2019 Circuit of the Americas - World Challenge

2019 was the thirtieth consecutive year for the World Challenge series. All Touring Car classes would now compete in the TC America championship.

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

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, BMW M235iR, BMW M240iR 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 power plants, 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 Veloster N TCR. This category has been split into two groups – TCR and TCR Cup. The Cup division was added for gentleman and amateur drivers and cars equipped with a DSG transmission. TCR is for FIA rated Gold, Silver and Bronze drivers.

The TCR and TCA title chases kick off in March at Circuit of the Americas followed a week later by an event at St. Petersburg, Florida. The teams will not participate until late April at Virginia International Raceway. This will be followed by the west coast swing when race weekends will take place at Sonoma Raceway and Portland International Raceway. On the Labour Day weekend, drivers will compete at Watkins Glen International. The penultimate round will be held mid-September at Road America and the finale will take place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October.

TC competitors also begin their season at Circuit of the Americas but do not compete again until late April at Virginia International Raceway. The remainder of the schedule is the same as the TCR and TCA classes. Teams will travel to California and Oregon for races at Sonoma Raceway and Portland International Raceway. Then it is back to the east coast for a weekend at Watkins Glen International. The penultimate events will be at Road America with the championships concluding at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The opening rounds for the 2019 TC America championship for the TCR/TCA category took place at the Circuit of the Americas’ twenty-turn 3.4-mile road course. Twenty-three drivers were entered in two forty-minute races.

The first lap of the opening round for the TCR, TCR Cup and TCA competitors at the Circuit of the Americas. As the field of twenty-five drivers enter corner the pole-sitter, Nate Vincent is notably absent. Leading the pack is Vincent’s teammate, Michael Hurczyn in the FCP Euro Volkswagen. Following Hurczyn is the third fastest qualifier, James Walker in an Alfa Romeo. Leading the TCR Cup category is the Audi of Bryan Putt.

Mason Filippi lost his qualifying time due to a technical infraction but that seemed to be of little consequence. Filippi started at the rear of the TCR field for race one but by the halfway point of the forty-minute contest, he was out front and won by a margin of 8.980-seconds. On Sunday, the No. 12 Hyundai Veloster N TCR started on the pole. This time, Filippi was challenged by Nate Vincent but scored his second victory of the weekend.

Canadian, Nick Wittmer has competed and won in almost every World Challenge class. This season, he moved from the GT4 SprintX category with ST Racing to drive a Subaru BRZ in TCA prepared by TechSport. In the weekend’s first contest, Wittmer qualified eleventh overall and second in class but moved to the top spot and captured the victory. On Sunday, he was challenged by the Mini of Mark Pombo but held on for the win.

Another Canadian, Alain Lauziere has won titles in the Canadian Touring Car Championship driving a Mini and had entered a number of World Challenge events in the past. After testing the Audi Sport RS3 LMS in Canada, Lauziere and his teammate, Nelson Chan participated in the Circuit of the Americas event. It was a successful weekend for the pair. Laurziere won the DSG Cup class both days and Chan earned two third-place finishes.

Nate Vincent driving the No. 72 FCP Euro Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR was scheduled to start the season’s first contest on the pole. Unfortunately, a technical issue caused him to fall to the rear of the field on the pace. With the problem resolved Vincent charged through the field and finished third overall and TCR. On Sunday, he started on the outside of the front row and chased Mason Filippi for forty-minutes to capture the runner-up spot.

The TC America TCR podium for round one at Circuit of the Americas. On the left is the runner-up from FCP Euro, Michael Hurczyn. To the right and scoring a third-place finish is Hurczyn’s teammate, Nate Vincent. Between these two is the driver of the TFB Hyundai Veloster N TCR and race winner and Mason Filippi.

Nick Wittmer won the opening rounds of the season, but he was under constant pressure from former Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge competitor, Mark Pombo. Pombo drove the No. 59 Mini JCW MINI Cooper. He qualified fifth in TCA for race one but was soon on Wittmer’s bumper – at the finish he was second. The following day, Pombo was gridded second and grabbed the lead on the first lap but would take the runner-up position.

A field of seventeen TCA competitors plus one TCR Audi head into Circuit of the Americas turn two on the opening lap of Sunday’s race. The No. 59 Mini Cooper of Mark Pombo slips by the class pole-sitter, Nick Wittmer – Pombo would lose the position before the end of lap one. Trailing the leaders is the 2017 TCB Champion, P.J. Groenke in a TechSport Racing Subaru BRZ. In the fourth position is the race one third-place finisher, Tyler Maxson.

Driving the second FCP Euro Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR entry was Michael Hurczyn. With his teammate, Nate Vincent encountering a mechanical issue on the pace lap and Mason Filippi starting at the rear of the field, he found himself in the top spot. Hurczyn held first place until midway through the race when he was caught and passed by Filippi – leaving him to finish second. On Sunday, he was gridded ninth and grabbed the final spot on the podium.

Series rookie, Tyler Maxson qualified on the TCA pole for the opening round of the 2019 season. In a Mazda Global MX-5 Cup prepared by Copeland Motorsports, Maxson started thirteenth overall. During the contest, he was unable to hold off the more experienced, Nick Wittmer and Mark Pombo and finished third. Unfortunately, on Sunday, he was the first retirement of the race after he crashed at the exit of corner two on the opening lap.

The No. 34 Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR is maintained by the very successful Risi Competizione team. This Houston based team has victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. The driver of the Alfa, James Walker, Jr. was making his TCR debut but was a successful competitor in the Ferrari Challenge series. At Circuit of the Americas, he scored two fourth-place finishes and set the fastest lap in race two.

There were six Honda Civic Si on the entry list. The No. 77 Honda was one of three cars prepared by X-Factor Racing and driven by Taylor Hagler. Hagler was one of two female racers making their series debut. She started the first race nineteenth overall and eighth in TCA. At the checkered flag, Hagler was in sixth in class. In the weekend’s final event, she was gridded seventh in her category but captured the last position on the podium.

Saturday’s TC America Touring Car A podium at Circuit of the Americas. On the left is the runner-up competing in the Mini John Cooper Works MINI Cooper, Mark Pombo. To the right and completing the podium is Copeland Motorsports, Tyler Maxson. Between these two, on the top step of the rostrum is the victor, Nick Wittmer who drove the No. 91 TechSport prepared Subaru BRZ.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	12	TCR	Mason Filippi	TFB / Hyundai Veloster N TCR	16
2	2	TCR	Michael Hurczyn	FCP Euro / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	16
3	1	TCR	Nate Vincent	FCP Euro / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	16
4	11	TCR Cup	Alain Lauziere	Alphasonic Motorpsort / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
5	5	TCR Cup	Bryan Putt	ROWE Racing / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
6	3	TCR	James Walker	Risi Competizione / Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	16
7	4	TCR Cup	Nelson Chan	Alphasonic Motorpsort / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
8	8	TCR Cup	Christian Cole	McCann Racing / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
9	6	TCR	Nelson Cheung	LAP Motorsports / Honda Civic Type-R TCR	16
10	9	TCR Cup	Michael McCann Jr	McCann Racing / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
11	7	TCR Cup	Eddie Killeen	TWOth Autosport / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
12	10	TCR Cup	Todd Archer	RS Werkes / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
13	14	TCA	Nick Wittmer	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	15
14	17	TCA	Mark Pombo	MINI JCW Team / MINI Cooper	15
15	13	TCA	Tyler Maxson	Copeland Motorsports / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	15
16	23	TCA	P.J. Groenke	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	15
17	15	TCA	Chris Haldeman	X-Factor Racing / Honda Civic Si	15
18	19	TCA	Taylor Hagler	X-Factor Racing / Honda Civic Si	15
19	18	TCA	Nate Norenberg	MINI JCW Team / MINI Cooper	15
20	24	TCA	Robert Crocker	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	15
21	16	TCA	Jose DaSilva	Ives Motorsports / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	15
22	25	TCA	Damon Surzyshyn	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	15
23	22	TCA	Jenny Gannett	Ian Lacy Racing / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	15
24	20	TCA	Danny Soufi	X-Factor Racing / Honda Civic Si	15
25	21	TCA	Stephen Jeu	X-Factor Racing / Honda Civic Si	15
26	29	TCA	Cole Ciraulo	X-Factor Racing / Honda Civic Si	15
27	26	TCA	Sally McNulty	#TEAMSALLY / Honda Civic Si	14
28	28	TCA	Dinah Weisberg	Copeland Motorsports / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	14
29	27	TCA	Ben Bettenhausen	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	14

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	1	TCR	Mason Filippi	TFB / Hyundai Veloster N TCR	16
2	2	TCR	Nate Vincent	FCP Euro / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	16
3	4	TCR	Michael Hurczyn	FCP Euro / Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR	16
4	3	TCR	James Walker	Risi Competizione / Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	16
5	5	TCR Cup	Alain Lauziere	Alphasonic Motorpsort / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
6	6	TCR Cup	Bryan Putt	ROWE Racing / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
7	8	TCR Cup	Nelson Chan	Alphasonic Motorpsort / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
8	9	TCR Cup	Michael McCann Jr	McCann Racing / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
9	10	TCR	Nelson Cheung	LAP Motorsports / Honda Civic Type-R TCR	16
10	7	TCR Cup	Christian Cole	McCann Racing / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
11	11	TCR Cup	Eddie Killeen	TWOth Autosport / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
12	12	TCR Cup	Todd Archer	RS Werkes / Audi Sport RS3 LMS	16
13	13	TCA	Nick Wittmer	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	15
14	14	TCA	Mark Pombo	MINI JCW Team / MINI Cooper	15
15	19	TCA	Taylor Hagler	X-Factor Racing / Honda Civic Si	15
16	22	TCA	Jose DaSilva	Ives Motorsports / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	15
17	18	TCA	Nate Norenberg	MINI JCW Team / MINI Cooper	15
18	25	TCA	Danny Soufi	X-Factor Racing / Honda Civic Si	15
19	17	TCA	Chris Haldeman	X-Factor Racing / Honda Civic Si	15
20	16	TCA	P.J. Groenke	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	15
21	21	TCA	Cole Ciraulo	X-Factor Racing / Honda Civic Si	15
22	24	TCA	Jenny Gannett	Ian Lacy Racing / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	15
23	23	TCA	Ben Bettenhausen	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	15
24	20	TCA	Robert Crocker	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	15
25	26	TCA	Damon Surzyshyn	TechSport Racing / Subaru BRZ tS	15
26	28	TCA	Sally McNulty	#TEAMSALLY / Honda Civic Si	15
NC	27	TCA	Stephen Jeu	X-Factor Racing / Honda Civic Si	6
NC	29	TCA	Dinah Weisberg	Copeland Motorsports / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	3
NC	15	TCA	Tyler Maxson	Copeland Motorsports / Mazda Global Mx5 Cup	0

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