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There were ten race weekends during the 2012 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season.
As in the past, the schedule kicked off in January at Daytona International Speedway, which was followed
by an event at Barber Motorsports Park in March. A second event in Florida was conducted at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Round four took place at New Jersey Motorsports Park and was followed by race weekends at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course,
Road America and Watkins Glen International.
Then the Grand American Road Racing Association would make their first visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In early September, the series would make their only west coast stop for the penultimate round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
The finale was held at Lime Rock Park with the Grand Sport and Street Tuner classes competing in separate races.
The cars in the series are relatively unchanged from their road-going counterparts – modifications are mandated mainly for safety – roll cages, window nets, etc. They also used spec DOT-approved tires produced by Continental. Based on performance potential, the cars were divided into one of two groups:
The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course hosted race five of the 2012 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series. Sixty-one teams battled for two-hours, thirty-minutes on the thirteen-turn 2.258-mile road course. |
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The Street Tuner division enters the ‘Esses’ at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for lap-1 of round five of the 2012 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship. The pole-sitter, Chad Gilsinger, leads the field of thirty-seven competitors in the No. 93 HART Honda Civic Si. Behind Gilsinger is the Kinetic Racing Kia Forte Koups of the second and third fastest qualifiers, Andy Lally and Mark Pombo. |
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It couldn’t have been a better weekend for Ohio resident, Chad Gilsinger and his co-driver, Michael Valiante. Gilsinger earned his first Street Tuner pole-position driving the No. 93 Honda of America Racing Team Honda Civic Si. He led a total of nineteen-laps before handing the car over to Valiante. Valiante would dominate - leading the final twenty-four circuits to give the pair their first class win. |
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Jack Roush, Jr. and Billy Johnson won the opening round of the 2012 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship at Daytona. But since that event, they had not returned to the podium – that was about to be rectified. Roush qualified and started eighth in the No. 61 Roush Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302 R. During his stint, Johnson would take the race lead on lap-38 and hold-on for the victory. |
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Capturing the runner-up spot at Mid-Ohio were the drivers of the No. 01 CKS Autosport Chevrolet Camaro GS.R, Lawson Aschenbach and Eric Curran. Their season started with a twenty-second-place finish, but in the previous race at New Jersey Motorsport Park, they captured their first podium. Curran started third in round six and Aschenbach drove the final stint. He was 0.307-seconds behind Billy Johnson at the finish. |
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The Grand Sport competitors start their second lap of round six of the 2012 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series. Leading the way is the second fastest qualifier, Nick Longhi driving the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche Carrera. Behind Longhi is the Subaru WRX-STI of Bret Spaude, Eric Curran in the CKS Autosport Chevrolet Camaro GS.R and the pole-sitter, Bryan Heitkotter driving the Doran Racing Nissan 370Z. |
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The Pombo brothers, Mark and Mat, shared the No. 12 Kinetic / Kia Racing Kia Forte Koup. Mark performed the qualifying duties and was third fastest in the Street Tuner category. He started the race and maintained his position in the top three. Mat drove the final stint and moved into the lead on lap-39, but lost it to the eventual winner, Michael Valiante. They would finish second by a margin of 0.484-seconds. |
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Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb led the points chase early in the season after capturing victories in rounds two and three. But they lost the top spot after failing to add to their total at New Jersey. Longhi qualified the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche Carrera second-fastest and led twenty-four-laps during his stint. Plumb drove the final leg and passed Gunter Schaldach and Ian James to earn the final spot on the Grand Sport podium. |
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The overall and Grand Sport pole was won by Bryan Heitkotter in the Doran Racing Nissan 370Z. Heitkotter earned the ride by winning the 2011 Play Station Gran Turismo 5 competition. The one-week shootout took place in Silverstone, England, with Gamers from all over the world. Heitkotter demonstrated his talent by putting the car on the pole and finishing in eighth place with his co-driver, BJ Zacharias. |
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Adam Burrows and Andrew Novich co-drove the No. 74 Honda Civic Si. By the conclusion of the qualifying session, Novich had recorded the fifth-fastest time in the Street Tuner category. Before handing over the driving duties to Burrows, he was able to maintain contact with the leaders. Late in the contest, Burrows was running fourth but inherited a third-place finish when Pierre Kleinubing pitted with a flat tire. |
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The Street Tuner championship leader’s, Andy Lally and Nic Jonsson entered round six at Mid-Ohio with a two-point lead over their main rival, Pierre Kleinubing. Lally qualified second fastest in the No. 12 Kia Forte Koup. On lap-3 of the race, Lally went through a gravel trap and the rest of the event was an uphill battle. They would finish eleventh, but Kleinubing was classified in eighteenth place. Their lead was now nine-markers. |
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| POS. | CLASS | DRIVERS | CAR | LAPS | RETIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GS | Johnson / Roush, Jr. | Ford Mustang Boss 302 R | 75 | - |
| 2 | GS | Curran / Aschenbach | Chevrolet Camaro GS.R | 75 | - |
| 3 | GS | Plumb / Longhi | Porsche Carrera | 75 | - |
| 4 | GS | Farano / Empringham | Porsche 997 | 75 | - |
| 5 | GS | Edwards / Bell | Chevrolet Camaro GS.R | 75 | - |
| 6 | GS | Sellers / Boden | BMW M3 | 75 | - |
| 7 | GS | Carter / Plumb | BMW M3 | 75 | - |
| 8 | GS | Zacharias / Heitkotter | Nissan 370Z | 75 | - |
| 9 | GS | Blackstock / Buford | Ford Mustang Boss 302 R | 75 | - |
| 10 | GS | Kasemets / Maxwell | Aston Martin Vantage | 75 | - |
| 11 | GS | Said / Marsal | BMW M3 | 75 | - |
| 12 | GS | Richardson / Bell | Chevrolet Camaro GS.R | 75 | - |
| 13 | ST | Valiante / Gilsinger | Honda Civic Si | 75 | - |
| 14 | ST | Pombo / Pombo | Kia Forte Koup | 75 | - |
| 15 | ST | Novich / Burrows | Honda Civic Si | 75 | - |
| 16 | ST | Whitis / Long | Mazda MX-5 | 75 | - |
| 17 | ST | Clay / Capestro-DuBets | BMW 328i | 75 | - |
| 18 | ST | Norenberg / Hurley | Volkswagen GTI | 75 | - |
| 19 | ST | Eversley / Mason | Honda Civic Si | 75 | - |
| 20 | GS | Randall / Randall | Ford Mustang Boss 302 R | 75 | - |
| 21 | ST | Liefooghe / Levine | BMW 328i | 75 | - |
| 22 | ST | Seafuse / Mancuso | Ford Focus | 75 | - |
| 23 | ST | Borcheller / LaMarra | BMW 128i | 75 | - |
| 24 | ST | Jonsson / Lally | Kia Forte Koup | 75 | - |
| 25 | ST | Pumpelly / Kanavas | BMW 128i | 75 | - |
| 26 | ST | Miller / Bomarito | Mazda MX-5 | 75 | - |
| 27 | ST | Combs / Mosing | BMW 330i | 75 | - |
| 28 | ST | Jeannette / Gue | Ford Focus | 75 | - |
| 29 | ST | Hopwood / Thomson | Honda Civic Si | 75 | - |
| 30 | ST | Gimple / Cattaneo | Mini Cooper S | 75 | - |
| 31 | ST | Kleinubing / Clunie | Mazda Speed 3 | 75 | - |
| 32 | GS | Wilden / Randall | Ford Mustang Boss 302 R | 75 | - |
| 33 | ST | Sanchez, Jr. / Dyer | Mazda Speed 3 | 75 | - |
| 34 | ST | Perez / La Riva | Volkswagen Jetta | 75 | - |
| 35 | ST | Sierra Lendle / Alvarez | Volkswagen Jetta | 75 | - |
| 36 | ST | Cheng / Altberg | Volkswagen GTI | 75 | - |
| 37 | ST | Kuitwaard / Thilenius | Honda Civic Si | 75 | - |
| 38 | ST | Brown / Probert | BMW 328i | 75 | - |
| 39 | ST | Fergus / Trinkler | Honda Civic Si | 75 | - |
| 40 | GS | Atterbury / Richardson | Chevrolet Camaro GS.R | 74 | - |
| 41 | ST | Rogers / Thomas | BMW 328i | 74 | - |
| 42 | ST | Weisberg / Straus | Porsche Boxter | 74 | - |
| 43 | ST | Farmer / Hart | Honda Civic Si | 74 | - |
| 44 | ST | Thornton / Cooke | Mazda MX-5 | 74 | - |
| 45 | GS | Miller / Jonsin | Porsche Carrera | 73 | - |
| 46 | GS | Miller / James | Ford Mustang Boss 302 R | 69 | - |
| 47 | GS | Spaude / Aquilante | Subaru WRX-STI | 69 | - |
| 48 | ST | Slutz / Milarcik | Mazda RX-8 | 66 | - |
| 49 | GS | Fox / Wilson | Aston Martin Vantage | 60 | - |
| 50 | GS | Sandridge / Baker | Porsche 997 | 58 | - |
| 51 | ST | Congleton / Puskar | Mini Cooper S | 56 | - |
| 52 | ST | O'Doski / Carbonell | Mazda MX-5 | 53 | - |
| 53 | GS | Martin / Michaelian | Ford Mustang Boss 302 R | 47 | - |
| 54 | GS | Sandberg / McClamont | Chevrolet Camaro GS.R | 43 | - |
| 55 | ST | Ellis / Bocchino | Mazda Speed 3 | 36 | - |
| 56 | ST | McCumbee / Saini | Mazda MX-5 | 35 | - |
| 57 | GS | Putman / Espenlaub | BMW M3 | 34 | - |
| 58 | GS | Auberlen / Dalla Lana | BMW M3 | 21 | - |
| 59 | ST | Eich / Schmitt | Honda Accord | 13 | - |
| 60 | ST | Nixon / Lamb | Mazda Speed 3 | 9 | - |
| 61 | ST | Stout / Gleason | Honda Accord | 1 | - |
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