2011 TM Master Cup season
| 2011 TM Master Cup season | |
| |
| # of Rounds | 20 |
| Ovals | 11 |
| Road Courses | 9 |
| Driver's Champion |  Adrien Devereux
|
| Owner's Champion |  Volpi Racing Team
|
| Season Opener | Round of Las Vegas |
| Season Finale | Round of Decatur |
| Championship Overview | |
The 2011 TM Master Cup season was a series of 20 international races for the TM Master Cup Series. This season was unique in that Adrien Devereux won the driver's championship, but his team, the Hodges-Walter Racing #26, finished 2nd in the owner's championship to the Volpi Racing Team #1.
Promotional Video[edit | edit source]
Preseason changes[edit | edit source]
The team structure from the 2010 season was revised, with full-time teams now being granted licenses for only two full-time cars, along with one part-time car, which is now restricted to entering only the special events.
This allowed officials to grant full-time licenses to 19 teams, an increase from 13 in the previous season; and leaves space for up to four Independent's Trophy teams to enter a race. Regular events therefore are now fixed at 38 to 42 entrants; this allowed for the elimination of qualifying races, cutting costs for both the series and teams.
Volpi Racing Team switched from their usual numbers (#27 and #28) and carried the #1 and #2 for 2011 due to Alexis Rainsford's 2010 championship, while Franz Redlich was cut from the team, leaving Zach Duff as the second full-time driver, and Packer Carroll and Chris Davenport as reserve drivers.
At the same time, it was known that Rainsford was eyeing a potential move to V8 Champ Car, and would miss the Round of Germany as she prepared to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 for the first time. Rainsford qualified for the race while also winning the Karjala Grand Prix and Round of Carbondale. Then, while leading the points before the Round of Daytona despite missing a race, it was shockingly announced that she would be moving to V8CC full-time immediately, and would only make further starts for the Rounds of Indianapolis, Japan, and Decatur. Carroll and Divina Henton would fill out the season in the 1 car.
Meanwhile, Team Saar USA released Ethan Everett and Drew Eisenman, with Mike Whitmore hired to drive the #36 car full-time. Everett went to the new Rick Milligan Racing team, fielding the older Tyrant. Originally, his full time teammate was Brian Sendack, but after Sendack's injuries at the 2010 Round of Alabama, ARLA champion Bobby Porteau was hired.
FLASH Racing elected to cut Louis Kingston, who joined DeGarmo Enterprises in their Master Cup debut, alongside former Power Steering, Inc. driver Zelda Ashby. The DeGarmo team introduced the Juneau AMX-5 to the series.
At Team EFR, Charlie Waters replaced Anthony Evans, with Ian Cooper stepping back to the part-time role. Cooper had an impressive showing in his first Karjala Grand Prix since 2007, won the Round of Indianapolis, and would finish out the season after the erratic Waters was injured during qualifying at Indy.
Flare Motorsports withdrew from the series and Lenard moved factory support to Ocean Motorsports. Rachel Rainsford, who drove for Flare, moved to the ARLA Elite Series full-time, along with joining Mitchell & Sons Racing to compete for the Independent's Trophy.
Flare's other drivers, David Krikorian and Jacques Bouvier, both left the team, but only Bouvier stayed in the TMMC, joining Majestic Motorsports. Delano left Majestic to sponsor Woody Watts at Bolden Speedstable. Bolden also tabbed Luciano Soveral from the TM Junior Series, with sponsorship from Kleffer Media.
Gaspar de Sousa left his part-time slot at Hodges-Walter Racing to drive full time for Bill Barclay Racing. Danny Savin also left the team due to the drop to 2 cars, and he later joined Camelot Racing as the team's third driver. Joining de Sousa at Bill Barclay Racing would be Michael Sykes, making an all-rookie team. Back at Hodges-Walter Racing, Erik Bohlender was announced as the team's third driver.
While Squadra Corsa left the series, two more new teams would join to fill out the grid. A new Italian team, Scuderia Tutino, made their first appearance with their in-house chassis, initially signing Mika Tervo and Carlos Donzelo. TM Europe regulars Trevor Carrington Racing elected to field two-year old Calton-Morel Novas, driven at first by Henton and Treven Terrell. Both teams would struggle to find speed and funding, filling out the season with pay drivers and finding themselves at the back of the grid along with Katzev Engineering. Carrington would miss the Round of Russia with their funding woes, and shut down after the Round of Quebec.
The two-year "tire war" in the Master Cup Series came to an end, with Cooper Tires becoming the exclusive tire supplier in a long term deal.
Full-Time Teams[edit | edit source]
Substitute entries[edit | edit source]
Trevor Carrington Racing sold their entries to Avtomobilniy Tolyatti for the Round of Russia, then shut down their operations following the Round of Quebec. Last Row Autosport and BlackDiamond Racing were granted entries to fill the grid for the final three races.
| Team | Chassis | Model | No. | Driver | Primary Sponsor | Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Last Row Autosport
|
Omecha | MA02 | 20 | Dan Mackay (R)
|
Extenze | 18-20 |
 BlackDiamond Racing
|
Omecha | MA02 | 60 |  Cesar Vila Nova
|
Cosan | 18-20 |
 Avtomobilniy Tolyatti
|
Tolyatti | 111 | 81 | Lev Vladimirovich Polzin
|
Tolyatti | 8 |
| 84 | Vitaly Karpenko (R)
|
Flagman/Tolyatti | 8 |
Independent's Trophy Teams[edit | edit source]
Special Event entrants[edit | edit source]
The following cars entered special events only.
Schedule[edit | edit source]
- The blue boxes represent a road/street course race.
Manufacturers List[edit | edit source]
New Points System[edit | edit source]
Also new in 2011 was the introduction of a new points system. This system only awards the top 20 finishers in each TM Master Cup Series event.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 60 | 50 | 45 | 40 | 35 | 30 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 22 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
- 5 bonus points goes to the race's polesitter
- 5 bonus points goes to the driver who leads the most laps in the race.
- Points are doubled at Karjala and Indianapolis.