The 2017 Pirelli World Challenge season is the twenty-eighth consecutive year for the championship. There are five race weekends. The Grand Touring category title chase kicks-off in March at Saint Petersburg. This event is followed by races at Long Beach, Road America and Mid-Ohio. The finale takes place at Sonoma in mid-September.

As in the previous year, there were three Grand Touring categories:

  • Grand Touring (GT) – This is the series quickest class and includes cars that predominantly fall into the FIA GT3 category. These are two-wheel drive vehicles that may use normally aspirated or turbocharged engines which produce approximately 500 horsepower. Examples of cars competing in this category include: Porsche 911 GT3 R, Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3, Mercedes AMG GT3, McLaren 650S GT3, Cadillac ATS-V.R GT3, Acura NSX GT3, Bentley Continental GT3 and Ferrari 488 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.
  • Grand Touring Cup (GTC) – The GT Cup class was originally for 2015-2016 Porsche 991 GT Cup cars. It now includes vehicles from other spec series – the Lamborghini Super Trofeo and Ferrari Challenge championships.

    Sonoma Raceway hosted rounds eight and nine for the Pirelli World Challenge Grand Touring cars in mid-September. During the Grand Prix of Sonoma, drivers would compete in two 50-minute races around the twelve-turn 2.385-mile road course.

    This was the final weekend for the Grand Touring competitors and titles were yet to be decided for GT Sprint, GTA and the Overall GT champion.

    • Second fastest Grand Touring qualifier, Michael Cooper driving the Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R leads the field of twenty-one starters into Sonoma Raceway’s corner two. Trailing Cooper is the pole-sitter, Daniel Mancinelli in the TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3. Slotting in behind, Mancinelli is the CRP Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 of Ryan Dalziel who was gridded third.
    Cadillac’s Michael Cooper won rounds eight and nine at Sonoma Raceway. At the previous, Pirelli World Challenge event at Circuit of the Americas Cooper and his teammate, Jordan Taylor secured the SprintX title. He started round eight beside the pole-sitter, Daniel Mancinelli but beat him to the first corner leading all thirty-two laps. Cooper qualified second for round nine but passed the Patrick Long and took his second win of the weekend.
    Based on the point’s he had collected in the Sprint and SprintX races during the season, Patrick Long wrapped up the Overall Grand Touring championship. But the Sprint title was yet to be decided. Long held a slim five-point margin over, Alvaro Parente heading into Sonoma. The lead shrunk after round eight when he finished behind Parente. In the season’s final race, misfortune struck Parente and Long was able to take the Grand Touring crown.
    James Sofronas entered the final two rounds having won the GT SprintX Pro/Am title and had a thirty-point lead in the GTA Sprint class. In the weekend’s first race, Sofronas started and finished second in class driving the GMG Racing Porsche GT3 R. In the finale, he was gridded second in GTA but the fastest qualifier, Michael Schein retired on lap-3. Sofronas won the class by a comfortable margin and took the championship by forty-points.
    Alvaro Parente was in a fight for the Grand Touring Sprint title. In the weekend’s first race, Parente started seventh immediately behind the point’s leader Patrick Long. At the conclusion of fifty-minutes of racing, he finished ahead of Long in second place – this closed the gap to just three points. But Parente hopes for winning a championship in 2017 were dashed after contact with Daniel Mancinelli forced him to retire.
    GTA competitor, Pablo Perez Companc did not score any point’s in round one at St. Petersburg and did not participate at Road America. In round seven, at Mid-Ohio, he earned his first rostrum with a third-place result. Perez Companc continued to score podium finishes in rounds eight and nine at Sonoma Raceway. On Saturday, he managed to take the final spot on the rostrum and the following day, Perez Companc was second in class.
    The 2017 season’s final Pirelli World Challenge Grand Touring podium. On the Left is the runner-up and Sprint and Overall Grand Touring champion, Patrick Long. On the right side capturing the final spot on the rostrum is Mangus Racing’s, Pierre Kaffer. Between these two is the winner, Michael Cooper. Cooper swept the weekend taking victories on Saturday and Sunday.
    Johnny O’Connell had good reason to be optimistic as he was quickest in the first practice session. Unfortunately for O’Connell, Friday’s final session did not end as well. Driving the No. 3 Cadillac ATS-V.R he hit the turn six wall - causing severe damage to the car. The show car in the Cadillac display was put into service. In the weekend’s first race, O’Connell had to pit after making contact and finished seventeenth. In round nine, he was eighth.
    Exiting for corner one on the first lap of round eight Grand Touring competitors, Alec Udell and Bryan Sellers made contact. Eighth place starter, Udell in the No. 17 GMG Porsche 911 GT3 suffered suspension damage and was the race’s first retiree. Sellers in the K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 was able to continue but finished a lap behind the winner in fifteenth place.
    Pierre Kaffer drove the No. 4 Magnus Racing Audi RS 8 LMS. Commitments in Europe prevented him from participating at Mid-Ohio. With so many strong teams and drivers, missing two races meant Kaffer would not be a title contender. But that did not affect his performance at Sonoma. Kaffer started and finished fourth in the weekend’s first event. In round nine, he was gridded third and captured the final spot on the podium.
    The No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R was driven in the GTA class by Michael Schein. Schein is one of the quickest drivers in this group but other commitments prevented him from taking part in rounds four and five at Road America. In round eight, Schein qualified tenth overall and first in class. At the checkered flag, he was first in GTA and eighth overall. The season’s finale did not go as well – Schein retired after three laps.
    Sunday’s GTA podium at Sonoma Raceway. On the right, driving the Black Swan Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 is the third-place finisher, Tim Pappas. To the left and earning his third podium finish of the season is the race’s runner-up, Pablo Perez Companc. In the center is the race winner and new class champion, James Sofronas.

    FINISHCLASSDRIVERENTRANT / CARLAPS
    1GT ProMichael CooperCadillac Racing / Cadillac ATS-V.R32
    2GT ProAlvaro ParenteK-PAX Racing / McLaren 650S GT332
    3GT ProPatrick LongWright Motorsports / Porsche 911 GT3 R32
    4GT ProPierre KafferMagnus Racing / Audi RS 8 LMS32
    5GT ProDaniel MancinelliTR3 Racing / Ferrari 488 GT332
    6GT ProRyan DalzielCRP Racing / Mercedes AMG GT332
    7GT ProJon FogartyGainsco/Bob Stallings Racing / Porsche 911 GT3 R32
    8GT AmMichael ScheinWright Motorsports / Porsche 911 GT3 R32
    9GT ProPeter KoxRealTime Racing / Acura NSX GT332
    10GT AmJames SofronasGMG Racing / Porsche 911 GT3 R32
    11GT AmPablo Perez CompancChamp 1 / Mercedes AMG GT332
    12GT AmJohn PotterMagnus Racing / Audi RS 8 LMS32
    13GT ProMemo GidleyTKO Motorsports / Porsche 911 GT3 R31
    14GT ProPreston CalvertCalvert Dynamics / Porsche 911 GT3 R31
    15GT ProBryan SellersK-PAX Racing / McLaren 650S GT331
    16GT Cup AmYuki HarataDream Racing / Lamborghini Huracan31
    17GT ProJohnny O'ConnellCadillac Racing / Cadillac ATS-V.R29
    NCGT ProRyan EversleyRealTime Racing / Acura NSX GT37
    NCGT ProAlec UdellGMG Racing / Porsche 911 GT3 R0
    EXGT AmTim PappasBlack Swan Racing / Mercedes AMG GT30

    FINISHCLASSDRIVERENTRANT / CARLAPS
    1GT ProMichael CooperCadillac Racing / Cadillac ATS-V.R29
    2GT ProPatrick LongWright Motorsports / Porsche 911 GT3 R29
    3GT ProPierre KafferMagnus Racing / Audi RS 8 LMS29
    4GT ProBryan SellersK-PAX Racing / McLaren 650S GT329
    5GT ProRyan DalzielCRP Racing / Mercedes AMG GT329
    6GT ProJon FogartyGainsco/Bob Stallings Racing / Porsche 911 GT3 R29
    7GT ProPeter KoxRealTime Racing / Acura NSX GT329
    8GT ProJohnny O'ConnellCadillac Racing / Cadillac ATS-V.R29
    9GT ProAlec UdellGMG Racing / Porsche 911 GT3 R29
    10GT AmJames SofronasGMG Racing / Porsche 911 GT3 R29
    11GT AmPablo Perez CompancChamp 1 / Mercedes AMG GT329
    12GT AmTim PappasBlack Swan Racing / Mercedes AMG GT329
    13GT ProMemo GidleyTKO Motorsports / Porsche 911 GT3 R29
    14GT AmJohn PotterMagnus Racing / Audi RS 8 LMS29
    15GT ProDaniel MancinelliTR3 Racing / Ferrari 488 GT328
    NCGT ProPreston CalvertCalvert Dynamics / Porsche 911 GT3 R5
    NCGT AmMichael ScheinWright Motorsports / Porsche 911 GT3 R3
    NCGT ProAlvaro ParenteK-PAX Racing / McLaren 650S GT31
    NCGT ProRyan EversleyRealTime Racing / Acura NSX GT30

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