LAGUNA SECA, Calif. – The AE ReplayXD NISSAN GT Academy team capped off a fantastic inaugural season in the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) with mixed results after a challenging weekend at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca finale.
James Davison, driver of the #33 Always Evolving RePlay XD/GT Academy Nissan GT-R GT3, came into the final race third in driver's championship points. The GT-R struggled with the pace of the Ferraris and Porsches at a track better suited to the European cars. Davison finished seventh, giving up the third spot in the Driver's Championship to former points leader Ryan Dalziel. Despite finishing fourth, Davison had have won the championship had he been allowed to keep the points taken away for a technical infraction after a race win at Barber Motorsports Park, earlier in the year.
It was a stellar year for a first-year team that got a late start with new cars and new drivers coming together for the first time in March. Davison scored two overall wins and six second place finishes. His teammate, 2011 GT Academy winner Bryan Heitkotter, was impressive in his first full professional season driving the team's #05 GT-R NISMO GT3. Starting the season in GTA class for drivers who are not internationally ranked, Heitkotter notched five class wins and two overall podiums, forcing his promotion to the pro ranks and out of GTA just past mid-season. Heitkotter finished 10th in the overall Driver's Championship in his rookie year.
AIM Autosport, the Toronto-based operation that provides day-to-day engineering and car set up for Always Evolving, was named by Pirelli World Challenge as "Best Crew in GTA" for their outstanding preparation of Heitkotter's #05 Nissan NISMO GT-R GT3 in 2015.
"Bringing both of the Nissans home in the top 10 was a fitting way to cap off our first season in Pirelli World Challenge's top class," said Always Evolving co-founder Erik Davis. "Laguna Seca may have suited some of the other cars better than ours, but James and Bryan both rose to the challenge and did an incredible job. I'm so proud of these guys for the way they have performed and represented our brand all year and can't say enough of our partners at AIM Autosport. To have scored as many victories and podiums we did this year is really incredible, and we are very excited for the 2016 season! We will be back bigger and better than ever next year. AE is about continued growth and continually evolving. Look out for more from AE and AerNow in the coming weeks and months."