The 2015 Pirelli World Challenge season was the 26th running of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. It introduced a new all-Porsche "GT Cup" race group. Johnny O'Connell was the defending champion in the highest class, the GT class.
The season comprises 12 rounds, with several rounds in support of the IndyCar Series and the United SportsCar Championship, as well as supporting the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series.[1]
Round | Date | Event | Circuit | Location | Classes | Supporting | |
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1 | March 6–8 | Nissan Grand Prix of Texas | Circuit of the Americas | Austin, Texas | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) TC/TCA/TCB (x3) | Headline | |
2 | March 27–29 | Cadillac Grand Prix of St. Petersburg | Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) | IndyCar Series | |
3 | April 17–19 | Roar By The Shore presented by Replay XD | Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, California | GT/GTA/GT Cup† | IndyCar Series / United SportsCar Championship | |
4 | April 24–26 | MOMO Grand Prix at Barber | Barber Motorsports Park | Birmingham, Alabama | GT/GTA/GT Cup† (x2) GTS (x2) | IndyCar Series | |
5 | May 15–17 | Remo Ferri Group Canadian Grand Prix | Canadian Tire Motorsport Park | Bowmanville, Ontario | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) TC/TCA/TCB (x3) | NASCAR Canadian Tire Series | |
6[2] | May 29–31 | Cadillac V-Series Challenge | The Raceway on Belle Isle | Detroit, Michigan | GT/GTA (x2) | IndyCar Series / United SportsCar Championship | |
7 | June 26–28 | DeVilbiss Grand Prix at Road America | Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) TC/TCA/TCB (x3) | Headline | |
8 | July 31 – August 2 | StopTech Grand Prix presented by MOMO | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) | IndyCar Series | |
9[3] | August 14–16 | OPTIMA Grand Prix presented by MOMO | TC/TCA/TCB (x3) | NASCAR Xfinity Series | |||
10 | August 21–23 | Ford Grand Prix at Miller by VP Fuels | Miller Motorsports Park | Tooele, Utah | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) TC/TCA/TCB (x3) | Headline | |
11 | August 28–30 | Grand Prix of Sonoma presented by Kia | Sonoma Raceway | Sonoma, California | GT/GTA/GT Cup (x2) GTS (x2) | IndyCar Series | |
12 | September 11–13 | Mazda Raceway Grand Prix by Cadillac | Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca | Monterey, California | GT/GTA/GT Cup GTS TC/TCA/TCB (x3) | Headline | |
Source: [4] |
The second race at Belle Isle on May 31 was cancelled on safety grounds due to inclement weather, which caused reduced track visibility. An additional race was held at Road America to replace the round at Detroit.[6]
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Every driver participates in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
Team | Driver | Rounds | ||
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TruSpeed Autosport | 02 | Sloan Urry | All | |
18 | Phil Fogg Jr. | 1–5, 10–12 | ||
Brett Sandberg | 7–8 | |||
Porsche of Bucks County | 11 | Colin Thompson | All | |
ANSA Motorsports | 13 | Lorenzo Trefethen (R) | All | |
Global Motorsports Group | 17 | Alec Udell | 1–2, 4, 7–8, 10–12 | |
NGT Motorsport | 29 | Eduardo Cisneros (R) | 1–5 | |
Wright Motorsports | 60 | Santiago Creel (R) | 1 | |
Phoenix American Motorsports | 77 | Preston Calvert (R) | All | |
DragonSpeed | 81 | Victor Gomez (R) | All | |
Landry Racing | 97 | Mitch Landry | All |
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Round | Circuit | GT Winning Car | GTA Winning Car | GT Cup Winning Car | GTS Winning Car | TC Winning Car | TCA Winning Car | TCB Winning Car | |
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GT Winning Driver | GTA Winning Driver | GT Cup Winning Driver | GTS Winning Driver | TC Winning Driver | TCA Winning Driver | TCB Winning Driver | |||
1 | Austin |
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Olivier Beretta | Michael Lewis | Colin Thompson | Kris Wilson | Cody Ellsworth | Tony Rivera | Johan Schwartz | |||
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Kévin Estre | Michael Lewis | Colin Thompson | Michael Cooper | Cody Ellsworth | Tony Rivera | Johan Schwartz | |||
Did not participate |
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Vesko Kozarov | Jason Wolfe | Johan Schwartz | |||||||
2 | R1 | St. Petersburg |
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Ryan Eversley | Mike Hedlund | Phil Fogg Jr. | Dean Martin | ||||||
R2 |
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Olivier Beretta | Frankie Montecalvo | Colin Thompson | Spencer Pumpelly | ||||||
3 | Long Beach |
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Olivier Beretta | Michael Lewis | Colin Thompson | |||||||
4 | R1 | Barber |
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J. D. Davison | Martin Fuentes | Colin Thompson | Kris Wilson | ||||||
R2 |
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Kévin Estre | Bryan Heitkotter | Colin Thompson | Kris Wilson | ||||||
5 | R1 | Mosport |
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Johnny O'Connell | Bryan Heitkotter | Colin Thompson | Kurt Rezzetano | Ernie Francis Jr. | Elivan Goulart | Glenn Nixon | |||
R2 |
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Johnny O'Connell | Bryan Heitkotter | Lorenzo Trefethen | Jack Baldwin | Corey Fergus | Paul Holton | Johan Schwartz | |||
R3 | Did not participate |
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Corey Fergus | Felipe Merjech | Johan Schwartz | |||||||
6 | R1 | Detroit |
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Kévin Estre | Henrique Cisneros | ||||||||
R2 | Race cancelled due to heavy rain and low track visibility | ||||||||
7 | R1[7] | Road America |
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Tomáš Enge | Bryan Heitkotter | Lou Gigliotti | Vesko Kozarov | Tony Rivera | Glenn Nixon | ||||
R2 |
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Chris Dyson | Frankie Montecalvo | Colin Thompson | Andrew Aquilante | Jeff Altenburg | Tony Rivera | Glenn Nixon | |||
R3 |
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J. D. Davison | Frankie Montecalvo | Colin Thompson | Ernie Francis Jr. | Tony Rivera | Glenn Nixon | ||||
8 | R1 | Mid-Ohio |
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Ryan Dalziel | Frankie Montecalvo | Alec Udell | Michael Cooper | ||||||
R2 |
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Ryan Dalziel | Bryan Heitkotter | Colin Thompson | Kris Wilson | ||||||
9 | R1 | Did not participate |
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Ernie Francis Jr. | Jason Wolfe | Johan Schwartz | |||||||
R2 |
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Vesko Kozarov | Jason Wolfe | Johan Schwartz | |||||||
R3 |
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Vesko Kozarov | Toby Grahovec | Johan Schwartz | |||||||
10 | R1 | Miller |
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Johnny O'Connell | Frankie Montecalvo | Alec Udell | Mark Wilkins | Vesko Kozarov | Jason Wolfe | Glenn Nixon | |||
R2 |
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Johnny O'Connell | Frankie Montecalvo | Colin Thompson | Michael Cooper | Vesko Kozarov | Jason Wolfe | Johan Schwartz | |||
R3 | Did not participate |
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Vesko Kozarov | Jason Wolfe | Joey Jordan | |||||||
11 | R1 | Sonoma |
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Kévin Estre | Christina Nielsen | Alec Udell | Andy Lee | ||||||
R2 |
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Renger van der Zande | Frankie Montecalvo | Colin Thompson | Michael Cooper | ||||||
12 | R1 | Laguna Seca |
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Alessandro Balzan | Eric Lux | Colin Thompson | Kris Wilson | Adam Poland | Jason Wolfe | Joey Jordan | |||
R2 | Did not participate |
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Corey Fergus | Paul Holton | Joey Jordan | |||||||
R3 |
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Ernie Francis Jr. | Jason Wolfe | Joey Jordan |
Championship points were awarded to drivers based on qualifying and finishing positions. The driver had to complete at least 50% of the class winner's number of laps to receive points. The Pole position winner received 7 points. In addition, 1 bonus point was awarded to a driver leading a lap during a race, and 3 bonus points were awarded to the driver leading the most laps. The driver who set the fastest lap of the race received 1 bonus point.[8]
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Michael Lewis ran in the GTA class during the first three events of the championship, but ran in the GT class from Barber on. Bryan Heitkotter ran in the GTA class during the first eight events of the championship, but ran in the GT class from Miller on. Those who finished behind Lewis and Heitkotter in the GTA class in the first eight events did not get more points despite the fact that Lewis and Heitkotter have been removed from the GTA standings.
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Every driver competes in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
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Only those manufacturers who are SCCA Pro Racing corporate members were eligible to receive points toward the Manufacturers' Championship. Championship points were awarded to manufacturers based on qualifying and finishing positions. Only the highest finishing car of each eligible manufacturer earned points for its finishing position. The Pole position winner received 1 bonus point.[8]
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