Kia Racing and its racing partner Kinetic Motorsports today announced
its driver line-up for the 2013 Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) season.
Veteran Nic Jönsson, who scored Kia’s first professional road racing
championship behind the wheel of a Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car
Challenge (CTSCC) Kia Forte Koup in 2011, will pilot the No. 36
turbocharged Optima, while quick Canadian Mark Wilkins retains his seat
in the No. 38 turbocharged Optima after a stellar rookie season in 2012
in which he claimed a pole, a win and two podiums for Kia Racing.
Jönsson, Wilkins and the Kia Racing team are currently preparing the
turbocharged Optimas for the March 23rd PWC season opener at the Streets of St. Petersburg.
“The Kia Racing team far-exceeded our expectations in our first year
of competition in the Pirelli World Challenge, posting two wins and six
podium finishes with a perfect record of reliability,” said Michael
Sprague, executive vice president of marketing and communications, KMA.
“Now that the development year is behind us and off-season testing has
gone well, we’re excited to build on our strong first-year results and,
perhaps, make a run at the 2013 championship.”
With Kia Racing stepping back from Grand-Am competition this year to
focus on its Pirelli World Challenge Optima program, Jönsson – who,
along with his CTSCC Kia Forte Koup co-driver Andy Lally, narrowly
missed giving the brand its second Grand-Am championship last season –
makes the leap to the larger and more powerful turbocharged Optima.
It’s a seat with which he’s familiar, however, having handled
test-driving duties for an abbreviated development program prior to the
car’s 2012 debut and then returned to the role during the preparations
for 2013.
“Running up to the 2012 season, I felt strongly the Optima would be
very competitive in the GTS class, despite how little time we had in the
car before the first race, and I was pleased to see it perform so well.
Now, with a year of development behind us, the 2013 season is our time
to take the fight to our competition,” said Jönsson, following a recent
testing session. “I am looking forward to teaming up with Mark Wilkins
throughout the year. The Pirelli World Challenge is a fantastic series
featuring a very competitive field with cars and drivers from many
different manufacturers, and we’re going to make sure that Kia takes its
rightful place among those world-famous performance brands.”
Canadian driver Wilkins returns to Kia Racing after joining the team
mid-season last year. Almost on arrival, he took the series by storm,
qualifying on pole and capturing a victory and podium finish at his home
track, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Wilkins’ consistent performance
and methodical approach was crucial in the development of the Optima
racecar and has the team ready to run with the best this season.
“After the success we had in our rookie season, I’m elated to be back
behind of the wheel of the turbocharged Optima for 2013,” said
Wilkins. “I’m looking forward to working with Nic after years of
competing against him on the race track. With the great team we already
have in place, I’m confident we will raise the bar for Kia Racing and
hopefully make some noise in the GTS class.”
Kia Racing kicks off the 2013 PWC with rounds 1-2 in St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 23-24.
No comments:
Post a Comment