Pirelli World Challenge Announces 2018 Racing Schedule

St. Pete to again kick off the season
St. Pete to again kick off the season

WC Vision, producers of the Pirelli World Challenge, today announced its racing schedule for the 2018 Pirelli World Challenge Championships featuring North America’s top GT Production-based road racing campaign.

In 2017, the PWC series, with over 25 auto manufacturers and 44 separate models through its seven racing divisions; GT/SprintX, GTA, GT Cup, GTS, Touring Car, TCA and TCB, enjoyed sensational racing action in its 28th year as one of the world’s most competitive and entertaining GT racing series.

For 2018, the Pirelli World Challenge season will host at least eleven weekends through North America including the traditional venues like the Streets of St. Petersburg, Circuit Of The Americas (COTA), Streets of Long Beach, VIRginia International Raceway (VIR), Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), Lime Rock Park, Road America and Utah Motorsports Campus.

In addition, two PWC weekends are set in July and September with dates and sites to be announced soon.

“After the success of this year’s Pirelli World Challenge SprintX and Sprint formats, several additional venues have inquired about hosting PWC races in 2018," said Greg Gill, president and CEO of WC Vision. “We are excited to be back at most of our traditional tracks and dates but I think you might also see some other venues added to the PWC schedule. We are still in negotiations with additional sites and I will have more information soon.

“As we enter our 29th PWC campaign, we want to thank many of North America’s most iconic and legendary road racing venues in bringing the best GT Production-based racing to their racing facilities in 2018. We expect another outstanding season in 2018 for the fans, teams, drivers and sponsors."

The complete class participation for each PWC weekend will be announced in the coming weeks as GT single-driver sprint events will continue to run in conjunction with the Verizon IndyCar Series weekends. The IndyCar Series venues are being determined for the Sprint races but currently include St. Petersburg (March 9-11), Long Beach (April 13-15) and Road America (June 22-24). All except Long Beach will be doubleheader weekends.

In the five PWC headliner races, COTA (March 24-26), VIR (April 27-29), Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (May 18-20), Lime Rock Park (May 25-26) and Utah Motorsports Campus (Aug. 10-12) and feature all seven racing divisions.

The Pirelli World Challenge finale again will take place at legendary Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with a unique weekend set for racers and fans on Oct. 19-21. Working in conjunction with the popular European-based SRO Blancpain GT Series, the SRO Motorsports Group Intercontinental GT Challenge will include an eight-hour GT endurance contest with GT3 and GT4 machines and the Touring Car final doubleheader weekend.

2018 Pirelli World Challenge Schedule

Date Track City
March 9-11 Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Fla.
March 24-26 Circuit Of The Americas (COTA) Austin, Tex,
April 13-15 Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, Calif.
April 28-30 Virginia International Raceway Alton, Va.
May 18-20 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Bowmanville, Ont., CAN
May 25-26 Lime Rock Park Lakeville, Conn.
June 22-24 Road America Elkhart Lake, Wis.
July TBA TBA
August 10-12 Utah Motorsports Campus Grantsville, Utah
September TBA TBA
October 19-21 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Salinas, Calif.