Always Evolving Motorsport brought its 2015 Pirelli World Challenge campaign to a successful conclusion at Laguna Seca last weekend, with James Davison finishing seventh and team-mate Bryan Heitkotter coming home ninth in the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.
The team’s latest results in the hotly-contested GT category – a class it only joined at the start of 2015 – have secured an impressive fourth place in the final Team Championship standings and fifth in the Manufacturers Championship.
Davison (above), driving the #33 AE Replay XD Nissan, completed his Drivers Championship campaign in fourth place overall, while #05 team-mate Heitkotter has been confirmed in tenth place aboard his Nissan GT Academy machine.
Getting the better of the tight and twisty Laguna Seca circuit proved a tough challenge for both drivers during qualifying for Sunday’s main race and Davison found himself lining up in P14, while Heitkotter – recently promoted to the GT class after a string of impressive results – was a little further back in P19.
But once the 35-lap race got underway, both men exploited the impressive capabilities of the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 – operated by AIM Autosport – and fought their way up the order with a string of fine overtaking manoeuvres. Indeed, Heitkotter (below) was presented with the VP Racing Fuels Hard Charger Award after making up 10 places on track.
Reflecting on his maiden Pirelli World Challenge season and the speed of Always Evolving’s Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, Australian Davison said: “We had a phenomenal season and ended up in the top four of the series. In my eyes, we technically won the championship because we lost our points for a win earlier in the year, which would have been enough to win it.
“But, with that in mind, the team should be very proud. This was our first year with the car and our performance was executed well enough to win the championship. I’m really looking forward to 2016 with the new GT-R.”
Heitkotter was similarly positive about the team’s fortunes during the 12-round PWC season and particularly the way his Always Evolving team extracted the maximum from his Nissan GT-R.
“Overall, it’s been a pretty good race,” he said. “We started 17th and finished 9th so I’m reasonably happy with that. We benefitted from a few other guys making mistakes and I think we found a little bit of something for the race.
“I’m really proud of the guys on the team; they never give up and it’s been a really good opening season for the guys with the GT-R.”
JRM Partnership Manager, James Walters, congratulated Always Evolving Motorsport (above) for such an impressive first season in GT competition, using the 2014-specification Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.
He said: “The whole team has done a terrific job in the Pirelli World Challenge this season as it’s adapted to the GT category and sought to get the best from the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 package.
“The fact that James and Bryan have scored various podiums and finished so strongly in the teams, manufacturers and drivers championships is a credit to everyone involved in the programme and I’m excited to see how the team will build on its success in 2016 – when it uses the NEW Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.”