Pirelli World Challenge primer: Detroit - MotorSportsTalk

The Pirelli World Challenge heads to the Raceway on Belle Isle in Detroit this weekend, as the GT and GTS classes prepare for the Cadillac V-Series Challenge doubleheader event. Race live streaming begins on Saturday at 9:45 a.m. ET on www.world-challengetv.com, with the race broadcast on the NBC Sports Network Sunday, June 16, at 5 p.m. ET.

Detroit is a hotbed for manufacturers, particularly GM, whose headquarters is on the other side of the street across the river. Cadillac swept the weekend last year with Johnny O’Connell.

This weekend, the question is whether the hometown brands can hold serve against the marquee manufacturers not based in Detroit.

So far Audi has taken three of five wins in GT with James Sofronas, the thus far dominant points leader in the No. 14 GMG R8, with Cadillac (O’Connell) and Volvo (Alex Figge) adding a win apiece. Besides the two Cadillacs, Mike Skeen’s CRP Racing Corvette could capture a win in the shadows of GM HQ. Otherwise, the selection of contenders from Audi, Volvo, Nissan, Porsche and Mercedes will fight it out for honors in the 12-car class.

GTS has a wide-open field between its 28 cars. Still, like in GT, one driver dominated the doubleheader a year ago: Andy Lee of Best IT Racing, in his Camaro. Lee got on the scoreboard for 2013 two weeks ago at the Circuit of the Americas, and has leapt to fourth place in points.

The other contenders include points leader Jack Baldwin in the GTSport Racing with Goldcrest Porsche Cayman, the Blackdog Camaro driven by Lawson Aschenbach, the RealTime Acura TSXs of Peter Cunningham and Nick Esayian, the pair of Kinetic Racing Kia Optimas and the fleet of Ford Mustang Boss 302Ss, which seek a solid run for the first time this year. Other manufacturers in the GTS field include Nissan, Lotus and Scion FR-S.

The full entry list is linked here.

An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”