Road America Friday Notebook

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

***RealTime Racing is back to full strength, with the No. 42 Acura TLX-GT of Peter Cunningham returning after Ryan Eversley took the wheel of his car at Lime Rock Park due to Eversley’s accident the week prior at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

***Cunningham told Sportscar365 that the car did not require a new chassis and that it was back out testing on June 8-9, at Road America. The cars, however, have received a boost reduction this weekend at the top-end RPM range, compared to how the cars ran in track Category C configuration last time out at Lime Rock Park.

***The Cadillac ATS-V.Rs, meanwhile, have been given a boost increase, although not quite to the same levels Johnny O’Connell and Michael Cooper enjoyed in the season-opener at Circuit of The Americas, the only other Category B track on the PWC calendar.

***McCann Racing makes its Pirelli World Challenge return this weekend, with Michael McCann piloting his newly acquired Dodge Viper GT3-R. The car was purchased from Black Swan Racing, which had made sporadic PWC starts over the last year.

***Dion von Moltke, who topped the time sheets on Friday’s practice, will drive the No. 23 M1 GT Racing Audi R8 LMS in Race 2 on Sunday. Walt Bowlin is now listed to pilot the car in Race 1 only. It’s unclear if Von Moltke, like Bowlin, will also be classified in the GTA class, although Von Moltke is Silver-rated by the FIA.

***Stefan Pfeiffer, who has joined Calvert Dynamics alongside fellow ex-EFFORT Racing driver Michael Lewis, is engineering both of the team’s Porsche 911 GT3 Rs this weekend. Pfeiffer told Sportscar365 that his focus remains on Lewis but is helping the No. 76 car of Andrew Davis, which has struggled so far this season.

***Calvert Dynamics’ expansion to a three-car operation has seen the team utilize some of EFFORT Racing resources, including its pit cart and other support equipment. Lewis is driving the same Porsche chassis he piloted at EFFORT, which is owned by a private investor.

***Road America marks the one-year anniversary since Dorsey Schroeder’s appointment as Race Director. The former road racing ace and television color commentator is part of PWC’s team in Race Control, alongside Chief Steward Peter Roberts and Chief Driving Steward Brian Till.

***No decision has been made on whether Bentley Team Absolute will return to a two-car squad later this season. The Chinese squad has focused on a single Bentley Continental GT3 for Adderly Fong this weekend, as Andrew Palmer remains in hospital following his head injury sustained in an accident at Lime Rock Park.

***DIME Racing is planning to give the Mercedes-AMG GT3 its North American race debut at Sonoma Raceway in September, as part of a planned two-car effort for the final two races of the season. Frankie Montecalvo would likely switch from his current Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 and would be joined by an AMG factory driver in the second car.

***More than 100,000 spectators are expected this weekend, in what’s shaping up to be a record crowd at Road America, in the highly anticipated return of IndyCar to the four-mile circuit. Campsites are already jam-packed, with heavy traffic on the perimeter roads.

***Watch tomorrow’s GT/GTA/GT Cup Race at 5:30 p.m. ET, live on MotorTrend on Demand and World-Challenge.com. Both rounds will air on CBS Sports Network on Sun. July 3 at 3 p.m. ET. The GTS action will be televised on Thurs. July 7 at 9 p.m. ET.

John Dagys

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