Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) and Gunnar Jeannette (Salt Lake City, Utah) are ready for the Pirelli World Challenge Series (PWC) finale weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, October 7-9. The duo will run in the GTA and GT sprint races along with the SprintX race.
MacNeil, No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche, comes into the PWC GTA season finale on a streak of two podium finishes from the previous round at Sonoma Raceway. Jeannette is also motivated, as he laid down the fastest lap in the GT race on Sunday in wine country. The pair will run the 50-minute PWC race on Sunday, then turn-around 70-minutes later and combine in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche to compete in the hour long SprintX race.
“I’m really excited to head back to Laguna Seca to race again this year,” MacNeil said. “I had one of the best drives of my career in the IMSA WeatherTech race there earlier this year moving up eight positions in one stint. Also, I won two races during Monterey car week in our Porsche 935 in August. I have a lot of good momentum going from that track this year and hope to continue it this weekend! I’m excited to do one true sprint race, and then team up with Gunnar for an hour long endurance race on Sunday.”
Teammate Jeannette, No. 97 WeatherTech Racing Porsche, is also excited for the weekend.
“I’m thrilled to finish our 2016 season out with WeatherTech and Alex Job Racing at Laguna Seca,” Jeannette said. “We learned a lot at Sonoma and I’m looking forward to putting that to use in our Porsche around Laguna. It will be an interesting weekend competing in both the GT/GTA and SprintX race events. At Sonoma we struggled with a lack of track time, but that certainly won’t be an issue this weekend. It will be a bit of a challenge to make sure that the car is ready with such a short amount of time in between races, but I’m sure the Alex Job guys can handle it. Cooper has already gotten to race the Porsche 911 GT3R around Laguna this May in the IMSA race, but my only Porsche experience there this year has been in a 935, RSR, and 908 at the Monterey Historics.”
“Cooper had a nice couple of races at Sonoma three weeks ago and has always done well at Laguna Seca,” Alex Job, team owner, said. “Gunnar had fast lap of the GT race at Sonoma, so our guys coming into the weekend very positive. I think we will be a force to reckoned with in the SprintX race with our history in endurance racing with pit stops and driver changes.”
The Pirelli World Challenge series finale will run on Sunday, October 9 at 11 a.m. ET. The race from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will be televised on the CBS Sports Network Sunday, October 16 at 3:00 p.m. ET.