TUDOR United Sports Car Championship At Long Beach

The Tequila Patron Sports Car Showcase overall winning Wayne Taylor Racing Chevrolet Corvette DP at Victory Circle.  Image Credit: 2015 Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

TUDOR United Sports Car Championship at Long Beach
By: Brandon O'Brien - Photography By: Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images unless otherwise specified

The TUDOR United Sports Car Championship (TUSCC) is a combination of the Grand-Am Series and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) which had its first full season in 2014. It is sanctioned by IMSA and  TUDOR has a five-year sponsorship.

With three of the twelve planned 2015 races now in the books the TUDOR United Sports Car Championship is turning into a very interesting series to follow.  The races are all timed events, with the shortest (Long Beach and Detroit) being 100-minutes and the longest (Daytona) 24 hours .

What makes the series exciting and interesting for both the spectators and drivers is, at the majority of the venues, there are four classes racing at the same time.

Making its first appearance at Long Beach was the Claro / TracFone DeltaWing Racing Delta Wing DWC13 - Elan. Image Credit: 2015 Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

Prototype (P) is the flagship class featuring the fastest and most technologically advanced cars in North America by combining Grand-Am Daytona Prototypes with the ALMS P2 class prototypes and Deltawing cars.

The Action Express Racing Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype on the starting grid at Long Beach, CA.  Image Credit: 2015 Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

Prototype Challenge (PC) is a spec class carried over directly from ALMS featuring open-cockpit Le Mans Prototype cars built by Oreca with engines supplied by Chevrolet and tires by Continental. These cars are driven by a team of two drivers, one a full-time professional and the other a part-time "amateur" driver.

Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) is a continuation of the ALMS GT class of cars using the same technical regulations as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Based on production models, they are engineered to produce the maximum performance possible.

The Team Falken Tire  GTLM Porsche 911 RSR as seen in the Paddock prior to racing at Long Beach, CA.  Image Credit: 2015 Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

GT Daytona (GTD) is a class that combines the Grand-Am GT and GX classes along with the Porsche GT3 Cup cars, all built to FIA GT3 specifications. These, like the PC cars, are driven by professional and amateur drivers.

A World Challenge Truspeed Motorsports prepared Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car which is similar to the GTD class of cars. Image Credit: 2015 Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

Long Beach celebrated its 41st straight year hosting racers on the temporary street circuit.  The longest running street race in North America it is a favorite among the drivers.  Although, like any street circuit that does not tolerate foolish moves, it is one where the drivers can truly race with a number of passing zones.

Unlike previous years there were only two classes of cars running this year; Prototype and GTLM.  Ricky Taylor placed the Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing Chevrolet Corvette DP on the pole with a qualifying lap record time of 1:14.790. Scott Pruitt was close behind in the Chip Ganassi Racing Riley DP - Ford EcoBoost with a time of 1:15.048

The overall winning Chevrolet Corvette DP in the Fountain Turn during the Tequila Patron Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach, CA.  Image Credit: 2015 Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

The second place Ford EcoBoost Riley DP driven by Joey Hand exiting the Fountain Turn at Long Beach, CA.  Image Credit: 2015 Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

In the GTLM class the RLL BMW's tied up the first two slots with Bill Auberlen in No. 25 setting a qualifying lap record time of 1:17.268 followed by John Edwards in No. 24 at 1:17:516 in the other BMW Z4 GTE.

The pole winning GTLM Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE qualified by Bill Auberlen exiting the Fountain Turn at Long Beach, CA.  Image Credit: 2015 Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

Also starting on the front row was the sister Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE qualified by John Edwards at Long Beach, CA. Image Credit: Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

Once the Green Flag was dropped, the Prototype Class ran nose to tail in qualifying order for the fist few laps.  Most position changes were due to mechanical issues or contact. Throughout the race, the first two positions never changed.

For the third race in a row, a different team was able to stand on the podium for the Prototype class. Jordan Taylor in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Raqcing Chevrolet Corvette DP was able to keep hard driving Joey Hand in the  No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley DP - Ford EcoBoost in his mirrors. After the race the Taylor's gave credit to Brembo for working with them allowing them to drive further into the corners than their competition.

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For most of the race the Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia was the front running GTLM car. Image Credit: 2015 Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

The first three positions of the GTLM competition were hotly contested throughout the 100-minute race as can be seen as they exit Turn 5 at Long Beach.  Image Credit: 2015 Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

Bill Auberlen stated, "when it came to the race the extent of my lead was on the pace lap." Once the green dropped, former Formula 1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella in the third place Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia made a charge for the front, first passing the No. 24 BMW driven by John Edwards for second after drag racing him down Shoreline Drive to Turn 1 and, by Turn 5 was ahead of the pole sitting BMW driven by Auberlen. The race continued in that order for the opening stint with Auberlen pressing the Ferrari hoping that Fisichella would make a mistake.

Auberlen pitting on lap 31 turned the car over to co-driver Dirk Werner. A fuel venting problem slowed the filling time and Werner re-entered the race in fifth place.  The next lap saw the No. 24 BMW in the pits and Lucas Luhr was able to re-enter in second place due to the usual quick team service.

With an hour in the books, Werner in the No. 25 BMW was able to make up all of the time lost in the pits and was now in fourth place. He moved into third place on lap 45 and due to brake issues on the No. 24 BMW was able to shortly pass for second. The Ferrari, now being driven by Pierre Kaffer, had an 8 second lead.  With twelve laps to go, after setting a new race record lap time of 1:18.009 Werner drove the No. 25 BMW past the Ferrari for the lead and the victory.

Class winning drivers celebrating in Victory Circle. Left to Right: Dirk Werner, Bill Auberlen (GTLM), Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor (Prototype). Image credit: 2015 Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

Auberlen stated, "This is a special win as it has been a long time for our team. On top of that it is my home race. Between Dirk and myself we pretty much checked off every box this weekend.  We won, we had pole and the lap record in qualifying and Dirk brought it home with the win and a new lap record in the race. You can't do much better than that".

Bill Auberlen speaking to the press at the post race press conference while team-mate Dirk Werner looks on. Image Credit: 2015 Brandon O'Brien / Motor Driven Images

Next stop - May 1-3 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will be a 2 hour 40 minute event where all four classes of cars will be competing.


TAGS: TUDOR United Sports Car Championship, Grand-Am Series, American Le Mans Series, Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach, Prototype, Prototype Challenge, Grand Touring Le Mans, GT Daytona