NICK TANDY WINS PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE STREET RACE IN TORONTO

July 21, 2014 by Porsche

Pirelli World Challenge, Rounds 9 and 10, Toronto, Canada

Toronto. Nick Tandy (UK), driving the EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in the Pirelli World Challenge at the Honda Indy Toronto on Saturday in Exhibition Place, Round 9 of the 2014 season - a 50-minute timed event - scored the car's the first overall win for in North America.

Tandy, who started the 50-minute event from the pole position, had already cleared turn one of lap one when a ten-car pile-up caused a six-lap yellow flag. Once the race restarted on Lap 7, Tandy took command of the field, and the battle was for second place behind him. Kuno Wittmer, of Montreal, Quebec, in the No. 92 Dodge/SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R held off a fierce attack from Johnny O'Connell, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, in the No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V.R.

After one more late yellow flag, the World Challenge safety crew got the track cleaned with five minutes remaining to allow for a green flag finish. Tandy's otherwise comfortable lead was erased and Wittmer had a chance at the win. Despite several looks, the Canadian SRT factory driver was unable to pass the Englishman. Tandy held on to win his first Pirelli World Challenge start by 0.508 seconds, at an average speed of 66.409 mph.

In Sunday's race, which was shortened to 35 minutes because a schedule change to accommodate the IndyCar Series to beat an impending rainstorm, the roles were reversed as Wittmer was in front with Tandy chasing. With only eight minutes to go, after several attempts to get by the Viper, Tandy spun and was hit by another car, ending his chance for a weekend sweep.

In GT Amateur, Michael Mills, from Angleton, Texas, driving the No. 41 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, climbed back into the lead of the season point chase with a second on Saturday and a victory on Sunday. Mills had led the GT-A points before two DNF's at Road America two weeks ago.

IN GTS class, Jack Baldwin, from Marietta, Georgia, had a transmission issue which prevented him from scoring well on Saturday. The veteran racer came back for a fine fourth-place finish on Sunday in his GTSport Porsche Cayman S.

Both rounds of the Pirelli World Challenge from Toronto will be television on NBC Sports Network on Sunday, August 10, at 1:30 PM EDT.

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The next round of the Pirelli World Challenge will take place at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio August 1 – 3.

Nick Tandy, driver, No. 31 Effort Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R: 'On Saturday, the green flag fell, and I made one of the worst starts I can remember making, actually. Fortunately for us, Kuno's was even worse, and we managed to keep the Cadillac behind into Turn 1. On the last restart after the yellow, by the time we got to Turn 3, it would be quite plain sailing as we had pace in the car. The traffic and restarts is what we had to think about. This EFFORT Racing crew prepared a world-class Porsche race car, and I had confidence I could keep the competition's factory drivers behind me, even after the restart.'

'For the second race on Sunday, the car felt just as good, and I had a good dice with the Audi before passing, and then it was me and the Viper again. I stuck my nose in several times, but there is only one line around this street course. Near the end of the race, I was squeezed a bit and spun, and then another car plowed into me and that was the end of our day. We are disappointed. But a pole and a win for the weekend was great for both Porsche and the team. We showed we have the pace to contend at every event.'

Michael Mills, driver, No. 41 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R: 'We're still making up points; the gap isn't insurmountable. We are thankful to Porsche for offering up Nick Tandy this weekend. It kind of woke everything up with our team. Positive weekend with his overall win yesterday and GT-Am win today.'

Full from both races results can be viewed at http://www.world-challenge.com/index.php?option=com_drivers&view=event&id=51&Itemid=216 (see Event Results on the right hand side of the page).