2010 Watkins Glen International

There were many changes to the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge Championship in 2010. The first was the series title. The relationship with Speed TV had come to an end. The series new television partner was VERSUS, which aired ninety-minute spots of all twelve races on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

The decline in entries over the last two seasons resulted in the introduction of a third category and a reclassification of some cars. The newest division was called Grand Touring Sport and fit in between Grand Touring and Touring Car.

Grand Touring (GT) – This group included the series quickest cars: Porsche 911 GT3, Chevrolet Corvette, Dodge Viper, Nissan GT-R and Volvo S60. The preparation rules remained unchanged from the previous year for these vehicles.
Grand Touring Sport (GTS) – These were many of the cars that competed in last year’s Touring Car class (Acura TSX, Honda Civic, BMW 325i and Mazda 6). Competitors from the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge were also able to participate using the Ford Mustang FR500S.
Touring Car (TC) – Touring Cars were not allowed many of the modifications permitted by the 2009 rules. The preparation of the vehicles was more closely aligned with Grand-Am Cup and the Sports Car Club of America’s Improved Touring classes. Makes competing in the category included the Scion tC, Mazda RX-8, Honda Civic, Mazda Speed 3, Volkswagen Jetta and Golf.

2010 also marked the end of races for each group. In the new season, all classes competed in the same contest – 1996 was the last time that different categories competed together.

The World Challenge Championship kicked off at St. Petersburg, Florida, in March as a support event for the IndyCar series. In previous years, the series shared race weekends with the American Le Mans Series, but in 2010 World Challenge began competing at more IndyCar venues. The season ended mid-September at Miller Motorsports Park. In all, there were a total of twelve races at eight different tracks (Streets of St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Mosport, Watkins Glen, Toronto, Mid-Ohio, Virginia International Raceway and Miller Motorsports Park).

Round six of the 2010 World Challenge championship was conducted at Watkins Glen International. Competitors in the Grand Touring, Grand Touring Sport and Touring Car classes would race in a forty-minute contest around the eleven-turn 3.337-mile road course.

Pole-sitter, Randy Pobst driving the K-PAX Racing Volvo S60 leads the field of twenty-seven starters into Watkins Glen International’s first corner. Sharing the front row with Pobst was Ron Fellows in the CRP Chevrolet Corvette. Unfortunately, Fellows had a problem leaving the starting line and was passed by four Grand Touring class competitors - Patrick Lindsey, Kuno Wittmer, Jason Daskalos and James Sofronas.

RealTime Racing team principal, Peter Cunningham won the first two races of the 2010 season at Saint Petersburg. Since then, Cunningham had gone winless but that would change at Watkins Glen International. Driving the Acura RealTime Racing Acura TSX, he qualified first in the Grand Touring Sport category and went unchallenged for the victory. This was Cunningham’s thirty-fifth World Challenge win.

K-PAX Racing’s, Randy Pobst entered race six with victories at Saint Petersburg and Mosport. After qualifying on the pole at Watkins Glen International, it appeared that he was well positioned to earn his third win of the season. When Ron Fellows had difficulty at the start, Pobst shot into the lead. On lap-6, Fellows passed him in corner one and then he lost a position to Kuno Wittmer – eventually finishing third.

The Touring Car class podium for round six at Watkins Glen International. To the left is the runner-up, Dan Gardner who delivered his best result to date. And, on the right competing in his World Challenge event is the third-place finisher, Alexander Lvov from Russia. In the center, is the victor Robert Stout. This was Stout’s third win of the 2010 season.

In practice and qualifying, Robert Stout and his team struggled with the No. 18 Lucas Oil sponsored Scion tC. Despite the problems, Stout qualified the Scion fourth quickest in the Touring Car class. With the issues sorted for the race, he moved into first place on the second lap and went unchallenged for the remainder of the contest. Stout’s efforts during the event earned him the ‘Sunoco Hard Charger of the Race’.

Eric Meyer was the quickest Touring Car competitor at Watkins Glen International and qualified on the class pole. Unfortunately for Meyer, an accident on lap-4 damaged the XOWii / Samaritan’s Feet / Delvira sponsored Mazda RX-8. Although he fell off out of contention, Meyer was able to continue and finished twenty-third overall and seventh in the Touring Car category.

The World Challenge Grand Touring podium for round six at Watkins Glen International. In the center is Corvette Racing’s, Ron Fellows who competed in three World Challenge events and earned his second consecutive victory of the 2010 season. To Fellows’ right is fellow Canadian and the runner-up, Kuno Wittmer. Completing the podium is the point’s leader and the driver of the No. 6 K-PAX Racing Volvo, Randy Pobst.

In 2010, Ron Fellows signed with CRP Racing to compete in three World Challenge events. Fellow’s first race was at Long Beach where he started seventh but retired with a mechanical issue. At Mosport, he qualified on the outside of the front row and won the race. Trouble leaving the starting line at Watkins Glen dropped Fellows down the order but by lap-6, he was in the lead and scored his second consecutive victory.

Long Beach winner, Kuno Wittmer crashed on the first lap of the second practice session. The team was unable to repair his car at the track, so Wittmer stepped into the Dodge Viper raced by Jeff Courtney – Courtney drove Tony Gables back-up Corvette. Wittmer qualified fourth quickest and passed Randy Pobst’s Volvo S60 on lap-8 to take second place – he maintained the position until the end of the contest.

The Grand Touring Sport podium for round six at Watkins Glen International. In the center is the class winner and RealTime Racing team principal, Peter Cunningham. To Cunningham’s left is his teammate and the runner-up, Nick Esayian. Completing the podium is Ernie Jakubowski who was making his World Challenge debut.

The Touring Car class winner, Robert Stout’s teammate, Dan Gardner drove the No. 36 DG-Spec / Scion / TRD / Lepper & Associates sponsored Scion tC. Gardner shared the driving duties with Tom Lepper who participated in the previous event at Mosport. Gardner’s best result to date was a third in the first race at Saint Petersburg. At Watkins Glen International, he went one better and captured the runner-up spot.

The second member of the RealTime Racing team was Nick Esayian who drove the No. 34 Acura / RealTime Racing Acura TSX. Esayian qualified behind his teammate, Peter Cunningham – sixteenth overall and second in the Grand Touring Sport category. At the conclusion of forty-minutes of competition, he was second in class. This was Esayian’s fourth podium and second runner-up finish of the year.

Making his first appearance in the series was, Alexander Lvov from Saint Petersburg, Russia. Lvov had two Russian Touring Car championships two his credit and had also competed in the FIA World Touring Car Championship. At Watkin Glens, he drove the Honda GMS Honda Civic Si and qualified twenty-first overall and third in the Touring Car category. Lvov maintained his position and finished third in class.

Unfortunately, only four Grand Touring Sport competitors were entered in round six at Watkins Glen International. The No. 91 Porsche Cayman S was driven by Canadian, Ernie Jakubowski. Jakubowski was gridded third in the Grand Touring Sport category for the start of the race. He was unable to maintain the pace of the Acuras and finished sixteenth overall and third in class.

FINISH	CLASS	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	GT	Ron Fellows	Chevrolet Corvette	22	-
2	2	GT	Kuno Wittmer	Dodge Viper	22	-
3	3	GT	Randy Pobst	Volvo S60	22	-
4	4	GT	Jason Daskalos	Dodge Viper	22	-
5	5	GT	Patrick Lindsey	Porsche 911 GT3	22	-
6	6	GT	Dino Crescentini	Porsche 911 GT3	22	-
7	7	GT	James Sofronas	Porsche 911 GT3	22	-
8	8	GT	Tony Gaples	Chevrolet Corvette	22	-
9	9	GT	Charles Morgan	Porsche 911 GT3	22	-
10	10	GT	Rob Morgan	Porsche 911 GT3	22	-
11	11	GT	Fred Roberts	Dodge Viper	22	-
12	12	GT	Jeff Courtney	Dodge Viper	22	-
13	13	GT	William Ziegler	Porsche 911 GT3	21	-
14	1	GTS	Peter Cunningham	Acura TSX	21	-
15	2	GTS	Nick Esayian	Acura TSX	20	-
16	3	GTS	Ernie Jakubowski	Porsche Cayman S	20	-
17	1	TC	Robert Stout	Scion tC	20	-
18	2	TC	Dan Gardner	Honda Civic Si	20	-
19	3	TC	Alexander Lvov	Honda Civic Si	20	-
20	4	TC	Brett Sandberg	Acura TSX	19	-
21	5	TC	Colin Cohn	Volkswagen GTI	19	-
22	6	TC	Don Istook	Audi	17	-
23	7	TC	Eric Meyer	Mazda RX-8	17	-
24	8	TC	Shea Holbrook	Honda Civic Si	16	-
25	9	TC	Al Ratcliffe	Lexus IS300	15	Mechanical
26	14	GT	Andy Pilgrim	Volvo S60	10	Mechanical
27	4	TC	Aaron Poveledo	Acura TSX	1	Retired

Copyright Notice:

All content (photographs and text) appearing on this website are the exclusive property of © www.zoompics.com and are protected under International copyright laws. The subject matter on this website may not be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated.