{"id":6830,"date":"2024-03-07T16:04:23","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T21:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/?p=6830"},"modified":"2024-03-07T16:04:23","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T21:04:23","slug":"pt-autosports-henry-drury-set-for-gr-cup-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/07\/pt-autosports-henry-drury-set-for-gr-cup-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"PT Autosport\u2019s Henry Drury set for GR Cup campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

The inaugural Aspiring Driver Shootout winner will join Precision Racing LA in 2024\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

MILLVILLE, NJ (7 March 2024) \u2013 Inaugural PT Autosport Aspiring Driver Shootout winner Henry Drury will begin his formal racing career in four weeks, competing with Precision Racing LA with PT Autosport in the Toyota GR Cup series.<\/p>\n

Supported by Toyota Gazoo Racing North America and Toyota Racing Development, the GR Cup enters its second season with significant momentum, coming off an inaugural year that saw over 30 cars competing each race weekend \u2013 with the Toyota GR86 Cup Car becoming one of iRacing\u2019s most popular vehicles.<\/p>\n

For Drury, this first step into a professional racing series is a dream come true, with the 23-year-old Tampa, Fla. resident overcoming the odds on more than one occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m ecstatic to be making the step up to my first \u201cpro\u201d series in Toyota GR Cup this year,\u201d said Drury. \u201cI keep having to step back and think about the look that 10-year-old me would have on his face if he knew that we\u2019d have the chance at a proper racing career, not to mention racing at some of the most awesome tracks in the country!<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI can\u2019t thank PT Autosport enough for the trust, coaching, and continued support. They surprised me with a GR Cup test late last year and I\u2019ve been dying to get back behind the wheel of one ever since!\u201d<\/p>\n

Drury grew up near London watching every motorsport event he could find, desperately wanting to start a racing career. Knowing his family did not have the budget for him to compete, he turned his focus to the engineering and design side of motorsports, planning to attend university to study engineering. In the meantime, Drury worked on his other passion \u2013 as a two-time national pairs figure skating champion, he set his sights on a spot on the British Olympic team in 2018.<\/p>\n

But a serious back injury sent Drury to the sidelines at the age of 14, and into surgery. During his nine-year recovery, he endured time unable to walk, tackling the mental effects of a long-term injury and watching his competitors achieve the goals he\u2019d been dreaming of \u2013 before finding his competitive fire again through sim racing, becoming a proficient online racer.<\/p>\n

Hoping to finally make his dream come true, he saved up the money to attend a racing school and worked to find sponsorship for a weekend in the school\u2019s racing series at Mid-Ohio, where he earned a podium finish on his debut. Working hard to find the means to continue, Drury happened upon the chance of a lifetime \u2013 he applied for the 2022 PT Autosport Aspiring Driver Shootout and earned a spot in the finals. Against seven other drivers over two grueling days of on and off-track evaluations, Drury won the Shootout and a two-year slot in the team\u2019s junior driver program. After a second back surgery at the Texas Back Institute\u00a0to fully restore his mobility, Drury earned several podium finishes in Porsche Club of America and SCCA\u00a0events in a Spec Boxster before impressing in a GR Cup test late last year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Toyota GR Cup will contest a 14-race season in 2024 at seven of the top road courses in the U.S. \u2013 Sonoma, Sebring, COTA, VIR, Road America, Barber and Indianapolis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m most excited for the challenge that this year is going to present,\u201d said Drury. \u201cI\u2019m driving better than ever and I\u2019m feeling confident, but I only have four race weekends under my belt and the level of up-and-coming talent in Toyota GR Cup is immense. I\u2019m looking forward to pitting myself against the best, making a name for myself, and proving I deserve a place here.\u201d<\/p>\n

For PT Autosport team principal Jason Myers, the GR Cup mission statement defines the reasoning behind the move to the series, which is committing to providing \u201ca competitive and affordable race series supported by a best-in-class purse and prize package.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t be prouder of Henry and this opportunity to get him in the Toyota GR Cup this season with Precision Racing LA,\u201d said PT Autosport team principal Jason Myers. \u201cHe did very well in a test late last year and we knew we needed to try and get him behind the wheel for a season to show what he is capable of. Henry\u2019s story is amazing – from training for the Olympics to a career-ending spinal injury \u2013 and into an entirely new form of competition and focus with Sportscar racing and winning our inaugural 2022 Aspiring Driver Shootout. So far, he is exceeding our expectations and I believe he will continue to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel really fortunate being able to partner with such a great team,\u201d Myers continued. \u201cMario and his PRLA crew run arguably one of the best outfits I\u2019ve seen in my almost 20 years of racing. We\u2019re really looking forward to the competition this season and where it takes us!\u201d<\/p>\n

Drury\u2019s No. 88 GR86 will display a livery designed by Thonthan Saengsuwan, who won the team\u2019s design contest. The livery features a stylized Panda and Tiger \u2013 the \u201cPT\u201d in the team\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

Precision Racing LA with PT Autosport kicks off the 2024 Toyota GR Cup season with two\u00a0 races at Sonoma Raceway April 5 to 7, to be broadcast live atwww.grcup.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The inaugural Aspiring Driver Shootout winner will join Precision Racing LA in 2024\u00a0 MILLVILLE, NJ (7 March 2024) \u2013 Inaugural PT Autosport Aspiring Driver Shootout winner [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,9,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-feature","category-pt-autosport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6832,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6830\/revisions\/6832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}