with a third-place showing one race ago at Mid-Ohio and will be looking for more success at Road Atlanta in his No. 27 Bodymotion Cayman S.
Highlights of the Mission Foods GT3 entry include the return of Mitty race winner Juan Lopez-Santini, who earned both a sprint race victory and GT3 Enduro that weekend in his No. 810 3.8-liter 997 Porsche GT3 Cup race car. The 901 Shop driver was the only GT3 Cup or Stuttgart Cup competitor to double up on wins at The Mitty.
Other Mission Foods GT3 Cup Mitty winners returning to Road Atlanta include Wayne Wilkerson, who shared the top step of the sprint-race podium with Lopez-Santini, and Jonathon Ziegelman and Allan Ziegelman in their No. 911 997 GT3 Cup Porsche. The Ziegelmans won in the 3.6-liter 996 class in The Mitty enduro while Wilkerson took honors in the same class in the sprint in his No. 901 Porsche prepared by Gilsdorf Racing.
This weekend will see the 2015 debut of returning series drivers Johnny Gray and his wife, Terry Gray, who compete in Orbit Racing-prepared Mission Foods GT3 Cup cars. Johnny Gray races a 4-liter No. 31 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup while his wife races a 3.8-liter No. 60 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup. Gray is best known for his success and drag racing but first began some friendly competition alongside his wife in Mission Foods GT3 Cup last year at Road Atlanta.
Johnny Gray will have two other 4-liter Porsches to battle with at Road Atlanta. The father-and-son team of Juan Gonzalez and Juan Gonzalez Jr. each have 4-liter 911 GT3 Cup cars ready for Mission Foods GT3 Cup action. Both Lopez's No. 81 and his son's No. 61 Porsche are prepared by the 901 Shop.
Lopez-Santini is the highest ranked Mission Foods GT3 Cup competitor coming to Road Atlanta, currently second in the championship with 129 points, but three other drivers currently in the top 10 could move up significantly by the end of the weekend.
Carmine Reppucci is currently fourth in points in his Gilsdorf Racing-prepared No. 164 3.6-liter Porsche 996 GT3 Cup with 92 points while John Reisman is sixth with 79.5 points in the No. 71 Hudson Historics 3.6-liter Porsche 996 GT3 Cup. Jonathon Ziegelman is also poised to make a move from ninth, with 52 points, this weekend in his KMW Motorsports-prepared Porsche.
The KMW shop is also running at Road Atlanta the No. 917 Porsche 996 GT3 Cup race car for Linden Burstein and KMW owner and driver Kevin Wheeler.
Adam Yunis is bringing his 3.8-liter No. 41 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup race car to Road Atlanta, an effort that is frequently supported by Orbit Racing.John Reisman always races with his dad, Paul Reisman, and the father-and-son team will have both their No. 71 GT3 and winning No. 70 Boxster in action at Road Atlanta. The Reismans drove the Boxster to class honors in the Enduro at The Mitty.
There is plenty of off-track excitement too this weekend for The Stuttgart Cup and Mission Foods GT3 at Road Atlanta. For the second year in a row, longtime historic and vintage racing competitor Jerry Peters, and his wife Lara Peters, will host a Stuttgart Cup/Mission Foods GT3 welcome reception at their well-known and nearby race shop, the Lucky Dog Racing Garage. The event is open to all registered Stuttgart Cup and Mission Foods GT3 competitors and begins at 5 p.m. EDT on Saturday, September 19.
The weekend's awards include a pair of weekend passes to the United States Grand Prix Formula 1 race at Circuit of The Americas, October 23 - 25, a pair of weekend passes to the United States Grand Prix Formula 1 race at Circuit of The America. Donated by Official America's GT Cup partner Pirelli Tire North America, all registered and competing Stuttgart Cup and Mission Foods GT3 competitors racing at Road Atlanta will have a chance to win the tickets.
A full three-day event for The Stuttgart Cup and Mission Foods GT3, the schedule begins today, Friday, September 18, with morning practice and a pair of afternoon qualifying sessions. Saturday, September 19, features doubleheader sprint races at 11:05 a.m. and 3 p.m. The featured one-hour B.R.M. Enduro starts at Noon on Sunday, September 20, with the weekend set to close with the third and final sprint that afternoon at 3:15 p.m.
Noteworthy
- Officials from America's GT Cup, the owners of The Stuttgart Cup and the operating organization of that series and the Mission Foods GT3 Cup, recently announced that the exclusive run-group schedule being used this weekend at Road Atlanta will be the standard for 2016 racing events for the series.
- Another familiar driver joining the action this weekend is Top Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) Cayman competitor Jack Baldwin who will be driving the same Cayman S he and Goldcrest raced and won with in this year's PWC GTS class. Although the 3.8-liter PWC-spec Cayman will not be racing against the 3.4-liter Cayman championship competitors in The Stuttgart Cup, Baldwin is expected to challenge the Mission Foods GT3 Cup field for overall race wins all weekend.
