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Calvert-Jones Completes Three-Car Black Swan Lineup for LB

David Calvert-Jones completes Black Swan Racing’s three-car lineup for Long Beach…

Photo: Porsche

David Calvert-Jones has completed Black Swan Racing’s lineup for this weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge round at Long Beach, in the team’s three-car Porsche assault.

The Los Angeles-based Australian, who joined team owner Tim Pappas for class victory in October’s California 8 Hours at Laguna Seca, has rejoined the team for a one-off run in PWC competition, two months after taking part in the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

Calvert-Jones will pilot the GTA class No. 12 Porsche 911 GT3 R, fresh from Australia following its runner-up finish in Pro-Am, in a race that also saw Black Swan claim class honors.

“We literally just rolled our car out of the container from Bathurst last week,” Calvert-Jones said. “All we’ve done to it is change the oil, fit sprint brake pads on, give the car a wash and we’re ready for the next adventure.

“It’s a testament to the Porsche product that it can be versatile and reliable enough to switch over from ‘the Monaco of the Outback’ to ‘the Monaco of Southern California,’ without missing a beat.

“It’s no easy feat between the limited practice sessions and completely unforgiving nature of a street course, but I’m excited to be a part of it and look forward to the weekend.

“I really appreciate Tim and all the guys at Black Swan Racing for making this a reality, it’s a big undertaking to manage three cars but I’m sure they’ll handle it masterfully.

“I appreciate all of the supporters who’ve helped make this a reality, including multi-national dairy company Parmalat, Virgin Australia, and Australia Ice Break, an iced coffee beverage.”

The addition of Calvert-Jones to the lineup has resulted in Black Swan’s largest-ever program, with Pappas set to also pilot a GTA class Porsche GT3 and former open-wheel and motorcycle driver Jeff Ward in the team’s Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR in the GTS invitational class.

“Between this program, Jeff’s, and my own, it’s a busy weekend for the guys but I’ve full faith in everyone on the team,” Pappas said.

“We’re fortunate to have some great guys run our program, and they’ll do an excellent job as we scale up to a three-car program.

“It’s an opportunity we’ve wanted, and we’re grateful to Porsche Motorsport North America for helping us make it a reality.”

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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