BOSTON (August 31, 2017) – Returning to the marque that has brought the team tremendous success in endurance racing, Black Swan Racing will once again compete with Porsche machinery, entering both the upcoming Intercontinental GT Challenge at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, as well as February’s Bathurst 12 Hour. This will be in addition to a full 2018 schedule that will still see the team with Mercedes-AMG in a to-be-announced program.
“We’re excited to return to our endurance roots with Porsche,” stated Black Swan Racing team owner Tim Pappas. “It goes without saying that Porsche is the most proven manufacturer in the history of endurance racing, and is the brand that our team has achieved the most success with. When we decided that we wanted to return our focus to international endurance racing, we felt they were the obvious choice between not only the car, but also the support structure in place with Porsche Motorsport. The Intercontinental GT Challenge has already proven to be a tremendous platform, and competing in the inaugural U.S. round is something we didn’t want to miss. Thanks to our partnership with David Calvert-Jones the opportunity to compete at Bathurst was also an unbeatable opportunity, and one we should relish in. We look forward to the program, which we’ll run alongside our efforts with Mercedes-AMG, which we’re still committed to for not only the rest of 2017, but 2018 as well.”
Competing in the No. 54 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, the team will be part of a star-studded lineup during the October 15 event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, serving as the third round of the 2017 Intercontinental GT Challenge. Making its debut last year, the Intercontinental GT Challenge is the latest broadening of the internationally-revered GT3 specification of GT racing cars. Conforming to a worldwide set of rules, GT3 racing has attracted some of the most exotic marques in the world, including Porsche, Ferrari, Audi, Bentley, Mercedes-AMG, and beyond, with the four-race series serving as the lone worldwide championship. True to the name, the championship is based on a four-race schedule on four different continents, with the Laguna Seca round taking the honors of the first-ever held in the United States.
Returning to Porsche, the majority of Black Swan Racing’s major victories have come in 911 machines. Beyond their two championships in the former American Le Mans Series, the team has also enjoyed tremendous endurance success, including victory at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring as well as Petit Le Mans. Most recently, Black Swan Racing took runner-up honors at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in 2016, coming within seconds of victory in the very Porsche they’ll be using this October.
For Owen Hayes, Director of Operations for Porsche Motorsport North America, Black Swan’s role as the first Porsche Motorsport customer team to commit to the event is a well noted one.
“We are seeing a growing interest in the inaugural Intercontinental GT Challenge in North America, and are pleased that Tim Pappas and Black Swan Racing are the first Porsche Motorsport customer to commit to competing with their 911 GT3 R,” stated Hayes. “We at PMNA are looking forward to working closely with the experienced team in what promises to be a great event.”
Returning as a near trademark member, Jeroen Bleekemolen will once again join the team for both endurance events. Bleekemolen’s affiliation with Black Swan Racing is a storied one, co-driving with Pappas in all of their major victories and championships, as well as returning to the team this season and immediately taking victory in their first weekend together during the Pirelli World Challenge’s SprintX championship.
New to the team but a veteran of the sport, David Calvert-Jones will also join Black Swan for the Laguna Seca round, as well as sharing a technical partnership with his own team at Bathurst. A veteran of Porsche racing, the native Australian, who is based in Los Angeles, has competed in everything from the former American Le Mans Series to the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup USA, but most notably will be entering his fifth Bathurst 12 Hour. No stranger to success, Calvert-Jones is a recent winner of the event, taking his class this year.
“It’s great to partner with Tim and everyone at Black Swan Racing,” stated Calvert-Jones. “The team has one of the best records of success in endurance racing, and I look forward to integrating with them in Monterey. Bathurst is of course a race that is very close to my heart, and I look forward to bringing everyone over and showing them just how special an event it really is.”
While the team looks forward to the endurance challenge, they’re still committed to their 2017 efforts in the Pirelli World Challenge, which still has two races remaining. Continuing with the Mercedes-AMG GT3, Pappas and Bleekemolen will finish the series’ SprintX season during this weekend’s triple-header at Circuit of the Americas, while Pappas will drive as the solo entry in the season finale at Sonoma Raceway on September 16 and 17.
Official practice at Circuit of the Americas begins on Friday, with three separate races taking place on Friday at 8PM ET, Saturday at 5PM ET, and Sunday at 1:30PM ET. Live coverage will be available via www.world-challenge.com/streamvideo
BOSTON (August 10, 2017) – With the Pirelli World Challenge returning to the two-driver, “SprintX” format during this weekend’s double-header at Utah Motorsport Campus, Black Swan Racing is pleased to welcome the return of Jeroen Bleekemolen to co-drive with full-season driver Tim Pappas. Driving the No. 54 Mercedes-AMG GT3, the high altitude of the Utah-based circuit has notoriously proven challenging for normally-aspirated machines, but the team is prepared for action regardless.
“Racing in the high altitude of Utah Motorsport Campus always presents a unique challenge,” stated Black Swan Racing team owner and co-driver Tim Pappas. “Our engine is pretty heavily restricted as it is, but with the high altitude those deficits become even larger for cars that aren’t turbocharged, so we’re approaching the weekend with modest expectations. The car’s grip and downforce should prove excellent through the fast and twisty parts of the track, but the long straight will provide an interesting question mark. Luckily we have the best co-driver you could ever ask for in Jeroen, and we’re focused on maximizing the best result we can.”
Running the 3-mile “outer course,” the configuration of Utah Motorsport Campus is one that balances high speed corners with one of the longest straights in the championship. While the overall power and downforce of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 should prove advantageous, a combination of mandated engine restrictions as well as the unique altitude of the location is expected to prove difficult for the team.
Running the fourth weekend “SprintX” competition, Black Swan Racing will be part of the GTX category, running two 60-minute races on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Featuring two drivers per car, the weekend will serve as a tribute to the endurance heritage of sportscar racing, with driver changes and pit stops playing a role in the race’s outcome. To date, the team has had their best results of the season in SprintX competition, with Pappas and Bleekemolen taking victory at VIRginia International Raceway in April.
Official practice begins this Friday, August 11, with the GTX category featuring a double-header race weekend. Racing will take place at 1:40PM on Saturday and 12:30PM on Sunday. Live streaming can be found at world-challenge.com/streamvideo.
BOSTON (July 31, 2017) – Returning to the traditional sprint format of the Pirelli World Challenge, Black Swan Racing and driver Tim Pappas would enjoy a strong weekend at the famed Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, walking away with a podium finish during Saturday’s race.
 
“It was a decent weekend overall for us,” stated Black Swan Racing team owner Tim Pappas. “We just had nothing for the Porsches ahead of us, but we knew that going in. Overall we’re satisfied with consistently being ‘best in class,’ and we’ll have to walk away knowing that we were as strong as we could be. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 was strong all weekend, and now that that we’re six months in with this car I feel like we’re getting the most out of it. Saturday’s podium was definitely the highlight, and it’s admittedly a little frustrating that we didn’t repeat that yesterday. Seeing the leaders get backed up a bit in the final corner, I felt I might be able to force myself into the equation. As can happen at the end of close racing, the assessment was overly optimistic and resulted in a spin but we know the pace was there and we’ll be well suited for the rest of the year.”
Qualifying his No. 54 Mercedes-AMG GT3 fourth in the GTA class, Saturday’s Race One would see Tim’s experience shine through as the race began, immediately elevating himself to third in the opening laps and staying within contention of the lead duo. Doing his best to keep pace, the balance and setup of the car proved formidable, however on-going series-mandated adjustments to the car’s performance would restrict the car’s pace just enough to keep him from making large gains, ultimately accepting a third place finish.
During Sunday’s Race Two, the Boston native would grid himself third, where he’d settle in once the race started. Running a race of all green-flag laps, Tim actually held with the lead pack, part of a four-car train all fighting hard for first-place honors. Not putting a foot wrong all race, as the race came in to the frantic final laps, a final lap battle between the class leaders would open up a small window of opportunity for Tim to make a daring pass in the final corner, which proved unsuccessful and would send Tim back to fifth once it all shook out.
While three weekends of Pirelli World Challenge competition still remain on the calendar, only one weekend remains in the series’ traditional “sprint” championship, where Pappas is engaged in a very tight battle for third-place honors in the standings. The next round of competition will be in two weeks’ time, resuming the endurance oriented “SprintX” championship at Utah Motorsport Campus.
BOSTON (July 26, 2017) – With only two weekends remaining in the Pirelli World Challenge “sprint” championship, Black Swan Racing will head in to this weekend’s doubleheader at the famed Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with some very simple keys to improving performance for the weekend.
“At Black Swan Racing, we are all motivated to win and that's our goal every weekend,” stated Pappas. “Unfortunately, everyone’s favorite word, ‘BoP,’ has a strange way of arbitrarily deciding the winner before ever turning a lap. Luckily, we’ve got it all sorted out, and winning should be pretty simple! We just need to follow some simple steps.”
With the series-mandated and SRO-dictated Balance of Performance (BoP) resulting in the No. 54 Mercedes-AMG GT3 being continuously de-tuned in the theory of equalizing performance between cars, the team need only make some basic adjustments to find themselves competitive.
STEP ONE: Just find 80lbs to lose.
With the series progressively adding more and more weight to Black Swan’s No. 54 machine, the team finds itself increasingly at odds with the disparity between their car’s weight vs competitors.
Needing to lose roughly 80 lbs., Pappas has a few solutions.
“Since we’re not allowed to take weight out of the car, all I have to do is lose 80 pounds in the next two days,” stated Pappas. “Unfortunately Mid-Ohio isn’t known for its bounty of plastic surgeons, so I’ll have to lose weight the old fashioned way. For example, I saw a very trustworthy sign by the side of the freeway that said ‘Lose 20 pounds in on week’ and then a phone number, they seem like a good consulting service. I also once drove for a team known for a good supply of Colombia-based diet supplements, so I’ll have to see the latest on whether or not they’re coming this weekend.”
STEP TWO: Just find 6mph top speed.
With increasing restrictions placed on the engine’s intake, effectively choking it from valuable air to produce power, the team has found themselves down as much as 6MPH at the end of the straights at tracks like Road America and Canadian Tire Motorsport.
“Finding a way to force more air in to the engine’s intake is a little more complicated,” continued Pappas. “Then we realized, we just need to hire some of the supposed ‘experts’ found in the forums of a number of racing websites. Our engineer ran some calculations, and if they all talk at once while standing in front of the car, it should supply us enough hot air to gain us about another 50hp.”
STEP THREE: Collectively Beat Our Heads Against a Wall
While the challenges to the current Balance of Performance have gone relatively unanswered, Pappas realizes beating his head against a wall, by himself, may not be the cure.
“One person beating his head against a wall is frivolous, we all know that,” mused Pappas. “Luckily, I have a very loyal crew and decent health insurance, so we’re going to all beat our heads against a wall, together, to see if that makes us go faster. I consulted with some of the best retired doctors from professional football, and they all promise me that repeated and hard contact against a wall should be pretty harmless, so I trust them.”
Official practice for this weekend’s double header will begin on Friday, with Saturday’s Race One occurring at 4:45PM ET, and broadcast at world-challenge.com/streamvideo/ . Sunday’s Race Two will be broadcast same-day on CBS Sports Network at 2PM ET.
ELKHART LAKE, WIs. (June 26, 2017) – Returning to the traditional “sprint” format of Pirelli World Challenge racing, core to the series heritage, Black Swan Racing driver Tim Pappas and the No. 54 Mercedes-AMG GT3 would enjoy a strong weekend, scoring podiums in class during each of the double-header events during this weekend’s fourth and fifth rounds of the Pirelli World Challenge GTA championship. Despite a recent series of balance-of-performance (BoP) required adjustments that had adverse effects on various aspects of the machine, both driver and team would still enjoy strong runs, taking third in both events.
"Overall we're pretty pleased with our consecutive podiums this weekend, despite some of the BoP challenges. Walking away with hardware is always a good feeling, and consistent points is also great for the championship, so all in all we'll take it. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is an amazing machine that should have really excelled at Road America, but unfortunately the current series-mandated changes to the car put us down by as much as 5MPH at the end of the three fast sections, which is huge at Road America. Regardless, I really enjoyed battling with some of the other competitors, it's always fun when everyone races clean. Unfortunately the way the starts and caution periods worked with the current BoP we weren't able to make a big run to move further, so in that sense we're satisfied with our finish."
Qualifying second in the GTA class for Saturday’s Race One, the challenges for the No. 54 were most evident during race starts and re-starts, with the series-required changes to the engine’s air restrictor robbing it of enough power during the key straightaways to keep pace with the rest of the pack. As the field shuffled through the opening lap, Tim would be caught out in the process, with the power deficit playing a major factor, dropping back to third by time the pace settled. While both driver and machine showed pace throughout the stint, the challenges of low top-speed made the possibility of a run to pass for second nearly impossible, resigning the car to the final podium spot.
During Sunday’s Race Two, the story would follow a similar theme, albeit with a much shorter race. Due to a heavy accident, nearly half the race would be lost to a red flag for track cleanup, giving Pappas virtually no time to make up lost ground, once again taking third place points.
Overall, the weekend would prove vital for the team’s championship efforts, with Pappas now in a fight for top-three honors in the series sprint standings.
With the Pirelli World Challenge taking a break for a few weeks, the return to “sprint” racing will continue in a few weeks’ time, once again joining the Verizon IndyCar Series at the famed Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 28-30.