Engine Rebuild Rules Callaway Out of Race 1

Photo: Brian Cleary/PWC

Callaway Competition USA is likely to miss today’s opening Pirelli World Challenge SprintX race of the season, due to a “preemptive” engine rebuild to its Corvette C7 GT3-R, according to team boss Reeves Callaway.

The Daniel Keilwitz and Eric Curran-driven GT3 contender did not take part in Friday’s second practice session after an issue was detected in its powerplant, which led to a decision to begin the rebuild process.

It will result in the car likely missing all of Saturday’s track action, including qualifying and Race 1 this afternoon.

“Our data worked as it should and predicted a potential failure before it happened,” Callaway said.

“Our team will be working long hours to repair the engine in time for Race 2, where Daniel Keilwitz and Eric Curran will have the opportunity to race through the field and earn valuable championship points.”

It’s unclear if the team has a spare engine on-site.

The car made its U.S. debut earlier this month in the Sprint season-opening weekend at St. Pete, with Keilwitz scoring a podium finish in Race 2.

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