GT World Challenge America's "Texas Two-Step" at Circuit of the Americas

GT World Challenge America's "Texas Two-Step" at Circuit of the Americas

Austin, TX - The GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Series returns to the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for a second 2020 appearance, September 18-20. The 3.41-mile, 20-turn circuit billed as the "Home of the World Championships" will host GT World Challenge Rounds 9 and 10 to replace the postponed event at Watkins Glen International. The GT Sports Club America GT Series makes its first run at the circuit for Rounds 7 and 8. 

Kurtz/Braun, Fuentes/Baptista Showdown Shifts to Lone Star State

As the series heads back for a return engagement in Texas, the battle for the Pro/Am Driver's Championship remains red hot. With their Round 8 Pro/Am win at Road America back in August, DXDT Racing's George Kurtz and Colin Braun enter the COTA weekend a single point atop the standings with 149 points. The American duo will drive the #04 Mercedes-AMG GT3. 

Squadra Corse's Martin Fuentes and Rodrigo Baptista, winners of Round 7 at Road America, enter the weekend second in the Championship. Fuentes from Mexico and Brazilian Baptista will drive the #1 Ferrari 488 GT3. DXDT Racing also brings its #63 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 for American David Askew and veteran Scot racer Ryan Dalziel. The duo sits third in the championship standings with 104 points. Racers Edge brings its #80 Acura NSX GT3 for American Ziad Ghandour and Canadian Kyle Marcelli. 

Moving up from the Am division to compete in Pro/Am at COTA, American Fred Poordad will share duties with Belgian driver Jan Heylen in the #20 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.II). Heylen steps in to drive for Max Root who will be competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

American driver duo Shelby Blackstock and Trent Hindman look to carry the momentum into COTA after another impressive performance at Road America where the duo scored  two overall and Silver division wins. Those wins have helped propel Acura to the top of the Manufacturer's Championship standings with 180 points, 44 points clear of second place Mercedes. They will pilot the #93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3. 

Also competing in the Silver division at COTA is Houston, Texas' Winward Racing. The team's #33 Mercedes-AMG GT3 will be driven by Alec Udell and Russell Ward. Udell, from The Woodlands, Texas is a former series champion (Pirelli World Challenge GT Cup class Champion in 2016), and last season, became the first American to win a championship in the SRO GT4 European Series. It will also be a home race for Ward who resides in Houston.

COTA Readies for Debut of GT Sports Club Machines in Texas

In GT Sports Club competition, the weekend at COTA will feature a showdown in the overall GT3 category. TR3 Racing’s Mark Issa comes into the weekend after winning both overall GT3 races at Road America in his #31 Ferrari 488 GT3. Jason Daskalos, who won both overall GT3 races at Sonoma returns to GTSC competition after missing the Road America races and will drive the #27 Daskalos Motorsports Audi R8 LMS Ultra in the GT3 category.

311RS Motorsport's Ryan Gates continued his impressive performance at Road America and leads the GT2 field to Texas. He will pilot his #311 Porsche 911 GT2 RS CS. NOLASPORT brings its #48  Porsche 911 GT2 RS CS for Jason Hall. GMG Racing brings two machines to the GTSC grid: Jason Bell will drive the #2 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT2 RS CS in the GT2 class, while series veteran James Sofronas will drive the team's familiar #14 Audi R8 LMS Ultra in the Titanium class. 

On-track action begins Friday, September 19 at 9:45am Central for the first GT World Challenge practice session of the weekend, while the GT Sports Club America first practice commences at 10am. Saturday's 90-minute Round 9 race (Round 7 for GT Sports Club) is scheduled to go green at 2:15pm local time, while Sunday's Round 10 (GT Sports Club Round 8) is scheduled to start at 1:15pm Central. Both races and qualifying will be streamed live on youtube.com/GTWorld. Sunday's race will be broadcasted live on CBS Sports Network.

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GTWCA + GTSCA Entry List - PDF Link

COTA2 Event Schedule - PDF Link