Ende hoping for boring weekend in Austin doubleheader

May 15, 2013 (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Duncan Ende may be the only driver looking for a boring weekend as the Pirelli World Challenge championship visits the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas for the first time this weekend.

In three races this year in the no. 24 STANDD / Merchant Services Audi R8 LMS, Ende has dealt with an engine failure, starting at the back of the field, and a brake malfunction which have hampered his ability to put up strong finishes. At Long Beach, however, despite a brake problem which dropped him through the field at the start, Ende was able to set the race's fast lap, which was a GT class record, and finish in fourth position - an exciting day in which Ende twice fell to the back of the field yet narrowly missed getting on the podium.

The result helped Ende move up to seventh in the GT Driver's Championship with 209 points, but with an eye on the championship he's hoping for two solid finishes and minimal drama in Austin.

"I knew entering the Pirelli World Challenge would mean I would be involved in a lot of exciting races this year, but we don't need to make things even more exciting for ourselves every race," said Ende. "Hopefully we have put all of our bad racing luck behind us and we'll have a pair of good races in Austin. Even though we've had this bad luck, we've been able to show a lot of speed in the no. 24 STANDD / Merchant Services Audi R8 LMS and I'd like to finally get on a podium or get a win this weekend."

Ende, along with his teammates at GMG Racing, was able to sample the Circuit of the Americas during a test after the Pirelli World Challenge event in Long Beach.

"I'm really glad we were able to test at Circuit of the Americas, if for no other reason than it's an incredible facility," said Ende. "I am a little bummed that we are using the short course because it means we don't have the last part of the esses and no long straightaway. But the fans should enjoy the racing this weekend. You can put the World Challenge cars on any track and have an exciting race. This layout may favor some of the GT cars a little bit more than the Audis but we know the Audis will be strong at the end of the race, we just need to put ourselves in a position to win."

Round four of the GT class championship from Circuit of the Americas will be Saturday, May 18 at 1:00 PM CST with round five being held on Sunday, May 19 at 1:05 CST. Both races will be streamed live at world-challengetv.com. NBC Sports will broadcast both races on Sunday, June 16th at 5:00 PM ET.

Duncan Ende