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View Full Version : Nissan announces PWC two car program, including for Heitkotter



Fogelhund
February 19th, 2015, 10:20 AM
http://www.racer.com/pwc/item/113591-pwc-nissan-confirms-two-car-gt-r-program-for-davison-heitkotter

Nissan Motorsports announced a partnership with Always Evolving (AE) to campaign two GT Academy-NISMO Nissan GT-R GT3 racing cars for the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge season.
Nissan GT Academy North America 2011 winner Bryan Heitkotter will drive one of the team cars, while Australian open-wheel and GT star James Davison will pilot the second car. Featuring logos from the GT Academy program, the two cars will be co-sponsored by Replay XD and NISMO.
AE will utilize AIM Autosport for much of the car preparation and on track support during the season. AIM won the 2012 IMSA GTD team, driver and manufacturer championships, as well as the 2013 manufacturer title while campaigning a Ferrari.
"Nissan couldn't be happier to have Always Evolving and AIM as Nissan's partners to campaign the first GT3 spec GT-Rs in the U.S. in Pirelli World Challenge," said Rick Kulach, Nissan North America Motorsports Manager. "This partnership is a great opportunity to showcase Bryan's talents alongside James, who is a rising star in motorsports. It's exciting to have a GT Academy champion in a great car racing at this level."
Based in Los Angeles, Always Evolving Racing was founded in 2013 by Erik Davis and Roger Rodas to combine the friends' passion for cars with their desire to support their favorite charities. Following a tragic automobile accident late in 2013 that took Rodas' life, Davis elected to continue with Always Evolving in his friend's honor.
"We are extremely excited to partner with Nissan in Pirelli World Challenge," said Davis, chairman of AE. "Our two brands have had a distant relationship for many years, and to be able to now officially launch an effort together bringing the Nissan NISMO GT3 GT-R to North America is humbling to say the least. We look forward to showcasing the team, our drivers, the GT Academy and our sponsors in a very competitive platform."
Bryan headshotHeitkotter (LEFT), 34, won North America's first gamer-to-racer GT Academy competition in 2011. In 2012 and 2013 while driving a Nissan 370Z NISMO for Doran Racing, Heitkotter earned three pole positions, two second qualifying spots, four top ten finishes and a podium. In 2014, Bryan switched to a Nissan Altima for the CA Sports team. There, he earned three podiums and four top five finishes in the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car category in six events.
Most recently, behind the wheel of the Doran #41 370Z NISMO, Heitkotter and GT Academy teammate Nick McMillen finished sixth overall in the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Championship race at Daytona International Speedway in January 2015.
"I have been watching the Pirelli World Challenge gain momentum over the past couple years, and I'm absolutely thrilled to help represent Nissan in this highly competitive series," said Heitkotter. "The GT-R has proven to be a spectacular racing car and I can't wait to see what we can all accomplish together."
2014Indy500MPruettSAT51714 1393 DavisonDavison (RIGHT), 28, was born in Melbourne, Australia and moved to the United States when he was 18 years of age to develop his skills in open wheel racing. His career highlights include a 2005 victory in Formula BMW at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a runner-up finish in the 2007 Star Mazda Championship, and second spot in the 2009 Indy Lights Championship.
Davison ran up front during the 2014 Indianapolis 500 driving for Always Evolving KV Racing Technology, finishing the race in 16th position. In his limited time in sports cars he has always been at the front, driving for the TRG-Aston Martin team in IMSA competition. Davison has recorded five consecutive poles in IMSA, including the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
"We have great confidence in Erik (Davis)'s vision and ability to campaign a competitive car at a high level every race," added Kulach. "James Davison is not only a talented young race driver, but he's also a great sportsman and will be an outstanding representative for the Nissan brand."
The first Pirelli World Challenge Race for 2015 will be at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas March 6-8. Television broadcast times have not yet been announced and the series will be webcast via www.world-challengetv.com.

samoht
February 19th, 2015, 10:43 AM
Hurray!

MR2 Fan
February 19th, 2015, 02:40 PM
"Bryan headshotHeitkotter"

lol

Cam
February 19th, 2015, 02:42 PM
Yay! Congrats Bryan! Awesome news!

Reynard
February 19th, 2015, 03:07 PM
Good luck! And try not to snap any axles eh. ;)

Alan P
February 19th, 2015, 04:52 PM
As I said on FB, great news and a regular ride too!

Mr Wonder
February 21st, 2015, 05:28 AM
Fantastic news! Congratulations Bryan!

Yw-slayer
February 21st, 2015, 06:26 AM
Sweet, dude.

Dicknose
February 21st, 2015, 12:40 PM
Great news

Just googled this Pirelli world challenge, wondering where it raced. It's a world challenge of 2 countries.
So they won't be coming near me.
Good news for Bryan, not so good for his fans around the world!

The359
February 21st, 2015, 02:57 PM
Its effectively our national GT3 series.

IMOA
February 21st, 2015, 03:51 PM
Congrats Bryan, thats awesome news

Phil_SS
March 2nd, 2015, 08:25 AM
Hotlapping for a living! Congrats Bryan and break a suspension arm....wait I mean....ahhhhhh....good luck.

GB
March 5th, 2015, 09:58 AM
Spied!

1053

Photo by Andy Hollis

FaultyMario
March 5th, 2015, 10:31 AM
That is so going to my FB wall.

MR2 Fan
March 5th, 2015, 11:04 AM
Beauty

Random
March 5th, 2015, 11:36 AM
:up:

Crazed_Insanity
March 5th, 2015, 11:46 AM
Nice screen shot!

Oh wait, it's for real! :D :up:

2ndMoparMan
March 5th, 2015, 05:18 PM
Damn nice to see!

The359
March 5th, 2015, 05:48 PM
http://johndagys.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/gallery/pwc-cota-thursday-2015/030515_cota_BC_540739.jpg

Random
March 5th, 2015, 06:03 PM
:up: :up:

GB
March 5th, 2015, 09:14 PM
1054

1055

Random
March 5th, 2015, 09:33 PM
:up: :up: :up:

Yobbo NZ
March 5th, 2015, 09:55 PM
Lucky bugger :D

Dicknose
March 5th, 2015, 11:01 PM
The smile says it all
"living the dream"
(probably working damn hard at it)

Rare White Ape
March 6th, 2015, 02:22 AM
Shit hot.

Giz drive?

XHawkeye
March 6th, 2015, 05:17 AM
:up::up:

IforceV8
March 6th, 2015, 07:23 AM
http://www.world-challenge.com/liverace/index.html

Random
March 6th, 2015, 01:02 PM
Bryan's been hanging around the top ten in both practice sessions. :up:

IforceV8
March 7th, 2015, 06:44 AM
2:04.9 right now in Q,ahead of his "pro" teammate.:finger:

MR2 Fan
March 7th, 2015, 06:51 AM
How much HP are they running?

IforceV8
March 7th, 2015, 07:07 AM
550 HP ish

IforceV8
March 7th, 2015, 07:21 AM
Graham Goodwin ‏@dsceditor

Pole in GT-A for @BryanHeitkotter in the @NISMO_USA GT-R 2:04.924 @WCRacing

:rawk:

Freude am Fahren
March 7th, 2015, 07:31 AM
Whoo!

What are the differences between GT-A and GT? Looked like Bryan was 6th overall, ~0.7s off the GT/overall Pole.

FaultyMario
March 7th, 2015, 07:32 AM
Awesome!

Random
March 7th, 2015, 07:39 AM
Driver experience (perceived) is the difference. Bryan's still considered an "amateur." PWC erserves the right to move people out of GTA, though. We can only hope... :D

Freude am Fahren
March 7th, 2015, 08:59 AM
Ah, okay, so cars are the same. Cool!

Random
March 7th, 2015, 09:24 AM
Yeah, you'll note that his teammate is not in GTA. Go fig.

IforceV8
March 7th, 2015, 09:41 AM
From the PWC rules 2.1.3.1.A: GT-A driver who has a overall 1-2-3 or two 4-5 place finishes will be automatically promoted to GT.

samoht
March 7th, 2015, 10:26 AM
From twitter:
Darren Cox ‏@IamDarrenCox 1h1 hour ago

"Good job @BryanHeitkotter in @WCRacing. pole in GT-A for the @NISMO_USA man. not a suprise - has always been rapid - getting his chance"

Something feels very good about hearing words like 'getting his chance' from someone in his position :D

2ndMoparMan
March 7th, 2015, 10:55 AM
Agreed!

Freude am Fahren
March 7th, 2015, 11:56 AM
Race is Live!

http://www.world-challengetv.com/#/races/1175

FaultyMario
March 7th, 2015, 12:07 PM
Is he running 9th in GT? Not GTA?

The359
March 7th, 2015, 12:28 PM
He was 9th overall, second in GTA. He's fallen a bit further back since then.

Timing and Scoring: http://www.world-challenge.com/liverace/index.html

Random
March 7th, 2015, 12:52 PM
14th OA. He'll start ahead of some of the people he finished with for Race #2, since it's based on fast lap.

IforceV8
March 7th, 2015, 01:05 PM
The start really hurt and I wonder if there was damage to the car,it looked like he and a McLaren might have made contact at turn 1.

CudaMan
March 9th, 2015, 10:15 AM
No damage race 1, just a bad start (too much initial wheelspin, then bog when I eased out of the throttle). I got hit in race 2 and I think it knocked the toe out at the RR.

The larger problem was a lack of grip both races. We've got to figure that one out to be competitive.

Q lap was good, maybe ~3 tenths in it on first look. First event in the car with no testing, so there is improvement to be had from my side. Race pace is the bigger issue though! In Europe the car has good straight line speed on the field, and is strong in the rain as well. We did not experience those advantages over the weekend. My teammate is exceptionally fast, early indications are quite possibly the fastest teammate I've had. More opportunity to find extra speed. :)

Kchrpm
March 9th, 2015, 10:20 AM
:up: thanks for the inside look, much appreciated.

MR2 Fan
March 9th, 2015, 05:51 PM
:up: thanks for the inside look, much appreciated.

QFT