GMG Racing, the multi-series professional racing team and premier performance tuning facility for European vehicles in Southern California, is fielding four cars in the first Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix to be held since 2008.  These include the expected trio of James Sofronas, Anders Hainer and Bill Ziegler plus the exciting edition of David Welch for Rounds 6 and 7 of the 2012 Pirelli World Challenge series as GMG Racing comes to the mid-point in the racing season.

“The season mid-point can be a very reflective time when teams take a look at what they intend to achieve race-by-race and for the rest of the season as a whole,” points out GMG Racing president, co-founder, and lead driver James Sofronas.  “It’s a very strong field of drivers this season, perhaps the best I’ve seen in a long time, so it really falls to GMG Racing to step up our game and keep it up through the rest of the year in the face of such great competitors.”

Sitting as high as third place in the GT class Drivers Championship standings this season in the No. 14 GMG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, Sofronas now occupies fifth in the competition.  He is setting his sights on leading the team to rebound from a Round 5 at the Monterey Grand Prix which was fraught with pitfalls that kept GMG from a solid World Challenge showing despite ALMS and IMSA podium finishes at the event.

“We have had some strong finishes so far in 2012 but not quite what we expected at this point in the season,” reveals Sofronas.   “There is still plenty of racing ahead of us and it starts with mixing things up a bit for Detroit by having David Welch join the GMG team.

Welch will drive the No. 77 Numerix / StopTech / GMG Racing 911 GT3 Cup car for both races in Detroit.  “David has shown a lot of promise in the Ferrari 430 he has been piloting, so I am looking forward to supporting him in our very own GMG Porsche,” says Sofronas

Anders Hainer continues to shakedown the world’s first World Challenge Audi R8 LMS during its debut season. The 2006 Grand-Am Champion has consistently piloted the No. 40 APS, Inc / Under Armour / GMG Audi R8 LMS to a stretch of middle-of-the-field GT class finishes despite being limited by severe restrictions imposed on the vehicle by SCCA.  “The Audi R8 LMS is an incredible platform when unfettered, but is a challenge to squeeze performance out of under the current setup dictated to qualify for World Challenge racing,” stated Hainer.  “This is not a season where I am keeping my eye on the checkered flag.  Instead, every race presents a learning opportunity for myself and the GMG crew behind the vehicle.”

2009 Rookie of the Year Bill Ziegler heads to Detroit with a definite goal in mind – get the No. 95 Swisher / GMG Mitsubishi EVO to the finish line.  Ziegler comes off of three tough GTS class events in a row, after being struck by another vehicle and then taken down by a pair of mechanical issues including a blown clutch.

“GMG Racing is stacked up with experienced professional drivers and crew supported by our invaluable sponsors including StopTech, Mobil 1, Pirelli Tires, APS, Numerix, Under Armour and Swisher,” concludes Sofronas.  “There is no doubt about what we are heading to Detroit to achieve.”

Round 6 and 7 of the 2012 Pirelli World Challenge season will be streamed live from Detroit’s Belle Isle at www.world-challengeTV.com on Saturday, June 2, starting at 2:50pm eastern and Sunday, June 3, starting at 11:50am eastern.  Live timing will be available for the race, qualifying, and practice events at www.world-challenge.com.

For more information about GMG Racing, visit www.GMGracing.com or keep up to date through Facebook (Team GMG), Twitter (@GMGracing) and YouTube (/GMGracing).

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Press Contact: Jonathan Zaleski / The PR Collective / 310-943-7143 / jonathan@theprcollective.com