Callaway Competition USA announced Thursday (Mar. 1) that they will only have one Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R for their Pirelli World Challenge debut next weekend in St. Petersburg, Fla. Callaway Competition USA originally announced in December that they would make their Pirelli World Challenge debut with two Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-Rs for Daniel Keilwitz and Michael Cooper. It appears that only Keilwitz will be in St. Petersburg.
According to a release, Callaway Competition has committed two cars to ADAC GT Masters in Germany. Production of those cars has meant that the production of the second car bound for North America has been delayed.
An update regarding our 2018 @WCRacing effort: pic.twitter.com/KktQeCUqKY
— Callaway Competition (@CallawayCompUSA) March 1, 2018
Callaway Competition USA’s tweet made no mention of the status of Cooper, who originally signed for the full season. However, SportsCar365.com reports that Cooper is no longer under contract with the team at all. As a result, he would be free to drive for anyone in Pirelli World Challenge’s GT class. The only PWC commitment he currently has for 2018 is a GTS SprintX drive with Blackdog Speed Shop which starts in less than four weeks at Circuit of the Americas.
As for Keilwitz, he’ll still be in the car for St. Petersburg next weekend. A couple of hours after announcing the cutback, a rendering of Keilwitz’s car was revealed.
The 2018 livery for Callaway Competition USA's Pirelli World Challenge assault. T-Minus 1 week until their debut! #C7GT3 #BeastMode pic.twitter.com/oX1KQQXQTH
— Corvette Motorsport (@CorvetteMs) March 1, 2018
Callaway Competition USA’s original plans involved running two cars in both the GT Sprint and the GT SprintX events. Less than four weeks out from the first SprintX weekend, the team has still not made any announcements about who would partner up with Keilwitz (or any other driver) for those events.
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Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
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