It was McLaren’s rst victory in the Pilot Challenge since
2017, while Honda’s win came in its rst race back in the
series following a two-year hiatus. The race was also
highlighted by a photo nish for the runner-up spot in GS
and L.A. Honda World, a new team to the Pilot Challenge,
showed its strength right out of the gates with a 1-2 nish
in TCR.
“If Daytona was any indication, the MICHELIN Pilot Challenge
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action is going to be the best racing around in
2019,” said O’Gorman. “It’s exciting to be a part of the TCR
class, which has grown to over a dozen entries across
ve manufacturers, and the cars are incredibly cool - 2.0L
turbo, front-wheel-drive, hot-hatchbacks. We were able to
claim the rst win in our debut at Daytona for L.A. Honda
World and Honda – Honda’s rst win in IMSA TCR competition
– and we’re looking to carry that momentum into
Sebring for another strong run.”
As evidenced by the number of competing manufacturers,
the Pilot Challenge has seen an exponential increase
in participation in the last two years. The resurgence
comes after it was announced in August 2016 that the GS
class would transition to a GT4-homologated platform,
and one year after the TCR category was introduced into
the series as the rst full incorporation of the platform in
North American sports car racing.
At Daytona back in January, 35 cars across eight manufacturers
– Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford,
Mercedes-AMG, McLaren, and Porsche – contested for
the win. Six of those marques nished in the top 10. In
the TCR class, there were 14 cars across four manufacturers
– Alfa Romeo, Audi, Honda, and Hyundai – three of
which are new to the series in 2019.
Given the strong manufacturer diversity in 2019, there’s
no way to predict who will win Friday’s race here at Sebring
International Raceway, especially as the car count
between both Pilot Challenge classes will reach into the
40s.
However, there will be some teams and drivers to keep
an eye on.
Two-time winners at Sebring are Andrew Davis and Robin
Liddell, who will be piloting the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing
Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R. Both of their previous wins,
which came in the series’ debut at Sebring in 2014 and
the following race in 2015, also came in Camaros. However,
Liddell hasn’t raced at Sebring in the Pilot Challenge
since 2016, and the 2015 victory was Davis’ last visit to
the circuit in this series.
Co-champion of the 2018 GS class, Owen Trinkler owns
an ST victory at Sebring from 2016. Another win for him,
and co-driver Hugh Plumb, in the No. 46 Team TGM Mercedes
AMG GT4 would kickstart the team’s campaign
for a second consecutive title. The pair secured the 2018
championship with three wins in the nal ve races of the