Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car champions will be crowned this weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. (PWC Photo)
SALINAS, Calif. – It will be championship weekend for the three Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car classes at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca when 50 drivers and cars compete in the a pair of 40-minute races to close out the year.
The season finales for TC are part of the California 8 Hours SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge race weekend schedule.
With the large overall number of TC entries, the Touring Car and TCA/TCB divisions will battle in separate events as 29 entries are scheduled in the TC events set for Saturday at 9:50 a.m. PDT and 4 p.m. PDT, with 21 drivers set in the TCA/TCB features at 9 a.m. and 2:05 p.m. PDT.
“It should be an exciting weekend for our Touring Car competitors at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,” said Jim Jordan, TC class manager for the Pirelli World Challenge. “It is always pressure paced when the point titles come down to the final weekend. It’s been a great year for TC racing and we expected that aspect to continue this weekend. The racing should be awesome.”
In the TC category, Paul Holton holds an eight-point advantage over Nick Wittmer with Greg Liefooghe and defending series champion Toby Grahovec still in contention. In TCA, the S.A.C. Racing teammates – Matthew Fassnacht and Elivan Goulart – are fighting for the 2017 points title with three drivers – Jake Pipal, P.J. Groenke and Canaan O’Connell – just three points apart in the TCB class.
Action begins Thursday with track testing while official practice and qualifying is scheduled for Friday.
A 29-car Touring Car field is set to take to the famed 2.238-mile, 11-turn Northern California road circuit with manufacturers represented by Audi, BMW, Honda, Mazda and Nissan.
Holton, who turns 21 on Oct. 11, brings the Touring Car point lead to Mazda Raceway after driving the No. 71 Pfaff C360R Audi RS3 LMS Club Sport sedan to two race victories and three runner-up finishes. Holton holds an eight-point advantage entering the final two TC events.
“My head is down and I am ready to execute at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,” said Holton. “Eight points isn’t an ideal lead in the championship, but it’s what I have to work with. Compass Racing knows how to win championships and I expect that knowledge from the team to give us an advantage come the end of the weekend.”
Holton’s point total of 183 currently leads the TC standings trailed by Wittmer at 175, Liefooghe at 162 and Grahovec at 156.
Wittmer, the veteran racer from Montreal, scored his first victory this year in No. 91 ST Racing BMW M235iR in Round 8 at Circuit of the Americas on Labor Day weekend. Nick also has three second places and one third so far this year.
Liefooghe is the winningest TC driver this year with four wins in the No. 20 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M235iR. He recorded victories at VIR, Utah (twice) and COTA. He also has one second place and two pole positions in 2017.
Grahovec, whose Classic BMW racing operation has run up to five cars at a race this year, won the TC title last year at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and brings his No. 1 Classic BMW BMW M235iR back with another shot at the title.
Six different drivers have won TCA races in the first ten events including the two challengers for the 2017 points crown –Fassnacht and Goulart, both in S.A.C. Racing Mazda Global MX-R Cup cars.
Fassnacht holds a 12-point lead over the 2016 TCA champion Goulart. He began the PWC season with double victories at VIR and has made the podium five additional times three seconds, two thirds) for point lead entering the MRLS doubleheader set for Saturday.
Goulart, 37, was impressive in 2016 with five wins and 12 top-five placings in securing his first PWC title and returned this year with two victories and four runner-up finishes.
In the TCB class, only three points separate the point leader Pipal, Groenke and O’Connell with two 40-minute races remaining on the PWC schedule. All three have won this year and expect some tough racing in both Saturday contests.
Pipal, the 19-year-old from nearby Oakdale, Calif., is a regular at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, having come through the open-wheel ranks. Pipal has collected 220 points with three wins this year in his No. 6 Pipal Racing Honda Fit.
Groenke and O’Connell, son of four-time PWC GT champion Johnny O’Connell, come to MRLS driving identical TechSport Racing Chevrolet Sonics (No. 25 and No. 24 respectively). Groenke has 218 points with one win, while O’Connell has 217 points and five victories in this season. Either driver could take home the TCB title Saturday afternoon.
The Touring Car class champions will be honored on Saturday evening, Oct. 14, at the Embassy Suites in Seaside, Calif.
Source : speedsport.com
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