2020 Circuit of the Americas - World Challenge

2020 is the thirty-first consecutive year for the World Challenge series. All Touring Car classes compete in the TC America championship. Unlike last season, the three categories compete in a single race for class honours.

As in the previous year, there were three Touring groups:

Touring Car Race (TCR) – This is an international class that was first introduced in 2014 to address the rising costs 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 the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, Honda Civic Type-R TCR, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR and Hyundai Veloster N 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 vehicles competing in this category include the Honda Civic Type R, Nissan 370Z, BMW M235iR, BMW M240iR 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 power plants, these cars produce between 160 and 185-horsepower.

Each race weekend includes two forty-minute sprint contests for the Touring Car competitors. Their title chases kick off in March at Circuit of the Americas followed a week later by an event at St. Petersburg, Florida. Rounds five and six will be conducted in May at Lime Rock Park. This will be followed by races at Virginia International Raceway. The series takes a two-month break before making a trip to the West Coast for events at Sonoma Raceway. At the end of August, the championship returns to the East for a stop at Road America. The penultimate rounds will be held mid-September at Watkins Glen International and the finale will take place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October.

The opening rounds for the 2020 TC America championship took place at the Circuit of the Americas’ twenty-turn 3.4-mile road course. Thirty-four drivers were entered in two forty-minute races.

The start of round one at Circuit of the Americas for the TCR competitors. On the pole is the No. 51 Copeland Motorsports prepared Hyundai Veloster N TCR of Nikko Reger. Sharing the front with Reger is his Copeland Motorsports’ teammate, Tyler Maxson. Behind the fastest qualifiers are the FCP Euro Volkswagen Golf GTI of last year’s champion, Michael Hurczyn and his teammate, Nate Vincent.

Last season’s TCA champion, Tyler Maxson, returned to Copeland Motorsports but moved up to the TCR division. In round one, the driver of the No. 74 Hyundai Veloster N TCR qualified behind his teammate, Nikko Reger. Maxson moved to the top sport before the end of the first lap and went flag-to-flag for the victory. On Sunday, he started on the pole and delivered another perfect performance – winning by a margin of 5.913-seconds.

2018 Global Mazda MX-5 Cup champion, Nikki Reger, joined Copeland Motorsports this season. Campaigning the No. 51 Hyundai Veloster N TCR, he captured this year’s first TCR pole position. At the start of Saturday’s contest, Reger lost the lead to his teammate, Tyler Maxson and finished second by 2.746-seconds. For race two, he was gridded second and chased Maxson to a runner-up finish.

The start of race two for the Touring Car competitors at Circuit of the Americas. Leading the field of fourteen drivers is the pole-sitter, Toby Grahovec, in the Classic BMW sponsored BMW M240iR. Immediately, behind Grahovec is another M240iR driven by Johan Schwartz. Trailing the top-two are Saturday’s winner, James Clay and the Nissan 370Z of fourth place starter, Joseph Federl.

Touring Car veteran, James Clay, earned a hard-fought victory in the weekend’s first event. Piloting the No. 36 Bimmerworld BMW M240iR, Clay qualified fourth fastest. He moved up the race order and grabbed the lead on lap-11. Despite pressure from Toby Grahovec and Johan Schwartz, Clay held on for the win. In round two, he started and finished in the third position.

The TCR podium for round two at Circuit of the Americas. In the center of the rostrum and sweeping the weekend is the 2019 TCA class champion, Tyler Maxson. On the left side is Maxson’s Copeland Motorsports’ teammate and the runner-up both days, Nikko Reger. Completing the podium is the third-place finisher, Nate Vincent, from FCP Euro.

The start of the second race for the Touring Car A drivers at Circuit of the Americas. Twelve competitors charge up the hill to corner one. The top-four from left to right are the MINI Cooper JCW of second-place starter, Tomas Mejia, Kevin Boehm driving the Boehm Racing Honda Civic Si, Saturday’s winner and the pole-sitter, Mark Pombo and the Mazda Global MX-5 Cup of Jose DaSilva.

Sports car veteran, Mark Pombo returned to the series with the MINI Cooper JCW team. In the qualifying session, Pombo recorded the fastest time in TCA. During the race, he lost positions to the Hyundais of Tyler Gonzalez and Caleb Bacon – crossing the finish line in third place. The Hyundais failed tech and Pombo was awarded the victory. One Sunday, he started first but fell to tenth in class before finishing fifth.

There were three of the new Hyundai Veloster Turbos entered in the TCA category. In the opening round, Tyler Gonzalez and Caleb Bacon finished first and second in class. Unfortunately, the Electronic Control Unit software failed the post-race technical inspection. Gonzalez and Bacon, along with Matt Forbush, were moved to last in class. On Sunday, Gonzalez finished seventh, which was the highest placed TCA Veloster.

On many occasions, Joseph Federl has shown great speed, but mechanical issues have prevented him from demonstrating his full potential. That changed in round two at Circuits of the Americas, where Federl captured his first series victory after battling for the top spot with James Clay, Johan Schwartz and Toby Grahovec. It was a great way to make up for a disappointing Saturday, he retired after nine-laps.

Sunday’s Touring Car podium for round two at Circuit of the Americas. The top step is occupied by a first-time winner, Joseph Federl, driver of the No. 23 TechSport Racing prepared Nissan 370Z. Standing on the left side of the rostrum for the second time this weekend is Classic BMWs, Toby Grahovec. Completing the podium is Saturday’s class winner, James Clay.

Tomas Mejia made a couple of TCA starts last season and delivered some impressive results. Mejia qualified fourth in class for Saturday’s contest driving the No. 61 MINI Cooper JCW. He was fourth at the checkered flag but inherited second when the first and second place finishers were disqualified. Mejia started race two in second but grabbed the top spot and his first victory when his teammate Mark Pombo had contact on lap-1.

Kevin Boehm entered this season with four Sports Car Club of America National Championships – all in Honda Civics. It should come as no surprise that Boehm entered the TCA class in a Honda Civic Si. In qualifying for the weekend’s first contest, he was fifth fastest, but after the disqualifications of the Hyundais, Boehm was classified third in class. On Sunday, he went one better and finished in the runner-up position.

Lead driver for Classic BMW and the 2016 Touring Car champion, Toby Grahovec, was competing in the No. 26 M240iR. Grahovec qualified second fastest for the opening round – 0.783-seconds behind the pole-sitter, Johan Schwartz. He fought with Schwartz and eventual winner, James Clay before finishing second. In race two, Grahovec started second had a terrific battle with Joseph Federal before earning the runner-up spot.

Canadian PJ Groenke joined the TechSport Racing team in 2016, driving a Chevrolet Sonic. The following year, Groenke won the TCB title. With the elimination of TCB, he moved up to the TCA category racing a Subaru BRZ tS. Groenke’s weekend at Circuit of the Americas did not start well but ended on a ‘high note.’ In race one, a first lap incident would cause him to pull off course. Groenke started eighth in the final event but finished third.

Last year’s TCR runner-up, Nate Vincent, returned to FCP Euro for the 2020 season. In the qualifying session for round one, he was third fastest driving the No. 72 Volkswagen Golf GTI. Vincent chased the two Copeland Hyundais but was not within striking distance and finished where he started – third. It was much the same on Sunday, he was gridded third and was in the same position at the checkered flag.

When the defending Touring Car champion, Johan Schwartz, discovered Rooster Hall Racing was not returning for the 2020 season, he had to find a new team. In late February, the 2019 BMW Sports Trophy Cup runner-up announced that he would be joining HARD Motorsport. Schwartz started the season off by qualifying on the pole and finishing third. On Sunday, he missed the podium by one position.

The Touring Car A podium for race two at Circuit of the Americas. The center of the rostrum is occupied by a first-time winner, Tomas Mejia, driver of the No. 60 MINI JCW Team. Standing on the left side is the runner-up from Boehm Racing, Kevin Boehm. The final spot on the podium belongs to the 2017 TCB champion, PJ Groenke.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	2	TCR	Tyler Maxson	Copeland Motorsports / Hyundai Veloster N TCR	17
2	1	TCR	Nikko Reger	Copeland Motorsports / Hyundai Veloster N TCR	17
3	3	TCR	Nate Vincent	FCP Euro / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	17
4	4	TCR	Michael Hurczyn	FCP Euro / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	17
5	6	TCR	Scott Smithson	DXDT Racing / Honda Civic Type-R TCR	17
6	7	TCR	CJ Moses	DXDT Racing / Honda Civic Type-R TCR	17
7	12	TC	James Clay	Bimmerworld / BMW M240iR Cup	17
8	10	TC	Toby Grahovec	Classic BMW / BMW M240iR Cup	17
9	9	TC	Johan Schwartz	Hard Motorsport / BMW M240iR Cup	17
10	13	TC	Chandler Hull	Bimmerworld / BMW M240iR Cup	17
11	11	TC	Jeff Ricca	GenRacer / Hyundai Veloster N TC	17
12	18	TC	Tom Capizzi	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	17
13	15	TC	Zane Hodgen	Lone Star Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	17
14	10	TC	Rob Slonaker	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M240iR Cup	17
15	20	TC	Bruce Robson	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M240iR Cup	17
16	16	TC	Phil Bloom	Classic BMW / BMW M240iR Cup	16
17	19	TC	Karl Hertel	Team HMA / Honda Civic Type-R	16
18	22	TC	John Rader	Classic BMW / BMW M240iR Cup	16
19	21	TC	Ruben Iglesias	VGMC Racing / Honda Civic Type-R	16
20	23	TCA	Mark Pombo	MINI JCW Team / MINI Cooper	16
21	26	TCA	Tomas Mejia	MINI JCW Team / MINI Cooper	16
22	27	TCA	Kevin Boehm	Boehm Racing / Honda Civic Si	16
23	29	TCA	Juan Diego Hernandez	VGMC Racing / Honda Civic Si	16
24	33	TCA	Jose DaSilva	Ives Motorsports / Mazda Global MX-5 Cup	16
25	31	TCA	Jonathan Newcombe	VGMC Racing / Honda Civic Si	15
26	5	TCR	Victor Gonzalez Jr	VGMC Racing / Honda Civic Type-R	14
NC	14	TC	Joseph Federl	TechSport Racing / Nissan 370Z	9
NC	30	TCA	PJ Groenke	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	1
NC	34	TCA	Damon Surzyshyn	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	1
NC	25	TCA	Joey Essma	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	1
NC	8	TCR	Roy Block	KMW Motorsports / Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	0
NC	28	TCA	Caleb Bacon	CB Motorsports / Hyundai Veloster Turbo	16(*)
NC	32	TCA	Matt Forbush	CB Motorsports / Hyundai Veloster Turbo	16(*)
NC	24	TCA	Tyler Gonzalez	Copeland Motorsports / Hyundai Veloster Turbo	16(*)

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	1	TCR	Tyler Maxson	Copeland Motorsports / Hyundai Veloster N TCR	18
2	2	TCR	Nikko Reger	Copeland Motorsports / Hyundai Veloster N TCR	18
3	3	TCR	Nate Vincent	FCP Euro / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	18
4	4	TCR	Michael Hurczyn	FCP Euro / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	18
5	5	TCR	Victor Gonzalez Jr	VGMC Racing / Honda Civic Type-R	18
6	8	TCR	Roy Block	KMW Motorsports / Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	18
7	6	TCR	Scott Smithson	DXDT Racing / Honda Civic Type-R TCR	18
8	7	TCR	CJ Moses	DXDT Racing / Honda Civic Type-R TCR	18
9	12	TC	Joseph Federl	TechSport Racing / Nissan 370Z	17
10	9	TC	Toby Grahovec	Classic BMW / BMW M240iR Cup	17
11	11	TC	James Clay	Bimmerworld / BMW M240iR Cup	17
12	10	TC	Johan Schwartz	Hard Motorsport / BMW M240iR Cup	17
13	15	TC	Chandler Hull	Bimmerworld / BMW M240iR Cup	17
14	14	TC	Tom Capizzi	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	17
15	16	TC	Phil Bloom	Classic BMW / BMW M240iR Cup	17
16	17	TC	Zane Hodgen	Lone Star Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	17
17	18	TC	Rob Slonaker	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M240iR Cup	17
18	20	TC	Bruce Robson	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M240iR Cup	17
19	21	TC	John Rader	Classic BMW / BMW M240iR Cup	17
20	22	TC	Ruben Iglesias	VGMC Racing / Honda Civic Type-R	17
21	24	TCA	Tomas Mejia	MINI JCW Team / MINI Cooper	17
22	25	TCA	Kevin Boehm	Boehm Racing / Honda Civic Si	17
23	30	TCA	PJ Groenke	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	17
24	29	TCA	Joey Essma	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	16
25	23	TCA	Mark Pombo	MINI JCW Team / MINI Cooper	16
26	36	TCA	Juan Diego Hernandez	VGMC Racing / Honda Civic Si	16
27	33	TCA	Tyler Gonzalez	Copeland Motorsports / Hyundai Veloster Turbo	16
28	32	TCA	Caleb Bacon	CB Motorsports / Hyundai Veloster Turbo	16
29	27	TCA	Jose DaSilva	Ives Motorsports / Mazda Global MX-5 Cup	16
30	34	TCA	Matt Forbush	CB Motorsports / Hyundai Veloster Turbo	16
31	19	TC	Karl Hertel	Team HMA / Honda Civic Type-R	15
32	28	TCA	Jonathan Newcombe	VGMC Racing / Honda Civic Si	13
NC	31	TCA	Damon Surzyshyn	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	9
NC	13	TC	Jeff Ricca	GenRacer / Hyundai Veloster N TC	5

(*) - Penalty - Moved to last position in class - non-compliance.

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