KIA RACING DRIVERS MOVE AHEAD IN CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS FOLLOWING STRONG FINISH IN ROUND THREE OF THE PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE AT LONG BEACH PRESENTED BY KIA

LONG BEACH, Calif., April 22, 2013 – Just up the road from its U.S.-corporate headquarters in Irvine, Calif., Kia Racing gave its fans reason to cheer loudly with a top-five finish in Round 3 of the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) at Long Beach presented by Kia.  Wilkins, whose turbocharged Kia Optima got faster with each passing lap, was stalking the fourth-placed Aston Martin late in the contest, but his bid for a podium finish was thwarted when the 50-minute sprint race ended under caution.  The top-five finish marks the second in a row for Kia Racing and moves both drivers into the top five in driver championship points heading into Round 4 at Circuit of the Americas next month.  By virtue of the strong performance, Kia held station in third in the manufacturer championship.

“The Kinetic crew made a lot of progress on the car, and at the end of the race we were definitely faster than the Aston Martin in front of us.  We just ran out of time to make a move,” said Wilkins.  “It’s great to come out here to Long Beach and race in front of all of the Kia team members and to meet so many great people who support the racing program.”

Wilkins’ teammate, Nic Jönsson, charged through the field in his No. 36 turbocharged Optima to finish in seventh place, an impressive feat considering he started at the back of the pack in 24th place after replacing an engine following a turbo issue in the morning qualifying session.  Jonsson’s strong finish allowed him to advance from seventh to fifth in the driver championship standings.

“We definitely had some hurdles to overcome this weekend, but I’m proud of the crew for doing an amazing job getting the No. 36 Optima into race condition after our troubles in qualifying Sunday morning,” said Jönsson.  “To come away from a brutal and demanding track like Long Beach with two top-ten finishes and come pretty close to putting Kia Racing back on the podium for their home race is just fantastic, and now we can turn our focus to Circuit of the Americas next month.”

On Friday, coinciding with the Pirelli World Challenge at Long Beach presented by Kia, was the introduction of the No. 36 turbocharged Optima racing machine into Cie Games’ Car Town, a leading social game on the Facebook platform, which allows its nearly 50 million lifetime players to collect and customize virtual cars in garages of their own design and participate in challenges.

The Pirelli World Challenge at Long Beach presented by Kia is scheduled to air on television Sunday, May 5 at 11:00 a.m. PT on the NBC Sports Network.  Race fans can also catch the latest news and updates from the track at www.facebook.com/kiaracing or Twitter at @KiaRacing.

Courtesy of Kia Media