2007 Sebring 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 one of the 2007 SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge GT series was held at Sebring International Raceway. Twenty-eight World Challenge Grand Touring drivers would compete in a fifty-minute race around the 3.74-mile seventeen-turn road course.

The round one 2007 SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge Grand Touring podium at Sebring International Raceway. In the center is the winner, Eric Curran. This was Curran’s debut with the Whelen Engineering team and his first GT victory. The runner-up and defending World Challenge champion, Lawson Aschenbach, stands on the left side of the rostrum. Occupying the final spot is the third-place finisher, Tomy Drissi.

For the last two seasons, Eric Curran had competed successfully in the Touring Car division with RealTime Racing. Previously, Curran had participated in Grand Touring events on a part-time basis. In 2007, he joined the Whelen Engineering team full-time. Curran rewarded Sonny Whelen by qualifying on the front of the grid, recording the fastest race lap and leading flag-to-flag for his first-class victory.

The reigning SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge Grand Touring champion, Lawson Aschenbach, returned to the series for another shot at the title. In the off-season, Aschenbach left the AXA Financial effort to join the Cadillac team driving a Cadillac CTS-V. At Sebring, he qualified fifth fastest and lost a position to Randy Pobst early in the contest. Aschenbach made progress during the race and finished second.

Gridded tenth for the season’s first Speed World Challenge event was Trans Am series regular, Tomy Drissi. Drissi was driving the No. 15 Next-The Movie Chevrolet Corvette C6. During the race, he moved to the front of the field. Drissi caught and passed the Porsche 911 GT3 of the five-time series champion, Michael Galati, on lap-16 for third place. He held the position and earned his first World Challenge podium.

Race day started with heavy rains but cleared in the afternoon. By the time the World Challenge competitors hit the track, it was mostly dry. There were still puddles around the circuit. To ensure the safety of competitors, race officials canceled the traditional standing start in favour of a rolling start. Leading the field to the green flag is the pole-sitter, Doug Peterson. Behind Peterson are Eric Curran and the race’s first retiree, Lou Gigliotti.

It was a surprise for serials regular’s when Doug Peterson driving the No. 87 3-Dimensional Services Chevrolet Corvette C6 captured the pole. To some observers, it may not have come as such a shock as Peterson has demonstrated his skill at the amateur level where he earned the 2004 Formula Mazda National title. Unfortunately, his race did not go as well, he lost three-laps with a transmission issue and finished twenty-third.

In 2007, five-time SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge driver’s champion, Michael Galati, was racing for the K-PAX Racing team. His participation in the Grand Touring division the last two seasons has been limited a handful of starts. At Sebring International Raceway, Galati qualified the No. 23 Porsche 911 GT3 fifteenth fastest. During the race, he advanced eleven positions to earn the Sunoco Hard Charger award.

There were ten drivers classified as Rookies for the season opener. The fastest in qualifying was Brian Kubinski, who recorded the seventh-best time driving the Blackdog Racing prepared Chevrolet Corvette C6. Unfortunately, his race ended on lap-9 with a mechanical issue. The Piloti Rookie of the Race honours went to Tim McKenzie, the driver of the No. 66 TR Racing Porsche 911 GT3, who started sixteenth and finished ten.

It was a disappointing race for the 2005 SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge Grand Touring champion, Andy Pilgrim. Pilgrim was the fourth fastest in the qualifying session, driving the No. 8 XM Satellite Radio / Mobil 1 / Motorola sponsored Cadillac CTS-V. Unfortunately, the Cadillac developed a gearbox issue and he dropped to sixth place at the checkered flag.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	2	Eric Curran	Chevrolet Corvette	18	-
2	5	Lawson Aschenbach	Cadillac CTS-V	18	-
3	10	Tomy Drissi	Chevrolet Corvette	18	-
4	15	Michael Galati	Porsche 911 GT3	18	-
5	4	James Sofronas	Porsche 911 GT3	18	-
6	12	Andy Pilgrim	Cadillac CTS-V	18	-
7	8	Randy Pobst	Porsche 911 GT3	18	-
8	9	Tommy Archer	Dodge Viper	18	-
9	14	Brian Smith	Dodge Viper	18	-
10	16	Tim McKenzie	Porsche 911 GT3	18	-
11	19	Jeff Courtney	Dodge Viper	18	-
12	20	Dane Moxlow	Pontiac GTO	18	-
13	23	Brett Pearson	Dodge Viper	18	-
14	17	Jason Daskalos	Dodge Viper	18	-
15	25	John Bourassa	Porsche 911 Turbo	18	-
16	18	Rob Foster	Chevrolet Corvette	18	-
17	24	Joel Feinberg	Dodge Viper	18	-
18	26	Jeffrey Robbins	Dodge Viper	18	-
19	27	Eric Olberz	Porsche 911 GT3	18	-
20	22	Ed Braswell	Chevrolet Corvette	18	-
21	28	Kimberly Braswell	Chevrolet Corvette	17	-
22	6	Sonny Whelen	Chevrolet Corvette	16	Mechanical
23	1	Doug Peterson	Chevrolet Corvette	15	-
24	13	Stu Hayner	Pontiac GTO	12	Mechanical
25	7	Brian Kubinski	Chevrolet Corvette	9	Mechanical
26	21	Lenny Diller	Dodge Viper	8	Mechanical
27	11	Michael McCann	Dodge Viper	6	Mechanical
28	3	Lou Gigliotti	Chevrolet Corvette	5	Mechanical
29	30	Tony Gaples	Chevrolet Corvette	0	Mechanical
30	29	Al Wicht	Chevrolet Camaro	0	Mechanical

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