CLK63 AMG Black Series in the Pirelli World Challenge

[TrueBlueFlyer]

According to Jalopnik http://jalopnik.com/5934286/tuning-s...imate-race-car will be the only Mercedes-Benz road racing in the USA.

There's only one race left though this year for WC, I guess they'll be testing it?


A welcome addition to the field

[Mike Hedlund]

That car is debuting at the Sonoma World Challenge race in 2 weeks, with Craig Stanton driving.

I'll also be there racing against it in a Porsche -- my first time running in the series, but it's my home track for testing so it should be fun. :-)

ps: my daily driver is a c63 black series, i'm secretly hoping they do well... as long as they finish behind me!

-mike

[TrueBlueFlyer]

Originally Posted by Mike Hedlund

ps: my daily driver is a c63 black series, i'm secretly hoping they do well... as long as they finish behind me!

Good Luck Mike!

I've worked WC twice now as a flag marshal and its a really entertaining series to watch... much like Continental Tire Challenge in Grand Am... err... bumper cars!

be safe and kick some ass!

[Jonerz]

Originally Posted by Mike Hedlund

That car is debuting at the Sonoma World Challenge race in 2 weeks, with Craig Stanton driving.

I'll also be there racing against it in a Porsche -- my first time running in the series, but it's my home track for testing so it should be fun. :-)

ps: my daily driver is a c63 black series, i'm secretly hoping they do well... as long as they finish behind me!

-mike

Best of luck Mike!

Stanton has been tweeting about the build all year. When I heard last fall or winter that a Mercedes was destined for WCGT I was hoping it would be the terrific SLS GT3, but a home-build of an equally lovely (or lovelier) sounding car is no let down!

Chris

[TF110]

Look forward to seeing this thing in action. Speaking of Mercedes', whatever happened to the SLR that raced a while back? And that Mustang was the business as well.

[broadrun96]

Was really wishing the WC guys were running Petit week this year and hated their schedule skipped it. Now really hating that they aren't on the calendar, guy around the corner from me drives one now after I guess getting bored with his SLS.

[TrueBlueFlyer]

saw Mercedes SLS in action in Malaysia among Ferrari and Lambourghini, Lotus even Radicals... seemed like a solid middle of the pack car. Though from what I've been watching on Facebook, the Petronas SLS in another series has been pretty dominant with a kiwi driver behind the wheel.

[NaBUru38]

How about WC GT cars becoming the new ALMS GTC class at non-WC rounds?

[Speed-King]

The WC cars are likely not fully endurance capable - and I guess SCCA might have some objections.

With WC only having sprint races the cars are designed for sprint distances - and many of them are very very high strung. I know of some cars in Conti Challenge that have ridiclously high engine replacement rates and they do 2:30h races.

[Mike Hedlund]

Ya, the WC cars are also faster than the GTC class Porsche Cup's (based on lap times I've seen, and power numbers), which would make the GTE guys even more angry. :-)

The standing start is going to be interesting. It'll be my first time doing that... but hopefully good practice for the Supercup race at Spa in a few weeks.

-mike

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Mike Hedlund

Ya, the WC cars are also faster than the GTC class Porsche Cup's (based on lap times I've seen, and power numbers), which would make the GTE guys even more angry. :-)

The standing start is going to be interesting. It'll be my first time doing that... but hopefully good practice for the Supercup race at Spa in a few weeks.

-mike

Good luck Mike, the standing start is one of the more exciting parts of the WC races!

[broadrun96]

And it's one of the few times WC was used in ads, had seen a couple different ones using WC video. Usually where Audi would qualify 3-6 behind the Caddys, then at the start suddenly shoot to the middle of the track and rocket past from the standing start, was a GREAT shot from the end of the front straights with the cars coming at you.

[tbz]

Maserati Trofeo GranSport to Debut at Sonoma

[Mike Hedlund]

Talked with Craig for a minute over the weekend, and it sounds like building the Black Series into a race car has been a massive undertaking! The lap times weren't very impressive, but it sounded like the car ran pretty reliably (they were just hoping to finish). I'm not sure how it ran in the race, but they didn't seem to have any problems w/ the car in the practice or qualifying sessions.

I wish I'd have been able to get out for a test-day in the car I drove as it took me a little longer than I thought to get up to speed in it. With such little practice time over the weekend I was never able to find a setup which felt good, but we made the best of it! Finished P8 in the GMG Porsche after qualifying P12.

The standing start was pretty cool. I didn't even have any time to practice it before the race (since we were focusing on setup), so they explained the launch control system to me while I was getting ready to jump into the car before the race. Surprised myself by actually doing it correctly, but with the walls on both sides of the Sonoma start/finish straight, I got boxed in my cars ahead of me and couldn't pass anyone anyway.

Here's my qualifying lap:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYQccSG8dH0

Here's an early lap battling with Skeen in the GTR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug3yWZqzJA0

-mike

[TrueBlueFlyer]

Nice job Mike