2007 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - KONI Challenge

Beginning in 2007, the Grand-Am Cup series was sponsored by KONI shock absorbers and renamed the KONI Challenge Series. The three-year agreement between Grand-Am and KONI called for the company to offer the richest purse in the series history - $100,000 per event. The winning Grand Sport team would earn $5,000 but the prize fund doubled to $10,000 if the car was equipped with KONI shock absorbers. Street Tuner competitors were competing for a similar payout - $3,750 to the winner and $7,500 if the vehicle is fitted with KONIs.

The 2007 season consisted of twelve race weekends and started in January at Daytona International Speedway, which was followed by a second event in Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In April, the series would make their first visit to Iowa Speedway then move on to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Lime Rock Park. In June, the teams traveled north of the border to compete at Mosport International Raceway after this event, race weekends took place Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Watkins Glen International and Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. In August, teams made their second visit to Canada, where the action would take place on the streets of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. The penultimate round was held at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park, with the finale being conducted at Virginia International Raceway. The Grand Sport and Street Tuner classes had separate races – the exceptions being Daytona, Watkins Glen and Miller Motorsports Park, where they competed in a single event.

The cars are relatively unchanged from their road-going counterparts – modifications are mandated mainly for safety – roll cages, window nets, etc. They also use spec DOT-approved tires produced by Hoosier. Based on performance potential, the cars were divided into one of two groups:

Grand Sport (GS): The quicker of the two classes - the group features the larger displacement engines as well as smaller four-cylinder motors with forced induction systems. The power-plants produce between 350 and 405-horsepower. Minimum weights range between 2,900 – 3,300-pounds, which is dependent on the motor configuration and displacement. This class includes cars such as the BMW M3, Pontiac GTO, Ford Mustang and Porsche 997.
Street Tuner (ST): The smaller displacement cars compete in this class in which engines typically produce between 170 and 240-horsepower. Popular vehicles found in this group are the Acura RSX, Acura TSX, Mazda RX-8, Mazda MX-5, Honda Accord, BMW 330i, Subaru Legacy, Chevrolet Cobalt SS and Mini Cooper S.

Less than a week after round six at Mosport International Raceway, the KONI Challenge teams traveled to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Mid-Ohio Road 200. Thirty-three teams would race on the thirteen-turn 2.258-mile road course for 81-laps.

The Lime Rock Park winners, Chuck Hemmingson and Kristian Skavnes skipped round six and rejoined the series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Hemmingson qualified the No. 111 ICY / Phoenix Racing Subaru Legacy and was fourth fastest. Skavnes drove the final stint and moved from fourth place to first in three-laps. While the other teams pitted, he stayed on the track and gambled with a one-stop strategy that paid off with a victory.

Sharing the No. 69 Mazda RX-8 was Jose Amengol and SpeedSource team manager, David Haskell. Amengol was gridded eighteenth for the two-and-a-half-hour event. When he pitted for the driver change, the team was in tenth place. Haskell caught the leaders and eventually moved into second place. He chased Skavnes but could not catch him. Haskell captured the runner-up position by a margin of 1.191-seconds.

i-Moto Racing entered two Acura TSX. The No. 31 TSX was raced by Glenn Bocchino and Canadian, Nick Wittmer. Bocchino handled the qualifying duties and the car would start from the tenth position. During his time behind the wheel, Bocchino maintained the pace of the leaders. Wittmer drove the final stint and caught David Haskell and Kristian Skavnes but was not close enough to execute a pass and finished third.

The No. 01 Georgian Bay Motorsports Chevrolet Cobalt SS started on the Street Tuner pole in two of the last three races. At the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Jamie Holtom qualified the car third fastest. Holtom was partnered with Eric Curran. They were unable to maintain the pace of the front runners. At the checkered flag, the duo was on the lead lap and finished in sixth place.

The Street Tuner points leaders, Trevor Hopwood and Adam Burrows, had a difficult race. Hopwood qualified the Turner Motorsport BMW 330i fifth fastest. Unfortunately, there was contact on lap-2 of the race in the ‘Keyhole’ with the other title contender, Karl Thomson. The impact sent the BMW into the gravel trap. The pair finished in twenty-second place but increased their points lead over Thomson and Billy Johnson by eight-markers.

The Kensai Racing duo of Karl Thomson and Billy Johnson entered round seven just one-point behind the Turner Motorsport entry of Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood. Thomson qualified the No. 76 Acura TSX in the sixth position. On lap-2 of the race, contact between Hopwood and Thomson damaged the Acura’s steering. An extended pit-stop was required and dropped them out of contention, they finished in twenty-ninth place.

First-year KONI Challenge Street Tuner competitor, Tyler Givogue captured the pole position for round seven at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The former Canadian Honda Michelin series driver recorded the fastest lap in the No. 53 Predator Auto Sport prepared Chevrolet Cobalt SS. Sharing the Cobalt with Givogue was fellow Canadian, Kuno Wittmer. Unfortunately, they retired after fifty-four laps and were classified in the twenty-seventh place.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	4	Chuck Hemmingson / Kristian Skavnes	Subaru Legacy	81
2	18	Jose Armengol / David Haskell	Mazda RX-8	81
3	10	Nick Wittmer / Glenn Bocchino	Acura TSX	81
4	23	Guy Cosmo / VJ Mirzayan	BMW 330i	81
5	13	Juan Leroux / Jorge Leroux	Acura TSX	81
6	3	Jamie Holtom / Eric Curran	Chevrolet Cobalt	81
7	17	Jocelyn Hebert / Cyril Hamelin	Honda Civic Si	81
8	21	Sam Schultz / Seth Thomas	BMW 330i	81
9	15	Bob Beede / Chad Gilsinger	Acura RSX-S	81
10	28	Todd Buras / Charles Putman	Mazda MX-5	81
11	32	Steve Kent / Gunter Schmidt / Andrew Danyliw	Chevrolet Cobalt	81
12	25	David Rosenblum / Davy Jones	Subaru Legacy	81
13	24	Randy Smalley / BJ Zacharias / Mark Congleton	Mini Cooper S	81
14	29	Al Mitchell / Al Lamb	BMW Z4	81
15	14	Andrew Lewis / Christian Miller	Acura TSX	80
16	9	Chip Van Vurst / Charles Espenlaub / Rob Whitener III	Mazda RX-8	80
17	20	David Roush / Brian Till	Honda Accord	80
18	27	Justin Hall / Magnus Karlsson	Mazda MX-5	80
19	12	Joe Scarbrough / Andy Brumbaugh	Mazda RX-8	80
20	31	Carlos Lira / Squeak Kennedy	Mazda RX-8	79
21	19	Dave Royce / Eric Powell	Chevrolet Cobalt	77
22	5	Trevor Hopwood / Adam Burrows	BMW 330i	77
23	8	John Schmitt / Shane Lewis	Honda Accord	75
24	67	Toby Grahovec / Pierre Kleinubing	BMW Z4	85
25	16	Todd Lamb / David Thilenius	Acura RSX-S	65
26	16	Will Nonnamaker / Joe Sahlen	Dodge SRT-4	64
27	1	Tyler Givogue / Kuno Wittmer	Chevrolet Cobalt	54
28	2	Aaron Povoledo / Beau Buisson	Acura TSX	54
29	6	Karl Thomson / Billy Johnson	Acura TSX	38
30	30	Dave Royce / Jeff Lepper / Brian Flint	Chevrolet Cobalt	37
31	22	Matt Pritiko / Dave Ciekiewicz	Acura RSX-S	33
32	11	Zach Schiff / David Tuaty	BMW 330i	22
33	26	Randy Smalley / Pattee / Mark Congleton	Mini Cooper S	11

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