2019 Sonoma Raceway - 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, 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 car 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.

Rounds seven and eight of the 2019 Pirelli GT4 America Sprint season were contested at Sonoma Raceway. Twenty-one drivers competed in the two fifty-minute races around the twelve-turn, 2.52-mile road course.

The pole-sitter for Saturday’s Pirelli GT4 America Sprint contest, Michael Cooper leads the field of twenty-one starters into corner two for the first lap. Behind Cooper is the Panoz Avezzano GT4 of the second fastest qualifier, Ian James. Following James is Spencer Pumpelly driving the TRG – The Racers Group prepared Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR and the Ford Mustang GT4 of the amateur class competitor, Drew Staveley.

The points leader, Ian James, entered the Sonoma Raceway weekend with one victory to his credit. In qualifying, James was just 0.101-seconds slower than the pole-sitter, Michael Cooper and would start on the outside of the front row. Driving the No. 50 Panoz Avezzano GT4, he was unable to find a way past Cooper and settled for second. The front of the grid was the same on Sunday, except this time James was able to get by Cooper for the win.

In race one at Sonoma, it was the usual suspects at the front of the field – Michael Cooper, Spencer Pumpelly and Ian James. Cooper driving the Blackdog Speed Shop prepared McLaren 570S GT4 qualified on the pole for round eight. He led flag-to-flag for the victory, despite pressure from Ian James. The three-time series champion started first on Sunday and held off James until lap-6 when he lost the top spot and finished second.

Amateur class competitor, Drew Staveley did not participate in the first two rounds at St. Pete but still topped the point standings in his category. For the weekend’s first event, Staveley drove the No. 12 Ian Lacy Racing Ford Mustang GT4 and started sixth overall and first in his division. He made steady progress in the race and finished fourth overall and first in the amateur category. On Sunday, Staveley earned his second class victory.

Spencer Pumpelly led the title chase early in the season but flat tires during both races at Virginia International Raceway dropped him to third in the standings. He rebounded at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park where he scored a victory and second place finish. At Sonoma Raceway, Pumpelly delivered a solid performance which resulted in two third-place finishes and moved him to within eight points of the championship leader.

Veteran World Challenge/SRO participant, Tony Gaples switched makes in 2019 and replaced his Chevrolet Camaro with a McLaren 570S GT4. Gaples appeared to be struggling with the McLaren earlier in the season but by the mid-point of the championship, he was scoring points on a regular basis. On Saturday, Gaples earned a runner-up finish in the amateur group and in round nine he finished in third place.

Matt Brabham driving the CRP Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 CS-MR topped the timesheet in the second practice session and qualified fourth for the weekend’s first contest. Unfortunately, Brabham would start at the back of the grid as a result of being late to the pre-grid. Charging from last place, he passed sixteen competitors to finish fifth overall and fourth in Pro. The following day, Brabham started ninth and finished fourth.

The No. 19 Stephen Cameron BMW M4 GT4 performed double duty this weekend participating in the Sprint and SprintX events. Sharing the BMW in SprintX were Greg Liefooghe and Sean Quinlan. In the weekend’s first race they won the Pro/Am category. Quinlan competed in the Sprint event where an incident on lap-5 of race one forced him to retire early. On Sunday, he started and finished third in the Amateur division.

Another team entering the same car in the Sprint and SprintX divisions was Reardon Racing. Sharing the No. 91 Audi R8 LMS GT4 in the West - Amateur division of SprintX were Vesko Kozarov and Jeff Burton. They won their category both days and finished first overall on Saturday. Burton also competed in the Sprint races and an Amateur driver. His record during the weekend included a runner-up finish and a fourth place.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	1	PRO	Michael Cooper	Blackdog Speed Shop / McLaren 570S GT4	26
2	2	PRO	Ian James	Team Panoz Racing / Panoz Avezzano GT4	26
3	3	PRO	Spencer Pumpelly	TRG - The Racers Group / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	26
4	6	AM	Drew Staveley	Ian Lacy Racing / Ford Mustang GT4	26
5	4	PRO	Matt Brabham	CRP Racing / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	26
6	7	PRO	Jarett Andretti	Andretti Autosport / McLaren 570S GT4	26
7	5	PRO	Shane Lewis	Robinson Racing / Chevrolet Camaro GT4	26
8	8	PRO	Nicolai Elghanayan	Marco Polo Motorsports / KTM X-bow	26
9	15	AM	Jeff Burton	Rearden Racing / Audi R8 LMS GT4	26
10	11	AM	Tony Gaples	Blackdog Speed Shop / McLaren 570S GT4	26
11	9	AM	Alan Brynjolsson	Park Place Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	26
12	18	AM	Toby Grahovec	Classic BMW / BMW M4 GT4	26
13	17	AM	Mark Klenin	KPR / McLaren 570S GT4	26
14	20	AM	Jason Bell	GMG Racing / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	26
15	14	AM	Henry Schmitt	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M4 GT4	26
16	13	PRO	Erin Vogel	Flying Lizard Motorsports / Audi R8 LMS GT4	26
17	21	AM	Dmitri Novikov	Rearden Racing / BMW M4 GT4	26
18	10	PRO	Gar Robinson	Robinson Racing / Chevrolet Camaro GT4	25
19	16	AM	Marko Radisic	Precision Driving Tech / BMW M4 GT4	20
20	19	AM	Frank Gannett	Ian Lacy Racing / Ford Mustang GT4	20
NC	12	AM	Sean Quinlan	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M4 GT4	5

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	2	PRO	Ian James	Team Panoz Racing / Panoz Avezzano GT4	27
2	1	PRO	Michael Cooper	Blackdog Speed Shop / McLaren 570S GT4	27
3	3	PRO	Spencer Pumpelly	TRG - The Racers Group / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	27
4	9	PRO	Matt Brabham	CRP Racing / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	27
5	5	PRO	Jarett Andretti	Andretti Autosport / McLaren 570S GT4	27
6	4	AM	Drew Staveley	Ian Lacy Racing / Ford Mustang GT4	27
7	6	PRO	Shane Lewis	Robinson Racing / Chevrolet Camaro GT4	27
8	8	PRO	Nicolai Elghanayan	Marco Polo Motorsports / KTM X-bow	27
9	7	AM	Tony Gaples	Blackdog Speed Shop / McLaren 570S GT4	26
10	12	PRO	Gar Robinson	Robinson Racing / Chevrolet Camaro GT4	27
11	10	AM	Sean Quinlan	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M4 GT4	27
12	14	AM	Jeff Burton	Rearden Racing / Audi R8 LMS GT4	27
13	15	AM	Toby Grahovec	Classic BMW / BMW M4 GT4	27
14	13	AM	Henry Schmitt	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M4 GT4	27
15	18	AM	Jason Bell	GMG Racing / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	27
16	16	AM	Mark Klenin	KPR / McLaren 570S GT4	27
17	17	AM	Marko Radisic	Precision Driving Tech / BMW M4 GT4	27
18	19	PRO	Erin Vogel	Flying Lizard Motorsports / Audi R8 LMS GT4	27
19	20	AM	Dmitri Novikov	Rearden Racing / BMW M4 GT4	26
20	21	AM	Frank Gannett	Ian Lacy Racing / Ginetta G55	26
NC	11	AM	Alan Brynjolsson	Park Place Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	0

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