Michael Cooper (racing driver)

Michael Cooper (born September 1, 1989 in New York, New York) is an American-born race car driver who currently competes in the Pirelli World Challenge. He resides in Huntington, New York, and also has a business management degree from at NYIT (New York Institute of Technology), and a nutrition degree from Long Island University.[1]

Michael Cooper
Nationality	American
Born	September 1, 1989
Pirelli World Challenge career
Former teams	Cadillac Racing, Blackdog Racing
Championships	4
Wins	19
Podiums	37
Previous series
Pirelli World Challenge, Playboy Mazda MX–5 Cup, Skip Barber Racing School
Championship titles
2011 2012 2015	Playboy Mazda Mx-5 Cup Pirelli World Challenge TC Champion GTS Champion
Last updated on: October 11, 2017.

Racing career

Early career

In 2009, Cooper's brother signed him up for the Bob Lutz Cadillac CTS-V Challenge driving competition. In wet conditions at Monticello Motor Club, Cooper was the fastest amateur, gaining the attention of GM Factory Driver Johnny O'Connell.[2] From there, Cooper began his racing career at the age of 19 at Skip Barber Racing School, racing in the Mazdaspeed Challenge in 2010.[3]

After winning several races in the Skip Barber series, Michael stepped into the Playboy Mazda Mx-5 Cup for his first season of professional racing. Cooper won the season opening event, and went on to finish fourth in the championship, narrowly missing out on rookie of the year honors.

In 2011 Michael won the Playboy Maxda MX-5 Cup driver championship with six poles and five wins in nine races. As a result of winning the championship, Cooper was awarded a full season ride for the following year in the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car (TC) division.[4]

In similar fashion to 2011, Cooper dominated the Touring Car class in 2012, winning six out of 14 races, only finishing outside of the top five one time, and ultimately claiming the drivers championship.[5] For 2013, Cooper did not have a full time ride and missed the first 3 rounds of the Pirelli World Challenge touring car schedule.

Later in 2013, Cooper had the opportunity to step into a GT class car for the first time, qualifying ninth in the CRP Racing Hawk Nissan at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and retiring after only a few laps with a mechanical failure.[6] 2014 was more of the same for Michael, and without a full time ride, he competed in his first GTS class races at Miller Motorsports Park finishing in eighth and fourth place for Blackdog Speedshop.

In 2015 Michael made his full season debut in the GTS class of Pirelli World Challenge in the Blackdog Speedshop Z/28.R, winning only his second race of the season. Cooper went on to win the GTS championship with four race wins and two additional podium finishes.[7] In 2016, GM appointed Cooper as a factory driver, and hired him to race alongside Johnny O'Connell in the Pirelli World Challenge, racing the Cadillac Racing ATS-V.R.[8] With two wins and an additional seven podiums, Cooper finished third in the championship. The following season, Cooper returned to the Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac Racing program for another full season to include the Sprint and SprintX championships. Cooper was paired with Jordan Taylor for the SprintX Championship, and the duo captured the 2017 Championship at Circuit of the Americas.[9]

Shortly after capturing the Sprint-X championship, Cooper went on to sweep the final Sprint race weekend of the year at Sonoma raceway. After the 2017 season, Cadillac Racing announced an end to the program, leaving Cooper a free agent.[10]

For 2018 Cooper was announced as one of the drivers for the Callaway Competition race team and their GT3 homologated C7 Corvette in the Pirelli World Challenge GT class. However he was released from his contract in February of 2018, before the season ever started due to the teams inability to field 2 cars.

Cooper would continue to drive a partial GT4 sprint-x season in 2018 with teammate Tony Gaples at Blackdog Speed Shop

Results

Pirelli World Challenge

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Rank	Points
2012	Atlanta Motorsports Group	MAZDASPEED3	TC	SPGP 1	SPGP 1	UTA 4	UTA 1	UTA 5	LAG 5	MOS 2	MOS 1	MOS 4	MOH 1	MOH DNF	SONO 3	SONO 2	SONO 1							1st
2013	Atlanta Motorsports Group	MAZDASPEED3	TC	AUS -	AUS -	AUS -	LRP 13	LRP DNS	LRP 10	TOR 1	TOR 1	MOH 1	MOH 1	SONO 9	SONO DNS	HOU 3	HOU 7							5th
2014	Blackdog Speedshop	Camaro ZL1	GTS	SPGP -	LBGP -	BAR -	BAR -	DGP -	DGP -	ROA -	ROA -	TOR -	TOR -	MOH -	MOH -	SONO -	SONO -	UTA 8	UTA 4					27th
2015	Blackdog Speedshop	Camaro Z/28.R	GTS	AUS 8	AUS 1	SPGP 7	SPGP 5	BAR 5	BAR 10	MOS 14	MOS 3	ROA 17	ROA 9	MOH 1	MOH 4	UTA 6	UTA 1	SONO 2	SONO 1	LAG 10				1st
2016	Cadillac Racing	Cadillac ATS-V.R	GT	AUS 3	AUS 2	SPGP 4	SPGP 3	LBGP 15	BAR 2	BAR 1	MOS 11	MOS 7	LRP 9	LRP 14	ROA 7	ROA 3	MOH 7	MOH 1	UTA 15	UTA 6	SONO 3	SONO 21	LAG 3	3rd
2017	Cadillac Racing	Cadillac ATS-V.R	GT	SPGP 7	SPGP 5	LBGP 14	VIR 3	VIR 3	MOS 1	LRP 4	LRP 2	ROA 3	ROA 5	MOH 2	MOH 7	UTA 8	UTA 3	AUS 4	AUS 6	AUS DNF	SONO 1	SONO 1		1st (SprintX), 2nd (Overall), 3rd (GT Sprint)

References

1. Blattler, Tom. "College Student Michael Cooper Set for Big Jump to Pirelli World Challenge GT Class As GTS Champion Teams With 4-Time GT Champ Johnny O'Connell in Cadillac Racing". Pirelli World Challenge. Pirelli World Challenge.
2. Cechal, Erin. "SportsCar Feature: The Accidental Racer". SportsCar. SportsCar.
3. "MICHAEL COOPER DRIVES MAZDASPEED3 TO 2012 PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP". PR Newswire. PR Newswire.
4. "Cooper reflects on MX-5 Championship". Parts and People.
5. "2012 Championship". Pirelli World Challenge.
6. "Figge and Jonsson take poles in GT/GTS at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course". Motorsport.
7. "Michael Cooper Wins the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge GTS Drivers' Championship". Pirelli World Challenge.
8. McEachern, Sam. "Cadillac Racing Confirms Michael Cooper To Replace Andy Pilgrim In 2016". GM Authority.
9. "Michael Cooper/Jordan Taylor Capture 2017 PWC GT SprintX Pro/Pro Division Title". Cadillac V Club.
10. Dizinno, Tony. "Cadillac ends its title-winning PWC program". NBC Sports Network.