Nissan confirms PWC return in SprintX GT series

Always Evolving and AIM Autosport will return to the Pirelli World Challenge series to field a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in the Sprint X championship.

The downsized, single-car SprintX effort for Ricardo Sanchez and Frankie Montecalvo will debut at Virginia International Raceway on April 29, and replaces the two-car, full-season PWC GT program for James Davison and Bryan Heitkotter that ran through 2016.

"After racing for the past two years in Europe, it's really exciting to get the chance to race the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in the US," said Sanchez, who spent the last two seasons racing for Nissan in the Blancpain GT series. "It's a completely new chapter for me. I've got a whole new set of tracks to learn but the GT-R has been really strong in the U.S. and I'm looking forward to continuing my career in a new country."

The Mexican will be joined by New Jersey native Montecalvo, who brings considerable IMSA and PWC experience to the partnership.

"I've always been a fan of the GT-R, both as a racecar and the streetcar version," he said. "And I'm very, very excited to be working together [with Sanchez] this year."

Despite the reduced presence in the series, AE owner Erik Davis welcomes the shift to SprintX.

"Always Evolving has been associated with the series for many years,” he said. “The level of teams and drivers in Pirelli World Challenge continues to amaze me year over year. Competition is fierce and our team is ready to come back in winning form. We are looking forward to competing with an all-new car and two great drivers to take on the Sprint-X format kicking off at VIR, home track of Nissan.”