The 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 Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club since 2017.
The series consists of four driver classifications and five classes of vehicles: GT3, GT4, (Sprint, SprintX, East and West), and Touring Car, consisting of TCR homologated cars, as well as separate TC and TCA classes featuring modified production vehicles, such as the BMW M235iR and the Mazda MX-5 Cup car.
History
The Sports Car Club of America created a "showroom stock" class for amateur club racing in 1972. In 1984, following the success of the Longest Day of Nelson 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.
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. Speed 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.
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.
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.
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 SprintX classes of racing featuring two-driver sprint races for several driver classes. 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 is expanding 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 Stéphane Ratel Organisation had become majority shareholder of WC Vision LLC, and thus majority owner of Pirelli World Challenge.
On September 29, 2018, it was announced the series acquired a new title sponsor as part of the overhaul of the Ratel 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 become World Challenge America.
Format
Each season consists of upwards of 11 event weekends and between 5 and 16 rounds or races. Some rounds or races use a standing start, as opposed to the all rolling starts seen in other sports car racing series. Blancpain GT World Challenge races consist of two-driver, 90-minute SprintX format races with two races per weekend. GT4 America is divided into two race formats, single driver, 50-minute Sprint races and two-driver 60-minute Sprintx races. The Touring Car America championship involve separate TCR 40-minute sprint races and 40-minute TC & TCA races.