In 2007, the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) popular World Challenge series for Touring and Grand Touring cars entered its 18th-season. With continued sponsorship from SPEED TV, the championship attracted a loyal following of race fans and attracted competitors.

Race weekends included two standing start fifty-minute races – one for the Grand Touring class and another for Touring Cars.

  • Grand Touring (GT) – The Grand Touring class rules accommodate a broad range of vehicles from different manufacturers. Engine displacements range from the 2.5-liter turbocharged Volvo S60-R to the Dodge Viper with an 8.3-liter V10 motor. While most of the cars are rear-wheel drive, the series also permits all-wheel-drive vehicles such as the Nissan Skyline GT-R, Porsche 911 AWD TT, Subaru WRX STI and Volvo S60R. Many of the competitors race the Chevrolet Corvette, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup or Dodge Viper.

  • Touring Car (TC) – The Touring Cars are limited to an engine displacement of 2.8-liters. Vehicles originally equipped with turbocharged or supercharged motors are also homologated for the series. The class is split predominantly between front-wheel-drive cars from Acura, Honda, and Mazda and the rear wheel drives such as the BMW 325 and BMW 328. Also proving very competitive is the all-wheel-drive Audi A4.

To prevent any driver/car combination from dominating the class and ensuring tight competition, the R.E.W.A.R.D.S. System was implemented. Introduced in 1995, R.E.W.A.R.D.S. is the acronym for ‘Rewarding of Equalizing Weight Assigned to Reduce Driver Sensitivity.' This weight equalization rule adds or removes ballast from a car based on the finishing position of a driver. The maximum amount of weight that can be removed from a car is 100-pounds. And, no more than 200-pounds can be added to a GT class car and 150-pounds to a Touring Car.

There were eleven-race weekends during the 2007 season – ten-races for each class. The Touring cars did not compete at Long Beach or a new venue at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Touring Cars raced twice at Watkins Glen, which was a new addition to the 2007 schedule. Also, the Touring Cars were the only World Challenge class competing at Lime Rock. As in 2006, the opening round was in March at Sebring, Florida and ended in late October at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, California.

The first lap and twenty-nine cars funnel into Laguna Seca’s corner-three for the 2007 World Challenge GT finale. Before this lap was completed, five drivers went off course at corner-four. Three of the five entries required the assistance of track safety vehicles. The result was seven caution laps before the first re-start.
Andy Pilgrim qualified his Cadillac CTS-V second but moved into the lead on lap-22 and was the first driver to the checkered flag. In the process, Pilgrim turned the fastest race lap. This was his second win of the season – the first was round four at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The victory was important for Cadillac as it secured the Manufacturers’ Championship.
Randy Pobst earned the pole in the No. 22 K-PAX Racing Porsche 911 GT3. To win the GT Drivers’ Championship Pobst would require at least a second regardless of where his competition finished. He jumped into first and led laps one through twenty-one. One lap-22 Cadillac driver Andy Pilgrim passed him at corner-two. Pobst held second to the finish and won the 2007 GT Drivers’ title.
The second K-PAX Racing entry was driven by Michael Galati. Galati qualified the No. 23 Porsche 911 GT3 third but had a bad start and was passed by the Porsche of James Sofronas and Ron Fellows in a Cadillac. He re-grouped and passed Sofronas and Fellows but could not catch the leaders, Andy Pilgrim and Randy Pobst. Galati finished third at Laguna Seca and was fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.
Mike Davis drove the Applied Computer Solution Ford Mustang Cobra. In 2007, Davis only competed in two World Challenge events – Long Beach and Laguna Seca. Qualifying ninth at Laguna Seca, his chances of a top-ten finish looked promising. Unfortunately, he retired on lap-12 after going off course.
At Laguna Seca, Michael McCann scored his best result of the 2007 season. The driver of the No. 82 McCann Plastics Dodge Viper qualified seventh and was fourth when the checkered flag fell. He won the B&M Oil Coolers 'Coolest Move of the Race' for his pass on Lawson Aschenbach.
Driving the No. 13 Woodhouse Performance Dodge Viper was the new Touring Car champion, Jeff Altenburg. Altenburg drove the car at Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca. At Laguna, he matched his best finish - a fifth which he also scored at Road Atlanta.
Defending World Challenge GT champion, Lawson Aschenbach had the best chance of beating Randy Pobst for the 2007 title. To win the championship, Aschenbach would have to be victorious at Laguna Seca and his chief rival, Pobst, would have to finish third or worse. Aschenbach finished sixth and Andy Pilgrim’s win dropped him to third in the standings.
Jason Daskalos drove the No. 05 Daskalos Development and Management Dodge Viper. At Laguna Seca, Daskalos qualified thirteenth but was the first car to retire after an accident in turn-four on lap-1.
During practice, Scotty B. White uses the Alex Zanardi line through the ‘Corkscrew’. White started twelfth in his Dodge Viper and was eighth at the checkered flag. This was his first top-ten of the season. White competed in six-events and finished twenty-first in the Drivers’ Championship.
James Sofronas had his best qualifying effort of the season. At Laguna Seca, the driver of the No. 14 Global Motorsports Group Porsche 911 GT3 started fifth. Sofronas took advantage of Michael Galati’s poor start and moved to fourth but it was not long before Galati retook the position. Sofronas went off course on lap-26 and finished nineteenth.
To increase their chances of winning the World Challenge GT Manufacturers’ Championship Cadillac entered a third CTS-V for Ron Fellows. Fellows, the factory Corvette driver in the American Le Mans Series, had joined the Cadillac team at four previous rounds (Long Beach, Toronto, Mosport and Road America). At Laguna Seca, he qualified fourth and finished seventh.

FINISHSTARTDRIVERCARLAPSRETIREMENTS
12Andy PilgrimCadillac CTS-V28-
21Randy PobstPorsche 911 GT328-
33Michael GalatiPorsche 911 GT328-
47Michael McCannDodge Viper28-
56Jeff AltenburgDodge Viper28-
68Lawson AschenbachCadillac CTS-V28-
74Ron FellowsCadillac CTS-V28-
812Scotty B. WhiteDodge Viper28-
924Paul BonaccorsiCadillac CTS-V28-
1018Ritch MazialeDodge Viper28-
1116Cindy LuxDodge Viper28-
1219Brandon DavisSaleen SR28-
1317Sonny WhelenChevrolet Corvette28-
1421Tony GaplesChevrolet Corvette28-
1527Eric OlberzPorsche 911 GT328-
1629Steve ValentinettiPorsche 911 GT328-
1711Brian KubinskiChevrolet Corvette27-
1828Jeff CourtneyDodge Viper27-
195James SofronasPorsche 911 GT326Off Course
2026Jeffrey RobbinsDodge Viper26-
2110Tomy DrissiChevrolet Corvette26-
2215Gunter SchaldachDodge Viper26-
2314Rob FosterChevrolet Corvette26-
2425Brett PearsonDodge Viper25Off Course
2522Jason FosterDodge Viper25Off Course
269Mike DavisFord Mustang Cobra12Off Course
2723Dane MoxlowPontiac GTO12Off Course
2820Eric CurranChevrolet Corvette3Differential
2913Jason DaskalosDodge Viper0Crash
3039Nick ParkerPorsche 911 GT30DNS

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