Round one of the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge championship is to be run on the street course of St. Petersburg, Florida. Yours truly will bring you the highlights of these races, from their airings on NBC Sports Network. But, if possible, video footage of the races will also be included, so you can watch the actual race, too. It has been a few years since I've followed World Challenge, and there have been a lot of changes. But, this year, World Challenge will be covered on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog.
Lawson Aschenbach, Mark Wilkins, Nic Jonsson, Jack Baldwin, and others are racing. There's a new class GTA, for Pro Am drivers. FIA GT3 class cars are in this class. The GT3 homologated cars are run as is. In GTA, it's gentlemen drivers. They will run for their own championship. Michael Mills and Effort Racing, are one of the new GTA teams. More gentleman drivers and developing drivers, will come to the sport of GT sports car racing.
49 cars will start this race. It's a tight, fast street circuit. Watch the closing rates. Lawson Aschenbach and Johnny O'Connell, won the championships last year. Many drivers are making their series debuts. Lawson Aschenbach was 2013 GTS champion. He is wearing the #1 on his Chevrolet Camaro. Cadillac, Ferrari, Audi, and BMW, will be a part of this race, and the series. Here at St. Petersburg, the straightaway is a runway, and it's slippery over the paint. Watch for bumps.
Watch for camber changes in turn seven, and the flat out kink in turn nine. Then come the quick s corners. Then, it's back onto the front straight, the runway. The weather has been crazy. We're ready to race. This is the fifth year of World Challenge racing at St. Pete. The opening race was rained out. Jack Baldwin has pole in GTS with a 1:23.453. Tomas Enge is on pole with the Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo. This race will last 50 minutes.
The Cadillac CTS safety car leads the field. Enge shares the front row with Anthony Lazzaro. We've got a huge field. We're ready to race at St. Petersburg. It's taking a little longer to get in place. Don't overheat the motor. Go! At the start, someone jumped, and there's a stall. Tomas Enge got swamped and Anthony Lazzaro takes the lead. Here comes one of the Cadillac's. Dane Cameron in the BMW Z4 had a bad start. James Sofronas in an Audi R8 could have had a bad start. Andrew Palmer is also dwon a ways. Now, Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis is up the order.
We watch Andrew Palmer, who tries to fend off a challenge. Nick Mancuso is up there. But now, Cadillac still leads with Andy Pilgrim in the leading car, who has had a long sports car racing career. Pilgrim wants a win here in St. Petersburg. Andrew Palmer is pressuring Anthony Lazzaro. Nick Mancuso is Lazzaro's team mate for R. Ferri Racing and Ferrari. In GTS, Andy Lee is leading the class in his Chevrolet Camaro, chased by Lawson Aschenbach and Dean Martin.
Pilgrim still leads this race in the Cadillac CTS-V coupe. Alex Figge in the McLaren MP-4/12C is fifth. Mancuso wants by Palmer, but can't do it. Tomas Enge moves to seventh, past Albert von Thurn Und Taxis. Dane Cameron wants by James Sofronas. The Pirelli P Zero slick tires will do the job for traction. They are the same manufacturer of tires used in Formula One of course. Andy Pilgrim is pulling out a gap in the lead. Now, in a replay of the start, Enge stalls, and both Dane Cameron and Johnny O'Connell, get trapped. Mike Skeen in the #12 Nissan GT-R got the best start.
Andy Pilgrim continues to lead. Andy Lee leads GTS. But, now, Pilgrim will start lapping the GTS class cars. The traffic is a big deal. Oh! Ernie Francis Jr. has crashed his Camaro. Something has gon wong with Francis Jr.'s, car. Will this bring out the safety car? He got wide and hit the escape road before popping the tires. Game over for Ernie Francis Jr. Pilgrim and Lee, (the two Andy's) lead in each class.
Pilgrim is eight seconds ahead of everyone else. Now then, in GTS, it's Andy Lee vs. Lawson Aschenbach, with Dean Martin closing in. Jack Baldwin tries moving by Dean Martin and there's argy bargy between the Mustang and Baldwin's Porsche Cayman. Baldwin comes through. Baldwin is super quick, and is a true veteran of sports car racing. Tony Buffomonte is the team car. Now, Jim Taggart has crashed, and so has Erik Davis.
Taggart is inside, and crunch! He slams the Mustang. It was hard to see what happens in those situations. 12 laps are done and dusted out of 32 scheduled. For action in World Challenge, fans, go to this link.
www.world-challenge.com
One development is that Realtime Racing has moved up, with Acura. They will run an Acura TLX coming out at the race in Detroit, later in the season. It's a twin turbo 3.5 liter V6 motor with all wheel drive. Andy Pilgrim has run a 1:14.9 and Tomas Enge runs a 1:14.8. So lap times are close. But, Dane Cameron, runs half a second quicker, at 1:14.2. Any GTS cars that are mired with the GT cars, the GTS cars are pointed by, and so there's no traffic for faster cars.
Pilgrim is booking it right now. The GT3 cars are much more aerodynamic than the regular World Challenge machines. This is the only series where these GT3 cars are up to spec like they are in Europe. The only difference is less tuning with suspension, whereas, the Cadillac coupes have their traction control perfected. We are ready to go back to green.
Restart time! Andy pilgrim launches and Palmer wants a move. So do Enge, and Prince Albert. Enge slides inside Nick Mancuso. Dane Cameron wants around the Prince. Alex Figge in the McLaren is also there. Enge makes the move, the long way around. Anthony Lazzaro blocks. Enge swings back outside. Enge gets in hot. No chance for Mancuso. Andy Pilgrim is loving this. He's opening a gap while these other blokes fight each other.
This race is heating up. Lazzaro is in defense mode against Tomas Enge. Andy Pilgrim has sailed into the distance. In GTS, it's still Aschenbach vs. Lee vs. Martin. Two cars spin. An Aston Martin and a Camaro. Anthony Lazzaro is fighting his tires, looking for more grip. Tim Bergmeister closes on Alex Figge. No, Lazzaro got clipped by a backmarker, and Enge passes. Lazzaro got hit by another car. This race is far from over.
Dane Cameron passes Albert von Thurn Und Taxis, and Albert comes right after him! He's going for it. This guy is quick! Can Tomas Enge catch Andy Pilgrim. Albert goes wide, but Cameron can't make it. Lazzaro and Fernando Siferlus, got together. Siferlus is in a Camaro in GTS. Cameron taps Prince Albert. Andy Pilgrim is pushing hard. Less than twelve minutes remaining in this race. Tomas Enge is giving it serious welly, trying to catch Pilgrim.
Pilgrim moves by lapped cars, and now, Enge is right up on Pilgrim's rear bumper. It's Cadillac vs. Lamborghini. Uh oh. Dean Martin's #50 Mustang is stalled as Tim Pappas has a big crunch into the wall in his Mercedes SLS AMG GT3. We may be under yellow. Aschenbach passes Andy Lee, and Lee has damage, with Jack Baldwin third in GTS. Aschenbach leads GTS. Pilgrim continues to lead GT and overall.
This will be a wicked finish, folks. The GT and GTS battles continue. Pilgrim hangs on by a thread over Enge. Enge is all over Pilgrim's Cadillac like a rash. Enge dives to the inside and Pilgrim says, "no way, sunshine." The Kia Optima is also running well. Nic Jonsson driving the Kia Optima turbo. Enge tries to use the green Mustang as a pick, and he passs Pilgrim in the Cadillac. Wow! This is good stuff. Pilgrim might get caught.
Enge runs a 1:13.7, fastest lap of the race. When he has clear track, he whistles off into the distance. On the bumpy side of the track, Enge slides down the inside. Andrew Palmer and Anthony Lazzaro continue to hold down third and fourth in GT and overall. We're now in the last laps of this season opener. Tomas Enge leads the field with one lap to go. Anthony Lazzaro, Prince Albert, and Alex Figge, are battling for the top five.
Dane Cameron won't make it home in a top spot. Enge looks for the white flag, passing Andy Lee. One more lap of this 1.8 mile circuit, where Enge crashed in the old American Le Mans Series that took him out of many races that year. Pilgrim's coming. Enge is really quick, because through the chicane, the GT3 car has more downforce. But, Tomas Enge is the winner!
Overall/GT: #25 Tomas Enge Lamborghini Gallardo GT3
GTS: #1 Lawson Aschenbach Chevrolet Camaro
The next race is on the street course at Long Beach, California. Looking forward to that race, and look for highlights and a possible video, right here on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog.
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