• 21-JUL-2014

Toronto-native Mark Wilkins Scores Thrilling Victory For Kia Racing On Home Turf In Round 10 Of The Pirelli World Challenge

Toronto, Ontario, native and Kia Racing pilot Mark Wilkins showed championship-caliber grit and tenacity this weekend as he scored two top-five finishes in the No. 38 B.R.A.K.E.S. Optima turbo, including his second win of the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) season. Wilkins' ability to overcome on-track adversity and keep a cool head in the midst of fierce battles during the doubleheader weekend landed him a fourth-place finish in Saturday's round nine and the top step of the podium for round 10 on Sunday. Kia's lead in the Manufacturer's Championship increased to seven points, ahead of Ford, Porsche, Chevrolet, Nissan and Aston Martin. The victory marked Wilkins' first-career win at his home track and put him back atop the Driver Championship standing.

"It means so much to me personally to win at this track. I've come so close before, but this is an amazing feeling to win here where I have so many friends and family cheering me on. It was good clean racing with my fellow GTS competitors, but the Kia came out on top today," said Wilkins, who held on to beat Mustang driver Alec Udell by a mere 0.039 seconds, setting a new PWC class record for closest margin of victory. "I'm just really proud to work with Kia Racing and Kinetic Motorsports and race this awesome Kia Optima."