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COTA Wednesday Notebook

Ryan Myrehn’s Wednesday notebook from COTA…

Photo: IMSA

Photo: IMSA

***IndyCar driver Stefan Wilson is set to join Nicholas Boulle in the No. 26 BAR1 Motorsports Prototype Challenge class entry this weekend. It marks Wilson’s debut in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship but he does have some sports car experience from select appearances in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.

***It is the second start this season for Boulle, who teamed with Pato O’Ward, James French, and Kyle Masson to score PC class victory at the Rolex 24 at Daytona with Performance Tech Motorsports in January.

***For the first time this season, there have been no changes in Balance of Performance between races for any of the WeatherTech Championship teams.

***Corvette Racing will be running an altered fueling receptacle that meets new regulations laid out by the FIA that will take effect for Le Mans. The change is not required by IMSA, but team is aiming to get some race experience with the new part by putting it on the car ahead of time during IMSA competition.

***Several teams opted to log some testing laps at the Austin circuit last month. BMW Team RLL, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Lone Star Racing, 3GT Racing, and Tequila Patron ESM all tested at COTA.

***In addition, Stevenson Motorsports and Michael Shank Racing opted to test at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on April 12, while Mazda Motorsports took part in a two-day test at the circuit last week. 

***Visit Florida Racing was scheduled to shake down their new Riley Mk. 30 Gibson chassis at Road Atlanta on Monday after significant damage to their old tub at Long Beach ended their weekend in California prematurely.

***3GT Racing’s Scott Pruett will be making his first GT Daytona class start at COTA this weekend, but it’s a track that at which he has already made a mark. Pruett won overall in each of his two previous races at the circuit in 2014 and 2015 with Chip Ganassi Racing. Pruett’s 2015 win is the 60th and most recent in his career.

***The COTA race will be of added importance for the 3GT Lexus team this season and into the future. Lexus is planning to move its North American corporate headquarters to Plano, Tex. later this year, making the annual trip to Texas all the more important for the marque.

***CORE autosport is also eager to return to the esteemed Texas track. The team has finished on the podium in class in each of its previous appearances at COTA, including a PC class win in 2015. This marks the first trip for the team as a GTD entrant, and the team hopes to add a celebration on Saturday to go along with driver Jon Bennett’s birthday celebration on Friday.

***WeatherTech Championship teams in the Prototype class will be allotted 10 sets of Continental tires, both wet and dry, for the weekend. PC and GTD class teams will each receive seven sets of Continentals.

***In all, Continental Tire will have more than 3,300 tires on hand this weekend for the WeatherTech Championship and the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge teams.

***Saturday’s Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown is scheduled to start at 2:45 p.m. ET, with same day delay coverage on FS1 beginning at 7 p.m. ET. The two-hour Continental Tire Challenge race is scheduled for Friday at 3:45 p.m. ET with coverage available at www.IMSA.tv with commentary from IMSA Radio.

John Dagys contributed to this report.

Ryan Myrehn is an Indianapolis-based broadcaster and reporter. In addition to his work covering primarily domestic sports car racing for Sportscar365, he is the lead announcer for SRO America's TV coverage as well as a pit reporter for IndyCar Radio. Myrehn, a graduate of DePauw University, is also the host of Sportscar365's “Double Stint” Podcast.

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