2007 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - 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 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course hosted round seven of the SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge GT championship. Competitors would race for fifty-minutes on the thirteen-turn 2.258-mile road course in an event presented by Trenton Forging.

Twenty-six SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge GT competitor’s line-up on the front straight at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for round seven of the series. On the pole, for the first time, this season is Eric Curran in the Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette. Next to Curran is the Dodge Viper of race three winner, Tommy Archer. Sharing the second row are the K-PAX Racing Porsches of Randy Pobst and Michael Galati.

Lap-1 through the ‘Carousel’ and the order is Eric Curran in the Marsh Racing prepared Chevrolet Corvette, followed by Randy Pobst in the K-PAX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 and the MOPAR Dodge Viper of Tommy Archer. After twenty-nine circuits of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, these three drivers would finish in the same order. This would be Curran’s third victory of the season and put him fifth in the championship standings.

Randy Pobst took over the driver’s points lead in the previous round at Toronto’s Exhibition Place. His season to date included three podium finishes – two of which were victories (Watkins Glen and Toronto). The 2003 series champion drove the No. 22 K-PAX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 and qualified third. Pobst moved into second place on the first lap and held the position for the remainder of the contest.

The defending Grand Touring champion, Lawson Aschenbach, had three podium finishes in the first six-races but no victories. His three runner-ups results put him third in the title chase. At the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Aschenbach qualified fifth fastest. He had an uneventful run in the No. 1 Cadillac CTS-V and crossed the finish line in fourth place. Aschenbach would inherit third when the Dodge Viper of Tommy Archer was disqualified.

Earning this weekend’s Sunoco Hard Charger award was Jeffrey Robbins. The honour is given to the competitor that advances the most positions during the race. Robbins was twenty-first fastest during the qualifying session. The driver of the No. 6 RSIG Security sponsored Dodge Viper moved up five spots before the checkered flag and captured a fifteenth-place finish.

The winner of round three at Miller Motorsports Park and the 2004 World Challenge Grand Touring champion, Tommy Archer, was disqualified at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Archer drove the No. 5 Autohaus Motorsport prepared Dodge Viper and qualified on the outside of the front row. He finished third, but during the post-race technical inspection, it was discovered that the transmission was out of compliance.

SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge veteran, James Sofronas, drove the No. 14 Global Motorsports Group Porsche 911 GT3. His best result in 2007 was a fifth place in round one at Sebring International Raceway. In Toronto, Sofronas earned the Toyo Cup for competitors that contribute to advancing the series. He received this award for a second time at Mid-Ohio after starting ninth and finishing eighth.

Rookie competitor, Brian Kubinski, captured two honours at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Kubinski piloted the No. 12 Diamond Construction / Blackdog Racing Chevrolet Corvette and was gridded in seventh place for the start of the contest. During the event, a pass on James Sofronas earned him the B&M Oil Coolers Coolest move of the race. Kubinski’s seventh-place finish was recognized with the Piloti Rookie of the Race.

2005 Grand Touring series champion, Andy Pilgrim, lost this year’s points lead to Randy Pobst in the previous round at Toronto. Pilgrim scored a victory in race four at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, but since that event, he hadn’t finished on the podium. In the qualifying session at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Pilgrim was sixth fastest and finished fourth in the No. 8 XM / Mobil 1 Cadillac CTS-V. He was still second in the standings.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	Eric Curran	Chevrolet Corvette	29	-
2	3	Randy Pobst	Porsche 911 GT3	29	-
3	5	Lawson Aschenbach	Cadillac CTS-V	29	-
4	6	Andy Pilgrim	Cadillac CTS-V	29	-
5	4	Michael Galati	Porsche 911 GT3	29	-
6	8	Michael McCann	Dodge Viper	29	-
7	7	Brian Kubinski	Chevrolet Corvette	29	-
8	9	James Sofronas	Porsche 911 GT3	29	-
9	10	Tim McKenzie	Porsche 911 GT3	29	-
10	26	Doug Peterson	Chevrolet Corvette	29	-
11	24	Lou Gigliotti	Chevrolet Corvette	29	-
12	13	Jason Daskalos	Dodge Viper	29	-
13	12	Jeff Courtney	Dodge Viper	29	-
14	15	Tony Gaples	Chevrolet Corvette	29	-
15	14	Rob Foster	Chevrolet Corvette	28	-
16	21	Jeffrey Robbins	Dodge Viper	28	-
17	20	Dane Moxlow	Pontiac GTO	28	-
18	19	Joel Feinberg	Dodge Viper	28	-
19	23	Thomas Glenn	Dodge Viper	28	-
20	22	Chapman Ducote	Dodge Viper	28	-
21	16	Ritch Marziale	Dodge Viper	28	-
22	25	John Bourassa	Porsche 911 Turbo	27	-
23	17	Sonny Whelen	Chevrolet Corvette	26	-
24	11	Stu Hayner	Pontiac GTO	20	Mechanical
25	18	Lenny Diller	Dodge Viper	9	Transmission
26	2	Tommy Archer	Dodge Viper	29	Disqualified

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