K-PAX/3R Racing Return with New Porsche GT3 Cup for Pobst and Galati

Jim Haughey, of K-PAX Racing, and Bob Raub, of 3R Racing, jointly announced that they will return to the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship in 2008. The 2008 K-PAX/3R Racing team will again field 911 GT3s and are looking to return the Manufacturers’ Championship to Porsche.

Defending SCCA SPEED GT Drivers’ Champion Randy Pobst, of Gainesville Ga., will return to action along with five-time World Challenge champion Michael Galati, of Olmstead Ohio, who finished fourth in points in 2007.

“I love competition and I love racing, so naturally I love racing in the World Challenge Series because it is so competitive,” said 3R Racing owner Bob Raub. “And with drivers the quality of Randy and Michael in our cars, we should be very competitive.”

“K-PAX Racing was a wonderful place to be last year and there is no place I would rather be, so there is no way I wouldn’t be back to defend the title,” Pobst said. “Hopefully we can double up and win the Manufacturers’ title for Porsche as well!”

“The 2007 season was a good year overall, but the Porsche was new for me and I didn’t know what to expect going in,” Galati said. “This should be a better season because I have a year’s experience in the car and working with [crew chief] Dax [Raub] and the 3R crew. I am really looking forward to working with them again.”

“SCCA Pro Racing does such a great job of equalizing the cars that winning a championship is about a little luck and a lot of keeping your nose clean and finishing strong,” Pobst said. “One thing we did have last year was reliability, both from Porsche with their great GT3 and from 3R Racing with their meticulous preparation. How could Michael and I go wrong with that combination?”

“The K-PAX and 3R team is ramping up and is ready to return the Manufacturers’ title back to Porsche,” added Galati. “I think that we have the team and the drivers to do that!”

The K-PAX/3R team enters the season with two brand new Porsche 997s, so for a second-straight year the team is rushing new cars to competition, but 2008 will be different as the team does have a full season with the 997s under their belts going in.

“We actually aren’t that much further ahead of where we were last year,” Pobst said of the preparation for the opening race at Sebring in March. “Our Porsches are going to be a little heavier this year by the rules and a have a little different tire setup for the new Toyo tires, so that will probably change our setups a little.

“We do have a lot of new things to work out on the Porsches, but we have a full season under our belts from last year and I have a really smart team behind me, so we should be good right from the start.”

The 2008 edition of SCCA Pro Racing’s SPEED World Challenge GT Championship will begin in March at Sebring International Raceway, and is scheduled for stops at Long Beach, Miller Motorsports Park, Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, and Mosport. SPEED GT will conclude the season with a double header at the new Thunderbolt Raceway in New Jersey and the season ending race at Road Atlanta seven days later.

Divided into two separate series and races (SCCA SPEED GT and SCCA SPEED Touring Car), the SCCA SPEED World Challenge Championships are America’s top production car-based series. SCCA SPEED World Challenge events are a maximum of 50 minutes in length, feature standing starts and grids composed of the world’s most popular manufacturers. The 2008 SCCA SPEED World Challenge season begins March 12- 14 at Sebring International Raceway. For more information see www.world-challenge.com.