2007 Mosport International Raceway - World Challenge

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.

Round eight of the SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge Touring Car Championship was held at Mosport International Raceway as part of the Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Ontario weekend. Competitors would race around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course for fifty-minutes.

Twenty-three SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge Touring Car drivers line up on Mosport International’s front straight for round eight of the championship. On the pole is Adam Pecorari in the No. 19 STaSIS Engineering prepared Audi A4. Beside Pecorari is his teammate, Chip Herr, in the No. 17 Audi. The second row is occupied by the third STaSIS entry, which was driven by Ian Baas and the Mazda 6 of Michael Galati.

Contact in the previous round at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course took Adam Pecorari and the points leader, Randy Pobst, out of contention. The event at Mosport International Raceway was an excellent opportunity for Pecorari to redeem himself. Driving the No. 19 STaSIS Engineering Audi A4, Pecorari qualified on the pole. He lost first place at the start but regained the position on lap-2 and led flag-to-flag for the victory.

At Mosport International Raceway, Chip Herr earned his second consecutive runner-up finish. Herr qualified on the outside of the front row and jumped into the lead at the start of the race. On lap-2, he went wide in corner ten and his teammate, Adam Pecorari, was able to grab the top spot. Herr chased Pecorari and never lost sight of him. Unfortunately, an opportunity to pass Pecorari ended when the race ended under yellow.

Entering round eight, the defending Touring Car champion, Pierre Kleinubing, had four podium finishes in 2007 but no wins. At Mosport International Raceway, he qualified fifth in the No. 1 RealTime Racing Acura TSX. Early in the race, Kleinubing moved into third and challenged the Audi of Chip Herr, but he was also preoccupied with his teammate, Kuno Wittmer, in the fourth spot. He held the position and finished third.

Local racer, Andrew Wojteczko had problems in qualifying and started last in the twenty-three-car field. With the issues addressed before the contest, he demonstrated his knowledge of Mosport and finished in the twelfth. His efforts during the event earned Wojteczko three awards. The Piloti Rookie of the Race, B&M Hole Shot (advancing five positions on lap-1) and Sunoco Hard Charger (gaining eleven spots during the race).

With just two events remaining after round eight at Mosport International Raceway, the title chase was going to be a ‘two-horse race’ between teammates, Randy Pobst and Jeff Altenburg. Pobst trailed Altenburg by seventeen-points after Mid-Ohio but closed the gap slightly at Mosport. Pobst qualified in the sixth position and finished fifth - this cut Altenburg’s lead to fourteen markers.

Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development driver, Jeff Altenburg, led the Touring Car standings entering round eight, but his teammate, Randy Pobst, was within striking distance. Altenburg qualified three positions behind Pobst in the ninth place. The driver of the No. 72 Mazda 6 finished one spot in arrears of his teammate. Altenburg left Mosport with the points lead intact, but the gap was reduced to fourteen-markers.

In the previous round at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Bimmerworld’s Seth Thomas delivered his best qualifying performance of the season. Thomas started third in the No. 38 BMW 325i. Unfortunately, he failed to complete the first lap. At Mosport International Raceway, he qualified eleventh fastest and was in seventh place at the checkered flag. For his effort, Thomas was awarded the Toyo Tires Cup.

The round eight podium for the 2007 SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge Touring Car division at Mosport Internationa Raceway. Standing on the top step for the first time this year is STaSIS Engineering’s, Adam Pecorari. On the left side of the rostrum is Pecorari’s teammate and the runner-up, Chip Herr. Occupying the final position on the podium is the defending Touring Car champion, Pierre Kleinubing.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	Adam Pecorari	Audi A4	28	-
2	2	Chip Herr	Audi A4	28	-
3	5	Pierre Kleinubing	Acura TSX	28	-
4	7	Kuno Wittmer	Acura RSX	28	-
5	6	Randy Pobst	Mazda 6	28	-
6	9	Jeff Altenburg	Mazda 6	28	-
7	11	Seth Thomas	BMW 325i	28	-
8	3	Ian Baas	Audi A4	28	-
9	13	James Sofronas	BMW 325Ci	28	-
10	8	Peter Cunningham	Acura TSX	28	-
11	4	Michael Galati	Mazda 6	28	-
12	23	Andrew Wojteczko	Lexus IS300	28	-
13	18	Charlie Putman	Mazda 6	28	-
14	21	Stan Wilson	Dodge SRT-4	28	-
15	12	Brandon Davis	Acura TSX	28	-
16	19	Justin Pritchard	Toyota Celica GTS	28	-
17	14	Nick Esayian	Acura TSX	28	-
18	16	Jason Martinelli	BMW 325Ci	28	-
19	17	Sasha Anis	Lexus IS300	28	-
20	10	Roberto Santos	Mazda 6	26	Accident
21	15	Charles Espenlaub	Mazda 6	10	Accident
22	20	Branden Peterson	Acura TSX	10	Mechanical
23	22	Joey Hand	BMW 325i	2	Mechanical

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