2006 Trois-Rivieres - Grand Am Cup

2006 was the sixth consecutive year of the Grand American Road Racing’s Grand Am Cup Series for American and Foreign sports cars and sedans.

There was a significant restructuring of the classes in 2004. The season debuted with a single Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) class.

Grand Sport (GS): The quicker of the two classes - the group features the larger displacement engines as well as smaller four-cylinder motors with forced induction systems. The power-plants produce between 350 and 405-horsepower. Minimum weights range between 2,730 – 3,250-pounds, which is dependent on the motor configuration and displacement. The top speed for a Grand Sport car is approximately 160-mph. This class includes cars such as the Acura NSX, Cadillac CTS-V, BMW M3, Pontiac Firebird, Ford Mustang GT, Nissan 350Z, Porsche 996 and 997 models.
Street Tuner (ST): The smaller displacement cars compete in this class in which engines typically produce between 170 and 240-horsepower. The top speed of a Sport Touring car is approximately 135-mph. Popular vehicles found in this group are the Acura RSX-S, Acura TSX, Mazda RX-8, BMW Z4, BMW 330i, Chevrolet Cobalt SS and Mini Cooper S.

The cars competing in the series are relatively unchanged from their road-going versions – modifications are mandated mainly for safety – roll cages, window nets, etc. They also used spec DOT-approved tires produced by Hoosier. Based on performance potential, the cars are placed in the Grand Sport or Sport Touring group.

The 2006 season consists of ten race weekends and starts in January at Daytona International Speedway. Teams do not compete again until April for the first of two events at Virginia International Raceway. In early May, the series competes at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and stays on the West Coast for races at Phoenix International Raceway. Then the series returns to the eastern United States for weekends at Lime Rock Park, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Barber Motorsports Park. On the first weekend of August, the championship heads north of the border to compete at the Le Circuit Trois-Rivieres. The penultimate round takes place at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, with the finale being contested at Virginia International Raceway.

Separate races for the Grand Sport and Street Tuner categories will be held at Phoenix, Lime Rock Park, Trois-Rivieres and the second race weekend at Virginia International Raceway.

Trois-Rivieres was one of four race weekends where the Grand Sport and Street Tuner categories competed in separate contests. The Grand Sport event was held late Sunday afternoon on the ten-turn 1.521-mile street course.

Sharing the No. 81 Synergy Racing Porsche 997 were Brent Martini and Patrick Long. Martini started seventeenth, but the team’s strategy was to change drivers during the first caution. On lap-6, it came and Long moved through the field. On the lap-55 full-course yellow, he took first place. Despite challenges from Spencer Pumpelly and Michael McDowell, Long held on for the victory and which put the duo in the point’s lead.

Fresh of their first series victory of the year at Barber Motorsports Park and finishing second in the Grand Sport category at Trois-Rivieres were, Michael McDowell and Rob Findlay. In qualifying, Findlay was the fifth-fastest driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang GT. He started the race and kept in contact with the frontrunners. On the lap-55 caution, they changed drivers. McDowell chased the leader but had to settle for a runner-up finish.

Entering round eight, Chris Gleason and Bill Auberlen had three podium finishes, which included two victories. Their performances gave them a one-point lead in the championship chase. Gleason qualified the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 tenth fastest. Unfortunately, the pair battled brake issues during the two-hour event. At the checkered flag, they were classified in twenty-second place.

A formidable duo, Andy Lally and Spencer Pumpelly, drove the No. 49 Marcus Motorsports prepared Porsche 997. They were in the thick of the title chase, having scored a victory at Phoenix. In the qualifying session, Lally posted the eleventh fastest time. He maneuvered his way to the front before handing the Porsche over to Pumpelly. Pumpelly chased the leader but lost second place to Michael McDowell on the final lap.

Sports car veteran, David Murry was having a great year. Murry scored his first victory of the season, along with Blake Rosser, at Virginia International Raceway driving the Playboy Racing Nissan 350Z. At Trois-Rivieres, he was pulling double duty. Murry shared the No. 33 Nissan with Tomy Drissi and co-drove the No. 35 with Mike Borkowski. He put the No. 33 on the pole and finished fifteenth – the second entry placed twelfth.

Anders Hainer entered Trois-Rivieres trailing his teammates, Bill Auberlen and Chris Gleason, by a single point. During the season, Hainer was sharing the No. 97 Turner Motorsports BMW M3 with Boris Said. But not the weekend, Said was racing in the NASCAR event at Indianapolis. Filling in for Said was the BMW factory driver, Joey Hand. Hainer qualified second but started last. The pair finished in fifth place.

In 2006, Quebec resident Valerie Limoges joined the Blackforest Motorsports team driving a Ford Mustang GT. The three-car team rotated their drivers at each event. Her best result was a fourth-place at Laguna Seca with fellow Canadian, David Empringham. At Trois-Rivieres, she shared the Mustang with Champ Car World Series competitor, Alex Tagliani. Tagliani qualified third, but the duo finished eleventh.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	GS	Martini / Long	Porsche 997	Synergy Racing	91
2	GS	Finlay / McDowell	Mustang GT	Playboy Racing	91
3	GS	Pumpelly / Lally	Porsche 997	Marcus Motorsports	91
4	GS	Mason / Pecorari	Mustang GT	Rehagen Racing	91
5	GS	Hainer / Hand	BMW M3	Turner Motorsport	91
6	ST	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Porsche 996	Team Sahlen	91
7	GS	Maxwell / Foster	Mustang GT	Hyper Sport	91
8	GS	Russell / Thornton / Russell	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	91
9	GS	Segal / Plumb	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	91
10	GS	Nastasi / Scattolin	Mustang GT	Blackforest Motorsport	91
11	GS	Limoges / Tagliani	Mustang GT	Blackforest Motorsport	90
12	GS	Murry / Borkowski	Nissan 350Z	Playboy Racing	90
13	GS	Spenard / Dumoulin / Vong	Porsche 997	Group 88 Motorsports	90
14	GS	Plummer / Stanton	Porsche 996	BGB Motorsports	90
15	GS	Drissi / Murry	Nissan 350Z	Playboy Racing	90
16	GS	Bernheim / Dement	Porsche 996	Bernheim Racing	89
17	GS	Traver / Miller	Porsche 996	BGB Motorsports	89
18	GS	Camirand / Goad	Pontiac GTO	Spirit of Daytona Racing	89
19	GS	Bavaro / Price	Porsche 997	Bodymotion Racing	89
20	GS	Weinberg / Roy / Weinberg	Pontiac GTO	Spirit of Daytona Racing	88
21	GS	Kohler / Smith / Snyder	Mustang GT	TF Racing	83
22	GS	Gleason / Auberlen	BMW M3	Turner Motorsport	71
23	GS	Henzler / Lux	Porsche 996	Tafel Racing	67
24	GS	Wellon / Ellis / Grande	Porsche 996	Knobel Racing	65
25	GS	Empringham / James	Mustang GT	Blackforest Motorsports	65
26	GS	Rossi / Sabol	Porsche 996	Knobel Racing	55
27	GS	Sahlen / Nonnamaker	Porsche 996	Team Sahlen	51
28	GS	Riddle / Wilson	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	44
29	GS	Hayner / Miller / Halsmer	Mustang GT	Stealth Racing	38
30	GS	Assentato / Dumoulin	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	8
31	GS	Skelton / Espenlaub	Mustang GT	Hyper Sport	0

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