2018 Watkins Glen International - World Challenge

The 2018 Pirelli World Challenge season is the twenty-ninth consecutive year for the championship. There are six race weekends for the Touring Car categories. The title chase kicks-off in March at Circuit of the Americas. This event is followed by races at Virginia International Raceway, Lime Rock Park and the Portland International Raceway. The penultimate rounds are held at the Utah Motorsports Campus with the finale taking place at Watkins Glen International on the Labour Day weekend.

As in the previous year, there were three Touring groups; however, there were some significant changes. With dwindling entries in the Touring Car B class, series organizers decided it would not be included in the 2018 championship and was replaced by a new category, 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 cars competing in this category include: Honda Civic Type R, Nissan 370Z, BMW235iR 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 powerplants, these cars produce between 160 and 185-horsepower.
Touring Car Race (TCR) – This is an international class which was first introduced in 2014 to address the expense 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: Audi RS 3 LMS, Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, Honda Civic Type-R TCR, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR and Hyundai I30 N TCR.

For the first time since 2010, the Pirelli World Challenge series made a stop at Watkins Glen International in an event called the PWC Grand Prix of Watkins Glen presented by TM Performance. Touring Car teams would compete in two forty-minute races around the eleven-turn 3.4-mile road course to determine the 2018 class champion.

The start of Saturday’s race and twenty-one entries funnel into Watkins Glen International’s first turn. Beating the field to corner one is the pole-sitter, Karl Wittmer in the Classic BMW sponsored BMW M235iR Cup. Falling in behind Wittmer is another BMW M235iR Cup driven by the other front starter, Johan Schwartz. Behind the two BMWs in the Nissan 370Z TC Spec of the point’s leader, Vesko Kozarov.

Karl Wittmer entered Watkins Glen second in the standings and was ‘pulling out all the stops’ in an effort to close the gap on Vesko Kozarov. In qualifying for the penultimate round, he won the pole. During the race, Wittmer lost the lead to Johan Schwartz but regained first place on the last lap for his second win of the season. On Sunday, he started first but lost the position to Schwartz and took the runner-up spot.

Johan Schwartz, the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge TCB champion returned to the series fulltime driving the Rooster Hall Racing BMW M235iR. His season included two wins. At Watkins Glen, Schwartz dominated the practice sessions and was second quickest in qualifying. In race one, he took the lead from Karl Wittmer but lost it on the last lap. The following day, Schwartz redeemed himself by capturing the victory.

Classic BMW entered three BMW M235iR Cups at Watkins Glen International the No. 26 BMW was driven by Matt Travis. Travis was fourth in the title chase and with a solid performance could improve is position in the final standings. In the weekend’s first race, he was gridded fifth. Travis drove a great race and earned the final spot on the podium. The following day, he had the same outcome - a third place finish.

Heading into Watkins Glen, Vesko Kozarov had six victories in ten starts and an almost insurmountable points lead in the title chase. In the practice sessions, Kozarov was only ninth quickest but in qualifying, he improved and was fourth fastest. In round eleven, Kozarov maintained his starting position to the finish. On Sunday, he could do no better than sixth but it was enough to take the championship by a slim four-points.

TechSport Racing’s, Steve Streimer had a big weekend earlier in the season at Virginia International Raceway where he grabbed a win and runner-up finish. Since then his results had been mixed. In qualifying for round eleven, Streimer was twelfth quickest but was unable to improve on his starting position in the race. In the season finale, he completed only two-laps before retiring.

The Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car class podium for round eleven at Watkins Glen International. To the left is the runner-up, from Rooster Hall Racing, Johan Schwartz. And, on the right capturing his fourth podium finish of the season is the third-place finisher, Matt Travis. In the center, is the winner Karl Wittmer. The victory put Wittmer to within twelve-points of the series leader, Vesko Kozarov.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	1	TC	Karl Wittmer	Classic BMW / BMW M235iR Cup	xx
2	2	TC	Johan Schwartz	Rooster Hall Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	xx
3	5	TC	Matt Travis	Classic BMW / BMW M235iR Cup	20
4	4	TC	Vesko Kozarov	Rearden Racing / Nissan 370Z TC Spec	20
5	3	TC	Robert Nimkoff	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	20
6	8	TC	Jeff Ricca	GenRacer / Genesis Coupe	20
7	9	TC	Jayson Clunie	Classic BMW / BMW M235iR Cup	20
8	7	TC	Dennis Hanratty, Jr	Krugspeed / Lotus Exige	20
9	12	TC	Steve Streimer	TechSport Racing / Nissan 370Z TC Spec	20
10	18	TC	Mark Brummond	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	20
11	13	TC	Henry Schmitt	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	20
12	17	TC	Joshua Foran	Team HMA / Honda Civic Type R	20
13	18	TC	John Allen	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	20
14	20	TC	Jack Baruth	RTF Racing / Honda Accord V6	19
15	21	TC	Dinah Weisberg	BERG / Mazda MX-5 TC Spec	19
16	19	TC	Bruce Wexler	DRS / BMW M235iR Cup	18
17	15	TC	Jason Stanley	GenRacer / Genesis Coupe	10
NC	10	TC	Paul Terry	Rearden Racing / Nissan 370Z TC Spec	6
NC	6	TC	John Weisberg	BERG / Mazda MX-5 TC Spec	4
NC	16	TC	Jacob Ruud	Winding Road Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	2
NC	14	TC	Greg Nitzkowski	DRS / BMW M235iR Cup	0

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	2	TC	Johan Schwartz	Rooster Hall Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	18
2	1	TC	Karl Wittmer	Classic BMW / BMW M235iR Cup	18
3	4	TC	Matt Travis	Classic BMW / BMW M235iR Cup	18
4	5	TC	Robert Nimkoff	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	18
5	7	TC	Jayson Clunie	Classic BMW / BMW M235iR Cup	18
6	3	TC	Vesko Kozarov	Rearden Racing / Nissan 370Z TC Spec	18
7	10	TC	Mark Brummond	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	18
8	11	TC	John Weisberg	BERG / Mazda MX5 TC Spec	18
9	13	TC	Henry Schmitt	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	18
10	14	TC	Jason Stanley	GenRacer / Genesis Coupe	18
11	15	TC	Joshua Foran	Team HMA / Honda Civic Type R	18
12	21	TC	Greg Nitzkowski	DRS / BMW M235iR Cup	18
13	17	TC	John Allen	AutoTechnic Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	18
14	16	TC	Bruce Wexler	DRS / BMW M235iR Cup	18
15	19	TC	Dinah Weisberg	BERG / Mazda MX5 TC Spec	17
16	6	TC	Dennis Hanratty, Jr	Krugspeed / Lotus Exige	16
17	9	TC	Paul Terry	Rearden Racing / Nissan 370Z TC Spec	12
NC	8	TC	Jeff Ricca	GenRacer / Genesis Coupe	3
NC	12	TC	Steve Streimer	TechSport Racing / Nissan 370Z TC Spec	2
NC	20	TC	Jacob Ruud	Winding Road Racing / BMW M235iR Cup	1
DNS	-	TC	Jack Baruth	RTF Racing / Honda Accord V6	-

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