(Mason City, Iowa) — After a strong debut season that saw him on the World Challenge Touring Car podium an impressive six times at the helm of his #72 Compass360 Racing (C360R) Honda, it was obvious that Ryan Winchester would be back for a sophomore season with the Toronto-based team.
“I pretty much told Ryan that we wanted him back to go for the 2013 championship at the season finale banquet last year,” laughed Team Principal Karl Thomson. “He proved he’s the full package, working well with the mechanics and being a real team player when he needed to. He’s got the fire in his belly and we’re confident he’s going to be in the championship hunt from the very first race in Austin.”
Winchester, who finished third in the TC standings in 2012, will return to the series in his #72 Honda Civic Si with primary sponsorship from Ligon Industries, who have signed on for a second season.
“I’m truly honoured to be back with Ligon and C360R for another year,” remarked Ryan. “The team finished second, third, fourth and sixth in last year’s championship, and for me there’s no other place I’d rather be. I learned a lot in my rookie season and am ready to fight for wins which will hopefully get us to the top spot at the end of the year.”
In recognition of his recent graduation from Palmer College as a Doctor of Chiropractic, the team plans to address their returning driver as “Doctor Ryan” in the hope that he will work his magic touch on the crew members as required, especially after they extricate themselves from the confines under his car after each session’s maintenance work is completed.
Winchester joins the team’s four-car line-up, which includes Remo Ruscitti in the #71 car for the full season and Ray Mason in #76 competing in a few select events. The team’s fourth driver will be announced immediately prior to the Touring Car season opener at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on May 17-20.
“We won the TC championship in 2011, and were second last year,” noted Thomson. “Over the winter we built four brand-new 2013-spec Honda Civic Si’s for our World Challenge drivers, and expect a strong run, especially from Ryan since he’s got a year of World Challenge racing under his belt. He did a great job as a rookie and we are excited about his chances this year.”
The COTA race will be available to watch live on the Internet at world-challengetv.com and will be broadcast tape-delayed on NBC Sports, June 16th at 5pm.
About Compass 360 Racing: Compass360 Racing (C360R) is the motorsports division of Compass360 Brand Architects, a Toronto-based firm offering marketing expertise to clients in diverse industries across North America. The team, with support from Honda Performance Development (HPD), fields front-running Honda Civic Si’s in Grand-Am’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, winning series Championships in 2010, 2009, 2007 and 2006. C360R also won World Challenge Touring Car Championships in 2012 and 2011, and the Canadian Touring Car Championship in 2010. For details visit http://C360R.com.
PR inquiries should be directed to Karl Thomson. +1.416.465.2299 x21 or karl@compass360.com.
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