Starting this thread just a little earlier than usual, but the on track action begins in just over a week, so I thought I'd start it now anyway.
Pirelli World Challenge will roll into Sonoma Raceway with championship battles tightening up. In the driver's standings, new championship leader Patrick Long leads K-Pax Racing's Alvaro Parente by only 21 points, after early Race 1 misfortune at Utah for the McLaren driver.
On the bright side for Parente, Sonoma is the home track for Flying Lizard, who run the K-Pax program and have plenty of testing miles at the track, as well as a win with Kevin Estre and the 650s GT3 last year.
Long, however, has plenty of experience at the track, and a previous generation 911 GT3-R took the other 2015 race at Sonoma for Long's former team EFFORT Racing. The 991 GT3-R is a very different car to it's predecessor, but it's almost always a contender.
The third driver in the championship hunt is Cadillac Racing's Michael Cooper, a further 44 points back. Cooper is, perhaps, the wild card in the championship this year, but he took the Sonoma GTS Race 1 win last year en route to the championship, and has been nothing but fast all year. He should not be overlooked.
Reigning champion Johnny O'Connell comes in fourth, 97 points behind his teammate, and Acura's Ryan Eversley is currently fifth.
In the hotly-contested teams championship, K-Pax Racing leads Cadillac Racing by 49 points and Always Evolving by 92.
Porsche leads McLaren by 6 points and Cadillac by 24 in the manufacturers standings.
Sonoma sees the return of James Davison to the #33 Always Evolving Nissan GT-R.
Also returning, following his GTA debut at Road America, is Andy Wilzoch in his #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-R, in classic Lizards livery.
Ten-Tenth's own Mike Hedlund is back at Sonoma, this time in his GT Cup Porsche, which is also run by Flying Lizard Motorsports.
Drew Regitz and his GTA Audi return to the entry list for the first time since the car was damaged by fire at Road America.
Alex Job Racing is set for their PWC debut with a GT class Porsche 911 GT3-R for Sports Car veteran Gunnar Jeanette, and a GTA 911 GT3-R for Cooper MacNeil.
Alex Welch and Preston Calvert will also be competing in GT Cup alongside the class regulars.
It remains to be seen who will be piloting the second Acura, as Spencer Pumpelly has prior commitments in Texas, and Peter Cunningham is believed to have testing commitments with the NSX GT3.
GTS lists 21 cars, mostly regulars. Lawson Aschenbach will be pulling double duty between Sonoma and his Audi ride at COTA.
Ron Ballard's Maserati and George Kurtz's Aston Martin are back on the GTS entry, along with an extra TRG Aston for Greg Milzcik.
Last year's GT races at Sonoma were two of the best of the year, featuring fierce, clean battles between Estre and Van Der Zande driving a McLaren and a Porsche, the very two brands piloted by the leading championship protagonists. GTS, likewise, provided great racing. Hopefully 2016's races provide more of the same!
Schedule
Entry List
Live Stream
Live Timing and Scoring
Track Map
Weather (racecastweather.com)
Weather (National Weather Service)
Series Twitter Account
Further note for anyone attending, Sonoma Raceway is giving away a hot lap in a PWC race car. You can register
here.