IndyCar, Pirelli World Challenge, IMSA TUDOR CHampionship & Stadium Super Truck Series at Belle Isle this weekend

This coming weekend the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix sees three major series once again competing at the same circuit with Canadian content in the IndyCar Series, the IMSA TUDOR United Sports Car Championship and Pirelli World Challenge. Race fans in Detroit are also in for a double hit of both IndyCar and World Challenge as each series will race on Saturday and Sunday.

The IndyCar Series comes directly to Detroit from completing the Indianapolis 500 this past weekend which saw drama in the closing laps right to the checkers. This is round six – and the third street course for the series this year. Ryan Hunter-Reay comes to Detroit with a 23-point lead over Will Power in the championship. Oakville, Ontario native James Hinchcliffe is currently 12th. "Hinch" will be looking for some redemption after a late-race incident took him out of the race.

The 2013 Dual in Detroit saw Mike Conway win race one (Hinchcliffe P15) and Simon Pagenaud took the victory in race two (Hinchcliffe P19). Races are run on Saturday and Sunday. A complete weekend schedule appears at the end of this story.

This is rounds 5 and 6 for Pirelli World Challenge classes GT, GTA and GTS – and yet another street course for these powerful cars which started at St. Petersburg, FL., then Long Beach, CA., before their first permanent circuit event in Birmingham, AL., just four weeks ago. Canadian Mark Wilkins (Palgrave, ON) comes into Detroit with the lead in the GTS driver's championship with thirteen points in hand over his KIA Racing / Kinetic Motorsports team mate Nic Jonsson. KIA Leads the manufacturer championship by four points over Porsche. Wilkins could be considered the favourite this weekend after scoring two podiums at Belle Isle in 2013 including his first World Challenge win (Wilkins won race 1 from pole and finished P2 in race two).

Ryan Eversley driving the Toronto-based Compass 360 Racing's Subaru WRX-STi is currently 19th in the championship.

In GT, Anthony Lazarro driving the R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia sits first in the championship while his R. Ferri team mate Nick Mancuso is sixth. Mancuso originally started in the GTA class (for amateur drivers) but moved up to GT based on scoring pole and a podium at Barber Motorsport Park last month. Ferrari is second in the manufacturer championship, just four points back of Cadillac.

World Challenge TC, TCA and TCB classes are also racing this weekend at New Jersey Motorsport Park in Millville, NJ. We will follow their progress separately.

The IMSA TUDOR United Sports Car Championship arrives in Detroit with just the Prototype (P) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes with a total of 32 cars (11 x P; 21 x GTD). The tight street course would make it difficult to run all four classes (plus restrictions in terms of available pit stalls). Belle Isle is round five for the Prototypes and round four for GTD. Michael Valiante (Vancouver, BC) and his Spirit of Daytona team mate Richard Westbrook sit fifth in the Prototype driver's championship drive the #90 Chevrolet Corvette (P). AIM Autosport (Woodbridge, ON) currently lead the GTD team standings with the #555 Ferrari 458 Italia (tied on points with Magnus Racing) with team drivers Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler leading the driver's championship (tied on points with Andy Lally and John Potter).

The IMSA TUDOR United Sports Car Championship takes place on Saturday.

Also racing this weekend, Robby Gordon's Super Stadium Truck Series. This series is always fun to watch and is extremely entertaining for the fans.

On track action gets under way at the Belle Isle circuit on early Friday morning (30th) with qualifying for the Super Stadium Truck Series at 8:00 AM ET. A complete weekend schedule is shjown below.

Event and Series web site and live timing & scoring links:

Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix - www.detroitgp.com

IndyCar Series – www.indycar.com
IndyCar T&S – racecontrol.indycar.com

Pirelli World Challenge – www.world-challenge.com
Pirelli World Challenge T&S – www.world-challenge.com/liverace/index.html
Pirelli World Challenge TV – www.world-challengetv.com

IMSA TUDOR United Sports Car Championship – www.imsa.com
IMSA TUDOR United Sports Car Championship T&S - scoring.imsa.com

Weekend Schedule:

Friday, May 30, 2014
7:30 a.m. Gates Open
8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck Series Practice/Qualifying – Race 1
8:50 a.m. – 9:20 a.m. Pirelli World Challenge Practice (GT/GT-A/GTS)
9:35 a.m. – 11:05 a.m. TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Practice 1 (Prototype/GT Daytona)
11:20 a.m. – 12:05 p.m. Verizon IndyCar Series Practice 1
12:20 p.m. – 12:50 p.m. Pirelli World Challenge Practice #2 (GT/GT-A/GTS)
1:35 p.m. – 3:05 p.m. TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Practice 2 (Prototype/GT Daytona)
3:20 p.m. – 4:05 p.m. Verizon IndyCar Series Practice #2
4:35 p.m. – 5:05 p.m. SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck Series – Race 1
5:25 p.m. – 5:40 p.m. TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Qualifying (GT Daytona)
5:45 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Qualifying (Prototype)

Saturday, May 31, 2014
7:10 a.m. – 7:45 a.m. Pirelli World Challenge Qualifying – Race I (GT/GT-A/GTS)
7:15 a.m. Gates Open
8:00 a.m. – 8:20 a.m. TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Warm-Up (Prototype/GT Daytona)
8:35 a.m. – 9:35 a.m. Verizon IndyCar Series Qualifying – Dual I
10:05 a.m. – 11:05 a.m. Cadillac V-Series Challenge presented by the Metro Detroit Cadillac Dealers
12:10 p.m. – 1:55 p.m. Chevrolet Sports Car Classic presented by the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers
2:10 p.m. – 2:25 p.m. SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck Series Moto
3:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans – Dual I (70 laps)
6:15 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. Concert: Lifehouse

Sunday, June 1, 2014
7:30 a.m. Gates Open
7:35 a.m. – 7:55 a.m. SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck Series Qualifying – Race 2
8:15 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. Pirelli World Challenge Warm-Up - Race 2 (GT/GT-A/GTS)
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Verizon IndyCar Series Qualifying – Dual II
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon Cadillac V-Series Challenge presented by Metro Detroit Cadillac Dealers
1:55 p.m. – 2:25 p.m. SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck Series – Race 2
3:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans - Dual II (70 laps)