David Welch Highlights GMG Return to Pirelli World Challenge Action at Detroit
With the tricky bumps of Detroit’s scenic Belle Isle playing host to this weekend’s 10th and 11th rounds of the Pirelli World Challenge GT championship, Global Motorsports Group (GMG) will put their efforts behind experienced racer David Welch for the upcoming Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. After a banner event for the driver at the most recent street race in Long Beach, the team saw a natural fit to put their resources behind the veteran. Additionally, in a last minute change of fortune, team owner James Sofronas will be forced to miss the event due to a shop injury suffered this past weekend.
“David adds considerably to our program, and it will be great to have him on for Detroit,” stated GMG team owner James Sofronas. “Long Beach was a great result for him and the team, and I think he’ll represent our team, as well as everyone at Numerix, very well. I’m personally very disappointed that I won’t be able to make it, we had a little bit of a SNAFU at the shop this weekend and sadly my foot took the brunt of the punishment. These things happen and hopefully I’ll be recovered in time for the next round.”
Driving the No. 21 Numerix Audi R8 LMS ultra, Welch will head to Detroit after a very successful run at the most recent Grand Prix of Long Beach. Gaining 16 spots en route to a fifth place finish, the veteran’s execution of pace and patience have proven a great commodity on street courses, which should show well at the tricky Belle Isle course.
Welch most recently visited the event in 2012, where he finished sixth.
“It’s great to be back with GMG for Detroit,” stated Welch. “Our last race together at Long Beach definitely showed the potential of our program, hopefully this weekend will run with less yellows. Regardless, the team has done an excellent job getting me up to speed and I’m confident ahead of the weekend. I couldn’t be more thankful to everyone at Numerix for bringing me here, I’m sure we’ll show well.”
David and the team will once again carry the colors of Numerix, the market’s leading provider of risk analytics technology for the pricing, structuring, modeling and valuation any derivative instrument, or portfolio. Numerix risk solutions enable global financial institutions to understand performance, analyze and anticipate future derivatives risks with unparalleled speed and accuracy.
Practice for the event begins this Friday, May 29, with Race 10 taking place on May 30 at 9:50AM ET, with Sunday’s race taking place the next day at 12:10PM. MOST NOTABLY, Sunday’s race will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network at 12PM ET. The team will provide continuous updates via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.