KIA RACING WINS AT LONG BEACH

AUTO ADVISOR GROUP
BRUCE HUBBARD


KIA RACING AND COLIN BRAUN CAPTURE FIRST PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE PODIUM FINISH ON THE STREETS OF LONG BEACH

Newlywed Braun Qualified Third in the No. 38 Infinity Audio Optima and Avoided Traffic by Staying Near the Front of the Field On His Way to a Third Place Finish.

More than 200 Kia Motors team members and guests from the company’s Southern California headquarters witnessed Kia Racing’s historic milestone.


IRVINE, Calif., April, 15, 2012 – In just its third Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) race, Kia Racing today recorded its first-ever podium finish on the legendary Streets of Long Beach circuit in front of a huge crowd of home-town fans and Kia employees. Unlike the first two rounds of the PWC in St. Petersburg last month, the 50-minute sprint race in Southern California was run without any full-course caution flags, enabling Braun to separate from the majority of the Grand Touring Sport (GTS) class and bring the No. 38 Infinity Audio Optima home in third place.

“It’s fantastic to get our first podium in just our third race with the Optimas, and to do it in front of a big crowd of Kia Racing fans makes it even more special,” said Braun. “I had to work hard to stay out of trouble, which can be difficult on this street circuit, but I can’t think of a better way to spend my honeymoon.”

After a great qualifying session in the morning, which placed Kia’s two Optimas third and fourth on the grid, Kia Racing started the race side-by-side on the second row and battled with Justin Bell’s Ford Mustang before settling into a groove and running nose to tail in fourth and fifth place. The Optimas separated when a flat-spotted tire caused Michael Galati to take the No. 36 Optima to pit lane for a replacement midway through the race. He would ultimately recover to finish 11th in class. Braun remained strong for the duration of the race en route to the final spot on the podium.

Kia Racing Captures First-Ever Pirelli World Challenge Podium Finish at Streets of Long Beach
“Our Southern California racing debut was a big day for Kia Racing, Colin Braun and our partner, Kinetic Motorsports, who put on a great show for the Kia team members in attendance.” said Michael Sprague, VP Marketing & Communications, KMA. “Securing the Optima’s first podium in Long Beach is something we will remember for a long time.”

Race fans watched the No. 38 Optima race to Kia’s first-ever Pirelli World Challenge podium on the NBC Sports Network.   Round four of the PWC will take place at Miller Motorsports Park on Saturday, April 28 at 2:35 p.m. MT/ 1:35 p.m. PT. Check out live race status, photos and updates at facebook.com/kiaracing, and watch live streaming race coverage at world-challengetv.com.