The 25th Anniversary season of Pirelli
World Challenge racing got off to a roaring start this past weekend with the running of the 2014 Cadillac Grand Prix of St. Petersburg brought to you by
StopTech. World Challenge has always been one of StopTech Racing's favorite series, so it was nice to see our company, our products and our customers so prominently featured during the Grand Prix weekend.
Not only was the race presented by StopTech, but StopTech is the Official Brake System and the Official Brake Friction of the series this year. Plus, the group of drivers using StopTech that we affectionately refer to as "Team StopTech" had a really strong showing with Andy Lee taking second and Jack Baldwin claiming third in Sunday's GTS race. Both cars run full StopTech Trophy Big Brake Kits that are essentially the same as the kits you can buy for your high performance street cars and race cars.
Nor surprisingly, Jack Baldwin qualified his #73 RESET-MD/Motul/StopTech
Porsche Cayman S on the pole after leading both Friday practice sessions. "It
was exciting," Baldwin said. "For us, it was a situation where track
conditions in traffic fell in place, I got a clean lap on drying conditions and
that's what paid off. There were still some slick spots. But this track suits
the RESET-MD Cayman really well."
While Round 1 was scheduled to be run on Saturday, inclement weather caused it to be cancelled. Therefore, Sunday's standing start grid was based off the qualifying results.
Andy Lee of Colorado Springs, Col. had qualified third in the No. 20 Best IT/Crown 7 Chevrolet Camaro and while Baldwin lost some ground on the start, Lee was able to move into the lead ahead of second-place qualifier, Lawson Aschenbach. Lee and Aschenbach battled throughout the race with slower traffic eventually helping Aschenbach take the lead with just a few laps to go. A disappointed Lee held onto second with Baldwin third.
Lee, twice a polesitter at St. Petersburg and a frequent lap
leader at the track, came up short of the win once again. But it was a
fighting effort from the third-year driver who was named GTS class
rookie-of-the-year in 2012.
“I don’t know how many laps led I’ve had here without
winning,” Lee said. Referring to the backmarker who gave Aschenbach his chance to pass, Lee added, “Every year this place seems to bite me in one way. I
thought he’d open the door, but he turned down on me. He didn’t do it on
purpose. That’s part of getting around here.”
In third place was polesitter Jack Baldwin, who was slightly behind the Camaros for most of
the race but was pleased with his third St. Petersburg podium in the last two
years.
“We lost a bit off our starting position, but the race was
good from my point of view,” Baldwin said.
You can watch the race broadcast on NBC Sports Network April 6 or on-demand at world-challengetv.com. You can also follow all of the series action at world-challenge.com.
The next round of the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge
Championships is the Roar By the Shore presented by Kia in Long Beach,
Calif. on April 13, part of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend.
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