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Udell, GMG Take Commanding Victory Sweep in Alabama

Date	April 25, 2016

Continuing his pursuit of the Pirelli World Challenge’s GT-Cup category championship, Global Motorsport Group’s (GMG) Alec Udell took a commanding victory sweep during both rounds of this past weekend’s events at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. Taking pole, leading every lap, and crossing the finish line in first, the 20-year old took a demonstrable series of victories in the No. 17 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to narrow his championship hunt to just six points.

“This weekend was incredible,” stated the Clemson University engineering student. “We came in to the weekend knowing we had a fast car, but with this type of racing you never really know what to expect. From the first session we knew we had a real shot at turning things around, and we did just that. It was an amazing weekend, I don’t know what to say. I can’t thank everyone at GMG enough, it was an absolute team effort and I’m happy we were able to deliver for all the guys here. Obviously we couldn’t have been here without all of our partners at Euroworld Motorsports, M Performance, Panther Pipeline and Amsource Capital, and today’s victory was a real tribute to them.”

Qualifying on pole position for Saturday’s Race One, Udell’s strong pace throughout practice gave hint that his primary objective would be getting through the opening laps cleanly, with his speed being able to manage the race from there. Focusing on a mistake-free run, the Woodlands, Texas native did just that, taking the lead in to the first turn and simply never looking back. Managing his time, an extended yellow throughout the mid-portion of the race would allow the field to re-catch, however Alec’s pace was unrelenting and he was able to re-build a gap as the laps went on. As the 50-minute race came to an end, Udell’s form was unchallenged as he took the checkered flag in commanding form.

Setting the fastest lap in Race One, Udell would find himself on pole yet again for Sunday’s Race Two. Once again making a clean start to lead the opening lap, Alec would have the pace under his control, managing his tires in case of a late-race yellow that never came, eventually grabbing his second victory in succession.

With a four-week break until the next event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Canada, the team will turn all attention toward keeping up the momentum of the No. 17 machine for the seventh and eighth rounds of the series. Official practice will begin on Friday, May 20, with the race’s double-header taking place that Saturday and Sunday.

Udell, GMG Sweep Podium at Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Date	March 15, 2016

One year after a devastating accident that ruined any championship hopes for the Pirelli World Challenge GT-Cup category, Global Motorsports Group’s (GMG) Alec Udell would complete a successful weekend on the streets St. Petersburg, Florida, with a series of second-place finishes during both rounds of the weekend.

“I’d be lying if I said I’m entirely happy with two second-place finishes, we came out to win,” stated Udell. “However after a difficult practice, we’re still pleased with what we were able to achieve. The guys had a lot of work in front of them with some of the damage we took on Thursday, so getting on the podium was entirely in tribute to them. I did enjoy the racing, and I think we showed our strengths on Sunday, which should prime us well for Long Beach. We’re looking forward to it.”

Driving the No. 17 Euroworld Motorsports / Panther Pipeline / Amsource Capital Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, the 20-year old came in to the weekend with strong ambitions for victory, looking to redeem a start-line accident suffered in the first race last year. Unfortunately, the weekend did not go as planned when Alec would suffer damage in a practice accident on Thursday, cutting his day short and forcing the team to work quickly on repairs. While the damage was repairable, the Clemson University student would have to sit out Friday’s qualifying session, meaning he would start at the back during Saturday’s Race One.

Starting from the back, Alec would waste little time in Race One working his way up through the field, pushing hard to get himself in to a podium position and eventually taking second. He would also set the second-fastest time in class, meaning he would start in second for Sunday’s festivities.

Making a strong start during Sunday’s Race Two, it was clear that Alec had the pace to make a challenge at race leader Sloan Urry, however a long series of caution periods would mean that Udell had little opportunity due to limited running under green flag periods. As the checkered flag fell, Alec would cross the line just behind the race winner, officially listed as three-tenths behind. Demonstrating his pace, the Texas native would also set the fastest lap of the race in their class.
While ultimately not a victory, Udell’s successive string of second-place finishes would keep him solidly in the championship hunt, and his pace demonstrated his pace and potential for the rest of the season.

Following back-to-back events to open the season, the entire GMG team will get a small amount of reprieve as the series will not return until one month’s time, competing in the team’s backyard at The Grand Prix of Long Beach. Practice begins Friday, April 15, with the race taking place on the morning of Sunday, April 17.

Udell, GMG Return to St. Petersburg in Search of Redemption

Date	March 11, 2016

Following a devastating accident in 2015 that saw his weekend ruined before ever completing the first lap, Global Motorsports Group’s (GMG) Alec Udell will head to this weekend’s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in search of redemption in his 2016 Pirelli World Challenge GT-Cup campaign.

“We definitely want to erase the memories of last year,” stated Udell. “Getting caught up in an accident that wasn’t our doing was extremely frustrating, and it obviously had a major impact on the rest of the season for us. Luckily with the new starting procedures of the Pirelli World Challenge, the chances of a repeat incident are at least reduced, and we’re all very confident heading back. We had a good start to the season at Circuit of the Americas, but we definitely needed to find a bit more speed and I’m confident that we can improve in St. Petersburg. Thanks to everyone for the hard work to get the car turned around, I’m excited to get going.”

In 2015, Alec and the No. 17 Euroworld Motorsports / Panther Pipeline / Amsource Capital Porsche 911 GT3 Cup became a victim of a start-line incident that would end up having a major effect on the rest of his season. During the series’ signature standing-start, the GT-Cup category would start behind the GT field, and a multi-car incident in front of Udell would leave him with no room to get by, with a careening Lamborghini slamming in to the nose of the 20-year old, pinning his car against a wall and causing severe damage to his machine.

The repairs were so heavy that the team would be forced to sit out the second race of the weekend, and ultimately several more races in the season.

With standing starts eliminated for 2016, the likelihood of such an incident in front of him will be reduced.

With the start of the season occurring in Austin, Texas last weekend, the entire team at GMG has had a matter of days to get the car turned around for this weekend’s third and fourth rounds at the notorious street circuit located in St. Petersburg, Florida. As a full-time engineering student at Clemson University, Alec has had the unique challenge of travelling between races while also taking mid-terms, proving a time management ability well beyond his years. Following a win during the opening race of the season, and a close second during the subsequent round 24 hours later, the challenge is definitely on as they pursue the series championship.

Official practice continues today, with Saturday’s Race One occurring at 9:35AM ET. Sunday’s Race Two will occur at 3:15PM ET, with live streaming available for both via www.world-challenge.com/streamvideo.

Udell, GMG Complete Podium Sweep at Circuit of the Americas

Date	March 8, 2016

Following Saturday’s strong victory to open his Pirelli World Challenge GT-Cup category campaign, Global Motorsports Group’s Alec Udell continued his momentum with a second-place finish during Sunday’s Round Two.

“After yesterday’s victory, it’s actually a little disappointing, but our season is off to a great start,” stated Udell, who grew up in nearby Woodlands, Texas. “We came in to the weekend with strong ambitions, and came away with solid points and a good sense of what we need to do next. Certainly we would have liked to repeat a win, but we just didn’t quite have what we needed. Ultimately we learned a lot and are in good shape for next weekend. Thanks to everyone at GMG for an excellent job, and of course Euroworld Motorsport, Panther Pipeline and Amsource Capital for making this all possible.”

Qualifying second for Sunday’s second round, the event was actually fairly quiet for Alec and the No. 17 Euroworld Motorsport / Panther Pipeline / Amsource Capital Porsche 911 GT GT3 Cup. After managing to get around race-leader Sloan Urry during Saturday’s Race One, the opportunity simply never presented itself to repeat the feat. Pushing hard to keep pace, Udell and Urry appeared similarly matched from lap-to-lap throughout the 50-minute event, with Alec eventually crossing the finish line four seconds behind the winner.

As a full-time engineering student at Clemson University, Alec will be undergoing a busy few days, with only three days back at school for mid-term exams before returning to the series’ third and fourth rounds at St. Petersburg.

Meanwhile, the team’s other GT-Cup competitor, Alex Welch, would also enjoy a quiet run in his No. 08 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Starting from the fourth position, Alex would enjoy an incident-free race, making no mistakes and simply managing his car throughout the event, ultimately finishing sixth in his debut weekend for the category.

“It’s good to finish clean, so I’m happy about that, but obviously would have liked to have finished higher,” stated Welch. “The GT-Cup category is really competitive, and it’s definitely a fun class to be a part of. There’s definitely a few things we need to work on to get some more speed, but we all know it’s there. I enjoyed the weekend and really appreciate the effort from all the guys at GMG.”

Finally, James Sofronas would carry the team’s lone GT-category entry in the No. 14 Mobil 1 / The Thermal Club / Spyder Porsche 911 GT3 R. After suffering damage in an unavoidable incident during yesterday’s race, the primary focus was on simply making sure the car was as it should be, and the outcome did not disappointment. In addition to the incredible work of the crew to get the car completely back to normal for Sunday’s events, the team actually made a few performance tweaks as well, with Sofronas actually finding the car handling better than previous runs. Proving the strength of his car, James would go from a 14th place start to eventually breaking the top-10 over the course of the race, enjoying a few battles to ultimately take ninth. It would prove a testament to not only the team’s ability to repair a car that they’d barely taken possession of one week earlier, but make solid progress on the engineering and development of it.

“This weekend is a complete testament to the crew,” stated Sofronas. “The fact that they’d barely gotten their hands on the car and were able to turn it in to a top-10 machine is incredible. Obviously with our years of Porsche experience we were able to tap in to our database, and it definitely paid off. I’m happy with our progress and we have a lot to move forward with. It was great to see another for podium for Alec as well. He’s a competitive young man, so he’ll always want to win, but he drove a very mature race to make sure he finished. Alex Welch is still adjusting to the Cup category, but I think he should be happy with the results. It’s a tough class and he proved strong, and we know they’ll only get quicker.”

With only a few days between the end of the weekend’s festivities and the beginning of next weekend’s third and fourth rounds, all of the Pirelli World Challenge will embark on a whirlwind trip to St. Petersburg, Florida, to get the cars ready in just a matter of days. Practice begins on Friday, March 11, with a double-header series of races occurring over the weekend.

Udell, GMG Continue Podium Streak in Sonoma

Date	September 1, 2015

Continuing a streak that has seen him on the podium in 12 of the 13 Pirelli World Challenge races he’s competed in this year, Global Motorsports Group’s (GMG) Alec Udell extended his impressive season with a second-place finish during Sunday’s Grand Prix of Sonoma.

“Of course, after coming off of a win the previous day, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a little more, but we should be proud of our run,” stated Udell. “All of the guys did an excellent job preparing the car as always, and we had a great Porsche through the whole run. With a yellow or a small change of fortune we might have had a run for the front, but it just wasn’t meant to be. We’re continuing to learn, and headed to Laguna Seca I’m confident we’ll have a good shot.”

Starting from the front row in the No. 17 Euroworld Motorsports / Panther Pipeline Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 991, a first lap incident with the GT category in front of him would put the field under caution before he’d even reached the first turn, with the “real” race start coming several laps later.

As the field went green for the second time, a brief battle with driver Sloan Urry would serve as the primary excitment for the No. 17 machine, with Udell eventually building a gap to Urry and the field behind him, and all focus turned on race leader Colin Thompson.

Unfortunately, with the race staying green until the end, the gap to Thompson was simply too large and Alec would eventually cross the finish line in second.

It would serve as the 10th consecutive podium for Alec, and 12th in 13 races. While an early season incident would force the 19-year-old to miss several races, he still sits fourth in the GT-Cup standings with one race to go.

The entire Pirelli World Challenge will return to action in less than two weeks’ tim, with the season finale taking place just a few hundred miles south at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Practice begins on Thursday, September 10, with the race taking place on Sunday, September 13.

Udell, GMG Take Third Victory of Season in Sonoma

Date	August 30, 2015

Continuing an impressive campaign that has seen him take victory during the last two weekends of the Pirelli World Challenge series, Global Motorsport Group’s (GMG) Alec Udell took an impressive third victory in the GT Cup class during today’s Race One of the Grand Prix of Sonoma.

“This was just an incredible day, I can’t thank everyone at GMG enough for it,” stated Udell. “We’ve been fast all weekend and knew we had a shot, and everything just seemed to go our way. My crew chief, Neville, was with me on the radio the whole race keeping me on top of what was happening and we were able to capitalize when the opportunity came to take victory. We can’t enjoy it for too long since we have a race tomorrow morning, but I’m certainly going to savor the day.”

Driving the No. 17 Panther Pipeline / Euroworld Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 991, confidence was high headed into today’s sprint race. After setting top times throughout practice, the 19-year-old would start second for today’s Race One, making immediate work of pole-sitter Colin Thompson during the start, jumping to the lead by time they approached the first turn.

Engaged in a heated fight, Thompson would get back around, however would fail to run away from Alec who stayed engaged on Thompson throughout the entirety of the race. With the race managing to run without a single caution period, tire management became a key factor in the event with Udell once again doing a masterful job of driving tactically and managing his machine.

With just over 10 minutes remaining in the race, Alec’s strategy of keeping pressure on the leader would prove fruitful, with Thompson sliding off while under heavy braking, and handing the lead to Udell for the closing laps.

Alec would never look back as he ran down the clock taking yet another victory in a breakthrough season. It would serve as his third victory in as many weekends and his 11th podium in 12 races.

Race Two will take place tomorrow at 10:55AM PT with live coverage available on world-challengetv.com.

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