K-PAX Confident Despite Testing Crash at VIR

K-PAX Racing is confident this weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of Virginia could mark the team’s breakout weekend despite Andy Soucek’s testing crash at Virginia International Raceway on Thursday.

The California-based team has already fought through two major repairs in the first three races of the season involving both of its Bentley Continental GT3 machines following crashes for Alvaro Parente in the No. 9 entry at St. Petersburg and Rodrigo Baptista in the sister No. 3 car at Long Beach.

While he lamented the added workload for the crew, K-PAX program manager Darren Law said Soucek’s accident in the No. 9 machine was not nearly as severe as the first two of the season and should not prove to be a significant setback.

“This is minor compared to the other ones,” Law told Sportscar365. “It’s mainly bodywork and replacing parts. I don’t think it’s going to be too bad.

“It’s unfortunate, but it’s not a weekend ender.

“It was a bit of a mistake on Andy’s part. He dropped a wheel and once he touched the grass, that was it. It’s wet grass and it took the car into the wall.

“It’s been a tough start to the year but Bentley has been great and very supportive.”

Despite the setbacks, K-PAX has put one of its cars on a class podium in every race so far this season.

Law indicated the team should only get stronger as the schedule shifts to more circuits that highlight the Bentley’s strengths, beginning this weekend at VIR.

“Overall, we’ve had a very good day,” he said. “The cars are where we thought we would be and we are very happy with our setup. Testing has been beneficial.

“We were here a few weeks back with all four drivers and it was a very productive test. We got through a lot of different things and we came in here pretty confident with what we’ve got.

“[Tracks like VIR] are where the car should excel, I think we’ll have a good weekend. It’s a bit rough to start it this way, but better on Thursday than on Saturday morning or something.”