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With the way the grand stands cleared after the Izod IndyCar race you would have thought there was nothing else to watch, what the hell! We still had the World Challenge Championship race to watch. Once again the drift cars came out to entertain between events and got the attention of some of the exiting fans so by the time the WCC cars started gridding there were a good number of fans ready to watch them go at it. For grassroot racers like me the WCC holds a special place in our hearts as it’s the next step we all aspire to make. Unlike the GT in ALMS that “resemble” their street driven counterparts, WCC cars ARE production cars. Let’s take a closer look at the classes that make up WCC:
- GT: These are typically cars sold as “sport-cars”, like the Dodge Viper, Porsche 911, Lotus DB9 or Chevrolet Corvette. The rules try to keep the cars evenly matched and will allow forced induction in cars not originally equipped with it from the factory in order to remain competitive. Major panels may be replaced with aftermarket composite pieces, but car’s stock profile must be kept. Suspension pick-up points below the top of the tire may be relocated 25mm, and pick-up points above the tire may be relocated 75mm. Driver aids such as traction control or ABS systems are permitted.
- TC: The Touring Car series was initially intended for the grassroot racer who was ready to make the next step in their racing career, but recently modifications like sequential gear boxes and expensive aero packages have been allowed and have substantially driven up the cost to compete in the series. To answer the demand of a declining economy the SCCA has revised the rules of the TC class to take it back to its original club racer roots. TC cars will still be allowed to run racing suspension bits, but will have limited room for aero and horsepower upgrades.
- GTS: Created to bridge the gap between fully built GT cars and the lightly modified TC cars. GTS creates a class for cars built to old TC rules that do not meet the new standards.
The WCC race exposed race fans to the only standing start of the weekend with a field of 36 cars! Standing starts can be a blessing or detriment to a teams racing strategy depending on the car’s set-up and driver skills, but they are always exciting for the fans.
In the GT class Kuno Wittmer could not have had a better race weekend. Wittmer set the pole in the Dodge Motorsports Viper while setting a new track record during qualifying, and also had put down the fastest lap during the race. Locals Dino Crescential of Manhattan Beach and Brandon Davis of Huntington Beach came in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Tyler McQuarrie who participated in last week’s Formula Drift competition won the GTS class in the LPL Lotus Exige S and accomplished a number of firsts during his World Challenge debut. He became the first driver to compete in both Formula Drift and World Challenge and he delivered the first win for Lotus in Long Beach since 1978!
If you frequent MotoIQ you should recognize the winner of the TC class, it’s our very own Project tC! Robert Stout drove the DG-Spec/Scion/TRD/Lucas Oil/Scion tC to a first place finish and now leads the points race after three races.
