2015 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park - World Challenge

2015 was the twenty-sixth consecutive year for the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) Pirelli World Challenge series. There were twelve race weekends – at some of these events, the series shared the venue with IndyCar and the United Sportscar Championship. On the other weekends, the World Challenge championship served as the feature event.

For the first time, the season opened in early March at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). In support of the IndyCar series, the second event of the season was at Saint Petersburg - in previous years, St. Pete marked the start of the championship. Following Saint Petersburg were races at Long Beach, Barber Motorsports Park, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Detroit, Road America, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Miller Motorsport Park, Sonoma Raceway and the season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

In 2015, the series introduced two new classes – Grand Touring Sportsman (GTA) and GT Cup (GTC). Drivers and teams were now vying for titles in seven categories.

Grand Touring (GT) – This is the series quickest class and is predominantly cars that would compete in the FIA GT3 category. Examples of vehicles racing in this group include: Acura TLX-GT, Aston Martin Vantage V12, Porsche 911 GT3 R, Nissan GT-R GT3, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, McLaren 650S GT3, Cadillac ATS-V.R GT3, Bentley Continental GT3, BMW Z4 GT3, Audi R8 LMS, Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FL2 and Ferrari 458 Italia GT3.
Grand Touring Sportsman (GTA) – This class includes the same vehicles as GT. However, the drivers are not considered professionals. Competitors in this category are evaluated after each event and based on their performance may be elevated to the GT class.
GT Cup (GTC) – This is a spec class for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars.
Grand Touring Sport (GTS) – The cars in this group are similar to the GT vehicles but have additional preparation restrictions. This class is mainly comprised of Ford (Mustang Boss 302), Chevrolet (Camaro Z28) and Porsche (Cayman) products. In 2015, the GTS category witnessed an influx of new manufacturers: Maserati Gran Turismo, Lotus Evora GT4 and Aston Martin Vantage GT4.
Touring Car (TC) – This class is for smaller sedans and sports cars which are allowed some performance modifications. Examples of vehicles competing in this group include: Honda Accord, Mazda MX-5, Volkswagen Golf, Nissan Altima, Volkswagen Jetta, Nissan 370Z and Porsche Boxster.
Touring Car A (TCA) – Many of the cars competing in this class are the same as those found in Touring Car. What sets them apart is the minimum amount of modifications that can be made – most changes are to improve the safety of the vehicles.
Touring Car B (TCB) - The slowest of all the World Challenge categories is based on the Sports Car Club of America’s B-Spec class. Examples of vehicles competing in TCB include: Chevrolet Sonic, Honda Fit, Kia Rio, Mazda 2 and Mini Cooper.

Rounds seven and eight of the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge Grand Touring Sport series were held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The event was titled the Remo Ferri Group Canadian Grand Prix presented by Replay XD. Drivers in the Grand Touring Sport category would compete in two fifty-minute races around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course.

The Grand Touring Sport division heads into corner one on Sunday morning for round eight of the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge series. Leading the field and having the best start of his career is Jack Baldwin in the No. 73 RESET-MD Porsche Cayman. Baldwin moved from third on the grid to take first place. Beside Baldwin is the Ford Mustang Boss 302 of Kurt Rezzetano, who started on the outside of the front row.

The No. 37 Calvert Dynamics / Phoenix Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302 of Kurt Rezzetano qualified second for the first race of the weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. On the opening lap, Rezzetano passed the pole-sitter, Max Riddle and led flag-to-flag for his first series victory. The following day, he started second and chased the eventual winner, Jack Baldwin, to a runner-up finish.

Max Riddle recorded the fastest time in the qualifying session for round seven. Unfortunately, the driver of the No. 07 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 only led the field to turn seven before losing the top spot to Kurt Rezzetano. He would pursue Rezzetano to a runner-up finish. On Sunday, Riddle was gridded on the pole again, but he struggled with the start and dropped to seventh on lap-1. He would never be in contention.

Series veteran, Lou Gigliotti, drove the No. 28 Aston Martin GT4. Gigliotti qualified fourteenth fastest in a field of seventeen entrants at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Undeterred, he gained three positions on the opening lap and earned the Best Start Award and claimed the Cadillac Move of the Race for his pass on Mark Wilkins. Gigliotti had moved into fifth-place when crashed. He was unable to participate in Sunday’s event.

Try as he might, Kurt Rezzetano could not find a way by the round eight leader, Jack Baldwin in the No. 73 Porsche Cayman. Baldwin was gridded third for Sunday’s contest, but an excellent start vaulted him into the top sport before corner one. He held on for his first victory of the 2015 season. The previous day, the former Trans-Am series champion captured the podium’s final position after qualifying third.

Michael Cooper won round two at Circuit of the Americas, but since then, the 2012 Touring Car series champion has not finished on the podium. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Cooper was gridded fourth in the No. 10 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro. On lap-23, he retired with a mechanical issue. In the finale, Cooper redeemed himself. After starting sixth, he was in third-place at the checker.

After struggling to break into the top-ten, Dan Martinson delivered his best result to date at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The driver of the No. 33 Gear Tie sponsored Ford Mustang Boss 302 qualified twelfth fastest for race one but crashed on the opening lap. Martinson started at the rear on Sunday and battled his way to a sixth-place finish. His effort earned him the Optima Best Standing Start and VP Hard Charger awards.

The 2015 round eight Pirelli World Challenge Grand Touring Sport podium at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. In the center is the winner, Jack Baldwin, who went flag-to-flag in the RESET-MD sponsored Porsche Cayman. Standing on the left side of the rostrum is the runner-up and points leader, Kurt Rezzetano. Completing the podium is the third-place finisher, Michael Cooper, from the Blackdog Speed Shop.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	2	GTS	Kurt Rezzetano	Calvert Dynamics/Phoenix Perf Ford Mustang Boss 302	29
2	1	GTS	Max Riddle	Orion/Royal Purple Aston Martin Vantage GT4	29
3	3	GTS	Jack Baldwin	RESET-MD Porsche Cayman	29
4	5	GTS	Andrew Aquilante	Calvert Dynamics/PhoenixPerf Ford Mustang Boss 302	29
5	6	GTS	Mark Wilkins	PutOnTheBrakes.Org KIA Optima	29
6	10	GTS	Jack Roush Jr	ROUSH Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302	29
7	11	GTS	Ben Clucas	DonorsChoose.org Kia Optima	29
8	7	GTS	Andy Lee	Chevrolet Camaro Z28	29
9	9	GTS	Nick Esayian	TravelCln/Derma 3/SpecOpsWarr Ford Mustang Boss 302	29
10	13	GTS	Tony Gaples	Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro Z28	29
11	8	GTS	Dean Martin	Picture Cars East Ford Mustang Boss 302	28
12	17	GTS	Buz McCall	RESET-MD Porsche Cayman	28
13	14	GTS	Lou Gigliotti	LG Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4	26
14	4	GTS	Michael Cooper	Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Z28	23
15	16	GTS	Mark Klenin	SchompAuto/InvisGlass/PremCpr Aston Martin Vantage GT4	14
16	15	GTS	Preston Calvert	Calvert Dynamics/PhoenixPerf Ford Mustang Boss 302	4
17	12	GTS	Dan Martinson	Gear Tie/Nite Ize Ford Mustang Boss 302	1

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	3	GTS	Jack Baldwin	RESET-MD Porsche Cayman	35
2	2	GTS	Kurt Rezzetano	Calvert Dynamics/Phoenix Perf Ford Mustang Boss 302	35
3	6	GTS	Michael Cooper	Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Z28	35
4	4	GTS	Dean Martin	Picture Cars East Ford Mustang Boss 302	35
5	8	GTS	Andrew Aquilante	Calvert Dynamics/PhoenixPerf Ford Mustang Boss 302	35
6	16	GTS	Dan Martinson	Gear Tie/Nite Ize Ford Mustang Boss 302	35
7	9	GTS	Jack Roush Jr	ROUSH Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302	35
8	10	GTS	Ben Clucas	DonorsChoose.org Kia Optima	35
9	1	GTS	Max Riddle	Orion/Royal Purple Aston Martin Vantage GT4	35
10	5	GTS	Mark Wilkins	PutOnTheBrakes.Org KIA Optima	35
11	11	GTS	Nick Esayian	TravelCln/Derma 3/SpecOpsWarr Ford Mustang Boss 302	35
12	7	GTS	Andy Lee	Chevrolet Camaro Z28	35
13	12	GTS	Tony Gaples	Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro Z28	35
14	13	GTS	Preston Calvert	Calvert Dynamics/PhoenixPerf Ford Mustang Boss 302	35
15	14	GTS	Mark Klenin	SchompAuto/InvisGlass/PremCpr Aston Martin Vantage GT4	35
16	15	GTS	Buz McCall	RESET-MD Porsche Cayman	34

Copyright Notice:

All content (photographs and text) appearing on this website are the exclusive property of © www.zoompics.com and are protected under International copyright laws. The subject matter on this website may not be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated.