PROMISING SUNDAY EVENT FOR REALTIME RACING ACURAS WASHED AWAY IN DETROIT

Cadillac V-Series Challenge

Circuit: Belle Isle Park (2.3-mile temporary road course) Detroit, Michigan

Promising Sunday Event For RealTime Racing Acuras Washed Away in Detroit

◾Sunday's race cancelled by rain, poor visibility

◾RealTime Acuras had earned best starting position of 2015 for Sunday's race

◾RealTime Racing Acura TLX GT has finished in top 10 in eight of year's 10 races.

May 31, 2015 - Detroit, Michigan -- The Acura TLX GTs of RealTime Racing offered a case study in making the best of a challenging situation during Saturday's Pirelli World Challenge GT race in Detroit.

Acura drivers Peter Cunningham and Ryan Eversley had issues that squelched promising starts during the opening race of the PWC doubleheader at the 2.3-mile Belle Isle Park road course, but both drivers rebounded to put their Acuras in prime positions for Sunday's second race.

Team owner and seven-time PWC champion Cunningham was poised to start a season-high sixth after he carded the sixth-fastest lap of Saturday's race, while Eversley claimed the seventh spot on the grid. Cunningham scored the sixth position after posting a lap time that was a scant .003 seconds faster than Eversley's during Saturday's 33-lap event.

But day-long rains soaked Belle Isle Park on Sunday, and the series decided late in the morning to cancel the Round 11 Pirelli World Challenge event, due to safety concerns related to the inclement weather and reduced track visibility.

'We are very disappointed in not being able to race today,' said Cunningham. 'The team did a great job yesterday putting us in position to get a good starting spot, and our Acuras would have been really well-suited for a race today.'

'We understand the safety concerns and we support any decision that is made in the name of safety,' said Acura Motorsports Team Leader Lee Niffenegger. 'But we were really disappointed not to be able to get out and run today. We were in good shape and were looking forward to seeing what our all-wheel drive Acuras could do in the rain!'

Rains also scuttled Saturday qualifying, leaving the field to be set by championship points, allowing Eversley to start fourth while Cunningham gridded 13th. Eversley ran in the top five during the opening laps before an electrical issue slowed his progress and left him to finish ninth. Cunningham lost a lap during a mid-race pit stop and finished 20th, but did set his best lap of the race after the stop, securing a strong starting spot for the Sunday race that never came.

Saturday's ninth-place finish allowed Eversley to stay in the top five in the season standings after 10 of 20 races, and his gap over the sixth-placed entry of Chris Dyson widened to 34 points.

The series has not yet made an announcement about a potential replacement for Sunday's event. The next scheduled race takes place June 26-28 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, where Rounds 11-12 will be contested.

Developed from the production Acura TLX by HPD and RealTime Racing, the Acura TLX GT features HPD chassis and aerodynamic performance parts approved for Pirelli World Challenge competition. It is powered by a direct-injected, twin-turbocharged V6 engine, developed by HPD from the production TLX, and utilizes all-wheel drive, as found in Acura's SH-AWD system.

Photo credit: Acura
posted on conceptcarz.com

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