Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racers competed for the first Yokohama Challenge Awards at an October 5-7 event at Watkins Glen. First place went to I-Prepared racer David LeBlanc, second went to D-Modified racer Sri Haputantri, and third went to I-Prepared racer Jeff Quesenberry. All three winners race E36 M3s.
David LeBlanc finished first in the Yokohama Challenge at Watkins Glen. (Brian Morgan photo)
Yokohama Challenge points were based on performance in the four Club Races run at Watkins Glen, including a sprint race on Friday, two sprints on Saturday, and an 89-minute enduro on Sunday. Racers had to participate in three 2018 Tire Rack Club Racing events in advance of the Watkins Glen weekend to be eligible for the challenge. Challenge points are accumulated according to Club Racing rules, which are determined by position in class weighted by the number of participants in the class and the weight assigned to each race.
LeBlanc won the I-Prepared class in the Friday sprint race and the first Saturday sprint, both weighted 150%, and the Sunday enduro, weighted 100%. He finished third in class in the Saturday afternoon feature sprint, weighted 200%. Quesenberry finished second in class in the feature sprint, third in class in the Friday sprint, second in class in the first Saturday sprint, and tenth in class in the enduro. Haputantri won D-Modified in all three sprints and teamed with Michael Stoltzfus to win the class in the enduro.
Sri Haputantri swept D-Mod on his way to a second-place finish in the Yokohama Challenge at Watkins Glen. (Brian Morgan photo)
I-Prepared racer Jeff Quesenberry finished third in the Yokohama Challenge. (Brian Morgan photo)
There were four different overall winners in the four races at the Glen. C-Modified racer Kirk Olsen won the Friday sprint in an E36 M3, B-Modified racer Tyler Pappas won the Saturday morning sprint in an F87 M2, C-Mod racer Todd Brown won the feature sprint in an E46 M3, and I-Prepared racer Dan March won the enduro in an E36 M3.
The awards, the first given in a multi-year partnership between Yokohama and the Tire Rack Club Racing Series, are a $3,000 Yokohama Certificate for first place, a $2,000 certificate for second, and a $1,000 certificate for third. The certificates can be used for Yokohama track tires or street tires.
The Watkins Glen event was designated the east coast Yokohama Challenge; a west coast Challenge is scheduled for Thunderhill Raceway on November 10-11.