The 2019 Michelin Pilot Challenge is the twentieth season of the IMSA SportsCar Challenge and the sixth season organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). Michelin is set to become the new official tire supplier of the series, following the departure of Continental Tire at the end of 2018.
Classes
Grand Sport (GS) (run to FIA GT4 regulations) Touring Car (TCR)
The Street Tuner (ST) class will not return to the renamed series after the 2018 season.
Rule Changes It was announced during the 2018 Petit Le Mans livestream that floor-mounted shifting would be dropped for the 2019 season.
Series News Multimatic will be using IMSA GTO tribute liveries in commemoration of IMSA's 50th anniversary.
Schedule
Race Schedule The 2019 schedule was released on 3 August 2018 and features twelve rounds.
Rnd Race Circuit Location Date Duration 1 BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida January 25 4 Hours 2 Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 Sebring International Raceway Sebring, Florida March 15 2 Hours 3 Mid-Ohio 120 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio May 4 2 Hours 4 Tioga Downs Casino Resort 240 at The Glen Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York June 29 4 Hours 5 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Bowmanville, Ontario July 6 2 Hours 6 Lime Rock Park 120 Lime Rock Park Lakeville, Connecticut July 20 2 Hours 7 Road America 120 Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 3 2 Hours 8 Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix Virginia International Raceway Alton, Virginia August 24 2 Hours 9 WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California September 14 2 Hours 10 Fox Factory 120 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia October 11 2 Hours
Entry list
Grand Sport
Team Car Engine Drivers Rounds Automatic Racing AMR Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 Aston Martin 4.7 L V8 09 Dale Katechis 1 Mikel Miller 1 Kris Wilson 5 Gary Ferrera 5 Aston Martin AMR Vantage GT4 Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 Ari Balogh 6 Greg Liefooghe 6 Akhil Rabindra 7–10 Kris Wilson 7 Ross Gunn 8 Rob Ecklin Jr. 9 Tom Long 10 97 Ramin Abdolvahabi 1–2, 4, 7–8 Rob Ecklin Jr. 1–4, 6–7 Brandon Kidd 1, 3–4 Ari Balogh 5 Greg Liefooghe 5 Tom Long 6, 8 Kris Wilson 9–10 Gary Ferrera 9–10 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 Aston Martin 4.7 L V8 99 Kris Wilson 1, 6 Gary Ferrera 1, 6 Ramin Abdolvahabi 10 Benjamin Waddell 10 eEuroparts.com ROWE Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 Audi 5.2 L V10 2 Tyler Cooke 1–8 Kenton Koch 1–8 8 Gunnar Jeannette 1–4, 8 Rodrigo Sales 1–4, 8 Benjamin Albano 5 Lee Carpentier 5 Team TGM Mercedes-AMG GT4 Mercedes-AMG M178 4.0 L V8 4 Guy Cosmo All Ted Giovanis All 46 Hugh Plumb All Owen Trinkler All Atlantic Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4 Mercedes-AMG M178 4.0 L V8 6 Phil Holtrust 5 Danny Kok 5 Park Place Motorsports with VOLT Lightning Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 7 Alan Brynjolfsson All Trent Hindman All BGB Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 11 Thomas Colingwood 1–2, 4 John Teece 1–2, 4 Stefan Rzadzinski 1 Spencer Pumpelly 4 AWA Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 ClubsportMcLaren 570S GT4 Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6McLaren 3.8 L Turbo V8 13 Orey Findani All Scott Hargrove 1–6 Chris Green 7–10 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 Ford 5.2 L Voodoo V8 15 Cole Custer 1 Scott Maxwell 1 Ty Majeski 1 Ben Rhodes 2, 5 Myatt Snider 2 Grant Enfinger 5 Austin Cindric 10 Sebastian Priaulx 10 22 Chase Briscoe 1, 10 Austin Cindric 1 Billy Johnson 1 Matt Crafton 2, 5 Grant Enfinger 2 Johnny Sauter 5 Cole Custer 10 Moorespeed Audi R8 LMS GT4 Audi 5.2 L V10 18 Rob Ferriol 8–10 Spencer Pumpelly 8–10 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 BMW N55 3.0 L Twin-Turbo I6 19 Ari Balogh 10 Tom Dyer 10 88 Greg Liefooghe 1–4, 7–8, 10 Henry Schmitt 1–4, 7–8, 10 Ian Lacy Racing Ford Mustang GT4 Ford 5.2 L Voodoo V8 24 Drew Staveley 1 Frank Gannett II 1 Fast Track Racing/Classic BMW BMW M4 GT4 BMW N55 3.0 L Twin-Turbo I6 26 Jayson Clunie 1 Toby Grahovec 1 Kyle Reid 1 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 28 Jan Heylen 1 Charlie Luck 1 Fred Poordad 1 Bodymotion Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 31 Marc Miller 1 Pete McIntosh 1 Patrick Liddy 1 Jeff Courtney 3 Fred Roberts 3 Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 Mercedes-AMG M178 4.0 L V8 33 Russell Ward 1–6, 8–10 Indy Dontje 1–6, 8, 10 Dominik Baumann 9 57 Bryce Ward All Christian Hohenadel 1–6, 8–10 Russell Ward 7 Wynn's - Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 Mercedes-AMG M178 4.0 L V8 35 Jim Cox All Dylan Murry All Jeroen Bleekemolen 1, 4 Carbahn Motorsports Carbahn with GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 Audi 5.2 L V10 39 Tyler McQuarrie All Jeff Westphal All 93 Tom Dyer 2, 4, 7–9 Mark Siegel 2, 4, 7–8 Sameer Gandhi 9 PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4 Ford 5.2 L Voodoo V8 40 Jade Buford All James Pesek All Patrick Gallagher 1 41 Jeff Courtney 7 Fred Roberts 7 NOLAsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 44 Jason Hart 1–2 Mike Vess 1–2 Matthew Travis 1 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 Mercedes-AMG M178 4.0 L V8 56 Eric Foss All Jeff Mosing All 65 Justin Piscitell 1–2, 4–9 Brent Mosing 1–4, 10 Tim Probert 1, 3–5, 6–10 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 Ford 5.2 L Voodoo V8 58 DJ Randall 2 Alec Udell 2 59 Rod Randall 1–5 Kenny Wilden 1–5 DJ Randall 1 Billy Johnson 4 Ari Balogh 9 Greg Liefooghe 9 60 Kyle Marcelli All Nate Stacy All TRG - The Racer's Group Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 66 Dillon Machavern 1 Spencer Pumpelly 1 67 Chris Bellomo 1 Robert Orcutt 1 Motorsport in Action McLaren 570S GT4 McLaren 3.8 L Turbo V8 69 Corey Fergus All Jesse Lazare All Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R Chevrolet LT1 6.2 L V8 71 Robin Liddell All Frank DePew 1–5, 7–10 Andrew Davis 1, 4, 6 Compass Racing McLaren 570S GT4 McLaren 3.8 L Turbo V8 75 Kuno Wittmer All Paul Holton 1–4, 7–10 Paul Rees 5–6 BimmerWorld Racing BMW M4 GT4 BMW N55 3.0 L Twin-Turbo I6 80 Kaz Grala 1 Aurora Straus 1 Ari Balogh 7–8 Seth Thomas 7 Mike Skeen 8 82 James Clay All Devin Jones All Ramsey Racing/EXR Team Prémat Mercedes-AMG GT4 Mercedes-AMG M178 4.0 L V8 92 Mark Ramsey 9 Alexandre Prémat 9 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 BMW N55 3.0 L Twin-Turbo I6 96 Robby Foley 1–4, 6, 8, 10 Bruce McKee 1 Sydney McKee 1 Bill Auberlen 2–4, 6 Vin Barletta 4, 8, 10
Touring Car
Team Car Drivers Rounds TMR Engineering and Consulting Inc. KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR 3 Alex Popow 1–6 Alex Papadopulos 1–2, 4–6, 8–10 Mark Kvamme 3, 7–8 Trenton Estep 7, 10 Ryan Nash 9 5 Roy Block All Tim Lewis Jr. All eEuroparts.com ROWE Racing Audi RS 3 LMS TCR 10 Lee Carpentier 1–2 Kieron O'Rourke 1–2 12 Russell McDonough 1–8 Ryan Nash 1–8 Roadshagger Racing by eEuroparts.com 61 Gavin Ernstone All Jonathan Morley All JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS 3 LMS TCR 17 Britt Casey Jr. 2, 5, 7, 10 Mikey Taylor 2, 5, 10 Chris Miller 7 Gabby Chaves 8–9 Julian van der Watt 8–9 54 Michael Johnson All Stephen Simpson All Mikey Taylor 1, 4 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Veloster N TCR 21 Mason Filippi All Harry Gottsacker All 98 Michael Lewis All Mark Wilkins All FastMD Audi RS 3 LMS TCR 23 Nick Galante All James Vance All Jay Salinsky 1, 4 LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) 37 Shelby Blackstock All Tom O'Gorman All 52 Colin Mullan All Max Faulkner 1–8 Harry Cheung 9 Mark Pombo 10 73 Mike LaMarra 1–4, 9–10 Mat Pombo 1–4, 9–10 Mark Motors Racing Audi RS 3 LMS TCR 81 Marco Cirone 3, 5 Remo Ruscitti 3, 5 Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) 84 Brian Henderson All Todd Lamb All 94 Russell McDonough 10 Tyler Stone 10 HART Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) 89 Ryan Eversley 1–7, 9–10 Chad Gilsinger 1–7, 9–10
Notes
Race results Bold indicates overall winner. Rnd Circuit GS Winning Car TCR Winning Car GS Winning Drivers TCR Winning Drivers 1 Daytona No. 75 Compass Racing No. 37 LA Honda World Racing Paul Holton Kuno Wittmer Shelby Blackstock Tom O'Gorman 2 Sebring No. 39 Carbahn Motorsports No. 37 LA Honda World Racing Tyler McQuarrie Jeff Westphal Shelby Blackstock Tom O'Gorman 3 Mid-Ohio Alan Brynjolfsson Trent Hindman Michael Lewis Mark Wilkins 4 Watkins Glen No. 35 Riley Motorsports No. 73 LA Honda World Racing Jeroen Bleekemolen Jim Cox Dylan Murry Mike LaMarra Mat Pombo 5 Mosport No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing No. 17 JDC-Miller MotorSports Frank DePew Robin Liddell Britt Casey Jr. Mikey Taylor 6 Lime Rock No. 46 Team TGM No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosportwith Curb-Agajanian Hugh Plumb Owen Trinkler Michael Lewis Mark Wilkins 7 Road America No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing No. 21 Bryan Herta Autosportwith Curb-Agajanian Frank DePew Robin Liddell Mason Filippi Harry Gottsacker 8 Virginia No. 60 KohR Motorsports No. 23 FastMD Kyle Marcelli Nate Stacy Nick Galante James Vance 9 Laguna Seca No. 33 Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport No. 61 Roadshagger Racingby eEuroparts.com Dominik Baumann Russell Ward Gavin Ernstone Jonathan Morley 10 Road Atlanta No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosportwith Curb-Agajanian Austin Cindric Sebastian Priaulx Michael Lewis Mark Wilkins
Championship standings
Points systems Championship points are awarded in each class at the finish of each event. Points are awarded based on finishing positions as shown in the chart below. Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31+ Race 35 32 30 28 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Team points Team points are calculated in exactly the same way as driver points, using the point distribution chart. Each car entered is considered its own "team" regardless if it is a single entry or part of a two-car team.
Teams' Championships Standings: Grand Sport