2010 Toronto - World Challenge

There were many changes to the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge Championship in 2010. The first was the series title. The relationship with Speed TV had come to an end. The series new television partner was VERSUS, which aired ninety-minute spots of all twelve races on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

The decline in entries over the last two seasons resulted in the introduction of a third category and a reclassification of some cars. The newest division was called Grand Touring Sport and fit in between Grand Touring and Touring Car.

Grand Touring (GT) – This group included the series quickest cars: Porsche 911 GT3, Chevrolet Corvette, Dodge Viper, Nissan GT-R and Volvo S60. The preparation rules remained unchanged from the previous year for these vehicles.
Grand Touring Sport (GTS) – These were many of the cars that competed in last year’s Touring Car class (Acura TSX, Honda Civic, BMW 325i and Mazda 6). Competitors from the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge were also able to participate using the Ford Mustang FR500S.
Touring Car (TC) – Touring Cars were not allowed many of the modifications permitted by the 2009 rules. The preparation of the vehicles was more closely aligned with Grand-Am Cup and the Sports Car Club of America’s Improved Touring classes. Makes competing in the category included the Scion tC, Mazda RX-8, Honda Civic, Mazda Speed 3, Volkswagen Jetta and Golf.

2010 also marked the end of races for each group. In the new season, all classes competed in the same contest – 1996 was the last time that different categories competed together.

The World Challenge Championship kicked off at St. Petersburg, Florida, in March as a support event for the IndyCar series. In previous years, the series shared race weekends with the American Le Mans Series, but in 2010 World Challenge began competing at more IndyCar venues. The season ended mid-September at Miller Motorsports Park. In all, there were a total of twelve races at eight different tracks (Streets of St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Mosport, Watkins Glen, Toronto, Mid-Ohio, Virginia International Raceway and Miller Motorsports Park).

The Acura Sports Car Challenge of Toronto was round seven of the 2010 World Challenge series. Drivers would compete on the eleven-turn 1.755–mile street course at Toronto’s Exhibition Place for fifty-minutes.

Twenty-six World Challenge competitors sit on the starting grid for the Acura Sports Car Challenge of Toronto. Sharing the front row are the K-Pax Racing Volvos of the Grand Touring point’s leader and pole-sitter, Randy Pobst and his teammate, Andy Pilgrim. Immediately behind them are the Porsches of the third and fourth fast qualifiers, Patrick Lindsay and James Sofronas.

Driving the No. 6 K-Pax Racing Volvo S60, Randy Pobst earned his sixth Grand Touring pole position of the 2010 season. In doing so, Pobst beat the lap record; he set the last time the series visited the circuit in 2007. Pobst led the field into corner one and would never relinquish first place despite pressure from the Porsche of James Sofronas. This was Pobst’s third victory of the season and extended his points lead over, Andy Pilgrim.

Nick Wittmer’s experience with the Toronto circuit paid off as he put the No. 93 Honda Racing/RealTime Honda Civic Si on the Touring Car pole. Wittmer led the race from the start and went unchallenged to win by a comfortable margin of 6.053-seconds. He was also competing in the Canadian Touring Car series, driving another Honda, and took the victory in that event as well.

The Global Motorsports Group team leader, James Sofronas qualified the GMG Porsche 911 GT3 fourth quickest in the Grand Touring category. By the end of the first lap, Sofronas had moved into second place. As the contest progressed, he got faster and challenged the Volvo of the race leader, Randy Pobst. Sofronas was able to narrow the gap but took the runner-up position - just 0.821-seconds behind Pobst.

The 2010 World Challenge Grand Touring podium at Toronto. In the center is K-PAX Racing’s Randy Pobst who earned his third victory of the year and padded his points lead. To Pobst’s right is James Sofronas who captured the runner-up position in the GMG Porsche 911 GT3. And, completing the podium is Pobst’s teammate, Andy Pilgrim.

At Toronto, Peter Cunningham broke a tie with Pierre Kleinubing for the series most pole positions. Cunningham established a new record of thirty-seven World Challenge poles. The Grand Touring Sport competitor led flag-to-flag for the fourth win of the season in the RealTime Racing Acura TSX. This victory extended not only his points but also his series record for the most number of wins –thirty-six victories.

Eric Meyer qualified on the front row of the Touring Car class at Watkins Glen and did it again at Toronto. Driving the No. 32 Mazda RX-8, Meyer was over half a second slower than the pole-sitter, Nick Wittmer. Early in the race, he was pressured by Robert Stout and Brett Sandberg but an incident between the two gave him some breathing room. Stout charged back but Meyer held on for the runner-up spot.

Qualifying second in Grand Touring and 0.087-seconds slower than his teammate, Randy Pobst was the driver of the No. 8 K-Pax Volvo S60, Andy Pilgrim. Pilgrim got a better start than his teammate but allowed Pobst to lead the field into corner one. He was challenged and passed by James Sofronas on the first lap. Pilgrim would drop to fifth place but fought back and grabbed the final spot on the class podium.

Local resident, Ernie Jakubowski made his series debut at Watkins Glen where he finished on the podium. In qualifying at Toronto, he piloted the Fuchs/Forgeline Porsche Cayman S to the third quickest time in the Grand Touring Sport category. During the race, Jakubowski and Nick Esayian made contact causing Jakubowski to spin. Despite the incident, he was able to finish second in class.

Touring Car point’s leader, Robert Stout drove the TRD/Lucas Oil sponsored Scion tC. Stout topped the class timing charts during practice but was third quickest in qualifying. He was running third in class when he was hit by the Acura TSX of Brett Sandberg. The incident dropped Stout back to seventh place but a caution allowed him to catch the field. Some aggressive driving earned him the final spot on the podium.

The round seven Grand Touring Sport podium at Toronto. In the center is Peter Cunningham who scored his fourth victory of 2010 and extended the all-time World Challenge win record to thirty-six. Grabbing the runner-up position was Canadian, Ernie Jakubowski. The final spot on the podium is occupied by third-place finisher and Peter Cunningham’s teammate, Nick Esayian.

FINISH	CLASS	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	GT	Randy Pobst	Volvo S60	33	-
2	4	GT	James Sofronas	Porsche 911 GT3	33	-
3	2	GT	Andy Pilgrim	Volvo S60	33	-
4	3	GT	Patrick Lindsey	Porsche 911 GT3	33	-
5	5	GT	Dino Crescentini	Porsche 911 GT3	33	-
6	7	GT	Kuno Wittmer	Dodge Viper	33	-
7	6	GT	Rob Morgan	Porsche 911 GT3	33	-
8	8	GT	Jeff Courtney	Dodge Viper	33	-
9	12	GT	Jason Daskalos	Dodge Viper	33	-
10	9	GT	Tony Gaples	Chevrolet Corvette	33	-
11	13	GT	Charles Morgan	Porsche 911 GT3	33	-
12	10	GT	Fred Roberts	Dodge Viper	32	-
13	14	GTS	Peter Cunningham	Acura TSX	32	-
14	17	TC	Nick Wittmer	Honda Civic Si	31	-
15	18	TC	Eric Meyer	Mazda RX-8	31	-
16	19	TC	Robert Stout	Scion tC	31	-
17	23	TC	Michael Pettiford	Volkswagen Jetta GLI	31	-
18	16	GTS	Ernie Jakubowski	Porsche Cayman S	31	-
19	25	TC	Shea Holbrook	Honda Civic Si	31	-
20	26	TC	Robb Holland	Volkswagen GTI	31	-
21	24	TC	Don Istook	Volkswagen GTI	31	-
22	15	GTS	Nick Esayian	Acura TSX	30	-
23	22	TC	Dan Gardner	Honda Civic Si	28	-
24	11	GT	William Ziegler	Porsche 911 GT3	27	Suspension
25	21	TC	Greg Shaffer	Volkswagen Jetta GLI	7	Accident
26	20	TC	Brett Sandberg	Acura TSX	5	Accident

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