Record 111 Entries for Pirelli World Challenge Season Finale This Weekend with Titles on the Line at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Record 111 Entries for Pirelli World Challenge Season Finale This Weekend with Titles on the Line at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Record 111 Entries for Pirelli World Challenge Season Finale This Weekend with Titles on the Line at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Tom Blattler
Pirelli World Challenge
September 10, 2015

For Immediate Release

Full Field at Road America

Johnny O Action

Ferrari in Action

McLaren Kevin Estre

O’Connell, Beretta Lead GT Point Battle, Six Other Classes to Crown Champions

SALINAS, Calif. (Sept. 10, 2015) – A record 111 entries are set to battle in the season finale this weekend (Sept. 11-13) for the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge road racing series at the historic Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca as seven class championship will be crowned.

Some 22 automobile manufacturers, with 39 different models, will be represented in seven classes at the legendary 2.238-mile, 11-turn permanent racing facility near the picturesque Monterey peninsula. Drivers from throughout the world start competition Friday at the popular road circuit which opened in 1957.

This weekend’s PWC action marks the 11th and final weekend of the spectacular racing season which saw some of the most diverse competition ever witnessed in North American sedan racing including the top eight GT point leaders competing in eight different auto makes.

The breakdown for the record season finale entry list this weekend includes 19 in the GT division, 12 in GTA, eight in GT Cup presented by MOMO and 28 in GTS with the Touring Car categories comprising of 14 in TC, 14 in TCA and 16 in TCB.

“It has been some of the most intense and sensational racing ever seen in the Pirelli World Challenge and we are expecting a great finale to the 2015 campaign this weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,” said Scott Bove, president and CEO of WC Vision, the operating company for Pirelli World Challenge. “Several of the class titles are coming right down the checkered flag on Sunday afternoon.The PWC officials will be working the calculators as the laps click down to see who takes these coveted championships.”

In the very competitive GT and GTA categories, thirty drivers will be in action with defending three-time GT champion Johnny O’Connell of Flowery Branch, Ga., seeking a fourth consecutive GT title in his No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-TV GT3 against the likes former 24 Hours of LeMans champion Olivier Beretta of Monte Carlo in the No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia, J.D. Davison of Boulder, Colo., in the No. 33 Always Evolving Replay Nissan GT-R, Ryan Dalziel of Windermere, Fla., in the No. 31 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 and Kevin Estre of Lochua, Austria in the No. 9 K-PAX McLaren 650S GT3.

“This year’s Pirelli World Challenge championship is close to the finish as I expected,” said O’Connell, a four-time 24 Hours of Lemans champion. “It has been a phenomenal series with some of the best sedan racing in the world. The manufacturer representation and number of winners in the GT division shows just how competitive this series is right now. The series finale should be wild.”

Other point leaders looking secure the series championships include Frank Montecalvo of Highlands, N.J., in the No. 66 DragonSpeed/Bayshore Racing Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS GT3 in the GTA division, Colin Thompson of Doylestown, Pa., in the No. 11 Porsche of Bucks County/Kelly-Moss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in GT Cup presented by MOMO and Michael Cooper of Syosset, N.Y. in the No. 10 BlackDog Speed Shop Chevrolet Z28 in GTS.

In the Touring Car point leaders, Corey Fergus of Columbus, Ohio, in the No. 00 US LED Porsche Cayman tops the TC class, Jason Wolfe of Mount Vernon, Ohio in the No. 38 Kinetic Motorsports Kia Forte Coup leads in TCA and Johan Schwartz of Huntersville, N.C., in the No. 25 Tech Sport Racing Chevrolet Sonic is the front runner in TCB.

“Time flies when we’re having fun! We are quite proud of the partnership with World Challenge Vision and the trajectory we have been able to achieve together,” said Rafael Navarro V.P of Communications and Motorsport for Pirelli’s NAFTA Region. “The fact that we have championships coming down the to the wire to be decided at the last event with a record number of manufacturers represented and a record car count is indicative of great racing. It’s amazing that we are winding down our fifth season as the Official Tire Supplier of Pirelli World Challenge and we look forward to continuing to build on the success for years to come.”

The Pirelli World Challenge presented by Cadillac weekend gets underway Thursday, Sept. 10, will practice followed by races Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In addition, the Mazda Road to Indy open-wheel series finale also will take place throughout the weekend.

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