Gratifying Third Win Helps To Overcome Early Misfortune in Pirelli World Challenge at St. Petersburg

For the third time this season, Kelly Moss Motorsports finished atop the Pirelli World Challenge Championship GT Cup podium with driver Colin Thompson on March 29 at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

 

After starting last from pit lane in Race 3 of the GT Cup, Thompson charged through the field, picking off drivers with pace and precision. With less than 14 minutes left, he overtook TruSpeed Autosport teammate Sloan Urry for the lead in Turn 1 and never looked back. Thompson, from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, took the checkered flag 2.8 seconds ahead of Urry.

 

“It doesn’t get much better going from as low as you can go to as high as you get,” Kelly Moss Vice President Jeff Stone said. “It was like the rise of the phoenix after being taken out in the first race and starting dead last to winning. It was a great feeling.”

 

The win came after a rough first race. A car stalled on the standing start, creating a multiple-car pileup that ensnared Thompson. His No. 14 Kelly Moss Porsche sustained major damage, not even making it to Turn 1.

 

The front end was heavily damaged,” Stone said. “We had to replace everything on the front and all the body panels and straighten the front of the chassis. Crash damage is sort of my personal forte so I worked on that and got my hands dirty while the real test was for the rest of the Kelly Moss crew, once again showing their extreme skills and great teamwork as they knocked everything else out in record time giving Colin a near perfect car for Sunday. Special thanks to Henk, Gary, Chiel and Alex – great job to those guys.”

 

The Kelly Moss team worked through the night to get Thompson’s car ready for Race 2, showing once again why it is one of the best in the business.

 

“It was definitely difficult starting on pit lane after our crash on Friday,” Thompson said. “So to come back, rebound and get a first place is just unbelievable. Big thanks to the Kelly Moss boys, who worked all night long to get the car back together.”

 

After four rounds this season, Thompson holds a 79-point lead over second place Lorenzo Trefethen in the championship point standings.

 

 

“We still have to take it race by race,” Stone said. “The way the points are structured, as disappointing as it was, it was a saving grace that Sloan (Urry) and Alec (Udell) weren’t able to get any points in Race 1, either. You never know when you might have a mechanical issue or something like this happen again, so every race is extremely important.”

 

Round 5 of the PWC GT Cup is April 17-19 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach, California.

 

“Everyone is in high spirits and looking forward to Long Beach,” Stone said. “We’re looking for the podium sweep with us and our TruSpeed (Autosport) partners.”

 

Kelly Moss will have one weekend off before heading to NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans for the next two rounds of Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama action April 10-12.

 

For the latest updates from the Kelly Moss shop visit www.kellymoss.com, like the team on Facebook and follow @kellymossmotors on Twitter. 

Adam Sinclair