2018 Virginia International Raceway - World Challenge

The 2018 Pirelli World Challenge season is the twenty-ninth consecutive year for the championship. There are six race weekends for the Touring Car categories. The title chase kicks-off in March at Circuit of the Americas. This event is followed by races at Virginia International Raceway, Lime Rock Park and the Portland International Raceway. The penultimate rounds are held at the Utah Motorsports Campus with the finale taking place at Watkins Glen International on the Labour Day weekend.

As in the previous year, there were three Touring groups; however, there were some significant changes. With dwindling entries in the Touring Car B class, series organizers decided it would not be included in the 2018 championship and was replaced by a new category, TCR.

Touring Car (TC) – This class is for smaller sedans and sports cars which are allowed some performance modifications. These front or rear-wheel-drive vehicles may be powered by turbocharged or normally aspirated engines. Examples of cars competing in this category include: Honda Civic Type R, Nissan 370Z, BMW235iR and Genesis Coupe.
Touring Car A (TCA) – Some 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. Using turbocharged or normally aspirated powerplants, these cars produce between 160 and 185-horsepower.
Touring Car Race (TCR) – This is an international class which was first introduced in 2014 to address the expense of competing in the World Touring Car Championship. These production-based cars are powered by 2.0-liter turbocharged engines which produce approximately 300-horsepower. Examples of vehicles competing in this category include: Audi RS 3 LMS, Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, Honda Civic Type-R TCR, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR and Hyundai I30 N TCR.

Rounds three and four of the 2018 Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car A and TCR season took place during the Grand Prix of Virginia presented by Audi Sport weekend. Thirty-eight teams competed in the two forty-minute races around Virginia International Raceway’s seventeen-turn 3.270-mile road course.

The pole-sitter for round three at Virginia International Raceway, Ryan Eversley leads the field of twenty-seven TCR and TCA competitors through ‘Nascar Bend’ on the first lap. Tucked in behind Eversley is the Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai I30 N TCR driven by third-place starter, Mark Wilkins. Wilkins is followed by fellow Canadian Jerimy Daniel in The Racing Company Audi Sport RS3 LMS.

During Saturday morning’s qualifying session RealTime Racing’s Ryan Eversley went off course and damaged the No. 43 Honda Civic Type-R TCR. Despite the accident, Eversley carried on and won the pole position. At the start of round three, he jumped into the lead and maintained the position to win by a margin of 17.226-seconds. On Sunday, Eversley slid off the track on the opening lap but regrouped and finished, second.

Tom O’Gorman won the Pirelli World Challenge TCB title in 2016. O’Gorman joined Realtime Racing in 2018 driving a TCA prepared Honda Civic Si. In the weekend’s first contest, he qualified on the pole and led flag-to-flag to win by a 0.832-second margin. On Sunday, O’Gorman started second but could not maintain the pace of the class leaders, Eric Powell and Travis Washay, and finished third in class.

Mark Wilkins entered the Virginia International Raceway event with a two-point lead in the TCR standings – second was his Bryan Herta Autosport teammate, Michael Lewis. Wilkins started race three in third and chased the leader, Ryan Eversley until lap-seventeen when the Hyundai stopped on course. His luck turned around on Sunday. After Lewis retired, Wilkins moved into first and won his second event of 2018.

Eric Powell entered Virginia International Raceway leading the TCA title chase by a single point. In Saturday’s contest, Powell finished second to his championship rival, Tom O’Gorman. The following day the driver of the No. 95 TechSport Racing prepared Subaru BRZ tS won the class while O’Gorman was a distant third.

Another year and another class and car for Travis Washay. Washay started the 2017 season racing a TCB MINI Cooper S and ended the year driving an Audi RS 3 LMS Clubsport. In 2018, he is competing in the TCA category using a Volkswagen Golf GTI. At rounds one and two in Austin, Texas the Volkswagen was not very competitive. Improvements to the car since that weekend resulted in a fifth and second place finish.

The round three TCA pole-sitter, Tom O’Gorman leads the rest of the class through ‘Nascar Bend’ on the first lap. Immediately behind O’Gorman is the Subaru BRZ tS of the second-fastest qualifier and point’s leader, Eric Powell. Beside Powell is the third-place starter, Kenny Murillo driving the Murillo Racing Mazda Global MX-5 Cup.

Jerimy Daniel entered the 2018 Pirelli World Challenge championship after competing in the Canadian Touring Car and Porsche GT3 Cup series. Driving an Audi Sport RS3 LMS prepared by The Racing Company, he was proving to be a quick study. After a pair of top-ten finishes at Circuit of the Americas, Daniel’s grabbed two-thirds in the TCR category at Virginia International Raceway.

Global MX-5 Cup competitor, Bryan Ortiz joined the Pirelli World Challenge championship at Circuit of the Americas but could not match the success he enjoyed in the Battery Tender Series. In rounds one and two the best Ortiz could manage was a fourth in TCA. At Virginia International Raceway his performance improved. The driver of the No. 4 Mazda Global MX-5 Cup scored third and fourth place finishes.

The first lap of round four for the TCA and TCR class. Leading the way through Virginia International Raceway’s ‘Snake’ is the pole-sitter, Michael Lewis driving a Hyundai I30 N TCR. Lewis has already opened a comfortable gap on his Bryan Herta Autosport teammate, Mark Wilkins. Behind Wilkins is the Audi Sport RS3 LMS of Jerimy Daniel.

At Circuit of the Americas, it appeared that the Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundais would dominate the TCR season. Michael Lewis, driving the No. 99 Hyundai and his teammate, Mark Wilkins captured a pair of one-two finishes during the first weekend. Similar results were expected at Virginia International Racing, however, but cars suffered mechanical issues. Lewis finished second in race three but was a DNF on Sunday.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	1	TCR	Ryan Eversley	RealTime Racing / Honda Civic Type-R TCR	21
2	14	TCR	Michael Lewis	Bryan Herta Autosport / Hyundai I30 N TCR	21
3	4	TCR	Jerimy Daniel	The Racing Company / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	21
4	6	TCR	Mason Filippi	TFB / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	21
5	11	TCR	Anthony Geraci	Heinlein Racing Development / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	21
6	2	TCR	JT Coupal	Compass Racing / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	21
7	5	TCR	Martin Jensen	Alfatcr.USA / Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	21
8	10	TCR	Nate Vincent	FCP Euro by HRD / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	21
9	8	TCR	Matt Fassnacht	Murillo Racing / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	21
10	13	TCR	Dwight Merriman	Heinlein Racing Development / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	21
11	7	TCR	Jarett Andretti	Copeland Motorsports / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	20
12	12	TCR	Adam Merzon	RealTime Racing / Honda Civic Type-R TCR	20
13	3	TCR	Mark Wilkins	Bryan Herta Autosport / Hyundai I30 N TCR	17
NC	9	TCR	Michael Hurczyn	FCP Euro by HRD / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	9
14	15	TCA	Tom O'Gorman	RealTime Racing / Honda Civic Si	19
15	16	TCA	Eric Powell	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	19
16	18	TCA	Bryan Ortiz	Copeland Motorsports / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	19
17	22	TCA	Spencer Patterson	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	19
18	19	TCA	Travis Washay	Indian Summer Racing / Volkswagen Golf GTI	19
19	26	TCA	Michel Sallenbach	Team Octane / MINI Cooper JCW	19
20	28	TCA	Nelson Chan	Team Octane / MINI Cooper JCW	19
21	21	TCA	P.J. Groenke	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	19
22	27	TCA	Moisey Uretsky	Murillo Racing / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	19
23	24	TCA	Skip Woody	Jim Gorman Motorsports / Honda Civic Si	18
24	23	TCA	Breton Williams	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	18
25	17	TCA	Kenny Murillo	Murillo Racing / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	10
NC	20	TCA	Jeff Sexton	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	7
NC	25	TCA	Jenny Gannett	Ian Lacy Racing / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	7

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	2	TCR	Mark Wilkins	Bryan Herta Autosport / Hyundai I30 N TCR	21
2	3	TCR	Ryan Eversley	RealTime Racing / Honda Civic Type-R TCR	21
3	4	TCR	Jerimy Daniel	The Racing Company / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	21
4	9	TCR	JT Coupal	Compass Racing / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	21
5	5	TCR	Anthony Geraci	Heinlein Racing Development / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	21
6	11	TCR	Martin Jensen	Alfatcr.USA / Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	21
7	8	TCR	Michael Hurczyn	FCP Euro by HRD / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	21
8	7	TCR	Matt Fassnacht	Murillo Racing / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	21
9	12	TCR	Jarett Andretti	Copeland Motorsports / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	21
10	13	TCR	Dwight Merriman	Heinlein Racing Development / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	21
11	14	TCR	Adam Merzon	RealTime Racing / Honda Civic Type-R TCR	20
12	10	TCR	Nate Vincent	FCP Euro by HRD / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	20
13	6	TCR	Mason Filippi	TFB / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	17
NC	1	TCR	Michael Lewis	Bryan Herta Autosport / Hyundai I30 N TCR	8
14	17	TCA	Eric Powell	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	20
15	22	TCA	Travis Washay	Indian Summer Racing / Volkswagen Golf GTI	20
16	16	TCA	Tom O'Gorman	RealTime Racing / Honda Civic Si	19
17	18	TCA	Bryan Ortiz	Copeland Motorsports / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	19
18	19	TCA	Spencer Patterson	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	19
19	15	TCA	Kenny Murillo	Murillo Racing / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	19
20	20	TCA	Michel Sallenbach	Team Octane / MINI Cooper JCW	19
21	25	TCA	Moisey Uretsky	Murillo Racing / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	19
22	21	TCA	Nelson Chan	Team Octane / MINI Cooper JCW	19
23	27	TCA	Skip Woody	Jim Gorman Motorsports / Honda Civic Si	19
24	26	TCA	Breton Williams	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	19
25	24	TCA	Jeff Sexton	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	19
26	28	TCA	Jenny Gannett	Ian Lacy Racing / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	18
27	23	TCA	P.J. Groenke	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	14

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