Pirelli World Challenge- Sonoma
We were at Sonoma Raceway to cover the finale of the IndyCar season and were delighted to see on the event schedule, the inclusion of one of our favorite racing series, the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC). PWC is auto racing at its best, featuring a full menu of the world's finest production based sports cars from Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, Nissan, Bentley, Mercedes, Ford Aston Martin, Chevrolet, KIA, Honda, Mazda and Audi. We have said many times that the PWC is North America's best racing series.
The World Challenge series was born in 1990, and celebrated its 25th anniversary season in 2014. The series consists of seven driver classifications and six classes of vehicles with participants divided into several races that occur throughout a race weekend with Sunday races using standing starts.
While race fans will often find fault with many current day racing series that devolve into two hour long parade laps, the lightning quick 50 minute sprint races of the PWC provide intense action from the green lights to the checkered flag. A visit to the PWC YouTube page will provide ample evidence of the close and competitive nature of this series. The bump and run is just a risky means to an end...aside from being a wonderful spectacle, PWC is strategy with this group as manufactures from North America, Europe and Asia battle for attention. Few things in life are as exciting as watching a McLaren 650s GT3 battle fender to fender with a Cadillac ATS-VR GT3. Let's not forget this is also the home of the Bentley Continental GT3 of Bentley Team Dyson Racing, where a civilized luxury car has been turned into a beast that would would make Mad Max quiver. These car makers are serious about getting their best and fastest in front of race fans and on the TV...and we're all for it!
Recent regulations have mandated that competitors comply with European specifications that will make is easier for European and American teams to cross continents to race in PWC or the European Blancpain GT Series. In 2015 the three best placed cars in the final standings of the 2015 PWC finishers will be invited to participate in the Baku World Challenge, the final round of the Blancpain GT Series. Next year, the top three finishers in the Blacpain GT series will participate in an event on the PWC calendar in North America. At the opening PWC race of the 2016 season at the Circuit of the Americas on March 4th-6th, both series will come together and compete on the same weekend, a first for both series.
The Loud Pedal will be on scene as PWC will be the headliner September 12th and 13th at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Stay tuned for more from us on the Pirelli World Challenge.
