2013 Mid-Ohio - World Challenge GT

In 2013, the World Challenge Championship kicked off its twenty-fourth consecutive season at St. Petersburg, Florida in March as a support event for the IndyCar series. The season ended the first weekend in October at the Grand Prix of Houston. In between these two events, there were races held at Long Beach, Circuit of the Americas, Detroit, Lime Rock, Toronto, Mid-Ohio and Sonoma Raceway.

The series launched the ‘Touring Car B-Spec’ in 2012 and it was proving popular as entries were showing strong growth. There were four classes:

Grand Touring (GT) – This group includes the series quickest cars: Porsche 911 GT3, Chevrolet Corvette, Dodge Viper, Cadillac CTS-V.R, Nissan GTR, Audi R8 LMS and Volvo S60. The preparation rules remain unchanged from the previous year. These vehicles produce more than 450-horsepower.
Grand Touring Sport (GTS) – The cars in this class are not permitted the same level of preparation as the GT category. The class is a mix of cars that could be best described as sports cars or sports sedans. Vehicles eligible to compete in GTS include SCCA Club Racing Touring 2 cars and some FIA GT4 cars. Makes competing in this category include the Ford Mustang, Porsche Cayman S, Chevrolet Camaro, Kia Optima and Acura TSX.
Touring Car (TC) – The preparation of the Touring Cars is closely aligned with Grand Am Cup and the Sports Car Club of America’s Improved Touring classes. The wide range of vehicles homologated for this category mean that power output ranges from 180 to 260-horsepower. Also, there is significant variation in drivetrain configurations – front-wheel, rear-wheel and all-wheel drive. Makes competing in the category include the Honda Civic Si, MAZDASPEED3, Volkswagen Jetta and Golf.
Touring Car B (TCB) – World Challenge’s newest class was implemented to allow competitors to compete at the professional level in cost efficient cars. To keep expenses down, modifications are limited to performance spring and shock packages offered by the manufacturers. Makes competing in TCB are the Kia Rio, Honda Fit, Mazda 2, Fiat 500 and Mini Cooper.

Rounds eleven and twelve of the 2013 Pirelli World Challenge took place at Mid-Ohio. Forty Grand Touring and Grand Touring Sport drivers competed in two fifty-minute races around the thirteen-turn 2.258-mile road course.

Twenty-seven Grand Touring Sport competitors sit on the grid before the start of round eleven. On the pole is Nic Jonsson driver of the No. 36 Kia Optima Turbo. On the outside of the front row is Jonsson’s teammate, Mark Wilkins also competing in a Kia. The duo would repeat their qualifying performance for Sunday’s contest.

Mark Wilkins started second in the weekend’s first race – sharing the front row with his teammate, Nic Jonsson. Jonsson led the first twenty-three-laps but a problem with his car allowed Wilkins to inherit the lead and take his second victory of the season. On Sunday, Wilkins started on the outside of the front row but was unable to match the pace of Lawson Aschenbach, Peter Cunningham or Jack Baldwin and finished fourth.

The 2013 round eleven Pirelli World Challenge Grand Touring Sport podium. In the center, is the victor, Mark Wilkins. This was Wilkins second win of the season – his first came at Detroit. To his left, is fourth place starter and the runner-up, Peter Cunningham. Completing the rostrum is Lawson Aschenbach who recorded his fourth consecutive podium finish.

The first lap of round eleven and the pole-sitter, Alex Figge leads the field through the ‘Carousel’ turn. Behind Figge, is his teammate, Randy Pobst who started second in the No. 6 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60. In third is Grand Am competitor and Cadillac guest driver, Jordan Taylor. The last car in the frame is the Audi R8 LMS of the fourth fastest qualifier, James Sofronas.

Peter Cunningham opened the season with some strong finishes but a twenty-second place at Detroit and a failure to start the Toronto race eliminated any hope of winning a title in 2013. At Mid-Ohio, Cunningham appeared to ‘get back on track.’ He began the weekend by qualifying fourth and finishing second. The following day he was gridded fifth. A pass on Jack Baldwin earned Cunningham the ‘Cadillac Move of the Race’ award and second place.

Alex Figge was victorious in the season opener at Saint Petersburg but he would not return to the podium until round eleven at Mid-Ohio. Figge had some decent qualifying efforts but they never translated into good results. In Saturday’s race a Mid-Ohio, he started on the pole set the fastest lap and claimed the victory. The following day, Figge repeated his performance – fastest qualifier, quickest race lap and his third win of the season.

Sunday’s Pirelli World Challenge Grand Touring podium. For the second time this weekend, Volvo driver, Alex Figge stood on the top step. On the right, driving the second K-PAX Racing prepared entry is runner-up, Randy Pobst. To the left, and earning the final position on the rostrum is the Global Motorsports Group Audi driver, James Sofronas.

The No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro was driven by Lawson Aschenbach. Aschenbach missed the weekend’s first two sessions but was able to qualify and finish third in round eleven. Changes were made to the Camaro before Sunday’s contest which appeared to work. He started third but got an excellent launch and led flag-to-flag earning the ‘Invisible Glass Clean Pass of the Race’ award. This was Aschenbach’s fifth win of the season.

Johnny O’Connell qualified fifth for Saturday’s race but made a great start and jumped to third. By the conclusion of the event, the driver of the No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V.R was second. On Sunday, the point’s leader was gridded third. Unfortunately for O’Connell, accident damage to his radiator forced him to retire on lap-15 – he was classified eleventh. This result allowed James Sofronas to close within 13-points of O’Connell.

James Sofronas entered Mid-Ohio with three wins and just one finish outside the top five. These results placed him second in the driver’s standings just thirty-six points behind the leader, Johnny O’Connell. In round eleven, Sofronas was gridded fourth but captured the final position on the podium. His efforts earned him the ‘Cadillac CTS-V Move of the Race’ award. The following day, he started and finished third which narrowed the points gap on O’Connell.

The second K-PAX Racing entry was driven by Randy Pobst. To date, the former series champion had six podium finishes which included a win at Detroit. In the weekend’s first race, Pobst was gridded second but during the event, he was passed by Johnny O’Connell and James Sofronas – Pobst was fourth at the checkered flag. On Sunday, he fared much better – starting and finishing second. This gave the K-PAX team their first – one-two finish - of the season.

To collect more manufacturer points, Cadillac entered Jordan Taylor. Taylor was leading the driver standings in the Rolex Sports Cars Series. At Mid-Ohio, he drove the No. 5 Cadillac CTS-V.R and qualified third for round eleven. During the contest, Taylor was passed by James Sofronas and his teammate, Johnny O’Connell. In the second race of the weekend, he was gridded fifth but was the second car to retire from the contest.

GTS championship leader, Jack Baldwin entered Mid-Ohio with a 133-point lead over Kia driver Mark Wilkins. In the weekend’s first event the driver of the No. 73 Motul/StopTech Porsche Cayman S started sixth and finished fourth. The following day, Baldwin was gridded fourth and grabbed the last spot on the podium. He was able to maintain first place in the title chase but lost ground to Wilkins – the pair were now separated by 87-markers.

Sunday’s Grand Touring Sport podium. On the top step is Lawson Aschenbach who recorded his fifth class win of the season. More importantly, Aschenbach reduced the point’s gap on Jack Baldwin and Mark Wilkins. Taking the runner-up spot for the second time during the weekend was RealTime principal, Peter Cunningham. The final position on the rostrum belonged to point’s leader, Jack Baldwin.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	1	GT	Alex Figge	Volvo S60	30
2	5	GT	Johnny O'Connell	Cadillac CTS-V.R	30
3	4	GT	James Sofronas	Audi R8 LMS	30
4	2	GT	Randy Pobst	Volvo S60	30
5	8	GT	Andy Pilgrim	Cadillac CTS-V.R	30
6	6	GT	Mike Skeen	Chevrolet Corvette	30
7	3	GT	Jordan Taylor	Cadillac CTS-V.R	30
8	11	GT	Alex Welch	Audi R8 LMS	30
9	13	GT	Fred Roberts	SRT Dodge Viper Competition Coupe	30
10	10	GT	Jeff Courtney	Audi R8 LMS	29
11	12	GT	Bill Ziegler	Audi R8 LMS	29
12	7	GT	Duncan Ende	Audi R8	29
13	9	GT	Michael Cooper	Nissan GTR	Mechanical
1	15	GTS	Mark Wilkins	Kia Optima	29
2	17	GTS	Peter Cunningham	Acura TSX	29
3	16	GTS	Lawson Aschenbach	Chevrolet Camaro	29
4	19	GTS	Jack Baldwin	Porsche Cayman S	28
5	18	GTS	Andy Lee	Chevrolet Camaro	28
6	22	GTS	Alec Udell	Ford Mustang Boss 302R	28
7	20	GTS	Nick Esayian	Acura TSX	28
8	23	GTS	Lucas Catania	Porsche Cayman S	28
9	21	GTS	Drew Regitz	Aston Martin Vantage GT4	28
10	29	GTS	Brad Adams	Ford Mustang Boss 302S	28
11	28	GTS	Mitch Landry	Ford Mustang Boss 302S	28
12	31	GTS	Erik Davis	Ford Mustang Boss 302S	28
13	26	GTS	Tony Gaples	Chevrolet Camaro	28
14	30	GTS	Roger Rodas	Ford Mustang Boss 302S	28
15	14	GTS	Nic Jonsson	Kia Optima	27
16	32	GTS	Don Istook	Audi TT RS	27
17	36	GTS	Joseph Catania	Porsche Cayman S	27
18	24	GTS	Mark Klenin	BMW M3	27
19	38	GTS	Steve Doherty	Nissan 370Z	27
20	35	GTS	Ardee Toppe	Ford Mustang Boss	25
21	27	GTS	Craig Capaldi	Ford Mustang Boss	25
22	34	GTS	Ric Bushey	Nissan 370Z	Mechanical
23	33	GTS	Brian Kleeman	Nissan 370Z	Mechanical
24	40	GTS	Lucas Ordonez	Nissan 370Z	Mechanical
25	25	GTS	Jim Taggart	Lotus Exige	Mechanical
26	37	GTS	Buz McCall	Porsche Cayman S	Mechanical
27	39	GTS	Robert Stout	Scion FR-S	Did Not Start

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	1	GT	Alex Figge	Volvo S60	30
2	2	GT	Randy Pobst	Volvo S60	30
3	3	GT	James Sofronas	Audi R8 LMS	30
4	7	GT	Andy Pilgrim	Cadillac CTS-V.R	30
5	8	GT	Mike Skeen	Chevrolet Corvette	30
6	6	GT	Duncan Ende	Audi R8	30
7	9	GT	Alex Welch	Audi R8 LMS	30
8	10	GT	Jeff Courtney	Audi R8 LMS	30
9	12	GT	Fred Roberts	SRT Dodge Viper Competition Coupe	29
10	11	GT	Bill Ziegler	Audi R8 LMS	29
11	4	GT	Johnny O'Connell	Cadillac CTS-V.R	Accident
12	5	GT	Jordan Taylor	Cadillac CTS-V.R	Mechanical
13	13	GT	David Roberts	Nissan GTR	Mechanical
1	16	GTS	Lawson Aschenbach	Chevrolet Camaro	29
2	18	GTS	Peter Cunningham	Acura TSX	28
3	17	GTS	Jack Baldwin	Porsche Cayman S	28
4	15	GTS	Mark Wilkins	Kia Optima	28
5	19	GTS	Andy Lee	Chevrolet Camaro	28
6	20	GTS	Nick Esayian	Acura TSX	28
7	21	GTS	Alec Udell	Ford Mustang Boss 302R	28
8	23	GTS	Lucas Catania	Porsche Cayman S	28
9	24	GTS	Drew Regitz	Aston Martin Vantage GT4	28
10	26	GTS	Brad Adams	Ford Mustang Boss 302S	28
11	22	GTS	Mark Klenin	BMW M3	28
12	29	GTS	Tony Gaples	Chevrolet Camaro	28
13	25	GTS	Craig Capaldi	Ford Mustang Boss	28
14	31	GTS	Mitch Landry	Ford Mustang Boss 302S	27
15	30	GTS	Roger Rodas	Ford Mustang Boss 302S	27
16	34	GTS	Joseph Catania	Porsche Cayman S	27
17	36	GTS	Steve Doherty	Nissan 370Z	27
18	35	GTS	Buz McCall	Porsche Cayman S	27
19	27	GTS	Erik Davis	Ford Mustang Boss 302S	27
20	28	GTS	Don Istook	Audi TT RS	Mechanical
21	33	GTS	Ardee Toppe	Ford Mustang Boss	18
22	32	GTS	Brian Kleeman	Nissan 370Z	Mechanical
23	40	GTS	Robert Stout	Scion FR-S	Mechanical
24	14	GTS	Nic Jonsson	Kia Optima	Mechanical
25	37	GTS	Lucas Ordonez	Nissan 370Z	Mechanical
26	38	GTS	Jim Taggart	Lotus Exige	Accident
27	39	GTS	Ric Bushey	Nissan 370Z	Did Not Start

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