K-PAX Racing Dominates Blancpain GT World Challenge America Qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

K-PAX Racing Dominates Blancpain GT World Challenge America Qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Las Vegas, NV – K-PAX Racing’s driver duo of Andy Soucek and Alvaro Parente dominated Friday afternoon’s Blancpain GT World Challenge America qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Soucek will start on pole for Saturday’s Round 13, while his teammate Parente will lead the field to the green for Round 14 later that evening. The series closes out its 2019 season Saturday, October 19 – the weekend is sponsored by R.U.N – The First Live Action Thriller Produced by Cirque du Soleil.

The 30-minute session was split into two 15-minute segments to determine grids for both of Saturday’s races. In the first segment, Soucek behind the wheel of the #9 K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3 claimed the overall and Pro-class pole, his third of the season after clocking a fast time of 1:32.437. It’s Soucek’s third pole of the season.

Scott Hargrove will start alongside Soucek after posting the second fastest time of the session (1:32.518) in his #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (991). Soucek’s teammate Rodrigo Baptista in the #3 Bentley Continental GT3 qualified third clocking a time of 1:32.751. Of note, Ferrari driver Toni Vilander posted a 1:33.057 behind the wheel of his #61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3 and will start fourth. Ferrari leads Bentley by only 17 points in the Manufacturers’ Championship standings entering the final race weekend, while R. Ferri Motorsport leads K-PAX Racing in the Team Championship Standings by a mere 14 points.

Till Bechtolscheimer and the #5 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 claimed the Pro-Am category pole, and will start fifth overall, after posting a 1:33.292 fastest lap. Naoto Takeda in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 will start on the Am-class pole, 12th overall. 

It’s exactly what we wanted for the last weekend of the year. I did a pretty solid lap and the car felt pretty good, very stable and as the track continues to rubber in, I think it will suit the car even better,” said Soucek. 

Parente then took the wheel of the #9 K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3 from Soucek for the second qualifying session and promptly clocked a 1:32.062 fast lap to claim his fourth pole of the season. Vilander’s teammate Miguel Molina will start alongside Parente in the #61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3 after clocking the second fastest time of the session with a 1:32.354. Patrick Long behind the wheel of the #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (991) will start third (1:32.482). Baptista’s teammate Maxime Soulet in the #3 Bentley Continental GT3 qualified fourth with a 1:32.614.

Dane Cameron put the #43 RealTime Racing Acura NSX GT3 on the Pro-Am class pole, fifth overall, after a best lap of 1:32.681. 

“It was a really good qualifying, I was very happy with my lap and I’m really looking forward to the race.  Let’s see what we can do tomorrow,” said Parente.  

Takuya Shirasaka will start the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 on the Am-class pole, 12 overall.

Blancpain GT World Challenge America race 1 will go green on Saturday, October 19th at 10:55am PT streaming live at https://www.gt-world-challenge-america.com/watch-live. Blancpain GT World Challenge America race 2 will go green under the lights on Saturday, October 19th at 7:30pm PT, streaming live at https://www.gt-world-challenge-america.com/watch-live.

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QUALIFYING 1 PROVISIONAL RESULTS - PDF Link

QUALIFYING 2 PROVISIONAL RESULTS - PDF Link