[hellrotm]

Soggy day today, but the racing was fantastic. Fun watching Ryan Eversley drive through the field with his all-wheel-drive TLX GT. He was launching out of the corners in the wet. I'll try to get some pics up later, I took from the weekend.

[954Stealth]

Originally Posted by BlackJetE90

Soggy day today, but the racing was fantastic. Fun watching Ryan Eversley drive through the field with his all-wheel-drive TLX GT. He was launching out of the corners in the wet. I'll try to get some pics up later, I took from the weekend.

Looking forward to it! Hope you had a great weekend

[954Stealth]

These guys are fast!

[954Stealth]

Time for some TMS shots

[954Stealth]

Another

[954Stealth]

Couple more

[954Stealth]

2nd to last

[954Stealth]

Here's when he came in with the flat

[954Stealth]

K-Pax

[954Stealth]

Originally Posted by BlackJetE90

Soggy day today, but the racing was fantastic. Fun watching Ryan Eversley drive through the field with his all-wheel-drive TLX GT. He was launching out of the corners in the wet. I'll try to get some pics up later, I took from the weekend.

Where did you sit?

[Patrón]

epic race. i went for friday's practice and loved it. some thoughts :

the sls amg mercedes cars sound incredible (actually most of the cars sounded awesome)

the bently, sls, astons and new ford mustangs sounded like wwII fighter planes

it's nice to get up close to the race cars in the pit areas.

fun to see a version of my motor in a race car

i didn't know the ferrari teams use motegi wheels...

[hellrotm]

Originally Posted by 954Stealth

Looking forward to it! Hope you had a great weekend

Posted some pics in a new thread.

http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1100046

Originally Posted by 954Stealth

Where did you sit?

Basically everywhere, grandstands were open all weekend. Paddock/Garages open as well. Mostly sat in turn 15 complex and main grand stand. Did a lot of walking around. Sunday when it was raining, they weren't really checking credentials, so spent some time on pit lane during the races.

[954Stealth]

I'm still waiting on full race videos, here's a couple of others in the mean time

https://outlook.office365.com/owa/#path=/mail

Couple short flyby vids

[hellrotm]

The new ATS-V.R would backfire a lot, it was loud. Sounded like a small bomb each time. Pilgrams car was having trouble, he was late out for a couple sessions.

Johnny O had a good race 1, finished third. The team have a ways to go with new car development. I don't see a 4th straight championship for Johnny this year.

Pic I took of the ATS-V.R engine bay, with the new TTV6.

[954Stealth]

RACE RECAP:
TURNER BMWs BATTLE 49-CAR FIELD AT COTA IN 2015 PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE SEASON OPENER

Austin, TX. – March 9th, 2015 – With the season opener of the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge in the books Turner Motorsport completes their 305th and 306th professional races with BMW with their return to the series at the 3.427 mile 20-turn Circuit of the Americas.

The Turner BMW entries of Bill Ziegler and Bret Curtis made their debut in the No. 95 Swisher Z4 GT3 and No. 32 Borla Exhaust Z4 GT3 competing in the highly competitive, 49-car GT field at Circuit of the Americas with back-to-back races Saturday and Sunday.

“It’s exciting to be back in PWC to be a part of one of the largest GT fields world-wide,” said Will Turner. “The GT field is super competitive and the caliber of competition is definitely world class and the racing this weekend proved it.”

To kick off the weekend’s racing action the No. 32 Borla Exhaust BMW started Saturday’s race on the outside of row 16 after qualifying inside the top 15 in the GT-A class while the No. 95 Swisher BMW started right behind in the 17th row for the dramatic standing start.

As the historic 49-car field jockeyed for position entering Turn 1 the No. 32 and No. 95 of Curtis and Ziegler narrowly avoided substantial contact for a strong start in the 50 minute contest. The two BMWs were able to maintain consistent lap times in the caution-less sprint race to make up several positions to finish P12 and P14 respectively.

With two top-fifteen results recorded Curtis and Ziegler looked to Sunday with optimistic expectations for improvement.

“Saturday’s race was tough in the No. 32 Borla Exhaust BMW. It was very challenging for me to make up positions with the somewhat significant differential in speed on the straights,” said Bret Curtis. “Despite being very strong in the brake zones and corners the long straights here at COTA hurt.”

In Sunday’s race the No. 32 of Bret Curtis made a hard charge early in the race, showing the strengths of the Borla Exhaust BMW in the wet. Curtis quickly made up several positions in the opening laps only to be forced to the pits after contact made by an Audi R8 which resulted in a flat left rear tire.

While the No. 32 was forced to pit for a tire change the No. 95 Swisher Racing BMW continued on, battling through low visibility and traffic, ultimately finishing P17. Despite the discouraging start, the No. 32 Borla Exhaust BMW of Curtis rebounded from the rear of the field to finish P11 to improve on Saturday’s P12 finish.

“We definitely had a real good car to drive with the leaders in GT-A in the rain," commented Bret Curtis. “In spite of the challenges I'm pleased we came home with two finishes, some points, and learned a lot. The team performed flawlessly and I feel we will show better in the next several races."

The two Turner BMWs of Curtis and Ziegler leave Texas with valuable points headed into rounds 3 and 4 of the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge at St. Pete in just three weeks.

Catch all the exciting racing action from COTA and watch GT/GTA/GT Cup Rounds 1 and 2 on CBS Sports Network, Saturday, March 14 at 11am EDT.

Rounds 3 and 4 will take place March 27-29 in Florida for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in conjunction with the Verizon IndyCar Series.

[954Stealth]

Champagne time!

[954Stealth]

Sixty-Three Pirelli World Challenge Drivers Set to Race on the Streets of St. Petersburg

Monday, March 23, 2015



St. Petersburg, FL – The Pirelli World Challenge's 2015 season continues March 26-29 with GT, GTA, GT Cup presented by MOMO, and GTS teams and drivers heading to St. Petersburg to compete on the 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street course. Sixty-three drivers will take to the track for Rounds 3 and 4 and the Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, part of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg weekend.

Since 1990, the series has competed at St. Petersburg 10 times; the 2015 visit marks the sixth straight year and the 11th time the series will race at the Florida street course. With 43 cars entered in the GT/GTA/GT Cup classes, it will be interesting to see how drivers transition from racing at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) – a circuit that was designed with a deliberate widening of corners, to encourage drivers to follow multiple racing lines – to the narrow confines and concrete barriers of the street circuit at St. Petersburg. In GTS, there should be some great battles among the highly talented 20 drivers entered. Qualifying will be important as seven of the last nine GT wins from 2010-14 have come from the pole. In GTS, the nine-race average race winner’s starting position is 2.777.

http://www.world-challenge.com/news/...etersburg.html

[954Stealth]

GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG
DATE OF EVENT: Friday, March 27 - Sunday, March 29
LOCATION: St. Petersburg, FL
ROUND(S): GT/GTA/GT Cup: Rounds 3 & 4; GTS: Rounds 3 & 4
BROADCAST On CBS Sports Network Sunday, April 5, 5 PM: GT/GTA, GT Cup presented by MOMO, GTS. All times listed Eastern. Times and dates subject to change.
Live streaming of races is available on WWW.WORLD-CHALLENGETV.COM

[954Stealth]

Porsche preview


Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Porsche Motorsports Pre-Event Notes


Showing his versatility by winning on dry pavement and in the rain earlier this month at Circuit of the Americas, Michael Lewis took both ends of the Pirelli World challenge opening rounds in his GTA No. 41 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Dateline. St. Petersburg, Florida
Circuit. St. Petersburg Street Course
Track Length/Turns. 1.8 mile, 14-turn Temporary Circuit
Round. Pirelli World Challenge, Rounds 3 and 4 of 20
Next Round. Long Beach, California, April 17-19, 2015

Porsche Events.
Pirelli World Challenge
Race 1: Friday, March 27 – GTS Class: 10:15 a.m. ET, Saturday, March 28 – GT/GTA/GT Cup Class: 11:10 a.m. ET
Race 2: Saturday, March 28 – GTS Class: 5:45 p.m. ET, Sunday, March 29 – GT/GTA/GT Cup Class: 10:45 a.m. ET
Race Duration. GTS Class: 50-minutes GT/GTA/GT Cup Class: 1 hour
Classes. GT (Porsche 911 GT3 R), GTA (Porsche 911 GT3 R), GT Cup (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup), GTS (Porsche Cayman S)

Porsche Profile. Event Story Lines.
Porsche Cars North America Public Relations will be happy to provide additional information, images and help schedule interviews to facilitate these and other Porsche related stories. Thank you for your interest and coverage.

Porsche Shows Well in PWC Season-Opener.
Ryan Dalziel, Michael Lewis and Colin Thompson combined for four Porsche wins and six podium-finishes in the Pirelli World Challenge season opener at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on March 8. Three Porsche drivers either won their class or finished second in the first two rounds of the GT/GTA class. In addition, ten driver/team combinations debuted the new one-make GT Cup class for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars and two Porsche Cayman S models competed in the GTS class. It was a major weekend with 15 Porsche models on track in the PWC.

Ryan Dalziel (Scotland), in the No. 31 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, finished second in the GT portion of the GT/GTA/GT Cup race while EFFORT Racing teammate Michael Lewis (Laguna Beach, California) had an even better weekend. The EFFORT Racing/Porsche Young Driver Program scholarship recipient put the No. 41 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 won the GTA class both days. The performance gave Lewis the GTA point lead in his first ever PWC season while Dalziel sits second.

In the first-ever GT Cup class, the top-three held position in both of the weekend’s races. Colin Thompson (Doylestown, Pennsylvania), the reigning Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA champion, took his 2015 Bucks County Porsche prepared by Kelly-Moss Motorsport to victory lane in both races. TruSpeed Autosport Porsche driver Sloan Urry (Park City, Utah) and 19 year-old Alec Udell (The Woodlands, Texas) followed suit, mirroring second and third-place finishes in each race. Like Lewis, both Thompson and Urry were participants in the Porsche Young Drivers Academy at Barber Motorsports Park in late 2014.

In the pair of GTS class races, GTSport Racing teammates Jack Baldwin (Marietta, Georgia) and Buz McCall (Boca Raton, Florida) both struggled but are poised for a quick turn-around going into the streets of St. Pete. The temporary street course should better suit the Porsche Cayman’s attributes.

This weekend’s races – two each for the GT/GTA/GT Cup and GTS – promise the same tight competition as COTA. However, on the first street course of the year, the opportunity to snatch defeat out of the mouth of victory is high. The tight, wall-lined confines of the circuit coupled with a bumpy road surface will challenge every driver from veteran to novice to keep the cars undamaged and fighting for position.

Jens Walther, President/CEO, Porsche Motorsport North America
"The opening round in Austin was a very good start for all of our customer teams. The street circuit in St. Pete is a different beast than COTA but the Porsche 911 GT3 R, 911 GT3 Cup and the Cayman S are very good platforms for this type of course. With several other street courses remaining on the Pirelli World Challenge schedule, this will be a good indication of where the Porsche teams stand against the competition. It will also be an excellent opportunity for many of our GT Cup customer drivers to experience a street course in the 911 GT3 Cup car for the first time."

Ryan Dalziel, Driver, No. 31 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, GT class "I think it goes without saying that I am excited to get the GT3R on the streets of St Pete. When it comes to being fast on a street course, the most important thing is traction off the corners and that’s always a strength of the 911. My first race in World Challenge was at St. Pete in 2013 driving a 911 and we won the race. So, coing back here with EFFORT Racing and the 911 GT3R seems like a great combination for success. We have a lot of momentum coming off our double podium at COTA but I look forward to getting Porsche their first overall GT3 R win of 2015."

Jack Baldwin, No. 73 GTSport Racing, Porsche Cayman S, GTS class“We’re looking forward to going back to St. Pete. It’s a track that favors the superior handling of the Porsche Cayman. The team has been working really hard since COTA and we’re well prepared for the weekend. We’ve had great success in the past here and, as a track that is such a good place for the Porsche Cayman platform, we hope to make up some ground in the GTS championship.”

Where to Watch.
Television Race Broadcast:
Sunday, April 5, 5:00 p.m., CBS Sports Network
Re-Air TBA
Live Race Streaming:
www.WorldChallengeTV.com
Live Timing and Scoring:
http://www.world-challenge.com/liverace


Porsche Entries.
GT (1) Porsche 911 GT3 R
No. 31 EFFORT Racing Ryan Dalziel (Scotland)
GT Amateur (GTA)(1) Porsche 911 GT3 R
No. 41 EFFORT Racing Michael Lewis (Laguna Beach, California)
GT Cup (8) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
No. 11 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Colin Thompson (R) (Doylestown, Pennsylvania)
No. 13 ANSA Motorsports Lorenzo Trefethen (R) (Napa, California)
No. 17 GMG Alec Udell (The Woodlands, Texas)
No. 18 TruSpeed Autosport Phill Fogg, Jr. (Portland, Oregon)
No. 77 Phoenix American Motorsports Preston Calvert (R) (Potomac, Maryland)
No. 81 DragonSpeed Victor Gomez (R) (Puerto Rico)
No. 97 Landry Racing Mitch Landry (Lake Charles, Louisiana)
No. 02 TruSpeed Autosport Sloan Urry (Salt Lake, City)
GTS (2) Porsche Cayman S
No. 72 GTSport Racing Buz McCall (Boca Raton, Florida)
No. 73 GTSport Racing Jack Baldwin (Marietta, Georgia)

[954Stealth]

TURNER BMWs HIT THE STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG FOR ROUNDS 3 & 4 OF THE PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE.



March 26th, 2015 by TMS for Immediate Release

St. Petersburg, FL. – March 26th, 2015 – As the final race of three in March approaches, Turner Motorsport prepares for Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Turner’s Pirelli World Challenge program will field the two BMW Z4 GT3s that appeared at the season opener at Circuit of the Americas earlier this month.

Turner returns to St. Pete this season after a cameo appearance in last year’s St. Pete Grand with the No. 94 BMW Z4 of Dane Cameron. Cameron started from P3 and was in line for a strong top-five finish until light contact caused suspension damage prematurely ending the charge to the front, ultimately finishing P18.

“Our appearance in PWC last year really sparked the motivation to come racing in this series for 2015,” explained Will Turner. “The car was extremely competitive out of the box in the GT3 spec allowing us to focus on racing and having fun, instead of rule changes and series performance adjustments. We showed up, practiced and went racing.”

The return to World Challenge in 2015 marks the first full-time campaign in the series since 2004 when the blue and yellow took their second of back-to-back 2003 and 2004 Championships in the TC class with Bill Auberlen.

“It’s exciting to show up at the track with over forty GT3 homologated cars from manufacturers all over the world and go racing,” added Will Turner. “It’s refreshing to be able to come here and run our Z4s as they were intended and to know the car can be competitive each and every race.”

With valuable points from COTA, the No. 32 Borla Exhaust BMW driven by Bret Curtis and the No. 95 Swisher Racing BMW driven by Bill Ziegler look to improve on their already strong start in rounds one and two earlier this month. The Turner drivers will go head to head with forty-three competitors on the 14-turn, 1.8 mile street course.

“I am extremely excited for the second race of the season in St. Petersburg. I learned a lot about the BMW Z4 at COTA, and after making some small adjustments to the setup we are confident we will be even more successful for the upcoming race,” said Bret Curtis. “It’s been so great working with Turner and Borla and I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the two companies leading their industries. I’m eager to see what this weekend has in store for us.”

The No. 32 and No. 95 Turner BMWs will kick off this weekend with Thursday and Friday practice followed by the Saturday and Sunday fifty-minute sprint races.

Follow along on March 28th and 29th with the LIVE Internet Telecast on www.world-challengeTV.com and www.torque.tv for both races. The race can also be viewed on television on CBS Sports Network on Sunday, April 5th at 5pm EST.

[954Stealth]

...

[954Stealth]

Well this is pretty freakin' awesome:

WC Vision President and CEO Scott Bove announced today that the Pirelli World Challenge Championships series will be joined by the European-based Blancpain GT Series for the 2016 season opener at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas

The Pirelli World Challenge and Blancpain GT Series share similar desires to expand their product outside their existing markets," said Bove. "Pirelli is the common denominator being the Official Tire for both series. PWC has developed a strong worldwide presence with international drivers, teams and manufacturers competing in our series. It's now time to take our brand of racing to the global stage as a true World Challenge."

"Getting an American circuit on the Blancpain GT Series' calendar has always been one of my pet projects," said Stephane Ratel, CEO and founder off SRO Motorsports Group. "The best way to do that is to work together with people who know the ins and outs of racing in the United States. The organizers of the Pirelli World Challenge and the people at SRO Motorsports Group share the same philosophy on GT racing: it should be competitive, spectacular and entertaining for the fans. It is no use for each of us to do our own thing in our own corner, when sharing our knowledge could produce far better results."