Lewis & Wilkins Go 1-2 in Pirelli World Challenge Practice
Friday in TCR Action at Utah Motorsports Campus
Hyundai i30 N TCR cars roll off the trailer with good setup at PWC Grand Prix of Utah
GRANTSVILLE, Utah (August 10, 2018) – A racing driver always wants their race car to roll off the trailer and feel good in the first practice runs. That was the case Friday for Michael Lewis and Mark Wilkins in TCR action in the Pirelli World Challenge opening day at the Utah Motorsports Campus.
Both of the Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai i30 N TCR racers had a good feeling at the 3.048-mile, 14-turn road course southwest of Salt Lake City after the first few laps in the Friday morning practice round.
“You are always a little nervous going into the first practice session at any track,” said Lewis, the California driver in the No. 98 BHA Hyundai i30 N TCR car. “You are not really sure what you have to work with in the initial track surface. But I think Mark and I both could tell pretty quickly that our Hyundai i30 N machines were good. We have to thank our engineer John Ward for setting up strong cars this morning. The crew has worked hard to get the cars prepared since last month at Portland.”
Lewis, currently second in the TCR point standings, turned in an impressive lap of one minute, 59.352 seconds for a speed of 91.93 miles per hour in the TCR class debut at the fast Utah racing plant. That quick lap time gave Lewis the No. 1 position for Friday practice, as qualifying and the Round 9 40-minute sprint race is scheduled for Saturday.
Wilkins, the three-time 2018 race winner in the No. 99 BHA Hyundai i30 N TCR machine, recorded the second quickest TCR lap of the day Friday with a 1:59.413 for a 91.88 m.p.h., just a tick behind his teammate. The veteran Canadian driver is no stranger to the Utah circuit, having scored Pirelli World Challenge feature win in GTS (2015) and GT SprintX (2017).
“Both Michael and I have won races here in the past and our experience helps coming into the PWC weekend,” said Wilkins. “We have worked together all year with the crew and John (Ward) on the proper setups at the various tracks. We felt we had a good start for the morning practice and the results proved that out. In the afternoon, the heat was really up, right at a 100 degrees. So, we learned how the track surface can change. It helped us get ready for Saturday and Sunday’s races.”
In the Friday runs, Lewis and Wilkins were second and third, respectively, in the TCR practice, trailing only young Mason Filippi.
The equally-prepared Hyundai i30 N TCR cars will now be prepped for Saturday’s qualifying at 9:45 am. MDT as well as Round 9 40-minute sprint race (a rolling start) will begin at 2:30 p.m. MDT.
Sunday’s Round 10 event (a standing start) will start at 1:00 p.m. MDT.
All TCR races at Utah Motorsports Campus will have live streaming on
www.world-challenge.com and the World Challenge channel on YouTube.
# # #
About Pirelli World Challenge (PWC): The Pirelli World Challenge is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by WC Vision since 2008, and sanctioned by the United States Auto Club since 2017. The series consists of seven driver classifications and several classes of vehicles, including: Grand Touring, GT Cup, GTS, TCR, TC and TCA. The series frequently races alongside the IndyCar Series on race event weekends. Each Pirelli World Challenge Touring TCR season consists of six event weekends with doubleheader races for a total of 12 rounds. Each weekend has one standing start as well as one rounding start. Each TCR race has a maximum 40-minute time limit.
About Bryan Herta Autosport
Co-Founded by Bryan Herta in 2009, Bryan Herta Autosport has grown from a single-car Indy Lights team into a world-renowned auto-racing franchise. The team made its first foray into IndyCar action in 2010 with an entry in the Indianapolis 500 while continuing to run a full-time multi-car Indy Lights program. The 2011 Indianapolis 500 was the final race of the Centennial Era, a celebration of 100 years of racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Also known as “The Most Important Race in History,” the 100th anniversary of the inaugural 1911 race was the second IndyCar race in which Herta Racing competed.
Five years later, Bryan Herta Autosport, while partnered with Andretti Autosport, defied the odds again and won their second Indianapolis 500 with rookie driver Alexander Rossi. In 2015, Bryan Herta Rallysport made its debut in the exciting Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship.
Hyundai Motor America
Hyundai Motor America is focused on delivering an outstanding customer experience grounded in design leadership, engineering excellence and exceptional value in every vehicle we sell. Hyundai’s technology-rich product lineup of cars, SUVs and alternative-powered electric and fuel cell vehicles is backed by Hyundai Assurance—our promise to deliver peace of mind to our customers. Hyundai vehicles are sold and serviced through more than 830 dealerships nationwide, with the majority sold in the U.S. built at U.S. manufacturing facilities, including Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. Hyundai Motor America is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, and is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. Please visit our media website at
www.HyundaiNews.comLinkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=26433.msg119000#msg119000
