K-PAX Racing and McLaren GT Win on the Streets of Long Beach

This afternoon, K-PAX Racing earned its first Pirelli World Challenge win of the season with McLaren GT driver Alvaro Parente at the Long Beach Grand Prix. Parente started from pole position and ultimately finished in 2nd, but a post-race penalty to the race winning No. 3 Cadillac resulted in the series officials awarding the top spot to Parente and K-PAX Racing. Although not without chaos, this year's running of the street race went remarkably better than 2015's notable run that resulted in multiple penalties. Only one of the team's three McLarens made it through Round 5 unscathed, despite all cars showing a strong performance throughout the weekend.

Parente qualified the No. 9 McLaren 650S GT3 on pole position after showing an impressive run all weekend long, despite not having any experience on the track. Teammate Colin Thompson was three hundredths of a second behind, qualifying his No. 13 McLaren 650S GT3 in third position. Following heavy damage from Round 4 at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Austin Cindric's No. 6 McLaren 650S GT3 underwent intensive repairs leading up to this event. With limited track time, the team used the short practice sessions to run shakedowns. An issue with the ABS in qualifying resulted in a 15th place starting position for Cindric.

Cindric's race ended in the opening lap when a competitor jumped a curb in turn 8 and slid cross the track, shoving the No. 6 McLaren 650S GT3 hard into the concrete wall. The incident brought out an early caution, and Parente led the field back to green with Thompson still in third. Shortly after the field resumed racing, Thompson notified the team that he had been hit from behind, but the damage to the car was not fatal.

Contact from other cars continued and the McLaren's damaged body work eventually caused a flat left rear tire, resulting in his early retirement from the race with 15 minutes remaining. On the second restart, Parente was passed in turn one by Johnny O'Connell in the No. 3 Cadillac, and the two maintained an even gap to the end of the race. Parente finished in 2nd position, and three hours later, the series officials declared the Portuguese driver the race winner.

This week, the team will continue its championship run at Rounds 6 and 7 at Barber Motorsports Park, where the team earned a 1-2 finish in 2015. The 15-turn, 2.38-mile road course boasts elevation changes of over 80 feet, and is well suited for the high downforce McLaren 650S GT3. Official practice sessions begin on Friday, April 22nd, followed by Rounds 6 and 7 on Saturday and Sunday the 23rd and 24th. For schedule and ticket information, visit world-challenge.com.

Alvaro Parente // No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 // Started P1 // Finished P1 I have mixed emotions about winning the race this way. I would have liked to have won the race on the track. We had a near perfect weekend with winning the pole position and racing for the win. It's too bad that Johnny O'Connell was penalized, because we had a great race today. But I am happy to win at a famed track like Long Beach in my first appearance. I'm happy for the K-PAX Racing team and McLaren GT, and I look forward to racing next week at Barber Motorsports Park.

Colin Thompson // No. 13 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 // Started P3 // DNF P17 After having a really good qualifying session to put the car P3, right within the same times as the first two cars on the grid, we had all the keys to win the race or at least have a solid points finish with a podium. We caught some bad luck going into turn three when I got rear ended and damaged my diffuser. It caused a few problems for us which ended up resulting in a flat tire that ended my race early. K-PAX Racing, McLaren GT and Flying Lizard Motorsports put all the efforts that they could possibly put in to give us the recipe to win, and we'll take that to Barber and apply it. For now, I'm just glad the car isn't too bad. It's nothing unrepairable and we'll be in good shape for Barber.

Austin Cindric // No. 6 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 // Started P15 // DNF P22 It was a very short race to end a very long weekend. I'm pretty frustrated with how it turned out because there was a lot of potential to have a good weekend. I'm glad to see Alvaro was able to get on the podium. I'm looking forward to Barber Motorsports Park. I'm hoping we'll have some better luck. I know that the pace of the cars there is good, and the guys are working hard to make sure it's the best it can be. We've just got to keep doing what we're doing and the good days will come.

Darren Law // Flying Lizard Motorsports Program Manager We're happy to come away with one of our cars earning solid points. Pole and a win will go a long way to getting back in the fight for the championship. It's unfortunate Austin got taken out early in the race as I think he had a shot to do well. I'm a bit surprised at the overaggressive level of driving I have seen so early in the race, we still have a long way to go in the championship and everyone needs to race smart if they want to be there at the end. It is unfortunate Colin ended with a cut tire from body damage because he had a phenomenal qualifying session and had potential to be on the podium. Some of the tracks coming up should really play to the strengths of the McLaren, so we'll put this one behind us and keep moving forward.

Contact:

Kelly@KBruCommunications.com

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