Racers Edge Motorsports is excited to announce it will campaign an Acura NSX GT3 Evo in the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge America championship. The team, based in Florida, will compete in the Pro/Am class, with drivers Kyle Marcelli and Martin Barkey making up an all Canadian driver lineup. Official partners for the effort will be MBRP Performance Exhaust, FRAM, Autolite and Honda Performance Development (HPD).
Over the last three seasons, Racers Edge Motorsports collected 10 wins in World Challenge GT4 competition and was interested in a new challenge. After seeing the future plans for the World Challenge GT class announced in July, team principal Jon Mirachi knew right away this would be our next pursuit. “I was so impressed with the direction the series was taking. The overall weekend structure, the race format and the control of costs they proposed were I thought, spot on. I knew right then, this was where I wanted Racers Edge to be in 2019.”
Mirachi continued, “After that, the only question was which manufacturer to align ourselves with. The guys from HPD started talking to us at Utah in August and after looking at the various manufacturer opportunities available, we found the Acura NSX GT3 to be our first choice. We were really impressed with the NSX GT3 and the 2019 Evo package, the guys at HPD were enthusiastic about working with us, and we already knew they provide excellent support to their teams. We’re thrilled with our new partnership and are really looking forward to working with everyone at HPD!”
“We are very excited to have the new NSX GT3 Evo competing in the Blancpain GT World Championship.” said John Whiteman, Manager, Commercial Motorsports at HPD. “Racers Edge is bringing together experienced drivers, a talented team and good partners required to win at the track.”
The driver duo of Marcelli and Barkey has driven together in previous racing endeavors and are looking forward to the chance of working together again. Marcelli offered, “I look forward to the reunion with Martin Barkey and MBRP Performance Exhaust. We worked together a few years ago at the beginning of his motorsport career and since then I’ve watch him develop into a successful, experienced racer. I expect to pick up right where we left off. I’m very pleased to be returning to the Blancpain GT World Challenge America and to be doing so with the competitive combination of the Acura NSX GT3 Evo, Racers Edge Motorsports and Martin Barkey. The recent changes within the series are exciting and I look forward to competing against a strong field of the best GT3 manufactures.”
Martin Barkey added, “I’m super excited to get the 2019 race season underway. Heading back to World Challenge is a thrill, stepping up from GT4 to the highly competitive GT3 class in the newly updated Acura NSX EVO adds even more excitement. I would like to thank Acura Motorsports along with Jon Mirachi and his team at Racer Edge Motorsports. This opportunity is nothing short of amazing! Racing with Kyle and the team at the highest level of GT3 racing will be a blast. I have no doubt Blancpain GT World Challenge America will be unveiling a super competitive GT3 field in 2019, and we’ll be ready for it!”
The team will begin testing this month and is looking forward to the first race of the championship at Circuit of the Americas, March 1 – 3, 2019.
