Racer - Winter 2015

TUDOR UNITED spORTscaR champIONshIp

IMSA’s remarkable GT Le Mans class generated four compelling story arcs in the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, making predictions all but impossible to offer until the home-stretch races began to hint at an inevitable ending.

The opening salvo came when Corvette Racing emerged twice victorious after 36 hours of combined endurance racing during the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s Florida swing.

Corvette’s C7.R knocked down IMSA’s Super Bowl – January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona – then rampaged south to the

12 Hours of Sebring, where Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and enduro addition Ryan Briscoe captured IMSA’s other crown jewel some eight weeks later.

The early script pointed to the primal
V8-powered ‘Vettes taking their Sunshine
State streak into Hollywood’s backyard as
the series headed to Long Beach, Calif.,
but the ominous, yellow-tinged chapter
closed on Shoreline Drive. A short-lived
second act began when BMW Team RLL’s
Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner won a
thriller on the streets, then switched
location to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,
where John Edwards and Lucas Luhr
claimed Round 4 in the sister Z4.

Porsche continued the Noah’s Ark
theme in the third act as the next two
wins were split between the 911 RSRs of
Team Falken Tire, with Bryan Sellers and
Wolf Henzler mastering the changing
conditions over six hours at Watkins Glen,
and the factory Porsche North America
team, which blitzed the GTLM field north
of the border at Mosport, courtesy of
Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy. Six rounds
in the books, it was two victories apiece
for Corvette, BMW, and Porsche, and
three story arcs completed.

The fourth and final act in IMSA’s GTLM drama broke the two-by-two trend wide open as Porsche went on to win three of the last four races. From the streak that began at the Glen, June 28, the German marque would maintain a chokehold on the class through the season finale at Road Atlanta, Oct. 3. Across those six races, only one race slipped away, when brilliant race strategy by BMW Team RLL – and incomparable driving by Auberlen and Werner – stole the win during the final two laps at Circuit of The Americas.

With its 50 percent win rate, Porsche took the GTLM Manufacturers’ Championship with ease, Porsche North America secured the Teams’ title thanks to four wins by its No. 911 Porsche 911

RSR, and Pilet completed the trifecta by earning the Drivers’ crown in his first full season of North American racing.

In a packed season for the Frenchman, Pilet also contested seven of eight FIA World Endurance Championship rounds with Porsche’s European-based factory GT squad, Team Manthey. Five GTE-Pro class podiums alongside Frederic Makowiecki, including a win at the Bahrain finale, further endorsed Porsche’s faith in him.

On the surface – and even for those

(ABOVE) 34-year-old

Frenchman Patrick Pilet anchored Porsche North America’s GTLM

2015 campaign, earning four class wins (all shared with Nick Tandy) and the Drivers’ Championship.

Corvette Racing ruled GTLM in Florida, with wins at the Rolex 24 (FAR LEFT)

and 12 Hours of Sebring. BMW Team RLL took over in California, winning at Long Beach (LEFT) and Laguna Seca. BMW would take one more win, but not until COTA in September.