Will seek to reclaim GT points lead at Mid-Ohio

K-PAX Racing has competed at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in each season since 2007, and the team will be making its 11th appearance on July 28-30 for Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) GT competition at the 2.258-mile course. In one decade, the team has featured three different manufacturers (Porsche, Volvo and McLaren); the team will make its fourth trip to the track in a McLaren GT and its third in the British automaker’s 650S GT3 model.

Having finished 1-2 in the last year’s event opener, the team will seek to build from its past successes in Rounds 6 & 7 of 2017. In five rounds of GT racing, both Alvaro Parente and Bryan Sellers are in the hunt for a drivers’ championship. The team is also solidly in the hunt for the GT championship.

SO FAR

After the first five rounds of GT competition, Parente is in second place, trailing the class leader by only 17 points. Sellers is currently in sixth and is only three points shy of breaking into the top-five. Overall, the team ranks second in the team championship rankings. McLaren GT ranks third in the overall manufacturer title race.

K-PAX Racing will look to gain even more ground this season by returning to a course where it has seen remarkable success. The team has earned 16 podiums at Mid-Ohio to date, which is the most at any track by the organization. Notably, it amassed a team-best five podiums in 2011 between the series’ GT and TC classes, including three wins.

THE LAST TIME

In K-PAX Racing’s most recent trip to the course, the team managed to consistently record fast lap times in erratic weather. The final practice of the event’s opener was cancelled due to rain but even so, the crew had prepared for mixed conditions and adapted.

Considering the ever-changing track conditions, the team was not only awarded the pole in each of the weekend’s two races, but also swept the front row in the opener. Former team driver Austin Cindric earned his first GT class pole position with a new track record (1:19.397 / 102.382 mph) for PWC GT Class. Cindric beat the previous record set by Mercedes-Benz AMG driver Ryan Dalziel by 0.041 seconds.

In the opener, defending series champion Parente took the checkers ahead of teammate Cindric. Parente earned his fifth win of the season and tightened his hold on the individual championship title.

QUOTING PROGRAM MANAGER DARREN LAW

“Last year, Mid-Ohio was a very good track for us. We’re going back with a known setup, a known quantity and a known driver. Our drivers should be good there. They know the track very well. I think we’ll have a good chance.”

DRIVER QUOTES

Alvaro Parente – No. 9 McLaren 650S – “If we want to stay alive in this championship race, we need to have a successful stop at Mid-Ohio. It was good for us last year, and we’ll have our fingers crossed when we get there. I think it will be good for us this year.”

Bryan Sellers – No. 6 McLaren 650S – “For me, Mid-Ohio is one of my favorite tracks. I haven’t been there in such a long time and I’m looking forward to getting back. I grew up in Ohio and I have family and friends there.  It’s always such a neat atmosphere to be placed in that position. For me and looking forward, I think I haven’t had enough time in this car, and I want to get to work right away. It just can’t come fast enough.”

About K-PAX Racing
Since joining the Pirelli World Challenge in 2007, K-PAX Racing has celebrated a total 103 podiums, 41 wins and four driver championships, solidifying the team as a continuous championship contender. In 2014, K-PAX Racing expanded its relationship with McLaren GT, bringing two new 2015 McLaren 650S GT3 race cars into competition. The renewed effort kept K-PAX Racing at the forefront of competition, becoming a serious championship contender in the seasons to follow. In 2016, the team expanded to three full season McLaren 650S GT3 race cars, and clinched the Pirelli World Challenge Team, Driver, and Manufacturer Championships.

About McLaren GT
McLaren has been a pioneer and setting benchmarks on the tracks around the world for 50 years, and the latest range of GT racing models based on the road-going McLaren Automotive range is no different. McLaren GT was established in 2011 to develop, build and support all GT race activities. Based in Woking, Surrey at the former home of McLaren Racing, the company is responsible for the design, development and production of the 650S GT3, 570S GT4, and 650S and 570S Sprint models.