The 2015 Pirelli World Challenge season was the 26th running of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. It introduced a new all-Porsche "GT Cup" race group. Johnny O'Connell was the defending champion in the highest class, the GT class.
The season comprises 12 rounds, with several rounds in support of the IndyCar Series and the United SportsCar Championship, as well as supporting the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. [1]
Round | Date | Event | Circuit | Location | Classes | Supporting |
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1 | March 6–8 | Nissan Grand Prix of Texas | Circuit of the Americas | Austin, Texas | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) TC/TCA/TCB (x3) | Headline |
2 | March 27–29 | Cadillac Grand Prix of St. Petersburg | Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) | IndyCar Series |
3 | April 17–19 | Roar By The Shore presented by Replay XD | Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, California | GT/GTA/GT Cup† | IndyCar Series / United SportsCar Championship |
4 | April 24–26 | MOMO Grand Prix at Barber | Barber Motorsports Park | Birmingham, Alabama | GT/GTA/GT Cup† (x2) GTS (x2) | IndyCar Series |
5 | May 15–17 | Remo Ferri Group Canadian Grand Prix | Canadian Tire Motorsport Park | Bowmanville, Ontario | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) TC/TCA/TCB (x3) | NASCAR Canadian Tire Series |
6 [2] | May 29–31 | Cadillac V-Series Challenge | The Raceway on Belle Isle | Detroit, Michigan | GT/GTA (x2) | IndyCar Series / United SportsCar Championship |
7 | June 26–28 | DeVilbiss Grand Prix at Road America | Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) TC/TCA/TCB (x3) | Headline |
8 | July 31 – August 2 | StopTech Grand Prix presented by MOMO | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) | IndyCar Series |
9 [3] | August 14–16 | OPTIMA Grand Prix presented by MOMO | TC/TCA/TCB (x3) | NASCAR Xfinity Series | ||
10 | August 21–23 | Ford Grand Prix at Miller by VP Fuels | Miller Motorsports Park | Tooele, Utah | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) TC/TCA/TCB (x3) | Headline |
11 | August 28–30 | Grand Prix of Sonoma presented by Kia | Sonoma Raceway | Sonoma, California | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) | IndyCar Series |
12 | September 11–13 | Mazda Raceway Grand Prix by Cadillac | Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca | Monterey, California | GT/GTA/GT Cup GTS TC/TCA/TCB (x3) | Headline |
Source: [4] |
†The round at Long Beach was capped to 40 cars, with only 10 GT-Cup cars guaranteed a place. Any GT-Cup entries that were not able to contest the Long Beach round were eligible for double points at Barber Motorsports Park. [5]
The second race at Belle Isle on May 31 was cancelled on safety grounds due to inclement weather, which caused reduced track visibility. An additional race was held at Road America to replace the round at Detroit. [6]
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Every driver participates in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
Team | No. | Driver | Rounds |
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TruSpeed Autosport | 02 | Sloan Urry | All |
18 | Phil Fogg Jr. | 1–5, 10–12 | |
Brett Sandberg | 7–8 | ||
Porsche of Bucks County | 11 | Colin Thompson | All |
ANSA Motorsports | 13 | Lorenzo Trefethen (R) | All |
Global Motorsports Group | 17 | Alec Udell | 1–2, 4, 7–8, 10–12 |
NGT Motorsport | 29 | Eduardo Cisneros (R) | 1–5 |
Wright Motorsports | 60 | Santiago Creel (R) | 1 |
Phoenix American Motorsports | 77 | Preston Calvert (R) | All |
DragonSpeed | 81 | Victor Gomez (R) | All |
Landry Racing | 97 | Mitch Landry | All |
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Championship points were awarded to drivers based on qualifying and finishing positions. The driver had to complete at least 50% of the class winner's number of laps to receive points. The Pole position winner received 7 points. In addition, 1 bonus point was awarded to a driver leading a lap during a race, and 3 bonus points were awarded to the driver leading the most laps. The driver who set the fastest lap of the race received 1 bonus point. [7]
Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 |
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Race | 140 | 110 | 95 | 85 | 80 | 76 | 72 | 68 | 64 | 60 | 57 | 54 | 51 | 48 | 45 | 43 | 41 | 39 | 37 | 35 | 33 | 31 | 29 | 27 | 25 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
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Michael Lewis ran in the GTA class during the first three events of the championship, but ran in the GT class from Barber on. Bryan Heitkotter ran in the GTA class during the first eight events of the championship, but ran in the GT class from Miller on. Those who finished behind Lewis and Heitkotter in the GTA class in the first eight events did not get more points despite the fact that Lewis and Heitkotter have been removed from the GTA standings.
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Every driver competes in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
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Only those manufacturers who are SCCA Pro Racing corporate members were eligible to receive points toward the Manufacturers' Championship. Championship points were awarded to manufacturers based on qualifying and finishing positions. Only the highest finishing car of each eligible manufacturer earned points for its finishing position. The Pole position winner received 1 bonus point. [7]
Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
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Race | 9 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
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