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Michelin Pilot Challenge

Car racing competition held in Canada and the USA

Michelin Pilot Challenge

Summary

Car racing competition held in Canada and the USA

FieldValue
logoIMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge logo.svg
categoryGrand touring
Touring car
country/regionUnited States
Canada
inaugural1997
champion driverGS: USA Vincent Barletta
GS: USA Robby Foley
TCR: USA Harry Gottsacker
TCR: CAN Robert Wickens
champion teamGS: USA #96 Turner Motorsport
TCR: USA #33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian
manufacturerGS: DEU Mercedes-AMG
TCR: KOR Hyundai
websitemichelinpilotchallenge.imsa.com
current_seasonMichelin Pilot Challenge

Touring car | country/region = United States Canada GS: USA Robby Foley TCR: USA Harry Gottsacker TCR: CAN Robert Wickens TCR: USA #33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian TCR: KOR Hyundai

Competitors in the KONI Challenge on a pre-grid at [[New Jersey Motorsports Park]] in 2008

The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cup following the demise of rival IMSA's Firehawk series of similar rules in the US. KONI became series sponsor for the start of the 2007 season when the series became known as the KONI Challenge Series, before renaming once more prior to the start of the 2009 season as the KONI Sports Car Challenge. The series name was once again changed for the 2010 season to Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. In 2019, the series rebranded again after Michelin was selected to become the new official tire supplier of the series and thus simplified their branding name by removing Sports Car term.

The Continental Challenge was the support series for Grand-Am's premier offering, the Rolex Sports Car Series. In 2014, the series became the support series for the United SportsCar Championship (now known as the IMSA SportsCar Championship) upon the merger of the Rolex Series and the American Le Mans Series.

Races

In traditional sports car racing format, the races are often run with both Grand Sport (GT4) and TCR classes on track simultaneously, which is known as a "combined" race. Occasionally the races will be run in "split classes", with separate races for both classes. This is especially common for shorter venues such as Lime Rock Park. Currently the races are 2 hours in length with a required driver change.

Telecasts

  • Until 2013, broadcasts were to Fox Sports 1, formerly Speed Channel. All telecasts are uploaded to the series website after their initial airing.
  • From 2019 season, NBC Sports telecast Delayed-Race and IMSA TV has telecast live via Peacock.
  • In some countries, NASCAR Holdings (which owns IMSA) feature the Michelin Pilot Challenge is included in NASCAR's media rights deals in Mexico and Brazil that includes NASCAR's three national series, IMSA's two major series, and American Flat Track, all of which have broadcasts produced by NASCAR.
  • IMSA TV, which is controlled by NASCAR Productions, has international rights in selected countries.

Vehicles

The series uses two classes in each race. Originally, these were:

  • The Grand Sport (GS) class features large-displacement 6-cylinder, 8-cylinder, 10-cylinder or 12-cylinder sports cars as well as small displacement 4-cylinder forced induction sports cars.
  • The Street Tuner (ST) class is for smaller 4-cylinder, 5-cylinder or 6-cylinder sedans, hatchbacks, coupes or convertibles.

From 2017, IMSA allowed cars built by "mainstream automotive manufacturers" to SRO GT4 regulations to compete, with a complete phase out of the original Grand-Am GS class the next year. Also in 2018, IMSA introduced TCR Touring Cars as a third class, with the intention of it replacing the Street Tuners as the second class, which happened the following year.

The original format was reminiscent of the original Trans-Am Series, combining conventional sports cars and touring cars, though the Trans-Am Series usually had a single driver per car, unlike the Continental Challenge, which has two drivers per car. Some vehicles in the Continental Challenge have actually been wrapped to resemble the original Trans Am cars, such as the Boss 302 Mustangs of George Follmer and Parnelli Jones or the original Sunoco Camaro. As the Pilot Challenge consists of longer races (2-4 hours), the cars are also eligible for the United States Auto Club's Pirelli World Challenge GT4 or TCR classes, which are one-hour races.

Champions

SeasonGS ChampionCarST / TCR ChampionCar200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
USA Craig Stanton
USA Terry BorchellerCadillac CTS-VUSA David Haskell
CAN Sylvain TremblayMazda RX-8
CAN David Empringham
CAN Scott MaxwellFord MustangUSA David Haskell
CAN Sylvain TremblayMazda RX-8 (2)
SWE Anders Hainer
USA Boris SaidBMW M3USA Don Salama
USA Will TurnerBMW 330i
USA Jeff Segal
USA Jep ThorntonBMW M3 (2)USA Trevor Hopwood
USA Adam BurrowsBMW 330i (2)
USA Joe Foster
CAN Scott MaxwellFord Mustang (2)CAN Jamie HoltomChevrolet Cobalt SS
CAN Kenny WildenFord Mustang (3)USA Chris MillerHonda Civic Si
USA Charles Espenlaub
USA Charlie PutmanBMW M3 (3)USA David ThileniusThe Bimmerworld 328i of Bill Heumann and Seth Thomas and the Compass360 Civic of Thilenius and Aschenbach finished the 2010 season tied in ST points. As both teams had the same number of wins and second-place finishes, Thilenius and Aschenbach won the title by virtue of having more third-place finishes.
USA Lawson AschenbachHonda Civic Si (2)
CAN Paul Dalla LanaBMW M3 (4)SWE Niclas JönssonKia Forte Koup
CAN John FaranoMatt Plumb was victorious in the final race and was the presumed champion, but upon official review he was determined to have been illegally entered in multiple cars, and thus received no points, handing the championship to Farano and Empringham.
CAN David EmpringhamPorsche 997BRA Pierre Kleinubing
CAN Jason ClunieMazdaspeed3 (3)
USA Nick Longhi
USA Matt PlumbPorsche 997 (2)USA Terry Borcheller
USA Mike LaMarraBMW 128i (3)
USA Trent HindmanBMW M3 Coupe (5)USA Eric FossBMW 328i (4)
Porsche Cayman
USA Andrew Davis
UK Robin LiddellChevrolet CamaroUK Stevan McAleer
USA Chad McCumbeeMazda MX-5 (4)
USA Billy Johnson
CAN Scott MaxwellFord Mustang GT350R-C (4)USA Nick Galante
USA Spencer PumpellyPorsche Cayman (2)
USA Dillon Machavern
USA Dylan MurcottPorsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR (3)USA Eric FossPorsche Cayman (3)
USA Hugh Plumb
USA Owen TrinklerMercedes-AMG GT4USA ST: Devin Jones
CAN ST: Nick Galante
USA TCR: Britt Casey Jr.
USA TCR: Tom LongST: BMW 328i (5)
TCR: Audi RS 3 LMS
USA Tyler McQuarrie
USA Jeff WestphalAudi R8 LMS GT4USA Michael Lewis
CAN Mark WilkinsHyundai Veloster N TCR
CAN Kyle Marcelli
USA Nate StacyAston Martin Vantage AMR GT4COL Gabby Chaves
USA Ryan NormanHyundai Veloster N TCR (2)
Belgium Jan HeylenPorsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (4)USA Michael Lewis
USA Taylor HaglerHyundai Veloster N TCR (3)
USA Alan Brynjolfsson
USA Trent HindmanAston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (2)USA Taylor Hagler (2)
USA Michael Lewis (2)Hyundai Elantra N TCR (4)
USA Vincent Barletta
USA Robby FoleyBMW M4 GT4 Gen II (6)USA Harry Gottsacker
CAN Robert WickensHyundai Elantra N TCR (5)
USA Matt PlumbAston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (3)USA Chris Miller
South Africa Mikey TaylorAudi RS 3 LMS TCR (2)

Notes

References

References

  1. "Michelin Pilot Challenge Revealed; Two Classes in 2019 – Sportscar365".
  2. "IMSA Finalizes Racing Platform Innovations {{!}} IMSA".
  3. "2004 Grand-Am Cup Series Driver Point Standings".
  4. "2005 Grand-Am Cup Series Driver Point Standings".
  5. "2006 Grand-Am Cup Series Driver Point Standings".
  6. "2007 KONI Challenge Series Driver Point Standings".
  7. "2008 KONI Challenge Series Driver Point Standings".
  8. "2009 KONI Challenge Series Driver Point Standings".
  9. "2010 CTSCC Driver Point Standings".
  10. "2011 CTSCC Driver Point Standings".
  11. "2012 CTSCC Driver Point Standings".
  12. "2013 CTSCC Driver Point Standings".
  13. "2014 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Official Points".
  14. "2015 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Official Points".
  15. "Michelin Pilot Challenge: Home".
  16. "Michelin Pilot Challenge: Home".
  17. "Michelin Pilot Challenge: Home".
  18. "Michelin Pilot Challenge: Home".
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