2019 Road America - Pirelli GT4 America

2019 was the thirtieth consecutive year for the World Challenge series. In the offseason, the Grand Touring Sport category was renamed, Pirelli GT4 America. The new title did a better job of describing this category as the cars were prepared to the FIA GT4 rulebook. Due to the popularity of this class, the series officials offered are two regional championships for SprintX competitors - East and West.

As a result of the announcements, there are four different event schedules:

Sprint Schedule - The calendar starts with races at St. Petersburg, Florida in March followed by Long Beach, California. Teams return to the east coast where they will compete at Virginia International Raceway and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Then they travel to California for an event at Sonoma Raceway. On the Labour Day weekend, competitors will race at Watkins Glen International. The penultimate rounds are at Road America with the season concluding at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October.
SprintX Schedule - This season starts at Circuit of the Americas and then shares weekends with the Sprint group at Virginia International Raceway, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Sonoma Raceway. The division remains on the west coast for an event at Portland International Raceway. The SprintX teams then rejoin the Sprint category for the final three weekends - Watkins Glen International, Road America and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
GT4 West Schedule - This schedule kicks-off at Circuit of the Americas. Then teams travel to the west coast with race weekends at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Sonoma Raceway, Portland International and Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the finale.
GT4 East Schedule - The eastern division also debuts at Circuit of the Americas. This weekend is followed by Virginia International Raceway, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Watkins Glen with the season ending at Road America.

Cars competing in the Pirelli GT4 America category are similar to those the Blancpain GT World Challenge America class but have more preparation restrictions and are governed by FIA GT4 rules. The vehicles can be powered by forced induction or normally aspirated motors. Examples of cars competing in this category include: Chevrolet Camaro GT4, McLaren 570S GT4, Porsche Cayman GT4 CS-MR, Porsche 718 Cayman CS-MR, Audi R8 LMS GT4, Ginetta G55 GT4, BMW M4 GT4, Mercedes-AMG GT4, Panoz Avezzano GT4 and SIN R1 GT4.

The penultimate race weekend for the Pirelli GT4 America championship was held on the fourteen-turn 4.048-mile road course at Road America. Heavy rain forced series officials to red flag Sunday’s contest after just seven-laps – drivers were award half points.

The first lap of round twelve for GT4 America at Road America and eighteen starters head into a very wet corner five. Leading the charge is the pole-sitter and Saturday’s winner, Michael Cooper in the Blackdog Speed Shop McLaren 570S GT4. Cooper is followed by the Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR of second-place starter, Spencer Pumpelly. Behind Pumpelly are the Chevrolet Camaros of Shane Lewis and Gar Robinson.

Michael Cooper driving the No. 10 McLaren 570S GT4 swept the weekend’s contests. And, in the process grabbed the GT4 America championship point’s lead with just two races remaining. Cooper qualified third for Saturday’s event but moved into the top spot of the first lap. He was challenged by Spencer Pumpelly but held on for the victory. Cooper started on the pole the following day and never relinquished the lead.

TRG – The Racers Group, Spencer Pumpelly was fourth fastest in the qualifying session. The driver of the No. 66 Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR passed the pole-sitter, Shane Lewis and Ian James on the first lap and grabbed a runner-up finish. Pumpelly started Sunday’s event on the outside of the front row. The weather during the rain-shortened contest made passing treacherous and caused the front runners to maintain their positions.

This was the final race Robinson Racing - the team would cease operations. Gar Robinson will join Riley Racing for the 2020 IMSA season. It appeared that they might ‘go out in a blaze of glory’ when Shane Lewis put the No. 72 Camaro on the pole. But Lewis could not withstand the challenges from Michael Cooper and Spencer Pumpelly and took the last position on the podium. On Sunday, he captured another third place.

Alan Brynjolfsson is competing in the GT4 SprintX division as well as GT4 America. On Saturday, in the SprintX contest, Brynjolfsson and his co-driver, Trent Hindman were eliminated from the event after a lap-3 incident. In the Sprint race, he started first in the Amateur category but finished fourth. What a difference a day makes – in round thirteen, Brynjolfsson started fourth in his group but moved up the order to take the class victory.

On Saturday at Road America, Drew Staveley earned his second Pirelli World Challenge title. Staveley won the GTS Sprint – Amateur crown in 2018. He entered the penultimate weekend with a commanding lead in the GT4 America – Amateur category. In Saturday’s contest, Staveley started second but scored the class victory. The next day, he was leading but a spin due to contact relegated to a runner-up finish.

What started out as a promising weekend for Ian James turned sour in Saturday’s race. The point’s leader was second fastest in qualifying for round twelve. However, early in the contest, it became evident that there was an issue with the engine in his Panoz Avezzano GT4. He fell down the race order and finished tenth. With the problem corrected for race two, James moved from twentieth to sixth in the rain-shortened contest.

Sunday’s GT4 America Sprint – Professional class podium at Road America. In the center, for the third time, this season is the new point’s leader, Michael Cooper. To Cooper’s right is the runner-up finisher for the second time this weekend, Spencer Pumpelly. His results and Ian James’ misfortune moved Pumpelly to second in the title chase. Completing the rostrum, the third-place finisher, Shane Lewis.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	3	PRO	Michael Cooper	Blackdog Speed Shop / McLaren 570S GT4	22
2	4	PRO	Spencer Pumpelly	TRG - The Racers Group / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	22
3	1	PRO	Shane Lewis	Robinson Racing / Chevrolet Camaro GT4	22
4	6	PRO	Gar Robinson	Robinson Racing / Chevrolet Camaro GT4	22
5	5	PRO	Andrew Davis	Kelly-Moss Road & Race / Audi R8 LMS GT4	22
6	9	PRO	Jarett Andretti	Andretti Autosport / McLaren 570S GT4	22
7	8	AM	Drew Staveley	Ian Lacy Racing / Ford Mustang GT4	22
8	10	AM	Tony Gaples	Blackdog Speed Shop / McLaren 570S GT4	22
9	11	AM	Jeff Courtney	JCR Motorsports / Maserati Grand Turismo MC GT4	22
10	2	PRO	Ian James	Team Panoz Racing / Panoz Avezzano GT4	22
11	7	AM	Alan Brynjolsson	Park Place Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	22
12	16	AM	Sean Quinlan	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M4 GT4	22
13	18	AM	Michael Dinan	Flying Lizard Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	22
14	13	AM	Thomas Collingwood	K2R Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	22
16	15	AM	Michael McCann, Jr.	Kelly-Moss / Audi R8 LMS GT4	21
16	19	AM	Frank Gannett	McCann Racing / Ford Mustang GT4	22
17	14	AM	Jason Bell	GMG Racing / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	22
18	20	AM	Greg Palmer	Kelly-Moss / Audi R8 LMS GT4	21
19	21	AM	Kevan Millstein	K2R Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	20
20	12	AM	Marko Radisic	Precision Driving Tech / BMW M4 GT4	17

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	1	PRO	Michael Cooper	Blackdog Speed Shop / McLaren 570S GT4	7
2	2	PRO	Spencer Pumpelly	TRG - The Racers Group / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	7
3	3	PRO	Shane Lewis	Robinson Racing / Chevrolet Camaro GT4	7
4	4	PRO	Gar Robinson	Robinson Racing / Chevrolet Camaro GT4	7
5	5	PRO	Andrew Davis	Kelly-Moss Road & Race / Audi R8 LMS GT4	7
6	20	PRO	Ian James	Team Panoz Racing / Panoz Avezzano GT4	7
7	10	AM	Alan Brynjolsson	Park Place Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	7
8	6	AM	Drew Staveley	Ian Lacy Racing / Ford Mustang GT4	7
9	11	AM	Marko Radisic	Precision Driving Tech / BMW M4 GT4	7
10	12	AM	Michael Dinan	Flying Lizard Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	7
11	8	AM	Tony Gaples	Blackdog Speed Shop / McLaren 570S GT4	7
12	13	AM	Thomas Collingwood	K2R Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	7
13	21	AM	Mark Klenin	KPR / McLaren 570S GT4	7
14	9	AM	Jeff Courtney	JCR Motorsports / Maserati Grand Turismo MC GT4	7
15	18	AM	Greg Palmer	Kelly-Moss / Audi R8 LMS GT4	7
16	14	AM	Sean Quinlan	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M4 GT4	7
17	7	PRO	Jarett Andretti	Andretti Autosport / McLaren 570S GT4	7
NC	15	AM	Jason Bell	GMG Racing / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	2

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