2013 Sonoma - World Challenge Touring Car

In 2013, the Pirelli 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 at Long Beach, Circuit of the Americas, Detroit, Lime Rock, Toronto, Mid-Ohio and Sonoma Raceway.

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

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 category 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 the Grand-Am Cup and the Sports Car Club of America’s Improved Touring classes. The wide range of vehicles homologated for this category means 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 series for the Touring Car and Touring Car B competitors were held at Sonoma Raceway. Two twenty-five-minute races were conducted on the twelve-turn road course.

The first lap of round eleven for the Touring Car category at Sonoma Raceway. Leading the field of ten competitors into corner two is the pole-sitter, Ryan Winchester, in the No. 72 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si. Behind Winchester are his teammates. The second fastest qualifier, Brett Sandberg, in the No. 70 Civic and the No. 71 Honda of the third-place starter, Remo Ruscitti.

The Touring Car points leader, Ryan Winchester, entered round eleven at Sonoma Raceway with two victories at Circuit of the Americas and a win a Lime Rock Park. Winchester’s record also included finishing on the podium in all but one event. He would fend off challenges from his teammate, Brett Sandberg, to claim two pole positions and a pair of first-place finishes in races eleven and twelve.

Ernie Francis, Jr was the Touring Car B championship leader. Despite failing to start round five at Lime Rock Park, Francis, Jr had five victories. Like Winchester, he left Sonoma Raceway with two more first-place finishes. However, the first win of the weekend was accomplished with an aggressive last-lap pass. Francis, Jr’s victory in round twelve was much more comfortable as he went unchallenged and led flag-to-flag.

The second Compass360 Racing entry was the No. 70 Honda Civic Si driven by Brett Sandberg. On the merit of a win at Circuit of the Americas and two victories at Lime Rock Park, Sandberg was second in the Touring Car title chase. He started rounds eleven and twelve at Sonoma Raceway beside his teammate and the points leader, Ryan Winchester. In both contests, Sandberg followed Winchester to the checkered flag.

Entering rounds eleven and twelve at Sonoma Raceway, Robbie Davis was second in the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car B standings. Davis, driving the No. 37 MINI USA sponsored Mini Cooper, qualified on the pole for the weekend’s first race. He led until the last-lap until Ernie Francis, Jr forced his way by and dropped him to second place. In the final contest, Davis could only manage a fourth-place finish.

Round eleven or twelve at Sonoma Raceway, it doesn’t matter, the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car podium looked identical for both contests. In the center is the winner of both races and points leader, Ryan Winchester. On the right side of the rostrum is the second member of the Compass360 Racing team and the runner-up, Brett Sandberg. Occupying the final position on the podium is Compass360’s Remo Ruscitti.

The first lap of round twelve for the 2013 World Challenge Touring Car B category. Leading the field through corner two is the No. 98 Breathless Performance Mazda 2 of the pole-sitter, Ernie Francis, Jr. Directly behind Francis, Jr is the fourth place starter, Joel Lipperini, driving the No. 81 RaceLabz Honda Fit. On the outside of the turn is the No. 24 Mini Cooper of Tyler Palmer, who was gridded in third-place.

Sharing the No. 24 Mini Cooper was Tyler Palmer and the car owner, Scott Kuhne. Kuhne competed in the first three rounds and Palmer joined the series at Lime Rock Park, where he landed on the podium. In round eleven at Sonoma, Palmer qualified and finished third. His drive in race two earned him a runner-up result. For his effort, Palmer was awarded the Optima Best Standing Start and Cadillac Move of the Race.

The final member of the Compass360 team competing at Sonoma Raceway was Canadian Remo Ruscitti. Ruscitti was third fastest in the qualifying session for race one. He moved into second during the contest but would finish third after he was passed on lap-8 by his teammate, Brett Sandberg. In the finale, Ruscitti started third, but dropped to fourth but passed Fred Emich on the last lap for another podium result.

Touring Car B championship contender, Joel Lipperini, was a regular visitor to the podium since his first win in round six at Lime Rock Park. Driving the No. 81 SpeedLabz Honda Fit, Lipperini qualified fifth for the weekend’s first event at Sonoma Raceway and inherited fourth when PJ Groenke was disqualified. In round twelve, he started fourth and held on to finish third, despite a challenge from Robbie Davis.

The round eleven Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car B podium at Sonoma Raceway. In the center and claiming the victory after a wild last-lap pass is the class points leader, Ernie Francis, Jr. On the right side of the rostrum is the other title contender and runner-up, Robbie Davis. Occupying the last position on the podium is the third-place finisher, Tyler Palmer.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	1	TC	Ryan Winchester	Honda Civic Si	12
2	2	TC	Brett Sandberg	Honda Civic Si	12
3	3	TC	Remo Ruscitti	Honda Civic Si	12
4	6	TC	Fred Emich	Volkswagen Jetta GLI	12
5	7	TC	Sarah Cattaneo	Honda Civic Si	12
6	4	TC	Jon Miller	Honda Civic Si	12
7	8	TC	Clark Toppe	Kia Forte Koup	12
8	10	TC	Tom Lepper	Honda Civic Si	11
9	5	TC	Michael Cooper	Mazda 3	9
10	9	TC	Brad Adams	Mazda MX-5	9
11	11	TC	Ken Dobson	Fiat Abarth	0
1	13	TCB	Ernie Francis Jr.	Mazda 2	12
2	12	TCB	Robbie Davis	Mini Cooper	12
3	14	TCB	Tyler Palmer	Mini Cooper	12
4	16	TCB	Joel Lipperini	Honda Fit	12
5	21	TCB	Ernie Francis	Mazda 2	12
6	20	TCB	David Alejandro	Mazda 2	12
7	19	TCB	Johan Schwartz	Honda Fit	11
8	17	TCB	Kyle Keenan	Kia Rio	11
9	24	TCB	Sage Marie	Honda Fit	11
10	22	TCB	Harry Cheung	Honda Fit	11
11	23	TCB	Chris Capaldi	Ford Fiesta	11
12	26	TCB	Andrei Kisel	Mini Cooper	11
13	28	TCB	Jack Murray	Fiat 500	11
14	29	TCB	Fernando Seferlis	Honda Fit	11
15	30	TCB	Jim Cleveland	Fiat 500	11
16	25	TCB	Michael Ashby	Honda Fit	11
17	27	TCB	Brian Fowler	Ford Fiesta	0
DSQ	18	TCB	Shea Holbrook	Honda Fit	12
DSQ	15	TCB	PJ Groenke	Honda Fit	12

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	1	TC	Ryan Winchester	Honda Civic Si	14
2	2	TC	Brett Sandberg	Honda Civic Si	14
3	3	TC	Remo Ruscitti	Honda Civic Si	14
4	4	TC	Fred Emich	Volkswagen Jetta GLI	14
5	5	TC	Sarah Cattaneo	Honda Civic Si	14
6	6	TC	Jon Miller	Honda Civic Si	14
7	7	TC	Clark Toppe	Kia Forte Koup	14
8	8	TC	Tom Lepper	Honda Civic Si	12
9	9	TC	Michael Cooper	Mazda 3	0
10	10	TC	Brad Adams	Mazda MX-5	0
11	11	TC	Ken Dobson	Fiat Abarth	0
1	12	TCB	Ernie Francis Jr.	Mazda 2	13
2	14	TCB	Tyler Palmer	Mini Cooper	13
3	15	TCB	Joel Lipperini	Honda Fit	13
4	13	TCB	Robbie Davis	Mini Cooper	13
5	18	TCB	Ernie Francis	Mazda 2	13
6	19	TCB	David Alejandro	Mazda 2	13
7	23	TCB	Harry Cheung	Honda Fit	13
8	22	TCB	Sage Marie	Honda Fit	13
9	24	TCB	Chris Capaldi	Ford Fiesta	13
10	20	TCB	Chase Pelletier	Honda Fit	13
11	25	TCB	Andrei Kisel	Mini Cooper	13
12	21	TCB	Kyle Keenan	Kia Rio	13
13	27	TCB	Fernando Seferlis	Honda Fit	12
14	26	TCB	Jack Murray	Fiat 500	12
15	29	TCB	John McCarthy	Honda Fit	12
16	28	TCB	Jim Cleveland	Fiat 500	11
DSQ	16	TCB	Shea Holbrook	Honda Fit	13
DSQ	17	TCB	PJ Groenke	Honda Fit	13
DNS	30	TCB	Brian Fowler	Ford Fiesta	0

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