The Provisional entry list for the Pirelli World Challenge season opener at the Circuit of the Americas (March 3-6) sees numbers across the seven class system just below three figures with some exciting new efforts, relatively few ‘TBAs’ and a general ‘steady state’ feel to a Series that has a lot to prove after an administratively chaotic 2015.
The banner GT/ GTA classes for (mainly) GT3 machinery has taken a hit from the high water of 2015 when the season opener saw bigger grids. That though wasn’t always a positive when things got crowded on track. The 2016 crop sees new and expanded efforts, new machinery and new names. There’s been little said by the new Dime Racing effort, listed with a pair of new AMG GT3s for a pair of TBA drivers – The clock is ticking here!
Effort Racing are back with a pair of new Porsche 911 GT3Rs, Michael Lewis returns but with Ryan Dalziel busy on IMSA and WEC duty his 2015 seat passes to Porsche Factory man Pat Long (above), an excellent signing for the team. Andrew Davis in the Calvert Dynamics Porsche will be a force too and the switch of GMG back to Porsche will be interesting to observe with James Sofronas fielding a new Porsche too..
Mclaren’s representation doubles in 2016 with the Flying Lizards run K-Pax effort expanded to three cars, Alvaro Parente providing factory-backed punch, young Austin Cindric and 2015 GT Cup Champion Colin Thompson adding new blood to the team. The fourth McLaren comes with the very welcome return to the fray for Gainsco/ Bob Stallings, Jon Fogarty leaving behind his 2015 FIA WEC adventure to take to the wheel of the #99 650S GT3 (above).
Cadillac’s factory effort with the ATS-V.R sees the GM GT3 again only campaigned in PWC (thus far) in 2016 – a two car effort sees serial Champion Johnny O’Connell joined by surprise 2016 signing Michael Cooper. Acura’s factory-backed effort focuses again on the non-GT3 TLX-GTs, Peter Cunningham and Ryan Aversely again fielded by RealTime Racing. Another returning effort comes from Nissan with a pair of GT-R GT3s from the AIM-run Always Evolving team – James Davison and Bryan Heitkotter are both listed in GT this season and will be looking to build on some strong results in 2015.
A major change is the replacement of the Dyson Bentley effort with a currently two car team fielded by the Team Absolute Bentley outfit, the team arriving on the back of much success in Asia and with a big reputation to defend. Adderly Fong and Andrew Palmer are the drivers for the season with a third car a possible addition later in 2016.
Beyond a small but high quality 6 car entry in the GT Cup class comes a very different looking GTS class.
17 cars are listed for CoTA and alongside the returning Boss Mustangs, Chevy Camaros and Aston GT4s come a trio of GT4 Maserati GranTurismos, a pair of Ginette G55s, a trio of the Reiter-built KTM X-Bow coupes, a solo SIN GT4 and a pair of Lotus Evora GT4s – GT4 it seems is gathering momentum much further afield than its traditional European horizons.
GT
2 TBA CRP Racing Audi R8
3 Johnny O’Connell Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R.
6 Austin Cindric K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S
8 Michael Cooper Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R.
9 Alvaro Parente K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S
12 TBA Sweden DIME RACING AMG Mercedes GT3
13 Colin Thompson K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S
14 James Sofronas / Brent Holden GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R
21 TBA Germany DIME Racing AMG Mercedes AMG GT3
31 Patrick Long EFFORT Racing Porsche GT3
33 JD Davison AE Replay XD Nissan GT Academy Nissan GTR GT3
41 Michael Lewis EFFORT Racing Porsche GT3
42 Peter Cunningham RealTIme Racing Acura TLX-GT
43 Ryan Eversley RealTIme Racing Acura TLX-GT
76 Andrew Davis Calvert Dynamics Porsche 991 GT3-R
87 Andrew Palmer Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3
88 Adderly Fong Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3
99 Jon Fogarty Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing McLaren 650S GT3
05 Bryan Heitkotter AE Replay XD Nissan GT Academy Nissan GTR GT3
GTA
4 Jorge De La Torre De La Torre Racing Motor Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3
16 Michael Schein Wright Motorsports Porsche GT3-R
19 Drew Regitz Stephen Cameron Racing Audi R8 GTS LMS
23 Walt Bowlin M1 GT Racing Audi R8
46 Michael Mills Mills Racing BMW Z4
07 Martin Fuentes Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia
GT Cup
18 Will Hardeman WPD/Moorespeed Porsche 991 GT3 Cup
20 Sloan Urry TruSpeed Autosport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
77 Preston Calvert Calvert Dynamics Porsche 991 GT3 Cup
91 Anthony Imperato Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
00 Corey Fergus Motorsports Promotions Porsche 991 GT3 Cup
08 Alex Welch GMG Porsche 991 GT3 Cup
GTS
8 Anthony Mantella Mantella Autosport Inc. KTM XBow GT4
10 Lawson Eschenbach Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro
11 Tony Gaples Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro
13 TBA ANSA Motorsports KTM XBow GT4
14 Nate Stacy Roush Performance Road Racing Ford Boss 302
19 Parker Chase Performance Motorsports Group Ginetta GT4
29 Harry Gottsacker Performance Motorsports Group Ginetta GT4
44 Kevin Marshall VSA Motorsports Lotus GT4
45 Patrick Byrne Racers Edge Motorsports SIN R1 GT4
46 Scott Dollahite / Bill Dollahite SDR Motorsports Lotus Evora Lotus
60 Jack Roush Jr Roush Performance Road Racing Ford Boss 302
62 Mark Klenin Klenin Performance Racing Maserati GranTurismo
80 Martin Barkey Mantella Autosport Inc. KTM XBow GT4
93 TBA TBA RT Motorsports, LLC Maserati GranTurismo
99 Jeff Courtney JCR Motorsports Maserati GranTurismo
07 Max Riddle TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4
09 Derek DeBoer TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4
TC
3 Vesko Kozarov CA Sport Nissan 370Z
5 John A Weisberg BERG Racing Mazda MX-5
7 Jason Fichter Shea Racing Honda Accord V-6 Coupe
10 Ricardo Flores Breathless Racing Ford Mustang
17 Randy Hale Hale Motorsports Mazda MX-5
26 Toby Grahovec Classic BMW Motorsports BMW tbd
27 Gino Carini Classic BMW Motorsports BMW tbd
33 Adam Poland Doghouse Performance Mazda MX-5
34 TBA CA Sport Nissan 370Z
40 Steve Kohli Parallax Racing Honda Accord V-6 Coupe
43 Steve Burns Ian Lacy Racing Ford Mustang
44 Andrew Rains Rains Racing Honda Accord V-6 Coupe
47 Joey Jordan Hale Motorsports Mazda MX-5
50 Dinah Weisberg BERG Racing Mazda MX-5
54 Patrick Gallagher Atlanta Motorsports Group Mazda MX-5
64 Austin Snader Snader Racing Mazda MX-5
67 Shea Holbrook Shea Racing Honda Accord V-6 Coupe
69 Anthony Geraci S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5
73 Daniel Moen S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5
88 Kevin Krauss Outlier/Scion Group Porsche Cayman
91 Nick Wittmer Honda Ste-Rose Racing Honda Accord V-6 Coupe
93 Paul Street Team HMA Honda Accord V-6 Coupe
98 Ernie Francis, Jr. Breathless Racing Mazda MX-5
TCA
16 Jay Salinsky BERG Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup
21 TBA TBA Tech Sport Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup
22 Kevin Anderson Tech Sport Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup
23 Eric Powell Tech Sport Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup
32 Patrick Seguin Team Ost Racing Honda Civic SI
35 Kris Wright Kinetic Motorsports Kia Forte
36 Daniel Williams S.A.C racing Mazda MX-5 Cup
38 Samantha Tan Team Ost Racing Honda Civic SI
39 Marc-Andre Seguin Team Ost Racing Honda Civic SI
49 Joey Bickers Atlanta Motorsports Group Mazda MX-5 Cup
51 Paul Whiting PWR & LDL Speed Shop Honda Civic SI
70 Elivan Goulart S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup
74 Matthew Fassnacht S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup
TCB
12 Jason Wolfe Kinetic Motorsports Kia Rio 5
14 Henry Morse Hale Motorsports Mazda 2
18 Patrick Wilmot The Precision Motorsports Group MINI Cooper
24 P.J.Groenke Tech Sport Racing Chevrolet Sonic
37 Blake Thompson Black Armor Helmets Mazda 2
55 James Wilson Black Armor Helmets Mazda 2
68 Ted Hough Breathless Racing Mazda 2
75 Steve Taake Black Armor Helmets Mazda 2
94 Tom O’Gorman Black Armor Helmets Honda Fit
01 Jasper Drengler Drengler Racing Honda Fit
