Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams Earn Two Podiums And A Top- Five Finish At Sonoma Raceway

September 18, 2017 by Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams Earn Two Podiums and a Top- Five Finish in Pirelli World Challenge Season-Finale at Sonoma Raceway

Mercedes-AMG GT3 Double Podium Finishes for Champ1 and Black Swan Racing in Pirelli World Challenge Finale at Sonoma Raceway

Sep 18, 2017 - Sonoma, CA -- Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams closed-out the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge racing season with podium performances by Champ1 and Black Swan Racing in the GTA class and a top-five overall and GT-class finish for CRP Racing at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday. After a third-place GTA class finish on Saturday, Pablo Perez Companc finished a season-best second in the No. 69 Mercedes-AMG GT3 on Sunday, and was joined on the GTA-class podium by Tim Pappas, who finished third in the No. 54 Black Swan Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Ryan Dalziel improved two positions from seventh on the grid to take the overall and GT-class top-five in the No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.

After a third-place GTA finish on Saturday, Companc stuck with the race-leading Porsche from the drop of the green flag on Sunday. He was never close enough to make a pass for the lead, but built a big enough gap over third-place Pappas to keep second place despite a late-race spin.

Companc quickly recovered from the miscue, taking the checkered flag in second- place for not only his highest finish of the season but also his third-consecutive Pirelli World Challenge podium result. In addition to the Sonoma finishes, Companc finished third in GTA one race prior at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in late July.

Pappas ended the season with some podium momentum of his own, claiming his fourth top-three Pirelli World Challenge finish in the last five races.

The late-season run was enough for Pappas to seal third-place championship honors in the GTA class. He and co-driver Jeroen Bleekemolen also clinched third place in the Pirelli World Challenge SprintX GT Pro/AM championship two weeks ago at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) after three-straight runner-up finishes in that event's trio of races.

Dalziel and CRP Racing had one of the fastest cars all weekend at Sonoma and rebounded from the frustrations of Saturday's race for Sunday's top-five finish. Dalziel dropped two spots to ninth at the race start to avoid a lap-one incident, but he recovered to charge through the field, improving four spots for a top-five finish by the checkered flag.

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With the Pirelli World Challenge racing season now complete, next up for Mercedes- AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams is next weekend's IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Monterey Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, September 22 – 24.

Ryan Dalziel, Driver – No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: 'We had a good Mercedes-AMG GT3 all weekend. Saturday was a little frustrating, and we shouldn't have been starting from seventh on the grid today. We actually had a great start but then had to get on the brakes to keep from hitting a spinning McLaren in turn one. I ended up charging at that point, we definitely had one of the top one or two speed cars, and the Mercedes-AMG GT3 was great. It's a shame it's the end of the season at this point because I feel like we are just starting to hit our stride. All credit to CRP Racing and DeVilbiss because we had one of the best cars here this weekend. We showed some speed, had we made it through turn one in position, we would have had a podium car again.'

Tim Pappas, Driver – No. 54 Black Swan Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: 'The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is a great car to drive but this was kind of an up-and-down season. The way the schedule sets up, we have a lot of gaps in the beginning of the year and you don't really get into a rhythm until the second half of the season. It takes time to find that rhythm but the guys at Black Swan Racing did an awesome job this year. We came to grips with how the Mercedes-AMG GT3 likes to be run, and in the second half of the season we spent more time on the podium than off. It's a testament to how good the program is that Mercedes-AMG has put together in the U.S. We have had a ton of support, and that's been really helpful.'

Pablo Perez Companc, Driver – No. 69 Champ1 Mercedes-AMG GT3: 'The Champ1 guys gave me an excellent car. It's a tough track, of course, but I tried to make progress throughout the race. In the end it was a little loose but I just tried to push as hard as I could. I couldn't quite get to the front but second place is my best finishing position of the year. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 was very strong in the slow corners but on the straight the Porsche just has incredible acceleration. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is really good on the tires, however, they are the same at the end as they are at the beginning, and that really helped me stay with the leader.'