CBS Sports Network to televise PWC GT Long Beach race
The world-class GT/GTA field will compete at the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit in the PWC Grand Prix of Long Beach presented by Optima Batteries, part of the 43rd annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend. The field will showcase exotic sports car machinery from Cadillac, Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren, Audi, Acura, Bentley, Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz in a scheduled 50-minute wheel-to-wheel sprint race.
Reigning Pirelli World Challenge GT champion and defending PWC Long Beach winner Alvaro Parente of Portugal will return to lead the stellar driver lineup which also includes four-time GT champion Johnny O’Connell and 2011 GT titleholder and local star Patrick Long.
Challenging the three GT sports car stars in Sunday’s Long Beach “street fight" will be veterans Jon Fogarty, Ryan Dalziel, Bryan Sellers, Pierre Kaffer, Ryan Eversley and Peter Kox as well as young racers Michael Cooper, Alex Riberas, Alec Udell, Daniel Mancinelli and Adderly Fong. Two-time Long Beach winner James Sofronas headlines the GTA category at Long Beach along with Michael Schein, John Potter, Tim Pappas, Mike Hedlund, Pablo Perez Companc, Jorge de la Torre and local driver Yufeng Luo.
Veteran motorsports announcers Rick Benjamin and Jeff Lepper will call the action from Long Beach and Jake Query will serve as the pit reporter for the CBS Sports Network telecast.
“We are extremely pleased to have four CBS Sports Network same-day telecasts for the Pirelli World Challenge beginning this Sunday with the classic Long Beach event," said Greg Gill, president and CEO of WC Vision, producers of the Pirelli World Challenge. “The legendary Long Beach circuit is an iconic portion of racing history and our GT/GTA drivers are expected put on a sensational battle with some of the world’s top GT production machines. We hope racing enthusiasts who can’t make the event in person tune in this Sunday."
The 90-minute telecast will include a variety of special features including qualifying highlights, the popular “Thunder Thursday" fan-fest with driver interviews and in-depth stories regarding the Pirelli World Challenge.
In addition, selected GT machines will carry live “on-board" Replay XD professional POV action cameras giving fans a unique perspective of the feature race.
With CBS Sports Network carrying the broadcast on Sunday in same-day coverage, there will be no live streaming of the Round 3 race via www.world-challenge.com or www.motortrendondemand.com.