With new teams, new cars and a new class, the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge returns to Daytona International Speedway bigger and better than ever.
The Roar Before the Rolex 24 will bring a wealth of Continental Tire Challenge teams to the World Center of Racing for testing ahead of the series’ season opener – the four-hour BMW Endurance Challenge on January 26.
Twenty-eight cars are entered for the Roar in the Grand Sport (GS) class. With seven different manufacturers, this class has experienced tremendous growth, as 2018 marks its first year with all race cars using international GT4 technical regulations.
The defending GS champions, RS1, return with two Porsche Cayman GT4 MRs and will look to begin its quest for a third consecutive title after winning the Street Tuner (ST) class championship in 2016.
Also returning is Motorsports In Action with its two McLaren GT4s piloted by Jesse Lazare, new teammate and previous Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama driver Corey Fergus, Rod Randall and Kenny Wilden. This Canada-based team will look to carry its momentum to the new year after winning the season finale at Road Atlanta in October. C360R also is planning to field a McLaren with returning drivers Matt Plumb and Paul Holton.
Alan Brynjolfsson and VOLT Racing are back for its sophomore season with a Ford Mustang GT4 with Trent Hindman, who brings a previous series championship to the table. Automatic Racing, which scored the underdog win at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in September, also returns with two Aston Martin Vantages.
Ford will continue to be well represented at the Roar with four cars between KohR Motorsports, which scored three wins in 2017, as well as long time partners Roush Performance, and Multimatic Motorsports with series veteran Scott Maxwell.
The Roar also will be the first showing for a few teams making the jump from ST to GS, including BimmerWorld Racing in the new BMW M4 GT4 and Murillo Racing in a Mercedes-AMG GT4. The same holds true for several drivers as well, such as Owen Trinkler, now part of the Team TGM Mercedes-AMG lineup, and longtime duo Stevan McAleer and Chad McCumbee who will be racing for different teams in 2018, Bodymotion Racing and Multimatic Motorsports, respectively.
New teams on the scene include Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport with two Mercedes-AMG GT4s, Classic BMW/Vess Energy Group with a BMW M4 and AWA with a Ford Mustang.
However, the growth of the Continental Tire Challenge is not only seen in the GS class. Making its Continental Tire Challenge debut this season is TCR, which slots in between GS and ST in performance and has seven race cars on the entry list. Volkswagen, the newest manufacturer to the series, is represented with one Golf GTI, while the remaining teams are fielding Audi RS3 LMS racecars.
Three teams familiar with the series – Murillo Racing, JDC-Miller Motorsports and C360R – are fielding TCR cars this year and are joined by three newcomers – eEuroparts.com Racing, RS Werkes Racing and Rumcastle LLC.
Rounding out the entry list is the ST class, with five cars and all from returning teams. Murillo Racing completes the trifecta with a car in each class, and will be racing alongside two MINI JCWs from the MINI JCW Team, Bodymotion Racing and BimmerWorld Racing in the class.
The Continental Tire Challenge kicks off the Roar weekend with a morning and afternoon practice session on Friday, followed by two additional sessions per day on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets for the event can be purchased on www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com.
Source :https://www.imsa.com
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