Team Panoz Racing 2nd at Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio
Coming off its double-win weekend at Road America, Ian James and the No. 50 Panoz Avezzano GT rack up another podium in today’s PWC GTS/GT4 Championship Round 11 race.
July 29, 2017, Lexington, Ohio – Team Panoz Racing’s success continued today with Ian James and the No. 50 Panoz Avezzano GT securing a second-place podium in the Pirelli World Challenge GTS/GT4 championship Round 11 race held on the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The 50-minute race began with James and the Panoz Avezzano GTS in P8. Almost immediately at the start an on-track incident forced the No. 89 JCR Motorsports Maserati GT4 into the wall, resulting in a full course caution. On the lap 10 restart James was able to expertly maneuver from P6 to P3, which he held until the race fell under another full course caution a few laps later due to another on-track incident involving several cars.
The race resumed on lap 17, and James quickly got around the No. 69 Performance Motorpsorts Group Ginetta G55 driven by Harry Gottsacker to secure P2, the position he defended until the checkered flag. This is the first Panoz Mid-Ohio podium since David Brabham and Jan Magnussen in the No. 50 Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S won the American Le Mans Series’ Mid-Ohio debut in August 2001.
James’ quickest lap time on Mid-Ohio’s 13-turn circuit was 1:28.938. Team Panoz Racing will start P2 in tomorrow morning’s PWC GTS/GT4 championship Round 12 race, which is scheduled to begin at 9:05 am.
Team Manager Tom Milner credits the team’s focus all season on continual improvement. Team Panoz Racing has made great strides and as the season has progressed, so has Team Panoz Racing’s performance. The hard work has brought top-10 and top-five finishes at Virginia International Raceway, a top-five finish at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, a second-place podium at Lime Rock Park, and last month’s double win at Road America.
The Avezzano GT race car is based on the new Panoz Avezzano sports car, the latest street-legal Panoz creation featuring a new fastback configuration, a new-generation aluminum chassis, and an all-new high-performance V8 and manual gearbox. Visit www.panoz.com for more information.
Next up for Team Panoz Racing is PWC GTS/GT4 Round 12 tomorrow and Rounds 13 and 14 at the Grand Prix of Utah, Utah Motorsports Campus, Tooele, Utah, Aug. 11-13, 2017. Please visit www.world-challenge.com for the most up to date Pirelli World Challenge information and Motor Trend OnDemand streaming and CBS Sports Network broadcast information. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat for as-it-happens updates.
Honoring Those Who Serve
Team Panoz Racing in a partnership with Hometown Heroes Racing proudly displays the badges of the U.S. Fire, Police and EMS services on the No. 50 Avezzano GTS to honor those who dedicate their lives to serve our nation and protect, defend and save the lives of complete strangers every day. Michael E. Murphy, RN, EMT-P, founded Hometown Heroes Racing in 2014 with the sole focus of building honor and camaraderie amongst first responders and the military.
Quoteboard: Ian James – “Qualifying didn’t go as planned yesterday and we had to start a little back in the field, so to be on the podium is great. The Camaro seems to be a stout package here; It’s light and fast. But it was a good race and like Road America, which is probably our strongest track of the year, the Panoz is good here, too. One thing though, if you don’t clean your tires and anticipate what’s going to happen in turn one [on a restart] it can be pretty bad news. I actually came from sixth to third in one corner because everyone went into turn one as they normally do and then they ran wide and I just drove down on the inside. I’m really happy with the result overall. We’re starting second tomorrow, so we’ll see if we can mix it up a bit and have fun.”
