2010 Miller Motorsports Park

There were many changes to the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge Championship in 2010. The first was the series title. The relationship with Speed TV had come to an end. The series new television partner was VERSUS, which aired ninety-minute spots of all twelve races on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

The decline in entries over the last two seasons resulted in the introduction of a third category and a reclassification of some cars. The newest division was called Grand Touring Sport and fit in between Grand Touring and Touring Car.

Grand Touring (GT) – This group included the series quickest cars: Porsche 911 GT3, Chevrolet Corvette, Dodge Viper, Nissan GT-R and Volvo S60. The preparation rules remained unchanged from the previous year for these vehicles.
Grand Touring Sport (GTS) – These were many of the cars that competed in last year’s Touring Car class (Acura TSX, Honda Civic, BMW 325i and Mazda 6). Competitors from the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge were also able to participate using the Ford Mustang FR500S.
Touring Car (TC) – Touring Cars were not allowed many of the modifications permitted by the 2009 rules. The preparation of the vehicles was more closely aligned with Grand-Am Cup and the Sports Car Club of America’s Improved Touring classes. Makes competing in the category included the Scion tC, Mazda RX-8, Honda Civic, Mazda Speed 3, Volkswagen Jetta and Golf.

2010 also marked the end of races for each group. In the new season, all classes competed in the same contest – 1996 was the last time that different categories competed together.

The World Challenge Championship kicked off at St. Petersburg, Florida, in March as a support event for the IndyCar series. In previous years, the series shared race weekends with the American Le Mans Series, but in 2010 World Challenge began competing at more IndyCar venues. The season ended mid-September at Miller Motorsports Park. In all, there were a total of twelve races at eight different tracks (Streets of St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Mosport, Watkins Glen, Toronto, Mid-Ohio, Virginia International Raceway and Miller Motorsports Park).

The final round of the 2010, World Challenge Championship was held at Miller Motorsports Park. Competitors would race for 50-minutes around the fifteen-turn 3.048-mile ‘Outer Course’.

Thirty-five cars get ready for the start of the 2010 World Challenge season finale. On the pole is Randy Pobst in the K-PAX Racing Volvo S60. Gridded next to Pobst is the No. 13 Dodge Viper of Kuno Wittmer. Behind the front row is Pobst’s teammate, Andy Pilgrim in the second K-PAX Racing Volvo S60 and Jeff Courtney in a Dodge Viper.

Kuno Wittmer fell just 0.149-seconds shy of starting from the pole position and settled for second on the grid. At the outset, Wittmer chased race leader Randy Pobst until lap-9 when Pobst was slowed by a back-marker in turn five. Wittmer grabbed the lead but was challenged by Andy Pilgrim. He held on to win by 0.346-seconds and scored his second victory of the season.

Touring Car rookie, Robert Stout entered the season finale with four wins and eight podiums but more import the Driver’s title. In qualifying, the new champion could only manage a sixth place. Stout redeemed himself the following day when he jumped into the lead on the opening lap. He battled Robb Holland and Taylor Hacquard until they retired on lap-10 - from there Stout went on to the TC victory.

The RealTime principal, Peter Cunningham clinched the 2010 GTS title in the penultimate round at Virginia International Raceway. The new champion was on form at Miller and started from the class pole. This feat extended the record for career poles at forty-two and set a new single-season mark of ten pole positions. On the standing start, Cunningham fell to sixth in class but moved into the lead on lap-13 and claimed the victory.

Starting third on the grid was GT competitor Andy Pilgrim. Pilgrim passed his K-PAX teammate Randy Pobst for second on lap-12. He chased the Dodge Viper of eventual race winner Kuno Wittmer and was second when the checkered flag fell. Pilgrim finished fourth in the final Driver Standings – scoring a win at Virginia International Raceway.

As usual, James Sofronas was the quickest of the Porsche entries. Sofronas started his 911 GT3 from the seventh grid position. During the race, he moved up the running order and finished fifth. Sofronas ended the season with one win and seven podium finishes. These results contributed to his third in the Driver’s Championship.

Third quickest in Touring Car was Eric Meyer driving a Mazda RX-8. Meyer drove a solid race and was third at the checkered flag. In his rookie season, he finished on the podium five-times and was second in the final Touring Car Driver’s standings.

The second RealTime entry was driven by Nick Esayian. Esayian started and finished fourth in the No. 34 Acura TSX. He had a season that included nine podiums and his first World Challenge victory. Esayian finished second in the GTS Driver’s Championship.

Defending Touring Car Champion, Pierre Kleinubing was making his first World Challenge appearance of the season. In 2010, Kleinubing moved to the Grand Am Cup series driving a MAZDASPEED3. He started fourth in class and during the race moved to second when Robb Holland and Taylor Hacquard encountered issues. Kleinubing held this position and finished 6.909-seconds behind the winner Robert Stout.

Qualifying fastest overall was Randy Pobst driving the K-PAX Racing Volvo S60. This was Pobst’s seventh GT class pole which tied a season record with Price Cobb and Terry Borcheller. Pobst led the opening laps of the race but was eventually passed by Kuno Wittmer and his teammate Andy Pilgrim. He finished third but had wrapped up the Driver’s title at Virginia International Raceway.

Local racer, Ben Crosland qualified second in GTS - 0.949-seconds behind class pole-sitter Peter Cunningham. The 17-year old, Crosland held the lead in the No. 25 Ford Mustang FR500S until lap-13 when he was passed by the six-time World Challenge Champion Peter Cunningham. Crosland held on to finish in the GTS runner-up position.

Canadian, Ernie Jakubowski qualified his Porsche Cayman S eighteenth overall and sixth in GTS. Jakubowski made an excellent start but cut a tire on the first lap and finished last in GTS. However, his performances throughout the season earned him third in the GTS Driver’s Championship and the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title.

The season’s final World Challenge GT podium at Miller Motorsports Park. On the left is second place finisher Andy Pilgrim and at the right, pole-sitter and third place Randy Pobst. Between these two is Kuno Wittmer, who scored his second victory of the year.

FINISH	CLASS	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	GT	Kuno Wittmer	Dodge Viper	22	-
2	2	GT	Andy Pilgrim	Volvo S60	22	-
3	3	GT	Randy Pobst	Volvo S60	22	-
4	4	GT	Jeff Courtney	Dodge Viper	22	-
5	5	GT	James Sofronas	Porsche 911 GT3	22	-
6	6	GT	Jason Daskalos	Dodge Viper	22	-
7	7	GT	Rob Morgan	Porsche 911 GT3	22	-
8	8	GT	Fred Roberts	Dodge Viper	22	-
9	9	GT	Bret Curtis	Porsche 911 GT3	22	-
10	10	GT	William Ziegler	Porsche 911 GT3	22	-
11	11	GT	Robert Prilika	Porsche GT3 Cup	22	-
12	12	GT	Tony Gaples	Chevrolet Corvette	22	-
13	1	GTS	Peter Cunningham	Acura TSX	21	-
14	2	GTS	Ben Crosland	Ford Mustang FR500S	21	-
15	3	GTS	George Winkler	Ford Mustang FR500S	21	-
16	4	GTS	Nick Esayian	Acura TSX	21	-
17	5	GTS	Oli Thordarson	Chevrolet Corvette	20	-
18	6	GTS	Pratt Cole	Ford Mustang FR500S	20	-
19	7	GTS	Kris McCoy	Acura RSX	20	-
20	8	GTS	Richard Colinello	Ford Mustang FR500S	20	-
21	9	GTS	Brad Adams	Ford Mustang FR500S	20	-
22	10	GTS	Karl Poeltl	BMW E46 325i	20	-
23	1	TC	Robert Stout	Scion tC	20	-
24	2	TC	Pierre Kleinubing	MAZDASPEED3	20	-
25	3	TC	Eric Meyer	Mazda RX-8	20	-
26	4	TC	Tom Lepper	Scion tC	20	-
27	5	TC	Branden Peterson	Honda Civic Si	20	-
28	11	GTS	Kyle Kelley	Chevrolet Corvette	20	-
29	6	TC	Michael Pettiford	Volkswagen Jetta GLI	20	-
30	7	TC	Jeff Mosing	Mazda RX-8	20	-
31	12	GTS	Robert Korzen	Ford Mustang FR500S	20	-
32	8	TC	Carolyn Kujala	Volkswagen Jetta GLI	19	-
33	13	GTS	Ernie Jakubowski	Porsche Cayman S	19	-
34	9	TC	Taylor Hacquard	MAZDASPEED3	19	-
35	10	TC	Robb Holland	Volkswagen GTI	9	Mechanical
36	14	GTS	Fabryce Kutyba	BMW M3 E46	0	Did Not Start

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