Ricmotech World Challenge Series Season 8 Wrap-up

The World Challenge Series ended the season at the iconic Sebring on December 11th. This season the introduction of the other three GTP manufacturers was introduced bringing a whole new mix of excitement to the class for Season 8. The Ferrari had new model introduced this season as well. An exciting finale was put on by all the classes as championships were still not decided entering the final event.

In GT3 AM class the season started off with a close battle between leaders Leo Dragotta and Dre Divac. Both drivers ended high on the incidents in Round 1, but Leo was able to finish 17 seconds ahead of Dre with Jeff Brooks in tow. These top three drivers would exchange wins throughout the season and Jeff Brooks would come away with two wins in Round 3 and in Round 6. Canadian Driver Alex Brown had a good season finishing 4th with 4 top 5's. Jackson Dettmer has his best season yet capturing a win by 12+ seconds in Round 4 over Leo Dragotta helping himself secure a 5th place spot in the championship. Newcomers to the series from Australia Michael and Phillip Caffery had good opening seasons with Phillip capturing a P7 in Round 5 and Michael landed two P4 finishes in Rounds 6 & 8. David Steiner from Australia was impressive, unfortunately was not able to attend all the events but did manage a top 5 and a top 3 finish in the final round.

The GT3 Pro Class had quite a storyline this season as the Orion Team came in looking to dominate once again however a new driver stuck his nose in the mix by the name of Ken Copelin. Ken ended the season with 6 top 5's and 1 win putting him third in the championship overall. Orion Teammates Schwenke and Hartley would have their usual battles through the season as Schwenke was looking for a top 3 in the championship but fell 14 points short. Hartley was hoping for a better finish this season, after finishing 9th in Season 7. With high aspirations for another title things took a turn however after missing round 2 and a 6th place finish in Round 5 would cause him to finish 2nd in the championship just short of returning champion Mike Dam who landed back-to-back titles with his 3rd Championship in a row in GT3 Pro. Veteran XMS driver Chris Thorman would have an impressive season with 4 top 5's and a 2nd at Daytona in the opening round giving him a 5th place finish in the championship. Jeff Jacobs, Iago Moraes and Michaels Brooks would follow in suit for 6th, 7th and 8th respectively.

It was a blistering season of excitement in GTP as Bailey Piotrowski was on a mission after losing the championship in Season 7 by just 12 points. He kicked off the season with 3 straight wins and was not letting up. DNA Motorsports' Ben Rose was close in tow throughout the season with 4 2nd place finishes and three back-to-back wins to his credit as well. Ben's teammate Ryan Reesman would have his own battle with Fernando Takahashi from WJM Motorsports as these two literally shared metal on several occasions during the fight for 3rd in the championship. Bobby Childs from D2D Sim Racing would have his rookie season in the GTP car fair well as he would grab 5th place in the championship with Aaron Beaver, Bill Muhlfeld, and Tanner Dibble close behind in the points. As the finale began the two leaders in points were tied sitting on the grid as the nerves set in. On lap 1 an unfortunate collision between Takahashi and Points leader Rose would put Rose off track however was able to recover and begin his march back to the front. With a good pit stop, some luck with traffic and an amazing pace Rose was able to get back to second and fell just 5 seconds shy of catching the Season 8 Champion Bailey Pietrowski. Bailey and Rose displayed an amazing season of driving and we look forward to seeing them both back for Season 9.

The series for 2023 returns on January 15th as we head to Candian Tire for Round 1 of Season 9!

Don't miss any of the action as all races are covered live on Apex Racing TV by SCCA announcers Gregg Ginsburg & Larry "Lefty" McLoud