Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Grand Prix presented by the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers is not only one of the shortest races on the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship schedule, it is one of the most prestigious, with teams competing in the “Automotive Capital of the World.”

This year’s 100-minute event takes on additional content, as the Prototype Challenge (PC) class joins the Prototypes and GT Daytona (GTD) classes for the first time on the 13-turn, 2.360-mile Raceway at Belle Isle Park.

The TUDOR Championship joins the IndyCar Series in the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, continuing the legacy of competition in the Motor City dating back to Formula One races on a temporary circuit near the Renaissance Center beginning in 1982. Racing moved to Belle Isle Park – an island in the Detroit River – in 1992. Over the years, both the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón and GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series raced on Belle Isle. Last year, the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was a key component of the inaugural TUDOR Championship schedule.

Bragging Rights: Chevrolet Vs. Ford Battle Highlights Prototype Class

The TUDOR Championship lead Prototype (P) class features a classic Ford vs. Chevrolet battle in the Motor City.

With the Renaissance Center – General Motor’s world headquarters – clearly visible from Belle Isle, Chevrolet enters the race with both history and momentum on its side. The defending race-winning No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP of Ricky and Jordan Taylor already has a 2015 victory, at Long Beach, the only other street circuit on the schedule.

The No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP of Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante won the most recent race on the schedule, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Action Express Racing has two potent Corvette DPs, the No. 5 Mustang Sampling of defending class champions and Sebring winners Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox DP of Eric Curran and Dane Cameron.

Ford brings Scott Pruett and Joey Hand to the show in the No. 01 Ford EcoBoost/Riley, coming off a second-place finish at Long Beach. Pruett was a former Trans-Am winner at Detroit.

There are two spoilers in the mix to challenge the American makes.

Honda flexed its muscle in the most recent round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, where Ozz Negri led every practice session and John Pew qualified a career-best fourth in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2/Honda. The pair came back from contact early in the race to finish a season-best third.

Fans of automotive ingenuity will be watching the Mazda Motorsports Mazda Prototypes, powered by SKYACTIV diesel engines, led by the No. 07 Castrol/ModSpace Mazda of Tom Long and Joel Miller.

Prototype Challenge Set For Belle Isle Debut

The stars are aligning for RSR Racing entering the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, the first visit for the TUDOR Championship Prototype Challenge (PC) class at the Belle Isle Circuit.

The team is coming off the first victory of the season, with Chris Cumming and Bruno Junqueira winning at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the No. 11 AutoMaxUSA ORECA FLM09. It’s a home race for RSR Racing, which is based in East Lansing, Mich., 90 minutes from the circuit. In addition, team owner Paul Gentilozzi is the leading SCCA Trans-Am winner at Belle Isle, winning in 1998 in a Camaro and in 2000 and 2001 in a Jaguar XKR.

“We feel that the Detroit Grand Prix ranks at the top of important races in North American motorsports,” Gentilozzi said. “Great racing traditions and a challenging track entertain real race fans. For the PC class to remain relevant, being at this event is essential. Both of our drivers have recent experience on this configuration, and we feel our momentum from Mazda Raceway and experience makes us a contender to make it two in a row.”

RSR Racing faces stiff competition in its bid for another victory. Defending class champion CORE autosport has yet to win in 2015, although Jon Bennett and Colin Braun have posted three consecutive runner-up finishes in the No. 54 Flex-Box/Composite Resources ORECA to capture the points lead. Mike Guasch and Tom Kimber-Smith opened the season with back-to-back triumphs at Daytona and Sebring for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA, and are two points behind in the standings.

GT Daytona Brings Tight Points Battle To Motor City

The points lead in the GT Daytona (GTD) class is up for grabs entering Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic. Four driver pairings – all yet to win in 2015 competition – are grouped within seven points heading to the Motor City.

Christopher Haase and Dion von Moltke – co-drivers of the No. 48 Castrol Edge Audi R8 LMS – currently hold a one point lead coming off a season-best second-place finish at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with a total of 87 points.

Townsend Bell, who finished 14th in last Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, and Bill Sweedler are second with 86 points. Their best finish in the No. 63 Robert Graham/Royal Purple Ferrari 458 Italia was third at Sebring. Scuderia Corsa is the defending GTD winner of the event.

Second-place finishers in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, Cooper MacNeil and Leh Keen have scored 83 points in the No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche 911 GT America. Seven points out of the lead with 80 points are James Davison and Christina Nielsen, drivers of the No. 007 Royal Purple/Orion Energy/LaSalle Solutions/PassTime USA Aston Martin Vantage.

Patrick Lindsey and Spencer Pumpelly are fifth in the standings with 76 points, coming off their victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT America.

Andy Lally and John Potter are sixth with 70 points, and recently prepared for the event with a two-day test at Watkins Glen.

“John and I have never seen the podium at Belle Isle, so we’re trying to take what we learned at the Watkins Glen test and make it positive,” Lally said. “Hopefully, we can get closer to the top step of the podium at Detroit.”

TUDOR Championship, ETC.

Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen will co-drive the lone domestic entry in the GTD field when they share the No. 33 ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper SRT GT3. All Vipers are built in Chrysler’s Conner Avenue Assembly in Detroit. Texas-based Keating is the nation’s leading Viper dealer. He opened the year with a class victory in the Rolex 24 driving one of his team’s Vipers. Detroit-based TI Automotive is a prominent sponsor on the Viper.