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Willows, CA - August 3, 2020 - Mercedes-Benz isn't the first name that comes to mind when thinking of Trans Am, but the iconic American muscle car series welcomed a new and particularly powerful beast to the grid when Simon Gregg unveiled his new AMG Mercedes-Benz GT3, and it proved a spectacular debut.
The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli West Coast Championship got underway at the 3-mile, 15-corner Thunderhill Raceway Park and it's safe to say that the Northern California circuit witnessed something special in the shape of the No. 59 Mercedes. Simon was TA Class Champion on the West Coast in 2019 but has chosen to compete in the new XtremeGT (XTG) class for 2020. In his new Mercedes, Simon set a blistering lap time of 1:44.826-seconds in Saturday's qualifying session, a figure that translates to an average speed of 103.028 mph.
It meant pole position in Sunday’s race for the likeable Floridian and Gregg’s time was almost a full second faster than the next closest competitor. Since XGT is a new class this year, Gregg’s achievement is automatically a new track record for XGT at Thunderhill.
In the 15-minute qualifying session, Gregg got caught in traffic with cars from various other classes - all of them slower. Then after one driver went off course in front of Gregg, everything seemed to click for Gregg in the German machine and he put down that awesome lap.
“At the very end of the session, the car was just hooked up,” Gregg said. “I’m so happy about that. It’s a hot one out here this weekend but the paddock is buzzing to be back out West.”
Simon won three races on the West Coast in 2019 and went on to win the TA West Coast Championship. His chief rival then, and now out West, is Greg Pickett. Pickett with the TA Class Ford Mustang was alongside Gregg on the front row of the grid.
Starting from pole, Simon led early on in Sunday’s race but was ultimately unable to prevent the more powerful TA car from overhauling him to win overall. Nevertheless, Simon was first in his class and the two pulled a long way clear of the remaining competitors. The hugely impressive Mercedes debut means it's surely only a matter of time before an XGT racer logs an overall win.
"I really enjoyed the weekend and getting to know the new car at this track. It's very different to what I'm used to on a Trans Am weekend but it's a whole lot of fun," stated Simon Gregg.
Next up for Simon Gregg is the Trans Am National Championship at Road America August 6 to 8 where he will revert to the powerful new Camaro that scored a podium finish the last day at Brainerd.
Download the fantastic new Trans Am App for your device from Google PlayStore or Apple to watch the terrific coverage from the track.
Trans Am Series and team news about Simon Gregg can be found at gotransam.com. Keep up with Simon personally on the Simon Gregg Facebook page.
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