With eager anticipation, teams, drivers, fans and organisers are awaiting the inaugural Hankook 24H COTA USA for GTs and touring cars and the Hankook 9H COTA USA as a triple-header of three-hour races for prototypes (10-12 November, 2017). With the event at the Circuit Of The Americas in Austin, Texas, Dutch agency CREVENTIC, the promoter and organiser of the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook, is bringing its concept to the United States. “Of course, there is a long tradition of endurance racing in the US with events like Daytona and Sebring. With our race, we let European teams experience the American racing culture and the fantastic facilities at COTA while also enabling North-American teams and drivers to find out about our successful endurance racing philosophy with an emphasis on club racers and amateurs,” CREVENTIC’s Peter Freij says.
Together with the result from the Asian round of the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook in Dubai and the best result from one of the European rounds of the series, the Hankook 24H COTA USA counts towards the Championship of the Continents. As a result, many of the regular entrants from the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook will be present at COTA as well, including multiple title-winning Swiss team Hofor-Racing with its Mercedes-AMG GT3. Many successful drivers are expected on the grid, such as IMSA GTD class race winners Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen, Porsche Carrera Cup and Supercup race winner Dennis Olsen, American endurance racing regulars such as Tracy Krohn and Niclas Jonsson or the PROsport performance team with its regular drivers Charles Espenlaub, Charles Putman, Joe Foster and Andy Pilgrim. Of course, several American teams have signed up to race at COTA as well: DXDT Racing (Mercedes-AMG GT3), Performance Motorsport Group (Ginetta G55 GT3), Lightspeed Racing (SCG 003C), Risi Competizione (Ferrari 488 GT3) in class A6, Freem USA (Porsche 991 Cup) in SPX, Wright Motorsports, Formula Motorsport and Kelly-Moss Racing (all Porsche 991 Cup) in 991, Classic BMW (BMW M235i Racing Cup) in CUP1 and THRW Honda Racing (Honda Civic Si) in A2.
Prototypes from all categories welcome
The event programme also includes three races for prototypes of three hours each, with separate classifications and prize-giving ceremonies. Participation in the prototype races at the Circuit Of The Americas is open for all categories up to P2, including the PC and CN cars, of which there are several in the United States. “We have received inquiries from several US-based teams, so there is a lot of interest in these races as well,” Peter Freij says. Participants in the prototype races will be announced at a later stage.
All the documents for the sea transport of cars and equipment from European-based teams to the US have been prepared and shipping will start in the next few days. In close co-operation with partner and title sponsor Hankook, the exclusive tyre supplier for the event, a large contingent of competition tyres has been made available to cater for the needs of all the teams with GTs, touring cars and prototypes. Dutch racing driver Danny van Dongen is the official Hankook competition dealer in the USA and will provide his knowledge and experience to support the teams.
