One of five series holding a season opener this weekend at St. Petersburg will be Pirelli World Challenge and it is a series going through a rough patch. Both the GT and GTS seasons start this season but the GT grid is down from 23 entries (14 GT and 9 GTA) for last year's St. Petersburg round to 12 entries (8 GT and 4 GTA). The one bright side is the GTS grid is up from 20 entries to 28 with ten GTS entries and 18 GTSA entries.
St. Petersburg is the opening round for both series with it being the first of ten rounds overall, five using the traditional sprint format and five rounds using the SprintX format. This year marks the first time GTS will solely participate in SprintX rounds instead of being a class within SprintX while GTS ran two sprint races on the same weekend as was done last year.
Circuit of the Americas hosts the first SprintX round on March 23-25th. Only the GT series will head to Long Beach for a race on April 15th, the only non-doubleheader round of the season. Two weeks after Long Beach will be the second SprintX round at Virginia International Raceway. Mosport will be a sprint weekend this season on May 18-20th with Lime Rock Park hosting the third SprintX round over Memorial Day weekend.
After a month off, PWC joins IndyCar at Road America for a sprint weekend on June 22-24th. After the Road America weekend the final three weekends of the PWC season will be standalone weekends. The penultimate SprintX weekend will be at Portland on July 13-15th. It will be the first time PWC has raced at Portland since 2005. Utah Motorsports Campus closes the SprintX season on August 10-12th. While IndyCar will not be spending Labor Day weekend at Watkins Glen, the famed road course will host the Pirelli World Challenge season finale from August 31-September 2nd. It will be the first time PWC has been to Watkins Glen since 2010.
Below will feature a preview of each PWC entry for this weekend in GT, GTA and GTS with a look at what that driver did in 2017 and what to expect in 2018.
GT
Álvaro Parente: #9 K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3
What did he do in 2017: 3rd in the PWC GT championship, second in the sprint championship and 7th in SprintX. Four victories, all in sprint races, and eight total podium finishes.
What to expect in 2018: Parente will be a championship front runner. He has been on point in his first two seasons but 2018 sees a change as Parente will be in a Bentley instead of a McLaren. Bentley had a few rough years with Absolute Racing in PWC. K-PAX Racing has had success with multiple manufactures. I think Parente will be fine.
Michael Christensen: #24 Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R
What did he do in 2017: Won the 24 Hours of Daytona in the GTD class and finished second in class at Petit Le Mans. Three podium finishes in the FIA World Endurance Championship GTE-Pro class and finished 11th in the GT World Endurance Drivers' Championship.
What to expect in 2018: Christensen is a Porsche factory driver and will give Parente a run for his money. Last year, Magnus Racing struggled after it switched to PWC from IMSA. The good news for Alegra Motorsports is the field is not as deep as 2017.
Daniel Keilwitz: #26 Callaway Competition USA Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R
What did he do in 2017: Finished second in the ADAC GT Masters championship despite missing three rounds. He won two races and finished on the podium five times in eight starts. Won the 2017 Blancpain Sprint Series Pro-Am Cup.
What to expect in 2018: This is the sleeper. Keilwitz has been solid for a few years now in ADAC GT Masters and the Callaway Corvette is a top notch car. He will be learning the racetracks but we have seen drivers come in and have success. I think he will win a few races in 2018.
Daniel Mancinelli: #31 TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3
What did he do in 2017: 4th in the PWC GT championship, sprint championship and SprintX championship. Three victories, all in SprintX, and second total podiums, all in SprintX.
What to expect in 2018: He was the surprise of 2017 but I think he will find himself fighting just to match his 2017 championship results.
Toni Vilander: #61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3
What did he do in 2017: Finished ninth in the IMSA GT Le Mans championship with five podium finishes from seven starts.
What to expect in 2018: Vilander is one of the best around and he knows these racetracks. R. Ferri Motorsport looks to bounce back after having its 2017 season cut short and I don't think the team will struggle. The Finn will win a few races and challenge for the title.
Scott Hargrove: #96 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R
What did he do in 2017: IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge Canada champion, his second title in that series. He won nine of 11 races with his worst finish being second.
What to expect in 2018: Hargrove was one of the top drivers in the Road to Indy system a few years ago and it is a shame single-seaters left him behind. He has had success in the single-make Porsche series but this is his first big adventure into a GT3 series and I think this will be a learning experience for him.
Spencer Pumpelly: #00 TRG Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3
What did he do in 2017: 16th in the PWC GT championship. Pumpelly was a SprintX driver for Magnus Racing. He won one race and had three podium finishes.
What to expect in 2018: Pumpelly is a good driver and I think he will have his days but there will be other days he will struggle to keep up with the likes of Parente and Vilander. He should finish in the top five of the championship.
GTA
Rodrigo Baptista: #3 K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3
What did he do in 2017: 4th in the PWC GTS championship with four victories and six podium finishes.
What to expect in 2018: The Brazilian looked really good in GTS last year but he had plenty of off days that cost him a shot at a championship. I think he will match what he did in GTS last year in GTA.
Parker Chase: #19 TruSpeed Autosport Audi R8 LMS
What did he do in 2017: 10th in the PWC GTS championship with four podium finishes from 10 starts.
What to expect in 2018: Chase had a promising 2016 season in GTS. He is still a teenager and in a GT3 car. I don't think he will be challenging for victories in GTA at the start of the season.
Yuki Harata: #55 Dream Racing Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3
What did he do in 2017: PWC GT Cup Champion with four victories from five starts.
What to expect in 2018: GT Cup had two entries at most races. I am not sure Harata will be a threat for the GTA title.
Martin Fuentes: #07 Squadra Corse Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3
What did he do in 2017: Competed in the VIR SprintX round but an accident ended his season prematurely.
What to expect in 2018: This is the man to beat. Fuentes won the GTA title in comfortable fashion in 2016 and now the class is two kids and an amateur. I think Fuentes has got this in the bag.
GTS
Lawson Aschenbach: #1 Blackdog Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4
What did he do in 2017: PWC GTS Champion with two victories and 12 podium finishes with only three finishes outside the top five in 18 starts.
What to expect in 2018: Aschenbach was good in 2017 but had difficulty breaking through for victories. I think he wins more races than he did last year but the championship will not come as easy to him.
Jason Bell: #2 M1GT Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4
What did he do in 2017: 14th in the PWC GTS championship with his best finish being sixth and three top ten finishes.
What to expect in 2018: Bell moves from a SIN R1 to an Audi. I think he does better than last year but doesn't win a race.
James Sofronas: #14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4
What did he do in 2017: GTA champion with six victories and eight podium finishes in nine starts.
What to expect in 2018: Sofronas has had his success at the GT level and I think he will be a competitive driver in GTS. He will win a race or two and could be in the championship discussion come Watkins Glen.
Gabriele Piana: #21 Muehlner Motorsports American Porsche Cayman GT4 CS-MR
What did he do in 2017: Finished fourth in the GT4 European Series Northern Cup Pro-Am class with four victories in eight starts. Won overall at the Dubai 24 Hour in January.
What to expect in 2018: Piana has had a good start to the 2018 season. Other than Circuit of the Americas I believe these will all be new tracks to Piana. He could win but I think this will be a learning year and lose out to experienced opposition.
Ian James: #50 Team Panoz Racing Panoz Avezzano GT4
What did he do in 2017: 2nd in the PWC GTS championship with six victories and ten podium finishes.
What to expect in 2018: James ended the inaugural season for the Panoz Avezzano GT4 on a high note. I think he is the favorite for the championship.
Nate Stacy: #52 Kohr Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4
What did he do in 2017: 5th in the PWC GTS championship with two podium finishes.
What to expect in 2018: Stacy's sophomore season was a dip in performance but the young driver is back in a Ford. I think he can win a race or two and challenge for a top five championship finish.
Jade Buford: #55 PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4
What did he do in 2017: 16th in the PWC GTS championship after making three starts. He swept the Mosport weekend and finished third in the first St. Petersburg race.
What to expect in 2018: Buford has yet to run a full season but if he does he could be a sleeper for the championship. It would be a stretch but he has been solid in the races he has competed in.
Harry Gottsacker: #69 Racers Edge Motorsports SIN R1 GT4
What did he do in 2017: 11th in the PWC GTS championship after eight starts. He finished third in both Mid-Ohio races.
What to expect in 2018: The SIN had some good runs in 2016 and 2017 but I am not sure it can compete with the influx of GT4s we have seen in recent seasons.
Shane Lewis: #72 Robinson Racing Mercedes-Benz GT4
What did he do in 2017: Finished third in the Trans-Am TA2 championship and won one race. Trans-Am TA2 West Coast champion with two victories.
What to expect in 2018: I think Lewis can be competitive but I am interested in seeing how the Mercedes-Benz does against the competition.
Gar Robinson: #74 Robinson Racing Mercedes-Benz GT4
What did he do in 2017: Trans-Am TA2 champion with five victories.
What to expect in 2018: Similar to Lewis, the Mercedes-Benz is the wild car but I think Lewis will do better than Robinson despite Robinson besting him in Trans-Am.
The first GT race of the weekend will take place at 3:50 p.m. ET on Saturday March 10th with the first GTS race of the season immediately following at 5:05 p.m. ET. GTS will have race two of the weekend at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday March 11th with the second GT race scheduled for 3:15 p.m. ET.
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