2007 Laguna Seca - World Challenge GT

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.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	2	Andy Pilgrim	Cadillac CTS-V	28	-
2	1	Randy Pobst	Porsche 911 GT3	28	-
3	3	Michael Galati	Porsche 911 GT3	28	-
4	7	Michael McCann	Dodge Viper	28	-
5	6	Jeff Altenburg	Dodge Viper	28	-
6	8	Lawson Aschenbach	Cadillac CTS-V	28	-
7	4	Ron Fellows	Cadillac CTS-V	28	-
8	12	Scotty B. White	Dodge Viper	28	-
9	24	Paul Bonaccorsi	Cadillac CTS-V	28	-
10	18	Ritch Maziale	Dodge Viper	28	-
11	16	Cindy Lux	Dodge Viper	28	-
12	19	Brandon Davis	Saleen SR	28	-
13	17	Sonny Whelen	Chevrolet Corvette	28	-
14	21	Tony Gaples	Chevrolet Corvette	28	-
15	27	Eric Olberz	Porsche 911 GT3	28	-
16	29	Steve Valentinetti	Porsche 911 GT3	28	-
17	11	Brian Kubinski	Chevrolet Corvette	27	-
18	28	Jeff Courtney	Dodge Viper	27	-
19	5	James Sofronas	Porsche 911 GT3	26	Off Course
20	26	Jeffrey Robbins	Dodge Viper	26	-
21	10	Tomy Drissi	Chevrolet Corvette	26	-
22	15	Gunter Schaldach	Dodge Viper	26	-
23	14	Rob Foster	Chevrolet Corvette	26	-
24	25	Brett Pearson	Dodge Viper	25	Off Course
25	22	Jason Foster	Dodge Viper	25	Off Course
26	9	Mike Davis	Ford Mustang Cobra	12	Off Course
27	23	Dane Moxlow	Pontiac GTO	12	Off Course
28	20	Eric Curran	Chevrolet Corvette	3	Differential
29	13	Jason Daskalos	Dodge Viper	0	Crash
30	39	Nick Parker	Porsche 911 GT3	0	DNS

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