2015 Circuit of the Americas - 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). The second event of the season, in support of the IndyCar series, 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 one and two of the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge series was held at Circuit of the Americas. Titled the 2015 Nissan Grand Prix of Texas brought to you by Motul, drivers in the Grand Touring category would compete in two fifty-minute races around the twenty-turn 3.4-mile road course.

The Grand Touring field exits the first corner for round one of the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge Championship. The pole-sitter, Nick Catsburg in the No. 25 Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FL2 is about to lose the lead to the fourth fastest qualifier, Ryan Dalziel in the No. 31 Effort Racing Porsche 911 GT3R. Just behind this pair are former Corvette teammates, Olivier Beretta (Ferrari) and Johnny O’Connell (Cadillac).

Sports car veteran, Olivier Beretta spent eight seasons with the factory Corvette team. In 2015, Beretta joined Pirelli World Challenge Series driving a Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia for Remo Ferri Motorsports. He opened the season by qualifying third for race one. A penalty for the leader, Nick Catsburg elevated Beretta to second and then a pass on Ryan Dalziel gave him first place and the win. On Sunday, Beretta finished eighth.

One of the many drivers making their series debut at the Circuit of the Americas was McLaren factory driver, Kevin Estre. In Saturday’s event, Estre started second in the K-Pax Racing McLaren 650S GT3 but was passed at the start and never recovered – he finished fourth. Rain the following day worked to his advantage. Estre moved from fourth to first on lap-1 and pulled away from the field to score the victory.

Unknown to North American sports car racing fans, Nick Catsburg was very successful in the European Blancpain Endurance series. In round one, Catsburg put the No. 25 Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FL2 on the pole but a drive-through penalty for a blend line violation dropped him from contention – he finished tenth. Catsburg started from the pole the following day and captured the final position on the podium.

Michael Lewis entered the Pirelli World Challenge series with an impressive racing resume. Lewis’ most recent success was a third place in the final standings and the rookie title in the 2014 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Championship. Entered in the Grand Touring A (GTA) category for sportsmen, he qualified twelfth overall and first in his category. Lewis won the class and finished fifth overall. On Sunday, he scored another GTA victory.

Effort Racing entered two Porsche 911 GTRs. The No. 31 Porsche was driven by Ryan Dalziel. Dalziel started the season by qualifying fourth but jumped into an early lead. With two laps remaining in the race, he lost first place to Olivier Beretta and settled for the runner-up position. Dalziel was gridded third for Sunday’s contest but passed Johnny O’Connell and Nick Catsburg to earn another second-place finish.

In 2015, Colin Thompson moved from the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup series to the Pirelli World Challenge Championship. Entered in the GT Cup category, Thompson swept the weekend’s results sheets. In addition to starting on the class pole and leading flag-to-flag, Thompson won the VP Racing Fuels Hard Charger of the Race and MOMO Turning Point of the GT Cup Race Awards.

Cadillac entered two cars prepared to GT3 specifications. The No. 3 Cadillac ATS-VR GT3 was driven by three-time World Challenge GT Champion, Johnny O’Connell. In round one, O’Connell went from eighth to fourth at the start and inherited third place when the pole-sitter, Nick Catsburg was penalized. On Sunday, he started on the outside of the front row but dropped down the race order and finished seventh.

Martin Fuentes from Mexico City drove one of the five beautiful Ferrari 458 Italias entered in the series first weekend of racing. A Grand Touring A driver, Fuentes was gridded twentieth for the start of round one. At the conclusion of the contest, he was eleventh overall and third in class. On a rainy Sunday, Fuentes qualified fourteenth and at the checkered flag was fourth in his group and fifteenth overall.

The No. 7 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 was driven by Christina Nielsen. Nielsen, the daughter of racing driver, Lars-Erik Nielsen made her series debut at Sonoma in 2014. Competing in the Grand Touring A category, she qualified sixth in class but fell off the pace – completing only sixteen laps and finishing sixteenth. It appeared that the wet conditions on Sunday agreed with Nielsen as she earned the final spot on the podium.

Grand Touring A competitor, Henrique Cisneros entered the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge Championship with four years of IMSA racing experience. Driving the MOMO-sponsored Ferrari 458 Italia, Cisneros was gridded fourteenth overall and second in class – he finished fourth in GTA. Cisneros was another driver that excelled in the rain. During Sunday’s race, he advanced six positions and captured the runner-up spot in GTA.

Mexican rookie, Ricardo Perez made an impressive debut. Perez competing in the Grand Touring A category drove the No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia and qualified second in class and fifteenth overall for race one. At the checker, he was seventh overall and captured the runner-up spot in his category. On Sunday under more challenging conditions, Perez started seventh overall and finished fifth in class.

FINISH	CLASS	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	1	GT	Olivier Beretta	FerrariOntario/Toronto/Alberta/Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia	23
2	2	GT	Ryan Dalziel	EFFORT Racing/World PMO/Porsche 911 GT3R	23
3	3	GT	Johnny OConnell	Cadillac Racing/Cadillac ATS-VR GT3	23
4	4	GT	Kevin Estre	K-PAX/McLaren 650S GT3	23
5	1	GTA	Michael Lewis	EFFORT Racing/Curb-Agajanian/Porsche 911 GT3R	23
6	5	GT	JD Davison	AE/ReplayXD/Nissan Nismo/Nissan GT-R GT3	23
7	2	GTA	Ricardo Perez	Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia	23
8	6	GT	Frank Montecalvo	Bayshore Racing/Mercedes Benz AMG SLS GT3	23
9	7	GT	Madison Snow	Audi Sport Racing/Audi R8 LMS Ultra	23
10	8	GT	Nick Catsburg	Blancpain/Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FL2	23
11	3	GTA	Martin Fuentes	Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia	23
12	4	GTA	Henrique Cisneros	MOMO/Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia	23
13	9	GT	James Sofronas	GMG Racing/Spyder/Mobil 1/Audi R8 LMS Ultra	23
14	5	GTA	Bryan Heitkotter	Nissan GT Academy GT-R/Nissan GT-R GT3	23
15	10	GT	Mike Hedlund	Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia	23
16	11	GT	Mike Skeen	DeVilbiss/Hawk Performance/Audi R8 LMS Ultra	23
17	12	GT	Andy Pilgrim	Cadillac Racing/Cadillac ATS-VR GT3	23
18	13	GT	Chris Dyson	Bentley/Breitling/Mobil 1/Bentley Continental GT3	23
19	14	GT	Robert Thorne	K-PAX/McLaren 650S GT3	23
20	6	GTA	Eric Lux	Rembrandt Charms/Monticello MC/Mercedes Benz AMG SLS GT3	23
21	7	GTA	Dan Knox	ACS MFG/Lone Star Racing/Dodge Viper GT3-R	23
22	8	GTA	Timothy Pappas	Mercedes Benz AMG SLS GT3	23
23	9	GTA	Mark McKenzie	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	23
24	10	GTA	Alex Welch	GMG/Audi R8 LMS Ultra	23
25	11	GTA	Bret Curtis	Spectra/United Steel Supply/BMW E89 Z4 GT3	23
26	12	GTA	Henrik Hedman	DragonSpeed/MercedesBenzAMG SLS GT3	23
27	13	GTA	Maximillian Voelker	Blancpain/Lamborghini Gallardo GT3	22
28	14	GTA	Bill Ziegler	Swisher Racing/BMW E89 Z4 GT3	22
29	15	GTA	Drew Regitz	WWW.IRACERCOACHING.COM/Audi R8 LMS Ultra	22
30	16	GTA	Jorge De La Torra	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	21
31	15	GT	Butch Leitzinger	Bentley/Breitling/Mobil 1/Bentley Continental GT3	20
32	16	GTA	Christina Nielsen	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	16
33	17	GTA	Joseph Toussaint	NationalAbilityCntr/Porsche 911 GT3R	11
34	16	GT	Ryan Eversley	RealTime/Acura Motorsports/HPD/Acura TLX-GT	11
35	17	GT	Peter Cunningham	RealTime/Acura Motorsports/HPD/Acura TLX-GT	7
36	18	GTA	Jeff Courtney	Kenda/RecStuff.com/Audi R8 LMS Ultra	3
37	19	GT	Guy Cosmo	Audi R8 LMS Ultra	2
38	20	GT	Duncan Ende	MerchantSrvLTD/Linospresso USA/Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia	1
39	21	GT	Lou Gigliotti	LG Motorsports/Aston Martin GT3 V12	0
40	1	GTC	Colin Thompson	Porsche of Bucks County/PenVal/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	22
41	2	GTC	Sloan Urry	Engel & Volkers/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	22
42	3	GTC	Alec Udell/	Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	22
43	4	GTC	Phil Fogg Jr/	Zoro/TruSpeed/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	22
44	5	GTC	Lorenzo Trefethen	Trefethen Family Vineyards/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	22
45	6	GTC	Eduardo Cisneros	MOMO/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	22
46	7	GTC	Santiago Creel	UNIFIN EZCORP MEXICO/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	22
47	8	GTC	Mitch Landry	Deep South/VersaCrane/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	22
48	9	GTC	Preston Calvert	Calvert Dynamics/PhoenixPerf/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	22
49	10	GTC	Victor Gomez	Porsche San Juan/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	21

FINISH	CLASS	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	1	GT	Kevin Estre	K-PAX/McLaren 650S GT3	18
2	2	GT	Ryan Dalziel	EFFORT Racing/World PMO/Porsche 911 GT3R	18
3	3	GT	Nick Catsburg	Blancpain/Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FL2	18
4	4	GT	Mike Skeen	DeVilbiss/Hawk Performance/Audi R8 LMS Ultra	18
5	5	GT	Ryan Eversley	RealTime/Acura Motorsports/HPD/Acura TLX-GT	18
6	6	GT	Madison Snow	Audi Sport Racing/Audi R8 LMS Ultra	18
7	7	GT	Johnny OConnell	Cadillac Racing/Cadillac ATS-VR GT3	18
8	8	GT	Olivier Beretta	FerrariOntario/Toronto/Alberta/Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia	18
9	1	GTA	Michael Lewis	EFFORT Racing/Curb-Agajanian/Porsche 911 GT3R	18
10	9	GT	Robert Thorne	K-PAX/McLaren 650S GT3	18
11	10	GT	James Sofronas	GMG Racing/Spyder/Mobil 1/Audi R8 LMS Ultra	18
12	2	GTA	Henrique Cisneros	MOMO/Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia	18
13	3	GTA	Christina Nielsen	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	18
14	11	GT	Mike Hedlund	Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia	18
15	4	GTA	Martin Fuentes	Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia	18
16	12	GT	JD Davison	AE/ReplayXD/Nissan Nismo/Nissan GT-R GT3	18
17	13	GT	Chris Dyson	Bentley/Breitling/Mobil 1/Bentley Continental GT3	18
18	14	GT	Butch Leitzinger	Bentley/Breitling/Mobil 1/Bentley Continental GT3	18
19	15	GT	Andy Pilgrim	Cadillac Racing/Cadillac ATS-VR GT3	18
20	5	GTA	Ricardo Perez	Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia	18
21	6	GTA	Maximillian Voelker	Blancpain/Lamborghini Gallardo GT3	18
22	16	GT	Frank Montecalvo	Bayshore Racing/Mercedes Benz AMG SLS GT3	18
23	7	GTA	Bryan Heitkotter	Nissan GT Academy GT-R/Nissan GT-R GT3	18
24	8	GTA	Henrik Hedman	DragonSpeed/MercedesBenzAMG SLS GT3	18
25	9	GTA	Timothy Pappas	Mercedes Benz AMG SLS GT3	17
26	17	GT	Duncan Ende	MerchantSrvLTD/Linospresso USA/Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia	17
27	10	GTA	Bret Curtis	Spectra/United Steel Supply/BMW E89 Z4 GT3	17
28	11	GTA	Eric Lux	Rembrandt Charms/Monticello MC/Mercedes Benz AMG SLS GT3	17
29	12	GTA	Dan Knox	ACS MFG/Lone Star Racing/Dodge Viper GT3-R	17
30	13	GTA	Alex Welch	GMG/Audi R8 LMS Ultra	17
31	14	GTA	Joseph Toussaint	NationalAbilityCntr/Porsche 911 GT3R	17
32	15	GTA	Mark McKenzie	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	17
33	16	GTA	Bill Ziegler	Swisher Racing/BMW E89 Z4 GT3	17
34	17	GTA	Jorge De La Torra	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	11
35	18	GTA	Jeff Courtney	Kenda/RecStuff.com/Audi R8 LMS Ultra	9
36	18	GT	Guy Cosmo	Audi R8 LMS Ultra	1
37	19	GTA	Drew Regitz	WWW.IRACERCOACHING.COM/Audi R8 LMS Ultra	0
38	1	GTC	Colin Thompson	Porsche of Bucks County/PenVal/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	18
39	2	GTC	Sloan Urry	Engel & Volkers/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	18
40	3	GTC	Alec Udell/	Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	18
41	4	GTC	Phil Fogg Jr/	Zoro/TruSpeed/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	17
42	5	GTC	Lorenzo Trefethen	Trefethen Family Vineyards/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	17
43	6	GTC	Mitch Landry	Deep South/VersaCrane/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	17
44	7	GTC	Preston Calvert	Calvert Dynamics/PhoenixPerf/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	17
45	8	GTC	Santiago Creel	UNIFIN EZCORP MEXICO/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	17
46	9	GTC	Victor Gomez	Porsche San Juan/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	17
47	10	GTC	Eduardo Cisneros	MOMO/Porsche 911 GT3 CUP	14

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