Portland, 9 July 2018 – Four Ferrari teams will be in the lineup when the Pirelli World Challenge SprintX series headlines this weekend’s 58th Rose Cup Races at Portland International Raceway. The SprintX event will see the Portland circuit stage a pair of one-hour races on Saturday and Sunday on the 12-turn, 1.967-mile Delta Park track, with each race featuring a mandatory driver change. The Portland race is the penultimate round of the 2018 SprintX championship, with Ferrari drivers leading the points in both the Pro-Pro and Am classes after six races on the 10-race schedule.
SprintX GT Pro-Pro. Toni Vilander and Miguel Molina, drivers of the no. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3, bring a 10-point lead in the Pro-Pro standings into the event. The pair, formed this year for the first time, won the most recent SprintX race at Lime Rock Park after taking second in the first race of the weekend at the Connecticut circuit. The season has seen the Ferrari figure at the front consistently, having won both of the season-opening rounds at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas and scoring second in Round 3 at Virginia International Raceway. Vilander is also first in the GT Sprint and SprintX combined standings, leading Scott Hargrove by two points.
SprintX GT Pro-Am. Wei Lu and Jeff Segal, winners of Round 2 at Circuit of The Americas in the no. 31 TR3 Racing Ferrari of Vancouver 488 GT3, are second in the Pro-Am standings after taking a pair of second-place finishes at Lime Rock Park. The duo are just four points behind the championship leaders Parker Chase and Ryan Dalziel (TruSpeed AutoSport). Portland-based Vital Speed Motorsports will debut the no. 87 Ferrari 488 GT3 for the father-son team of Rich and Trevor Baek. The Baeks will be making their PWC debut after competing in the Ferrari Challenge.
SprintX GT Am. Undefeated in 2018 competition with three weekend sweeps, Caesar Bacarella and Martin Fuentes hold a 58-point lead in the Am standings with the no. 07 Squadra Corse Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3. Fuentes also holds an 18-point lead in the Sprint GTA standings, with four victories and three second-place finishes driving in the no. 07 Squadra Corse Garage Italia Ferrari.
Series returns to Portland. The last Pirelli World Challenge event held at Portland International Raceway was in 2005. The series also raced at the venue in 2001 and 2004. The Pirelli World Challenge SprintX GT class will practice twice on Friday, with a one-hour session beginning at 10:45 and a 50-minute session at 3:50 p.m. (all times PT). Qualifying is set for 9:15 a.m. on Saturday, followed by race one at 1:10 p.m. Race two will be held on Sunday at 2:25 p.m. World Challenge will provide live streaming at
world-challenge.com.