Hedlund Replaces Curtis at RealTime for Rest of Season

Mike Hedlund has been called in to replace Bret Curtis in RealTime Racing’s Acura NSX GT3 Evo for the rest of the Blancpain GT World Challenge America season.

Curtis, who was initially set to contest the whole of the RealTime squad’s six-round campaign, has not raced the Acura since the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park weekend in May because of injury.

He was replaced at short notice by Trent Hindman for the second CTMP race, while Hedlund stepped in for the most recent round at Sonoma Raceway.

Hedlund and Dane Cameron scored a victory and a second place in the Pro-Am class in California, leading to their retention as a pair for the final three events.

RealTime gave Hedlund a two-day test in the Acura at Road America earlier this week.

“I told [team owner] Peter Cunningham after our first day of practice at Sonoma that if Bret wasn’t feeling 100 percent for any of the remaining races to call me first,” said Hedlund, who has been without a full-time ride this year after spending 2018 with Flying Lizard Motorsports in the GT4 ranks.

“The team made me feel right at home from the moment I arrived at the track. They’re very experienced and I’ve been around the block a few times myself so we were able to hit the ground running.”

Cunningham added: “I think the results from Sonoma speak for themselves in regards to how well Mike and Dane work together in the Acura.

“And now after our test at a track we will race on in September [Road America], the team should be in a strong position to fight for more wins.”

The next round of Blancpain GT America takes place at Watkins Glen on Aug. 31-Sep. 1.