Racer - Spring 2016

The one exception to the GT3 formula is
the Acura TLX GTs of Real Time Racing, which
were grandfathered in (Acura is expected to
reveal a GT3 version of its new NSX soon).
Team principal Peter Cunningham has been
World Challenge’s most enduring
competitor, running from the beginning in
almost every class the series has offered
over the years. He’s earned seven
championships between GT, GTS and
Touring Car – nine if you go back to the
SCCA Escort Endurance Championship
that gave birth to World Challenge in
1990. He’s had enough love for the series
that he became an investor in WC Vision,
the company that purchased the series’
marketing and promotion rights from
SCCA Pro Racing in 2008.

Real Time returns intact with its driver
lineup of Cunningham and Ryan Eversley,
who brought the TLX GT its first victory in

2015 at St. Petersburg in the rain. For

2016, the car will be changed from
all-wheel drive to rear-wheel drive to bring
it into line with the GT3 cars. That’s a small
change for a team in a season that will see
major changes for most.

Even Cadillac has a big change for 2016. While four-time defending champion Johnny O’Connell returns, he will have a new teammate in 2015 GTS champion Michael Cooper. Cooper won the GTS championship in a Blackdog Speed Shop Camaro, his second World Challenge title after the 2012 Touring Car championship. Now he’s moving to one of the top rides in the series’ premier class.

“They’re the best team in the Pirelli World Challenge paddock,” he says. “They’re highly skilled guys and know what they’re doing with a focus.” Cooper’s teammate is not only a four-time World Challenge champ, he has four 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins and an American Le Mans Series GTS championship, illustrating the caliber of drivers and teams World Challenge attracts.

THAT’S VELOCITY RED TO BE EXACT.

“Cadillac has chosen Velocity Red to celebrate Johnny O’Connell’s 2015 Pirelli World Challenge GT Driver Championship,” said Uwe Ellinghaus, Cadillac Chief Marketing Officer. “Always sharing our excitement with customers, dealers, and fans, Cadillac will now offer Velocity Red exterior paint on 2016

Cadillac ATS Coupe, ATS-V Coupe, and ATS-V Sedan models. We congratulate Johnny on his exceptional performance and wish all racers a safe and exciting

2016 season.”

O’CONNELL, NICKNAMED JOHNN Y RED,
IS FOND OF THE HUE.

“Wow, what a tribute to the team’s four championship
seasons,” said O’Connell. “Red is my color, it will go
good with my hair. Usually team cars are the same color
and you only know the difference by a mirror color and
the number. My number three will have a distinctive
on-track look. What makes it extra special is that the
color will also be available on production cars as well.
I can’t wait to see the first one pull into one of our
Cadillac Corral events this summer.”
Real Time Racing returns to
GT with the only non-GT3
spec car in the Acura TLX GT.
Team owner/driver Peter
Cunningham (inset) is
anticipating the debut of the
Acura NSX GT3 variant soon.

“The format of the series has always been an attraction. We don’t have to race here, but year by year by year, we looked at the landscape and decided where to go. It has worked out we’ve been loyal to World Challenge because of the format, the venues, the competition and the television package. It’s been a good deal for everybody. It’s pretty cutthroat on the track, but off the track there’s camaraderie, there’s a respect … it’s a good group of folks.”