PWC: GT championship preview

An incredible GT sports car point title battle between veterans Alvaro Parente and Patrick Long headline the Pirelli World Challenge Championships presented by Nissan this weekend (Oct. 7-9) at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the 2016 season finale. GT and GTA drivers will race Round 20, while GT Cup pilots are set to race in Round 19. The weekend marks the 15th time the series will race at the 11-turn 2.238-mile road course.

Long versus Parente for the championship – GT Preview
With over 10 world-renowned manufacturers represented by some of the top drivers in the world, the GT class features some of the best sports car racing on the planet. Sixteen drivers are entered for this weekend's season finale race.

With only one race left in the 2016 GT season and only nine points separating the two main protagonists in the battle for the class driver's championship, it all comes down to this coming weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. McLaren Factory driver Parente enters the weekend with 1,554 points and will look to add to an already impressive trophy mantle that includes the 2005 British Formula 3 Championship, the 2007 World Series by Renault Championship and the 2015 International GT Open Championship – he will drive the No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S.

Parente leads over Porsche factory driver Long, the former PWC 2011 GT Driver's Champion, who comes into the weekend second in GT driver's points with 1,545. Long will pilot the No. 58 Porsche 911 GT3 R for Wright Motorsports. Long also looks to help Porsche repeat as GT Manufacturer's Champions in 2016 – Porsche comes into the weekend only one point behind McLaren 131-130.

K-PAX Racing also brings two McLaren 650S GT3s for McLaren GT Academy Driver and 2015 GT Cup Driver's Champion Colin Thompson, and young up-and-comer Austin Cindric. Thompson dominated in GT Cup last year winning 13 of 18 class races and will pilot the No. 13 K-PAX Racing machine. Cindric has raced in a number of series previously including Mazda's Road to Indy's USF2000 series and the Global Rally Cross Championship and will pilot the No. 6 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S. Cindric scored his first career PWC pole earlier this season at Mid-Ohio, and scored two more poles at Sonoma. In addition, Cindric recently captured the ARCA stock car race at Kentucky Speedway.

If Parente and Long falter, Cadillac teammates Johnny O'Connell and Michael Cooper will be ready to pounce. Four-time and defending 2015 GT Driver's Champion O'Connell sits only 104 points behind Parente. The Cadillac Factory driver comes into the weekend on a roll after winning both races at Sonoma and he will need to match that performance if he hopes to win his fifth series championship. He will pilot the No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R GT3. O'Connell's teammate Cooper also has a shot at the championship – the 2015 GTS Driver's Champion, comes into the weekend tied with O'Connell with 1,451 points. Cooper will drive the Cadillac Racing No. 8 ATS-V.R GT3.

Nissan Motorsports and Always Evolving enter two GT-R GT3s for JD Davison and Bryan Heitkotter. Heitkotter will drive the No. 05 Always Evolving/Replay XD/Nissan Nismo GT3 GT-R and comes into the weekend fifth in the championship points standings. Heitkotter won back-to-back races earlier this season at Utah. Davison comes into the weekend 10th in Driver's Championship points – he will pilot the No. 33 AE Replay XD Nissan GT Academy Nissan GT-R GT3.

RealTime Racing comes into the weekend with two cars entered. Seven-time series Driver's Champion Peter Cunningham owns almost every statistical record in PWC, but he moved out of his seat earlier this season to allow another accomplished sportscar veteran to race his Acura/HPD/RealTime Racing's Acura TLX-GT. Spencer Pumpelly will pilot the No. 34 car. Teammate Ryan Eversley has been on a late season charge winning both races at Road America, and finishing second in Round 15 at Mid-Ohio. He sits 6th in the championship standings and will pilot the No. 43 Acura/HPD/Red Line Oil/RealTime Acura TLX-GT.

Up-and-coming sportscar racer Kyle Marcelli has been in the mix all season long and comes into the weekend 8th in the championship with 1,179 points. He will drive the No. 2 CRP Racing Audi R8.

Sports car veteran Jon Fogarty is in his second year in PWC and will pilot the No. 99 Gainsco Auto Insurance /Bob Stallings Racing McLaren 650S. Fogarty's impressive racing resume includes 16 career Rolex Series victories, while being the 2007 and 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Co-Champion. Fogarty's best finish of the season so far was a third in Round 2 at COTA – he comes into the weekend 12th in the championship standings.

Calvert Dynamics Racing enters the No. 98 Calvert Dynamics/CurbAgajanian/Phoenix Performance/Brett King Designs/Boys Republic Porsche 911 GT3 R for Michael Lewis. Lewis joined the Calvert Dynamics team after his previous team, EFFORT Racing, announced a hiatus from competition in 2016. Lewis won back-to-back races earlier this year at St. Petersburg and sits 11th in the driver's championship.

Absolute Racing enters a Bentley Continental GT3 with 21-year-old Fabian Hamprecht piloting the No. 88 machine. Hamprecht's resume includes races in the 2016 ADAC GT Masters series and the 2016 GT Asia series. He is set to make his first career PWC start this weekend.

Alex Job Racing recently joined the series and will field the No. 97 Porsche 911 GT3 R for accomplished sportscar racer Gunnar Jeannette. In 2011, Jeannette won the LMPC Championship in ALMS. He has a long history at LeMans after becoming the youngest finisher on record in 2000 at the age of 18.

Rounding out the 16-car GT field is Jonathan Summerton in the No. 66 DIME Racing Mercedes AMG SLS GT3. Summerton makes his first career PWC start. Summerton is a former winner of the 12-hour race at Sebring.

Champion Fuentes looks to add to an impressive 2016 campaign – GTA Class preview
At Sonoma, Martin Fuentes scored his seventh second place finish of the season to secure the GTA Driver's Championship and the Sportsman Cup presented by B.R.M Chronographes. Along with the cup, Fuentes will collect a B.R.M championship chronograph at the awards banquet following the finale weekend at Laguna Seca. Fuentes will look to add to an impressive season having already scored nine wins. He will pilot the No. 07 Hublot/Under Armour/Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia.

Michael Schein, in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, has spent the second half of the season on a charge closing the gap on Fuentes winning eight of the last 12 races. Schein has locked up a second place finish in the GTA Driver's Championship and will look to close out the season with a strong result.

Jorge De La Torre returns to the series after injuries sustained in an incident in a warm-up session at Lime Rock put him on the sidelines. De La Torre will pilot the No. 4 Delgac LLC/De La Torre Racing Motor Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3.

Rounding out the 10-car GTA field is Brent Holden in the No. 14 GMG/Spyder/Mobil 1/Thermal Club GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, Drew Regitz in the No. 19 iRACERCOACHING.com Stephen Cameron Racing Audi R8 LM GT3, Andy Wilzoch, in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche GT3R, Tim Pappas in the No. 54 Black Swan Racing Porsche GT3R Papent.com/Fine Art Enterprises/Boston Athletic Club, Andrew Kim in the No. 78 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3, 79 Cooper MacNeil Hinsdale, IL WeatherTech/Alex Job Racing Porsche 991 GT3R, 82 Michael McCann North Canton, OH McCann Racing Dodge Viper GT3 Yeti GT3R/McCann Racing/Dodge Viper.

Bragging rights all that's left in GT Cup – GT Cup preview
GT Cup is a spec class with drivers piloting the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – the 2016 season has featured a tremendous battle between two young, up-and-coming sportscar talents.

Alec Udell posted an impressive 12 wins this season behind the wheel of his No. 17 GMG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and mathematically clinched the class championship at Sonoma. He moves over this weekend to compete in SprintX.

Sloan Urry has put together another tremendous campaign in Pirelli World Challenge GT Cup competition and will, for the second year in a row, finish second overall in the championship. He will pilot the No. 20 Security National Mortgage/Avasis TruSpeed Autosport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup this weekend and looks to try to notch his sixth win of the season.

Corey Fergus, the 2015 TC Driver's Champion, will pilot the No. 00 Byers Porsche/US LED/Motul/ Motorsports Promotions machine. Fergus had an impressive 2015 campaign scoring three TC wins and 13 top-five finishes. He sits third in class driver's championship points with 1486.

Rounding out the four-car GT Cup field is Alex Welch, in the No. 08 GMG/Red Beard Racing/Morgan Adams Foundation/Torque Branding Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and Chris Thompson, in the No. 17 GMG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Sandberg leads Aschenbach, Chase and Stacy in title battle – GTS Class overview
The GTS class has featured some of the best wheel-to-wheel competition seen in racing in recent years. And 2016 has been no different with nine different drivers piloting machinery from five different manufacturers scoring GTS race wins thus far this season.

Brett Sandberg comes into the weekend leading the GTS Driver's Championship with 1,473 points after winning his third race of the season in Round 17 at Sonoma. He will pilot the No. 13 ANSA Motorsports X-Bow GT4. Teaming up with Sandberg is two-time TCA Driver's Champion Jason Wolfe in the No. 12 ANSA Motorsports X-Bow GT4, and Bill Ziegler who will drive the No. 9 ANSA Motorsports X-Bow GT4. Wolfe will make his first career GTS series start this weekend.

Leading the charge for Chevrolet is four-time series and two-time GTS champion Lawson Aschenbach piloting the No. 10 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Z28. Since 2013, a Blackdog Chevy has claimed the GTS Championship – Aschenbach did so in 2013 and 2014, with Cooper winning in 2015. Aschenbach started off the season with a win at COTA in Round 1, and has since been victorious three more times including in Round 13 at Mid-Ohio. He comes into the weekend 111 points behind Sandberg with 1,362. He will team with series veteran Tony Gaples who will pilot the No. 11 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Z28 – Gaples sits eighth in the class championship with 865 points.

Fifteen-year-old Rookie Parker Chase sits third in the GTS driver's championship and will pilot the No. 19 Performance Motorsports Group Ginetta GT4. He's had an impressive rookie season and sits third overall in the championship with 1327 points. Parker's best PWC finish of the season has been a second – a result he achieved in Round 6 at Barber, Round 8 at CTMP and Round 16 at Sonoma. He will look to score his first PWC career series win this coming weekend. Parker will team with Harry Gottsacker, in the No. 29 Performance Motorsports Group Ginetta GT4.

Jack Roush Jr. in the No. 60 ROUSH Road Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302, and 16-year-old phenom Nate Stacy in the No. 14 Rehagen Racing/Stacy Racing machine team up to lead the Ford charge. Stacy won his first career GTS win at Sonoma in Round 16 and sits fourth in the battle for the championship. Roush won back-to-back races at St. Petersburg and comes into the weekend 10th in the standings with 801 points. Roush Jr. and Stacy are also looking for good results this weekend to help Ford win the class manufacturer's championship – Ford leads Chevrolet 105 to 97.

Scott Dollahite, piloting the No. 46 SDR Motorsports Lotus Evora, comes into the weekend 6th with 980 points. Dollahite has been a model of consistency this season recording eight top 5 finishes in 13 starts.

Scott Heckert, who won Round 15 at Utah, will pilot the No. 54 SIN Cars/Racers Edge Motorsports SIN R1 GT4. Teaming with Heckert is Jade Buford who has won three races in six starts this season in the No. 45 SIN Cars SIN R1 GT4. Heckert sits 5th in the championship, while Buford sits 13th.

Canadian team Mantella Autosport Inc. brings a two–car effort to Laguna Seca with Anthony Mantella in the No. 8 Gulf X-Bow GT4, and teammate Martin Barkey in the No. 80 MBRP Sportlab/Sawmill Creative car. Mantella secured his first career PWC win earlier this year at Utah in Round 14 and he finished second in Round 17 at Sonoma. He comes into the weekend in ninth with 825 points while teammate Barkey is in 11th with 800 points.

TRG-AMR brings three Aston Martin Vantage GT4s to Laguna Seca. Max Riddle, will pilot the No. 07 Adobe Road Winery, LaSalle Solutions machine – he won Round 8 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. George Kurtz, will drive the No. 04 Crowd Strike TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4, while Greg Milzcik will race the No. 77 TRG-AMR North America Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

The 24-car GTS field includes PWC veteran James Sofronas in the No. 4 GMG Racing Porsche Clubsport GT4, Aristotle Balogh in the No. 5 ART Racing/Stephen Cameron Racing LLC Aston Martin Vantage GT4, Kevin Marshall, in the No. 44 VSA Motorsports Lotus GT4; Mark Klenin, in the No. 62 Schomp/Premiere Copy Klenin Performance Racing Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4; Jeff Courtney in the No. 99 RecStuff.com/Kenda/JCR Motorsports Maserati GranTurismo MC Trofeo; Ron Ballard in the No. 93 AK&J Sealants/RT Motorsports, LLC Maserati GranTurismo MC Trofeo and Andrew Aquilante in the No. 37 Calvert Dynamics/Phoenix Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302.

Saturday October 8, 2016
9:00 AM - 9:25 AM Pirelli World Challenge - GTS Qualifying
10:25 AM - 10:45 AM Pirelli World Challenge - GTA-GT Cup Qualifying - Group 1
10:50 AM - 11:10 AM Pirelli World Challenge - GT Qualifying - Group 2

Live Internet Telecast (on motortrendondemand.com):
Saturday October 8, 2016
11:45 AM – 12:35 PM Race # 1 TC-TCA-TCB
1:55 PM – 2:55 PM Race # 1 GTS
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Race # 1 SprintX

Sunday, October 9, 2016
8:45 AM – 9:25 AM Race # 2 TC-TCA-TCB
10:50 AM – 11:50 AM Race # 2 GTS
1:05 PM – 2:05 PM GT-GTA-GT Cup Race
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM Race # 2 SprintX

All times listed above are Pacific

Television (on CBS Sports Network):
GT: Oct. 16, 3 PM
TC: Oct. 23, 3 PM
GTS: Oct. 23, 4 PM
SprintX: Oct. 23, 5 PM

All times listed re: CBS broadcasts are Eastern.