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Javelin wrote:Can you give us some picture examples of the GT cars?
SpeedSource Mazda RX-8
Turner Motorsports BMW M3
Stephenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R
TRG Porsche (Daytona 24 victors...going 19 hours without a clutch...)
For 2011 Brumos is back in GT...where they belong!
Keep on making the moves mate, you can earn a position befitting your knowledge and passion.
I am honored and plan to do just that, are you Mitty bound again?
Oh, I'll be there! Mitty bound in a week and a half...
I will be bringing the Honda...barring me picking up a new car by then.
Next week is going to be the "guide to Continental Tire". Should I follow it up with World Challenge in two weeks?
What do you guys want to see?
David S. Wallens wrote:We did a similar piece a year or so ago on professional street stock racing which basically covered a parallel trail: Showroom Stock to Playboy Endurance Series to Escort Endurance Series to Firehawk to (eventually) Koni and today's Continental Tire Challenge series.
AFAIK:
Showroom Stock, Playboy, and Escort were all SCCA sanctioned. Endurance versions of today's SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge.
Firehawk was IMSA sanctioned.
As far as I can tell, Motorola Cup in Canada was the start of CTC. Looks like Grand Am bought the Motorola cup and changed it's name to Grand Am Cup, then Koni Challenge Series, then Koni Sports Car Challenge, then Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge as of 2010.
Javelin said:Who are the heavy hitters that come just for the Daytona 24?
I forgot to answer this question. This year at Daytona, EVERY SINGLE Porsche factory driver was enrolled in the event. Many NASCAR guys jump over for the event. Jimmie Johnson usually runs there. Juan Pablo Montoya has won twice. Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon are nearly always there.
Dale Sr. ran a Corvette there just weeks before his death. His team finished 4th overall in 2001.
Grand Am Continental Tire Challenge!
I should have the SCCA World Challenge article done for tomorrow.
Excellent! Questions:
Are the rules similar enough to any other packages that cars/teams will run another series as well?
Tube-frame are stock-body?
Do they get their actual engine packages (unlike the de-tuned N/A ZR1's and CTS-V's for example)?
Continental Tire:
The rules for Continental tire are fairly bespoke, but there is a little crossover to some other series. For example, the Boss 302-Rs that are running in GS are fairly similar to those in SCCA World Challenge. These days, there is very little crossover. Most teams find it more cost efficient to build a second car for a particular series.
This series is ALL stock unibody (monocoque...just because I like saying that word.)
The engines for this series are mostly tuned factory engines. The Kinetic Kia team has had to build their own custom race parts because nobody is racing them yet. Evidently the header system was the hardest part of that build.
World Challenge:
The Porsche GT3 run in this series is particular to this series, but similar to other GT3 cups. The official name is the Porsche GT3 Cup WC (Check out the badge on the back of this GMG racer...)
All of these cars are stock unibody, though depending on the class (GT), you can make several changes, like liberal useage of Carbon Fiber. The Caddys are carbon from the floor pan up.
Again, for the most part, these cars use modified versions of the stock engine. GT and GTS are slightly more modified than what you would use on the street...basically race only engines. Whereas TC uses basically "hot" street motors. Somewhere between 180 and 300 horsepower in FWD sedans and hatches.
I think this is my new favorite series! Stock bodies, production-based motors, close racing, and LOTS of different cars/teams!
MORE!!!!
SCCA Pro Racing Pirelli World Challenge
I think this is the 5th week. Next week is Trans Am. I am going to have to tear them a new one for that series! As good as World Challenge is, that's how BAD Trans Am is. Jeez SCCA, get it right!
Wow, this World Challenge sounds even better! I see a lot of classes and crossovers here (GT4 spec cars, etc) so break it down a little more for me. Any crossover with other series?
I'm assuming tube frame cars in GT and GTS? And stock-body in GTS and TC?
Also, on Trans Am, it's teh suck. I saw some T/A cars at PIR last season, and all they are are old-ass GT1 cars with a few new SPO cars mixed in that share jack squat with T/A's history. They also screw with the schedule and shove them all over the place with other races/series. SCCA needs to pull their heads out of their collective you-know-whats on this one. Don't even get me started on the new 3-tiered format... 
Javelin wrote:Wow, this World Challenge sounds even better! I see a lot of classes and crossovers here (GT4 spec cars, etc) so break it down a little more for me. Any crossover with other series?
I'm assuming tube frame cars in GT and GTS? And stock-body in GTS and TC?
Also, on Trans Am, it's teh suck. I saw some T/A cars at PIR last season, and all they are are old-ass GT1 cars with a few new SPO cars mixed in that share jack squat with T/A's history. They also screw with the schedule and shove them all over the place with other races/series. SCCA needs to pull their heads out of their collective you-know-whats on this one. Don't even get me started on the new 3-tiered format...
I said:World Challenge:
All of these cars are stock unibody, though depending on the class (GT), you can make several changes, like liberal useage of Carbon Fiber. The Caddys are carbon from the floor pan up.
Again, for the most part, these cars use modified versions of the stock engine. GT and GTS are slightly more modified than what you would use on the street...basically race only engines. Whereas TC uses basically "hot" street motors. Somewhere between 180 and 300 horsepower in FWD sedans and hatches.
Actually the Cadillacs couldn't use the stock engine... they needed a less powerful one!
LOL.
There isn't much crossover these days between series. Most series have rulespecs that are bespoke to their series.
For the most part, Porsche is the only company that has one car that they have found a place for and race across multiple series. The 911 GT3 Cup races in World Challenge, Grand Am GT, several international GT3 Cup series, and ALMS GTC. (you know the old adage, "when you are the jack of all trades, you will become master of none...")
John Brown wrote:Actually the Cadillacs couldn't use the stock engine... they needed a less powerful one!
Yeah, they had to remove the supercharger.
I just finished the Muscle Milk SCCA Pro Racing Trans Am Series write up. I knew they were in dire straights, but I seriously had no idea it was this bad.
Sebring had 23 competitors, and the purse was only 8000 dollars. WHAT?
Miller last weekend had 10 competitors. wow...thats bad.
The new TA3 class has yet to have any takers. A new class, and nobody has signed up!
Article was so bad you forgot to link it!
Article isn't uploaded to the blog yet. I haven't even e-mailed it to the editor. I was simply noting that Trans Am is in a sad state of affairs....much worse than I thought.
(article should be up on Tuesday or Wednesday)
Here is the Trans Am article I was talking about.
I also wrote a quick report on Kia's win at Barber last month.
"Four seat roadgoing car" followed by pics of FD RX-7's and Corvettes...
The new T/A is a joke. 
Yeah, the current ruleset is NOWHERE even close to the original setup. The current ones are not even production based. I would challenge someone to find any production part on any TA car.
