2001 Mosport - World Challenge GT

In 2001, the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) World Challenge Championship was in its twelfth season. For the third year, Speedvision was the primary sponsor. SCCA had developed a successful format that attracted competitors and fans. A couple changes of note for this year:

There were larger purses due to an increase in the number of sponsors.
Competitors would be using a new spec tire from Toyo.

Race weekends included two standing start races (limited to fifty-minutes) – one for the Grand Touring class and another for the Touring Cars.

Grand Touring (GT) – The GT class rules accommodate an extensive range of vehicles from different manufacturers. There is no limit to the engine displacement in this category and cars may use a forced induction system. To stop the cars, alternative materials may be utilized for the brake pads and shoes. Rules also allow the use of four-piston calipers but rotors are limited to 14-inches in diameter. The maximum diameter of the wheels is 18-inches and any changes to the bodywork must be approved. The series uses a spec tire and competitors race on Toyo Proxes RA-1s.
Touring Car (TC) – The Touring Cars are limited to an engine displacement of 2.8-liters. The motors must be naturally aspirated (turbochargers or superchargers are not permitted). The Touring Cars are also allowed four-piston calipers and alternative materials for the brake pads and shoes but the maximum rotor diameter is 12-inches. Wheels in this group are limited to 17-inches. Cars can be fitted with a spec rear wing and approved aftermarket bodywork. This category also uses a spec tire from Toyo – the Proxes T1-S.

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.

There were eight-race weekends during the 2001 season. The opening rounds were in March at Texas Motor Speedway and Sebring, Florida. Teams weren’t back in action until May at Mosport International Raceway and Lime Rock Park. Lime Rock would be a doubleheader for the Touring Cars. The next event would be at Detroit’s Belle Isle which was just for the Grand Touring category. The championship would move to the west coast with races at Sears Point Raceway, Portland International Raceway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The final weekend was at Road Atlanta. The schedule initially included a round at Charlotte Motor Speedway but when that venue was cancelled Road Atlanta became a doubleheader weekend.

Round three of the 2001 Speedvision World Challenge Series was held at Mosport International Raceway. Twenty-two Grand Touring drivers started the fifty-minute race around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course.

The pole-sitter, Peter Cunningham leads the field of twenty-two starters into Mosport International Raceway’s corner one. Jumping into second place is the Porsche of the other front row starter, Mike Fitzgerald. About to slot in behind, Fitzgerald is the defending series champion and fourth place qualifier, Jeff McMillin. Beside McMillin is the Audi of Derek Bell who was gridded sixth for the start.

In 2000, Peter Cunningham competed in a BMW M3 - this year, he was behind the wheel of an Acura NSX. It appeared to be a good choice as Cunningham had scored a first and second place finish in the opening rounds. Although he was outgunned by the Porsche of Mike Fitzgerald in practice, Cunningham demonstrated the Acura’s speed in qualifying. Starting from the pole, he led every lap to win by a margin of 1.498-seconds.

In the first two rounds of the season, Mike Fitzgerald competed in a Porsche prepared by Petersen Motorsports. However, the Petersen team wasn’t prepared to travel to Canada. As a result, Fitzgerald made alternative arrangements which saw him compete in David Schardt’ Porsche. He started on the outside of the front row and chased the eventual winner, Peter Cunningham for fifty-minutes to finish in the runner-up spot.

Entering Mosport, Michael Galati driving the Champion Audi S4 Competition was tied at the top of the standings with Peter Cunningham. He had a victory at Texas and a runner-up finish at Sebring. In practice, Galati was third quickest and could not do any better in qualifying. He had a poor start and completed the first lap in seventh place. The charge was on and by lap-ten, Galati was in third – his finishing position.

Johannes van Overbeek returned to the World Challenge series after a three-year absence. Originally, he drove a BMW in the Touring 2 category. In 2001, van Overbeek was driving the No. 81 Porsche 911 Cup. The opening round of the season did not go well for him but at Sebring, he qualified first and finished third. At Mosport, van Overbeek started fifth and was a beneficiary of the McMillin/Galati incident and finished fourth.

The defending series champion, Jeff McMillin was having a good start to the season. He was fourth in the standings as the result of fifth-place finishes at Texas and Sebring. On the way to his 2000 title, McMillin didn’t win a race but never finish outside the top-ten. He started fourth at Mosport and was in third place when the race’s first caution occurred. On the restart, he was hit by Michael Galati and pitted which resulted in a fourteenth-place finish.

Another driver benefiting from the restart incident between Jeff McMillin and Michael Galati was Jimmy Adams. Adams was gridded ninth for the start of the fifty-minute contest in the Motor Coach Industries sponsored Porsche 911 Cup. During the race, he found himself in a five-way battle with Johannes van Overbeek, Justin Jackson, Bobby Archer and Phil McClure. At the checkered flag, Adams was in fifth place – his best finish to date.

Rookie Bob Miller drove the No. 23 Porsche 911 Cup with backing from Rogaine. Miller was fifth in the title chase as the result of two top-ten finishes (sixth at Texas and eighth at Sebring). In practice at Mosport, he recorded the thirteen fastest time and dropped to fifteenth in qualifying. On the first lap, Miller spun and fell to last place. He moved through the field and finished ninth to earn the Borla Performance Award.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	Peter Cunningham	Acura NSX	29	-
2	2	Mike Fitzgerald	Porsche 911 Cup	29	-
3	3	Michael Galati	Audi S4 Competition	29	-
4	5	Johannes van Overbeek	Porsche 911 Cup	29	-
5	9	Jimmy Adams	Porsche 911 Cup	29	-
6	11	Justin Jackson	Porsche 911 Cup	29	-
7	7	Bobby Archer	Chevrolet Corvette C5	29	-
8	8	Phil McClure	Chevrolet Corvette C5	29	-
9	15	Bob Miller	Porsche 911 Cup	29	-
10	10	Bobby Sak	Chevrolet Corvette C5	29	-
11	12	Tim Wiens	Porsche 911 Cup	29	-
12	16	David Farmer	Chevrolet Corvette C5	17	-
13	17	Mark Anderson	Porsche 928	29	-
14	4	Jeff McMillin	BMW M3	29	-
15	14	Greg Merril	Porsche 911 Cup	29	-
16	24	Justin Marks	BMW M Coupe	29	-
17	19	Tony Renna	BMW M3	28	-
18	13	Lou Gigliotti	Ford Mustang	27	-
19	18	Walter Swick	BMW M3	11	Mechanical
20	21	Joe Blacker	Audi S4	9	Mechanical
21	6	Derek Bell	Audi S4 Competition	3	Accident
22	20	Thomas Safar	Saleen SR	2	Fire
23	23	James Sofronas	BMW M3	0	Did Not Start
24	22	Anders Hainer	Porsche 911 Cup	0	Did Not Start

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