GMG Racing, the multi-series professional racing team and premier performance tuning facility for European vehicles in Southern California, returns for another season of Pirelli World Challenge racing with the lineup of drivers that has made GMG a perennial candidate for series, drivers and manufacturers championships. The team also revealed the addition of North America’s only Audi R8 LMS GT3 to the vehicle lineup later in the season.

Dino Crescentini returns for a full season of racing after a partial schedule in 2011. He will once again be behind the wheel in the No. 4 GMG StopTech Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car in the GT class. Crescentini brings with him 30 years of racing experience logging several hundred races and has been racing in the Pirelli World Challenge series since 2004. He has picked up three World Challenge race victories including checkered flags at Portland, Watkins Glen and St. Petersburg plus a long list of podium finishes.

Crescentini earned visits to the podium early in the 2011 season with his aggressive driving style. The CEO of StopTech brakes has built a reputation for diving deep into the turns before hitting the left pedal, gaining valuable time on each lap and always hovering near the front of the pack. A scaled back lineup of races in the second half of the season, to spend more time in Southern California with his newborn child, held him back from mounting an overall challenge for the Drivers Championship after holding the lead for part of 2010.

“It is great to be back for a full season of racing,” notes Crescentini. “I like World Challenge racing because it is the most competitive racing format in North America,” stated Crescentini. “I’m back and aiming for the championship this season.”

Bill Ziegler returns with GMG Racing for his fourth Pirelli World Challenge season. The 2009 World Challenge Rookie of the Year will once again pilot the No. 95 GMG Swisher Mitsubishi Evo in the GTS class. “We spent a great deal of time working with this car in the off season and it feels stronger and more responsive than ever, a real force to be reckoned with on the track,” says Ziegler.

“I’m looking forward to tackling the street courses in this year’s World Challenge race schedule. Those are always my favorites,” he adds.

James Sofronas, GMG Racing’s president, co-founder, and lead driver looks to build on the strong momentum from last season in the No. 14 GMG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in the GT class. Sofronas started the season with 4 consecutive podiums and remained a fixture there throughout the season. He rolled into the summer months on top of the 2011 Drivers’ Championship standing and fought tough right through to the last race of season. Along the way helped to propel Porsche to a Manufacturers’ Championship. He has logged several victories during his World Challenge career, which started in 1994, including Long Beach, Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca.

“World Challenge racing is a flat out race experience that provides a perfect proving ground for GMG products, cars and engineering,” notes Sofronas. “Unlike many other series where the race cars bear no resemblance to their road-going counter parts, World Challenge offers an opportunity to gain valuable data when developing the GMG line of performance parts and track packages for road cars.”

GMG will also field several other Porsches in the GT Class as well as the debut of North America’s only Audi R8 LMS GT3 for select races, which has been in development during the off-season. More details on GMG Racing’s expanded vehicle lineup are coming soon.

GMG Racing plans a full schedule of Pirelli World Challenge racing in 2012. The complete trio of cars and drivers will be on hand when the World Challenge season kicks off in St. Petersburg with a pair of races on Saturday, March 24 at 6pm eastern and Sunday, March 25, at 11am eastern, before the series moves into GMG Racing’s backyard for the Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 15.

The opening weekend Pirelli World Challenge races in St. Petersburg will air on NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus) plus will be streamed live online at www.world-challenge.com.

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

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