2017 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - World Challenge

The 2017 Pirelli World Challenge season is the twenty-eighth consecutive year for the championship. There are eleven race weekends. The Touring Car category title chase kicks-off in April at Virginia International Raceway. This event is followed by races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Lime Rock Park and the Utah Motorsport Complex. The penultimate rounds are held a Circuit of the Americas with the finale taking place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in mid-October.

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

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: Honda Accord, Mazda MX-5, Porsche Boxster, BMW235iR and Audi RS 3 LMS.

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. Using turbocharged or normally aspirated powerplants, these cars produce between 160 and 185-horsepower.

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 this category include: Chevrolet Sonic, Honda Fit, Kia Rio, Mazda 2 and Mini Cooper. The horsepower range is 100 to 110.

Rounds eleven and twelve of the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car season took place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Twenty-six Touring Car drivers were scheduled to compete in the two forty-minute races around the eleven-turn 2.238-mile road course.

Four competitors were vying for the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car title. Leading the standings was Paul Holton with 183-points, in second with 175-markers was Nick Wittmer, thirteen-points behind Wittmer was Greg Liefooghe and the final contender was the 2016 champion, Toby Grahovec.

The Touring Car field heads into Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s turn two on the first lap of the penultimate round. Leading the way is the point’s leader and pole-sitter, Paul Holton in the Compass 360 Racing Audi RS 3 LMS Club Sport. Beside, Holton is the second fastest qualifier, Greg Liefooghe driving the Stephen Cameron Racing prepared BMW M235iR. There was a total of twenty-five drivers competing in round-eleven.

The Touring Car point’s leader, Paul Holton, entered the finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with two victories to his credit – Virginia and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The final two rounds could not have gone better for Holton. He qualified on the pole for Saturday’s first race and won the contest. Later in the day, the driver of the No. 71 Audi repeated his performance and captured the 2017 Touring Car title.

2016 Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car champion, Toby Grahovic, had a mathematical chance of securing his second consecutive title but it would be no easy task as he trailed the points leader, Paul Holton by twenty-seven markers. Grahovic lined up tenth and finished fifth in round eleven. In the final contest, he was gridded seventh and was fifth at the checkered flag. Grahovic finished fourth in the final standings.

The driver with the most Touring Car wins in 2017 was Greg Liefooghe. Liefooghe won at Virginia, dominated the Utah Motorsports Campus weekend and grabbed another victory at COTA. But he was no match for Paul Holton at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. A pair of runner-up finishes was not enough for the driver of the No. 20 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW 235iR to take the title from Paul Holton – he finished second.

Nick Wittmer had shown a lot of speed in the ST Racing BMW M235iR. Wittmer finished first in round ten at Circuit of the Americas but he also experienced an equal amount of bad luck. Wittmer was leading at Virginia International Raceway when contact with a backmarker caused him to crash. His title hopes ended with a disqualification in the weekend’s first contest. In race two, Wittmer was sixth after starting at the rear of the grid.

The start of the season finale and fourth fastest qualifier, Mason Filippi in the No. 12 Winding Road Team TFB BMW M235iR surprises the front row with his excellent start. To Filippi’s left is the Audi of the pole-sitter and eventual winner, Paul Holton. And on Filippi’s right side is the second fastest qualifier, Karl Wittmer driving the Ste-Rose Racing Honda Accord.

Five-time Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car champion, Pierre Kleinubing returned to the series for the final two rounds. Driving the No. 26 BMW M235iR, Kleinubing exhibited the skills that made him a multi-time champion. In round eleven, he was gridded seventh and took the last position on the podium. In the season finale, Kleinubing started slightly better in fifth and grabbed another third-place finish.

It appeared that Karl Wittmer was going to have his best results of the season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. In Saturday’s first event, Wittmer qualified fifth behind his brother, Nick. Unfortunately, he retired after fourteen laps when the wheels studs failed on his Honda Accord – but not before he set the race’s second fastest lap. Starting on the front row in the finale, he was hit by Tony Rivera and had to pit causing him to drop out of contention.

In round four, on a damp track at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Mason Filippi made the right tire choice and surprised series regulars - winning by a margin of 25.904-seconds. In the weekend’s first contest, Filippi started and finished sixth. The driver of the No. 12 BMW M235iR made a specular start in round twelve – going from fourth to first by the second corner. At the checkered flag, he was fourth.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	1	TC	Paul Holton	C360R / Audi RS 3 LMS Clubsport	25
2	2	TC	Greg Liefooghe	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M235iR	25
3	7	TC	Pierre Kleinubing	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M235iR	25
4	9	TC	Tony Rivera	Brass Monkey Racing / Nissan 370Z	25
5	10	TC	Toby Grahovec	Classic BMW / BMW M235iR	25
6	6	TC	Mason Filippi	Winding Road Team TFB / BMW M235iR	25
7	15	TC	Aristotle Balogh	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M235iR	25
8	16	TC	JT Coupal	BERG Racing / Audi RS 3 LMS Clubsport	25
9	17	TC	Jayson Clunie	Classic BMW / BMW M235iR	25
10	18	TC	Travis Washay	Indian Summer Racing / Audi RS 3 LMS Clubsport	25
11	19	TC	Rodrigo Sales	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M235iR	25
12	12	TC	John Weisberg	BERG Racing - Mazda MX-5	25
13	20	TC	Henry Schmitt	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M235iR	25
14	23	TC	Chris Ohmacht	Classic BMW / BMW M235iR	25
15	21	TC	Samantha Tan	ST Racing / BMW M235iR	25
16	24	TC	Daren Jorgensen	Rearden Racing / BMW M235iR	24
17	11	TC	Johan Schwartz	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M235iR	23
18	22	TC	Scott Thomas	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M235iR	22
19	13	TC	Anthony Geraci	S.A.C. Racing / Audi RS 3 LMS Clubsport	18
20	25	TC	Joshua Foran	Team HMA / Honda Accord	15
21	5	TC	Karl Wittmer	Honda Ste-Rose Racing / Honda Accord	14
NC	8	TC	Anthony Magagnoli	Rooster Hall Racing / BMW M235iR	6
NC	14	TC	Nicolai Elghanayan	Muellerized / Lotus Exige	2
DQ	3	TC	Mark Drennan	Hooverspeed - Mazda MX-5	-
DQ	4	TC	Nick Wittmer	ST Racing / BMW M235iR	-

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	1	TC	Paul Holton	C360R / Audi RS 3 LMS Clubsport	25
2	3	TC	Greg Liefooghe	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M235iR	25
3	5	TC	Pierre Kleinubing	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M235iR	25
4	4	TC	Mason Filippi	Winding Road Team TFB / BMW M235iR	25
5	7	TC	Toby Grahovec	Classic BMW / BMW M235iR	25
6	25	TC	Nick Wittmer	ST Racing / BMW M235iR	25
7	8	TC	Anthony Magagnoli	Rooster Hall Racing / BMW M235iR	25
8	6	TC	Tony Rivera	Brass Monkey Racing / Nissan 370Z	25
9	11	TC	Aristotle Balogh	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M235iR	25
10	13	TC	Johan Schwartz	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M235iR	25
11	10	TC	JT Coupal	BERG Racing / Audi RS 3 LMS Clubsport	25
12	12	TC	Anthony Geraci	S.A.C. Racing / Audi RS 3 LMS Clubsport	25
13	23	TC	Nicolai Elghanayan	Muellerized / Lotus Exige	25
14	14	TC	Travis Washay	Indian Summer Racing / Audi RS 3 LMS Clubsport	25
15	9	TC	John Weisberg	BERG Racing - Mazda MX-5	25
16	16	TC	Rodrigo Sales	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M235iR	25
17	18	TC	Chris Ohmacht	Classic BMW / BMW M235iR	25
18	17	TC	Jayson Clunie	Classic BMW / BMW M235iR	25
19	15	TC	Henry Schmitt	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M235iR	25
20	20	TC	Samantha Tan	ST Racing / BMW M235iR	25
21	22	TC	Scott Thomas	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M235iR	25
22	19	TC	Joshua Foran	Team HMA / Honda Accord	22
NC	21	TC	Daren Jorgensen	Rearden Racing / BMW M235iR	10
NC	2	TC	Karl Wittmer	Honda Ste-Rose Racing / Honda Accord	8
NC	24	TC	Mark Drennan	Hooverspeed - Mazda MX-5	6

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