2007 Mosport International Raceway

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 Grand Touring 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 Grand Touring drivers line up on Mosport International’s front straight for round eight of the championship. On the pole is the defending class champion, Lawson Aschenbach, in the No. 1 XM Satellite Radio / Mobil 1 Cadillac CTS-V. Starting on the outside of Aschenbach is the 2003 titleholder, Randy Pobst, driving the No. 22 K-PAX Racing Porsche 911 GT3.

The start at Mosport International Raceway was extremely dangerous. When the starting lights went out, the front row of Lawson Aschenbach and Randy Pobst did not move. Ron Fellows, in the third Cadillac entry, made contact with Pobst, but both drivers were able to continue. The big winner was Michael Galati. Galati in the second K-PAX Racing Porsche 911 GT shot into the lead from third on the grid.

At Mosport International Raceway, Eric Curran made it two victories in a row and four for the season. Curran won the first two events of the year at Sebring International Raceway and Long Beach. He scored his third victory at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Curran started sixth driving the Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette and grabbed the lead from Michael Galati on lap-7 and never gave up the position.

After eight rounds, the reigning champion Lawson Aschenbach still hadn’t found the top step of the podium. Aschenbach grabbed the pole at Mosport International Raceway in the XM Satellite Radio / Mobil Cadillac CTS-V. During the standing start, he stalled the Cadillac and refired it without getting hit. Aschenbach was in fifth place before the field got to turn one. He worked his way back to a runner-up finish.

Capitalizing on the errors made during the standing start by the two fastest qualifiers, Lawson Aschenbach and Randy Pobst, was Michael Galati. Galati, the five-time World Challenge series champion shot into the lead from third on the grid. He led the contest until lap-7 when he was passed by the Chevrolet Corvette of the eventual winner, Eric Curran. Unable to hold off the Cadillac CTV-S of Lawson Aschenbach, Galati finished third.

SCCA Pro Racing veteran, Lou Gigliotti has turned a lot of laps at Mosport International Raceway. Gigliotti’s first World Challenge win at Mosport was in 1991. The No. 28 LG Pro Long Tube Headers sponsored Chevrolet Corvette was off the pace in qualifying and he was gridded in the thirteenth position. During the contest, Gigliotti moved through the field and finished sixth – in the process, he set the fastest race lap.

Ohio’s Michael McCann had difficulty coming to grips with Mosport International Raceway. During the qualifying session, McCann could only manage the twenty-first fastest time. In the race, his performance improved, and he advanced eleven positions before the end of the contest. The driver of the No. 82 McCann Plastics Dodge Viper was given the Sunoco Hard Charger award.

At Mosport International Raceway, Brian Kubinski captured his third Piloti Rookie of the Race honour of 2007. Kubinski’s season started slow, but to date, he at two top-ten finishes and he would deliver his best performance at Mosport. Driving the Blackdog Racing prepared Chevrolet Corvette, Kubinski qualified eight quickest. At the checkered flag, he was in fifth place.

The round eight podium for the 2007 SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge Grand Touring category at Mosport International Raceway. Standing on the top step for the fourth time this year is Whelen Engineering’s, Eric Curran. On the left side of the rostrum is the runner-up and defending class champion, Lawson Aschenbach. Occupying the final position on the podium is Michael Galati from K-PAX Racing.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	6	Eric Curran	Chevrolet Corvette	30	-
2	1	Lawson Aschenbach	Cadillac CTS-V	30	-
3	3	Michael Galati	Porsche 911 GT3	30	-
4	5	Andy Pilgrim	Cadillac CTS-V	30	-
5	8	Brian Kubinski	Chevrolet Corvette	30	-
6	13	Lou Gigliotti	Chevrolet Corvette	30	-
7	7	Doug Peterson	Chevrolet Corvette	30	-
8	15	Tony Gaples	Chevrolet Corvette	30	-
9	11	Jeff Courtney	Dodge Viper	29	-
10	21	Michael McCann	Dodge Viper	29	-
11	19	Cindi Lux	Dodge Viper	29	-
12	12	Jason Daskalos	Dodge Viper	29	-
13	18	Dane Moxlow	Pontiac GTO	29	-
14	16	Lenny Diller	Dodge Viper	29	-
15	14	Scotty B. White	Dodge Viper	29	-
16	22	Sonny Whelen	Chevrolet Corvette	28	-
17	2	Randy Pobst	Porsche 911 GT3	28	-
18	23	Jeffrey Robbins	Dodge Viper	28	-
19	20	Nick Majors	Dodge Viper	27	-
20	9	James Sofronas	Porsche 911 GT3	19	Electrical
21	4	Ron Fellows	Cadillac CTS-V	19	-
22	10	Rob Foster	Chevrolet Corvette	17	Mechanical
23	17	John Bourassa	Porsche 911 Turbo	3	Mechanical

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