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October 07, 2006
Kevin York enthused by Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series' schedule
7 October 2006 | Madison, WI
Every 2007 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series event has a minimum scheduled distance of 400 kilometers, which is also the standard "sprint race" distance on next year's calendar for the Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve, which was announced earlier this week. The Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series season will open and close with timed events, including a new-for-2007 three-hour event at Daytona International Speedway, as well as Twin Six-Hour season finales--one each for the Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) classes--at Virginia International Raceway, which is hosting similar events for the first time this weekend. The 2007 lineup of 12 races is the biggest in Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series history, surpassing the 11 race calendar that was contested in 2003.
2007 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series Schedule
Date Venue Distance
January 26 Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, Fla. * 3 Hours
April 15 Homestead-Miami Speedway – Homestead, Fla. 400K
April 21 Iowa Speedway – Newton, Iowa 400K
May 19-20 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – Monterey, Calif. 400K
May 26-28 Lime Rock Park – Lakeville, Conn. 400K
June 16-17 Mosport International Raceway – Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada 400K
June 23-24 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Lexington, Ohio 400K
July 7 Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, N.Y. * 400K
July 21 Barber Motorsports Park – Birmingham, Ala. 400K
August 16-17 Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres – Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada 400K
September 14-15 Miller Motorsports Park – Tooele, Utah * 400K
October 6-7 Virginia International Raceway – Alton, Va. 6 Hours
The Grand-Am Cup Series is Grand American’s showcase for the latest in international and American-made high-performance sports cars, coupes and sedans straight from the dealer showroom floor. With major modifications permitted only in the area of safety, the Grand-Am Cup Series is home to the same cars seen on streets and highways around the world every day.
The starting fields for Grand-Am Cup races typically feature more than 50 of today’s hottest import and domestic production cars that usually race together while competing for both class honors and the overall victory. Series races – which average about 200 miles in length with a three-hour time limit – are primarily run as the featured support events for the Rolex Sports Car Series, although Grand-Am Cup will step into the spotlight with a few feature races of its own in 2005. Among the showcase events is an all-new race in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for the GS (Grand Sport) class.
Like the Rolex Series, Grand-Am Cup is made up of two classes of race cars. The big-bore GS class features a rules package that allows exotic international machines like the Porsche 966, Nissan 350Z, BMW M3 and others to go head to head with American iron such as the Pontiac GTO, Cadillac CTS-V, Ford Mustang Cobra and GT and more. The smaller ST (Street Tuner) class is Grand American’s offering to the import and compact car crowd with the Mazda RX-8, Chevy Cobalt SS, Dodge SRT4, Mini Cooper S, Lexus IS 300, Acura RSX and TSX, a variety of BMWs and other models eligible.
All Grand-Am Cup classes run on Hoosier tires and at least two drivers must drive in each competing race car under green flag conditions, making at least one driver change mandatory.
Posted by YORK Group at October 7, 2006 06:45 PM