Pirelli World Challenge primer: Austin - MotorSportsTalk

For the first time in 2013, all four classes of the Pirelli World Challenge will be in action at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas. The GT and GTS classes race twice, with the TC and TCB classes racing three times over the course of the May 17-19 weekend. Live streaming is available at www.world-challengetv.com for all races, with TV coverage on the NBC Sports Network on Sunday, June 16, at 5 p.m. ET.

The full entry list is linked here, and here’s a few storylines to follow going into the weekend:

GT: SOFRONAS SEEKS A HAT TRICK

James Sofronas in the GMG Audi R8 LMS has won the last two races in St. Pete and Long Beach, albeit more by good luck than outright pace. A host of challengers though from Cadillac, Volvo, Nissan, Mercedes and Porsche will be nipping at their heels in the 19-car class. One driver switches teams as Tomy Drissi, who drove an LG Motorsports Corvette the first two weekends of the year, enters the GTSport with Goldcrest team with a Porsche GT3 Cup car. Mike Hedlund also makes his first start of the year in another GMG Audi.

GTS: WIDE OPEN AFTER LONG BEACH

Lawson Aschenbach’s Long Beach win for Blackdog Speed Shop in its Camaro validated the team’s switch from GT. Jack Baldwin leads the points thus far in his GTSport with Goldcrest Porsche Cayman after a sweep in St. Pete. The two 2012 title protagonists (Peter Cunningham, RealTime Acura TSX and Andy Lee, Best IT Camaro) have yet to get on the scoreboard and will no doubt be keen to do so in Austin. Kia and Ford, as well, could show strongly this weekend with some of their entries. Series President/CEO Scott Bove, in a BMW E46 M3, is also among the 30 cars entered.

TC: LIKELY MAZDA VS. HONDA AGAIN

Rookie Michael Cooper took a MAZDASPEED 3 to the TC class title a year ago ahead of a host of Compass360 Honda Civics Sis. Although Cooper isn’t in the field again, Mazdas (with two MX-5s and and RX-8) and Hondas (five Civic Sis) are likely to battle for the win in the 16-car class. Mazda took a win with a Continental Tire Challenge-spec MX-5 for C.J. Wilson Racing at Austin in March. Ryan Winchester (third in 2012, Compass360) is the highest returning driver in points.

TCB: HUGE GRID INCREASE FOR YEAR TWO

The Touring Car B-Spec grid grew from barely more a half dozen entries to 21 for Austin. Cars entered include the Mazda2, Mini Cooper, Fiat 500, Ford Fiesta, and Honda Fit. Former SCCA Runoffs champion Joel Lipperini, Shea Holbrook, fourth in TC in 2012, and 15-year-old Ernie Francis Jr. are among the notable driver names entered in this class.

Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

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