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.
EARLY PACESETTERS
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