PWC: Baptista completes Flying Lizard's lineup

Flying Lizard Motorsports has selected Brazlian racer Rodrigo Baptista to complete its two-car lineup for the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge season in the GTS class. Baptista will join 17-year-old Nate Stacy, who was runner-up in the 2016 PWC GTS Drivers Championship.

The team, which announced in October it was returning to Porsche, recently took delivery of two new Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR racecars at its facility in Sonoma Raceway.

Baptista, 20, only started racing in 2012, winning the Sao Paulo Go-Kart Championship the following year. In 2015, Baptista advanced from go karts to South American F3, and finished fourth in the 2015 Formula 3 Brazil Championship while also competing in the Brazilian Touring Car Championship. Last season, Baptista was named an official Audi racing driver and joined Belgian Audi Club Team WRT in the Blancpain GT Series.

"I'm excited to join the Flying Lizard family," said Baptista (pictured). "There's no better start in this new chapter in my racing career here in the United States. As I am coming from a European series, everything will be a new challenge for me and I like that. I can't wait to drive the new Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR. I want to say thank you to my sponsor, HT Pro, to my family, always supporting my decisions and to everyone helping me so far."

Baptista will participate his first test in the new car later this month.

Stacy and Flying Lizard team principal and program manager Darren Law will travel to Germany this week to participate in a driver fitness camp at the Potsdam University Outpatient Clinic in Brandenburg, the same program where Porsche's Factory GT drivers, junior drivers and others are invited to undergo physical evaluations and training in preparation for the approaching race season.

"I am really looking forward to the upcoming season," said Law. "We have signed two great drivers in Nate Stacy and Rodrigo Baptista. They are both young and have very credible racing backgrounds. We are thankful for our relationship with Porsche. Not only do they produce great cars but they are very supportive of their teams. Having the opportunity to take our drivers to Germany and put them through the fitness program and visit Porsche helps them to understand the history and culture of the brand."