2018 Utah Motorsports Campus - World Challenge

Introduced in 2016, the SprintX Championship for Grand Touring competitors is based on the very successful Blancpain Sprint Series in Europe.

There are a total of five rounds with the championship kicking off in March at Circuit of the Americas. This event is followed by races at Virginia International Raceway and Lime Rock Park. The penultimate rounds are at Portland International Raceway with the season ending at Utah Motorsports Campus in August. The races are 60-minutes in length and require a mandatory pit-stop for a driver change between the 25 and 35-minute mark of the contest.

The SprintX Championship has three classes:

Grand Touring X (GT-X) – 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, Lamborghini Huracan GT3, Mercedes AMG GT3, McLaren 650S GT3, Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R, Bentley Continental GT3, Audi R8 LMS and Ferrari 488 GT3.
Grand Touring Cup X (GTC-X) – 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 (Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo) and Ferrari Challenge (Ferrari 458 Challenge) championships.
Grand Touring Sport X (GTS-X) – The cars in this class are similar to the GT vehicles but have more preparation restrictions. Drivetrain layouts include all-wheel-drive and front and rear-wheel drive. These cars can be powered by forced induction or normally aspirated motors. In previous years, the GTS class was mainly comprised of Ford, Chevrolet and Porsche products. In 2016, this category witnessed an influx of FIA GT4 vehicles which proved to be very competitive – Chevrolet Camaro GT4, McLaren 570S GT4, Porsche Cayman GT4 CS-MR, Audi R8 LMS GT4, Ginetta G55 GT4, BMW M4 GT4, Audi R8 LMS GT4, Mercedes-AMG GT4, Panoz Avezzano GT4 and SIN R1 GT4.

SprintX cars are prepared to the same rules as those competing in the 50-minute Sprint races. Due to the popularity of the GTS/GT4 category, they would have their race group. Grand Touring X and Grand Touring Cup X would compete in the same contest.

As the championship features a two-driver format which includes professional and sportsman racers, there was a need to categorize competitors. Within the three classes, the driver combinations are grouped as Professional/Professional (Pro/Pro), Professional/Amateur (Pro/Am), Amateur/Amateur (Am) and some competitors will compete solo – points are awarded accordingly.

Rounds nine and ten at the Utah Motorsports Campus were the final events on the 2018 schedule for SprintX GT competitors. Titles were still on the line for Pro/Pro and Pro/Am categories. Drivers would compete in two sixty-minute races around the fourteen-turn 3.048-mile ‘Outer Course’. The weekend was titled, The Grand Prix of Utah.

Fourteen competitors receive the Starter’s flag and head into Utah Motorsports Campus’ first turn for the penultimate round of the 2018 GT SprintX championship. Leading the way are the K-PAX Bentleys which qualified one-two. Unfortunately, they would not be a factor in the weekend’s events. Trailing the K-PAX entries are the third and fourth place starters, the R. Ferri Ferrari and the Lone Star Racing Mercedes.

The round ten podium for the GT SprintX Pro drivers at the Utah Motorsports Campus. The center of the rostrum is occupied by the race winners and 2018 champions from R. Ferri Motorsports, Toni Vilander and Miguel Molina. To the left and earning their second podium finish of the weekend are Mike Skeen and Scott Heckert from Lone Star Racing. Completing the rostrum are Michael Christensen and Spencer Pumpelly.

The R. Ferri Motorsports Ferrari 488 GT3 driven by Toni Vilander and Miguel Molina swept the weekend’s events and secured the 2018 GT SprintX Pro championship. The pair scored victories at COTA, VIR and Portland on the way to their first Pirelli World Challenge title. The duo went unchallenged all weekend as issues plagued the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche of contenders, Scott Hargrove and Wolf Henzler.

In the Amateur division drivers of the Squadra Corse Garage Italia prepared Ferrari 488 GT3, Caesar Bacarella and Martin Fuentes had their title locked up before the final two rounds at the Utah Motorsports Campus. During the season, they swept the rounds at COTA, VIR, Lime Rock and Portland. The duo encountered their first loss of 2018 in the penultimate race but were back on form the following day.

It was ‘too little too late’ for Pro/Am championship contenders, Wei Lu and Jeff Segal. The drivers the TruSpeed Autosport Ferrari 488 GT3 had nine podium finishes in ten starts and won both rounds at the Utah Motorsports Campus. Unfortunately, the pair fell short of the 2018 GT SprintX title by just four points.

The GT SprintX Amateur class podium for the finale at the Utah Motorsports Campus. On the left are the runner-up’s, Takuya Shirasaka and Naoto Takeda from Turner Motorsport. And, on the right competing in the DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG is the third-place finisher, David Askew. In the center, are the victors and 2018 class champions, Caeser Bacarella and Martin Fuentes.

Sharing the Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R were Michael Christensen and Spencer Pumpelly. Christensen handled the qualifying for round nine and was fifth fastest. In Saturday’s contest, they inherited a runner-up finish when the two Bentleys encountered issues. The following day, the pair could not maintain the speed of the Ferri Ferrari and Lone Star Mercedes and captured the final position on the podium.

The No. 19 TruSpeed AutoSport Audi R8 LMS driven by Parker Chase and Ryan Dalziel competed in the Pro/Am division. In qualifying for round nine, Chase was third quickest in his class. In race one, the pair chased the class-leading Ferrari of Lu and Segal but had to settle for second place. On Sunday it was much of the same – unable to match the pace of the Ferrari, they finished in the runner-up spot but captured the title.

Competing in the Amateur category, local driver David Askew drove the sixty-minute contests solo. Askew was thirteenth quickest in the qualifying session for round nine. He dominated his class and took his first Pirelli World Challenge victory in front of family and friends – also ending the Bacarella and Fuentes winning streak. In round ten, a flat right rear tire late in the contest took, Askew out of contention.

Japanese drivers, Naoto Takeda and Takuya Shirasaka, made their series debut in the Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3. Competing in the Amateur division, they were gridded in twelfth for the start of the weekend’s first event and finished third in class. The following day another steady performance by Takeda and Shirasaka resulted in their second third-place result of the weekend.

Scott Heckert performed the qualifying duties for the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and was fourth quickest overall and in the Pro division. He shared the Mercedes with World Challenge veteran, Mike Skeen. In round nine, they finished third – scoring their fourth podium of the season. On Sunday, the duo went one position better and captured the runner-up spot.

The Pirelli World Challenge GT SprintX Pro/Am podium for round ten at the Utah Motorsports Campus. On the left are second place finishers and the new class champions, Parker Chase and Ryan Dalziel and at the right are Pierre Mulacek and Anthony Lazzaro, who finished third. In the center and earning their second win of the weekend are TR3 Racing drivers, Wei Lu and Jeff Segal.

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	ENTRANT / CAR	LAPS
1	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Molina / Vilander	R. Ferri Motorsport / Ferrari 488 GT3	32
2	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Christensen / Pumpelly	Alegra Motorsports / Porsche 911 GT3 R	32
3	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Skeen / Heckert	Lone Star Racing / Mercedes-AMG GT3	32
4	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Hargrove / Henzler	Pfaff Motorsports / Porsche 911 GT3 R	32
5	SprintX - GT Pro/Am	Lu / Segal	TR3 Racing / Ferrari 488 GT3	32
6	SprintX - GT Pro/Am	Chase / Dalziel	TruSpeed AutoSport / Audi R8 LMS	32
7	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Baptista / Soulet	K-PAX Racing / Bentley Continental GT3	32
8	SprintX - GT Pro/Am	Harata / Bressan	Dream Racing Motorsport / Lamborghini Huracan GT3	32
9	SprintX - GT Am	David Askew	DXDT Racing / Mercedes-AMG GT3	32
10	SprintX - GT Am	Fuentes / Bacarella	Squadra Corse Garage Italia / Ferrari 488 GT3	31
11	SprintX - GT Am	Takeda / Shirasaka	Turner Motorsport / BMW F13 M6 GT3	31
12	SprintX - GT Pro/Am	Mulacek / Lazzaro	Risi Competizione / Ferrari 488 GT3	31
NC	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Parente / Sourek	K-PAX Racing / Bentley Continental GT3	13
NC	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Morad / Brabham	CRP Racing / Mercedes-AMG GT3	9

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	ENTRANT / CAR	LAPS
1	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Molina / Vilander	R. Ferri Motorsport / Ferrari 488 GT3	32
2	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Skeen / Heckert	Lone Star Racing / Mercedes-AMG GT3	32
3	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Christensen / Pumpelly	Alegra Motorsports / Porsche 911 GT3 R	32
4	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Baptista / Soulet	K-PAX Racing / Bentley Continental GT3	32
5	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Parente / Sourek	K-PAX Racing / Bentley Continental GT3	32
6	SprintX - GT Pro/Am	Lu / Segal	TR3 Racing / Ferrari 488 GT3	32
7	SprintX - GT Pro/Am	Chase / Dalziel	TruSpeed AutoSport / Audi R8 LMS	32
8	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Morad / Brabham	CRP Racing / Mercedes-AMG GT3	32
9	SprintX - GT Am	Fuentes / Bacarella	Squadra Corse Garage Italia / Ferrari 488 GT3	32
10	SprintX - GT Am	Takeda / Shirasaka	Turner Motorsport / BMW F13 M6 GT3	31
11	SprintX - GT Pro/Am	Mulacek / Lazzaro	Risi Competizione / Ferrari 488 GT3	31
12	SprintX - GT Am	David Askew	DXDT Racing / Mercedes-AMG GT3	29
13	SprintX - GT Pro/Pro	Hargrove / Henzler	Pfaff Motorsports / Porsche 911 GT3 R	25
NC	SprintX - GT Pro/Am	Harata / Bressan	Dream Racing Motorsport / Lamborghini Huracan GT3	0

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