- Sebring Returns to Schedule for First Time Since 2009
- TCA Championship Volatile with Fartuch/Bacon Fight
- Mazda Returns to TCA with Global MX5 Cup, Copeland Motorsports
- ENTRY LIST - PDF Link
- EVENT SCHEDULE - PDF Link
Sebring, Fla. - With the end of the season looming at Indianapolis next month, TC America Powered by Skip Barber will contend its penultimate points round at Sebring International Raceway in Central Florida, October 1st-3rd.
The 3.74 mile (6.02 km), seventeen-turn circuit has a deep history rooted not in sports car racing, but in aviation. Much of the circuit runs on several-foot-deep concrete taxiways and runways from a converted military airbase, creating an extremely bumpy and formidable racing surface over half a century later. The last time the series (then called Speed World Challenge TC) raced at Sebring International Raceway was thirteen years ago in 2009, where Seth Thomas won in a BimmerWorld BMW 328i. Drivers in TC America Powered by Skip Barber Racing School will have to tame the concrete and paved asphalt sections to find success at the historic road racing circuit.
Six TCX-class cars will compete at the Florida circuit, highlighted by the points leader in the #81 BMW M2 CS Cup, Jacob Ruud, driving for Classic BMW. After two losses, one at Road America and one in dramatic fashion at Watkins Glen, Ruud reclaimed the top step of the podium at The Glen and seeks a win streak once more at Sebring. Ruud cut down a tire in the closing moments at Watkins Glen, which promoted the #30 BMW M2 CS Cup of Steve Streimer into first place, a position which Streimer held to claim his first victory of the season with Hard Motorsport. Classic BMW will enter two other BMWs, the #3 of Olivia Askew, and the #54 of Garrett Adams.
The #5 BMW of Roy Block, driving for KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering, sits third in the TCX standings prior to the season’s penultimate race weekend. Block hails from Winter Park, Florida, while his team enjoys a short trip from home base in Boca Raton, Florida. Just eleven points separate Block from Streimer as the duo head into the Sebring event. The #57 BMW M2 CS Cup of Stephen Cugliari returns for Accelerating Performance after an absence at Watkins Glen.
The TC field features twelve cars for Sebring, with championship leaders in the #92 Honda Civic Type-R of Eric Powell and the #9 Honda Civic Type-R of Kevin Boehm from DXDT Racing highlighting the field. The two drivers finished 1-2 in both races at Watkins Glen, and with the championship slipping from Boehm’s fingers, the pressure is on to beat his rival in the Skip Barber Racing School Honda. Behind them in 3rd in driver’s standings is the #51 BMW M240iR of Austen Smith, who had trouble at Watkins Glen in his Auto Technic Racing BMW. His teammate in the #52 BMW of Tom Capizzi will join him in the TC class. Two more BMW M240iRs from DRS & Garagistic will also run in TC, with the #06 of Matthew Ibrahim and the #09 of Kris Valdez competing at Sebring.
The #21 Nissan 370Z of Rob Hines, driving for TechSport Racing, will be the lone entry for Nissan, alongside a lone MINI Cooper with the #60 of Derek Jones in his MINI JCW PRO TC with the MINI JCW Team. Two Hyundai Veloster Type N TCs will also take to the grid for Genracer - the #78 of Jeff Ricca and the #88 of Michael Sousa. Honda will have more Honda Civic Type-R representation from the #37 of Mike LaMarra for LA Honda World Racing and the #28 Honda of Mike Ogren with Skip Barber Racing School.
The TCA championship lead remains in the hands of the #18 Hyundai Veloster Turbo of Caleb Bacon after Bacon won the second race at Watkins Glen, with his teammate Luke Rumburg in the #33 Forbush Performance Hyundai directly behind in 2nd. Bacon leads the #16 Honda Civic Si of Carter Fartuch with Skip Barber Racing School by over 20 points heading into. Fartuch suffered broken suspension at Watkins Glen, compounding an electrical issue that put him at the back of the grid for the race two start. Fartuch, from Ft. Pierce, Florida, is still in striking distance at his home race to claim the points lead, should Bacon have poor luck at Sebring.
Two Toyota 86s plan to run at Sebring for TechSport Racing - the #22 of Jesse Love and the #25 of PJ Groenke. A Mazda Global MX5 Cup will also run at Sebring, with Luca Mars behind the wheel in the #41 Copeland Motorsports car. The #61 MINI Cooper driven by Clayton Williams for MINI JCW Team returns for the Sebring event after snagging 10 points in each race at Watkins Glen. Five Honda Civic Si machines will contend within the TCA grid, the aforementioned #16 of Carter Fartuch, his Skip Barber Racing School teammate in the #2 (Colin Harrison), the #780 Honda of Sally McNulty, the #77 of Mario Biundo for LA Honda World Racing, and the #99 of Jose Blanco for VGMC Racing, whose team is from St. Cloud, Florida.
TC America Powered by Skip Barber Round 11 and 12 are available to watch for free on the SRO GT World YouTube channel. The first on track action for the touring car field is practice at 9:05 ET on Friday, October 1st, with Race 1 at 3:05 PM ET on Saturday, October 2nd and Race 2 at 9:30 AM on Sunday, October 3rd.
Tickets for the weekend are available starting at $10, and can be purchased at https://Bit.ly/gtsebringtix.