A Weekend With Bryan Heitkotter 2016 Pirelli World Challenge
The Pirelli World Challenge proved to be more than what was expected by many. Most fans who purchased a one day general admission ticket were hoping to just sit in the ‘free zones” maybe even get down to close and take some once in a lifetime photos. They were shocked when they found a shuttle pulled arrived to take them all to the paddock. They were driven to the holy grail; the back stage pass of auto-sports racing!
As they scurried off the bus with some other fans one noticed the shear number of other fans roaming the wide open pits. Drivers roamed with moms dads and kids though the paddocks along with the mechanics and owners. You could see the New NISMO Nissan GT-R GT3 garage with it’s beauty, bright white and red.
Bryan Heitkotter stepped was seen as well. Here was someone many kids dream of being. He got his start on video games. Heitkotter entered a competition called GT academy. After beating out over 53,000 online competitors and 16 finalists, he would make up part of the 15 Gamers for GT academy Season 1. Heitkotter out-drove all the others making him the first USA GT academy winner. That catapulted him right into the driver development program where he excelled.
Fast forward to his debut racing the NISMO Nissan GT-R GT3 class. Which leads us to the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge. The Pirelli World Challenge consists of 7 classes. TC/TCA/TCB which consist of smaller little fun cars they are very nimble and quick punching through the turns always seeming to have smiles on the front of them. From Mazda MX-5, Honda Fit, and v6 mustangs this is a great class to watch.
The GTS class included the Cheverolet Camaro Z/28.R, Vantage GT4, Mustang Boss 302 and some of the more confusing new cars Ginetta, X-Bow GT4, SIN R1 GT4.
Then you have the GT/GTA class with of course the GT-R GT3, Bentley, Mclaren, Ferrari’s, Mercedes SLS AMG, Porsche Audi R8 LMS and many more.
Heitkotter was awarded the Cadillac ATS-V Move of the Race Award and the Optima Batteries Best Standing Start for moving up five positions at the first turn. Bryan held the first position until ten minutes to go. Team effort Porsche of Patrick Long over took Bryan for the first place win. Bryan took second place with not more then 1/10th of a second between them.
On his second race, Bryan Heitkotter led from the green flag rollings start. His teammate took a ten second penalty for avoidable contact as he tangled up with with the 31 Effort Racing Porsche driven by Patrick long causing him to go off course into a barrier. With only about 17 minutes to the finish, Cadillac ATSV, driven by Johnny O Connel and Bryan Heitkotter had a bit of a battle. Bryan had a flat tire causing him to make a pit stop…or so it seemed. Apparently, if you look closely, Bryan did not have a flat. He was forced into the pit which ultimately could be the cause for his placing.
Watch Team Nissan and Bryan Heitkotter this year. He is a beast and will not go down without a fight. You can see him next at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg March 11-13th. Visit http://world-challenge.com/ to keep up with all the latest standing news and live feeds.
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