GT World Challenge America
 | |
| Category | Group GT3 |
|---|---|
| Country |  United States |
| Inaugural season | 1984 |
| Tire suppliers | Pirelli |
| Drivers' champion | Robby Foley Justin Rothberg |
| Makes' champion |  Porsche |
| Teams' champion | Turner Motorsport |
| Official website | www |
 Current season | |
GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the SRO Motorsports Group since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club since 2017.
The GT World Challenge America is currently exclusive for GT3 class racecars since 2019. Each weekend features a single three-hour race beginning in 2026.[1]
The series functions as the highest level of SRO Motorsports America race weekends, supported by the Pirelli GT4 America, GT America, Toyota GR Cup North America, TC America, and McLaren Trophy America series.
History
[edit]The Sports Car Club of America created a "showroom stock" class for amateur club racing in 1972.[2] In 1984, following the success of the Longest Day of Nelson[3] and another 24-hour race at Mid-Ohio, the SCCA combined existing races into a manufacturer's championship. For 1985, the series became a 6-race professional championship with sponsorship from Playboy magazine. Escort radar detectors sponsored the series from 1986 until 1991.[2]
In 1990, the series was officially named World Challenge and was restructured to adopt rules similar to the European Group A for homologated production cars. The higher-cost "sports" classes were dropped after 1996, leaving the class format as it would stand until 2010. Speedvision TV network began sponsoring the series in 1999. With fields growing, the series began separate races for the GT and Touring classes in 2000, which would remain until 2010. In 2010, the series moved away from the partnership with SPEED, and signed a broadcast partnership with Versus (now NBCSN) for coverage. The series moved existing touring cars into a new GTS class, while changing the rules for the touring car class to reduce costs and keep cars closer to stock.[4]
With the SpeedVision television contract, the World Challenge eventually succeeded Trans Am as the SCCA's premier series.
In July 2008, the World Challenge series was purchased by WC Vision, a group of investors. The Sports Car Club of America remained the sanctioning partner of the series.
From 2010 to 2015, each weekend had one or multiple single-driver races.
Starting with the 2011 season, the series signed a partnership with Pirelli and the leading tire manufacturer became the official tire supplier and title sponsor of the series.
Starting in 2013, FIA Group GT3 class cars are now approved to compete in the class.
In 2014, the Pirelli World Challenge established a GT-A classification similar to the FIA's bronze category.
In 2015, the series established GT Cup, featuring Porsche 991 Cup Cars that ran as part of the overall GT class races. Also, CBS Sports Network and Motor Trend On Demand became the new television partners.
In 2016, the series established a SprintX championship featuring 60-minute two-driver races, while the single-driver races were rebranded as Sprint. Also, as part of the partnership with the SRO, the GTS class was expanded to include GT4 homologations.
For 2017, the Pirelli World Challenge transferred to USAC as its sanctioning body. GT Cup class was expanded to include Cup cars from Lamborghini and Ferrari, while SprintX classes expand in both driver classification specificity and competition-legal platforms.
On May 25, 2018, it was announced that the StĂŠphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) had become majority shareholder of WC Vision LLC, and thus majority owner of Pirelli World Challenge.[5]
For 2019, the series acquired a new title sponsor as part of the overhaul of the SRO series. The GT Sprint Cup in Europe and GT Series Asia will now be known as the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe and Asia, respectively. The current World Challenge will became the GT World Challenge America. Also it adopted a GT3-only series, moving away from multi class racing. The Sprint and SprintX parallel championships were abolished, and a new 90-minute two-driver race format was adopted.
On October 2020, the SRO Motorsports Group announced the creation of a separate series (GT America Series) to split off from existing sprint formats to serve as a cost-effective alternative for single drivers and Bronze-rated pilots.[6]
Format
[edit]
The championship is divided into three primary classes (Pro, Pro Am, Am) based on the official FIA driver ratings (Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze) with each class scoring points towards a individual class title allowing professionals and amateurs to compete together fairly.[7]
Since the 2026 season, the calendar consists of seven three-hour endurance races. Each weekend consists of three 60-minute free practice sessions and a 15-minute qualifying session through Friday and Saturday, with the races taken place on Sunday afternoons.
The Indianapolis 8 Hour was a special three-driver endurance race held from 2020 to 2026 alongside alongside the Intercontinental GT Challenge). Qualifying consists of three sessions instead of a single one. On the first two editions, the GTWCA awarded points after the three-hour mark rather than at the race finish. The event will be replaced by the Texas 8 Hour for 2027.
Classes
[edit]The FIA Group GT3 class was included for the 2013 season. It is the single class of the GT World Challenge America since 2019, as the other classes moved to standalone championships.
GT
[edit]The GT class permitted coupe, sedan and convertible body styles developed by manufacturers and privateers. They were typically sold in the market as "sports" cars, "sport-touring" cars, or performance versions of "luxury" cars. Forced induction was permitted on cars that come equipped with forced induction stock, or on cars that the series determined need help reaching the target horsepower range. Power output ranged from 500 hp to 600 hp. Weight varied depending on power output and tire size. All of the vehicles in GT were rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.
GTA
[edit]A "GTA" ("GT Amateur") driver class debuted in 2014.[8] It was a designation to recognize gentlemen drivers that competed in the GT class.
GT Cup
[edit]This spec class debuted in 2015 featuring Porsche 991 Cup Cars that ran as part of the overall GT Class races, with a separate victory circle presentation alongside that of the GT/GT-A class winners. In 2017 the class was expanded to include Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo and Ferrari 488 Challenge cars.
SRO GT4
[edit]Prior to becoming a standalone championship within SRO America in 2019, SRO GT4 competed as GTS along side Group GT3 in a sprint multi class format.
TCR Touring Car (TCR)
[edit]The TCR class is based on the international TCR Touring Car class employed by a multitude of series worldwide. All TCR cars are based on 4 or 5 door production vehicles, and are powered by 2.0 litre turbocharged engines. While the bodyshell and suspension layout of the production vehicle is retained in a TCR car, and many models use a production gearbox, certain accommodations are made for the stresses of the racetrack including upgraded brakes and aerodynamics. Competition vehicles are subject to Balance of Performance (or BoP) adjustments to ensure close racing between different vehicles.
Touring Car B-Spec
[edit]Based on the Sports Car Club of America class of the same name, these were smaller cars with small, efficient, naturally aspirated motors (target HP is 125). Modifications were limited to manufacturer specified performance spring and shocks to keep overall cost down. Cars competing in TCB were prepared to the SCCA Club Racing B Spec rules. Cars that were eligible included the Fiat 500, Ford Fiesta, Mazda 2, Mini Cooper, Chevrolet Sonic, Honda Fit, Kia Rio, and Nissan Versa.[9] The class was discontinued after the 2017 season, a year after sanctioning of the series changed from SCCA to USAC.[10] These cars are still eligible to participate in the SCCA Runoffs.
Circuits
[edit]
Television
[edit]Speed TV network televised the World Challenge starting in 1996, with the series being called the SPEED World Challenge until 2010.
Near the end of the broadcast partnership with SPEED, the World Challenge had been broadcast on weekdays as opposed to the traditional weekends. For 2009, the races were combined into an hour-long block.[11]
On January 4, 2010, Versus (now NBC Sports Network) announced they would televise 90-minute broadcasts beginning in the 2010 season.[12] Each broadcast featured all the races from each round. The entire 2010 season was shown on the channel. The series later returned to weekend telecasts.[13]
Starting in 2015, CBS Sports Network announced that it acquired television rights to the series. Torque.TV, later Motor Trend On Demand partnered with CBS Sports Network for the race broadcasts to stream all races live on their website as well as on World-ChallengeTV.com Archived 2016-10-09 at the Wayback Machine. CBS Sports Network will have at least 1 race with live television coverage with Detroit being the first round announced to have live coverage.
The series has also established a section on its official site where fans can watch archived race and in-car video, as well as an increasing amount of archived television broadcasts of events prior to the 2016 season.[14] The website currently has coverage from as far back as 2008.
Tires
[edit]On October 4, 2010, the series announced that Pirelli would replace longtime partner Toyo Tires as the exclusive tire supplier for the series.[15] For the first time in series history, teams competed on racing slicks (Pirelli P Zero) rather than the DOT competition tires in use for much of its history. In January 2014, Pirelli Tire North America and WC Vision extended the partnership for an additional five years. The extension of the partnership between the tire brand and the top production car-based racing series will run through the 2018 season.
