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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: CTSCC Mid-Ohio Preview
Matt Cleary previews this weekend's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race at Mid-Ohio, Live! on SPEED2...
Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge returns to action this weekend at Mid-Ohio. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)
NASCAR (and everything else...) racer Boris Said recently pointed out that with large fields, strong drivers, and a wide variety of cars that race fans can actually identify with, the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series was racing’s “Best Kept Secret.”
That little secret is set to be spilled this weekend as the series heads to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Round 5 of the 10-race championship.
The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) regularly boasts large fields, and the Mid-Ohio round should not disappoint with over 70 entries set for the combined-class (GS class comprised largely of Porsches, Mustangs, Camaros, BMW’s, with the ST field sporting front and rear drive machines including Civics, GTI’s, Kia’s, and Mazda’s) field.
In a season that has seen some teams go hot and cold in the championship battle, Saturday’s 2.5-hour enduro (Saturday, 11 a.m. Live! on SPEED2 & June 17, 12 p.m. ET, SPEED) could turn out to be a significant turning point as the season plays out.
Recent history has shown that winning the CTSCC championship has depended nearly as much on big wins as on avoiding that big bogey result. With such a tight field full of championship contenders, it’s just as key to finish consistently well as it is to avoid the kind of race that nets a championship-thwarting result. Underscoring that fact is that of the top six cars in the championships, only two cars have actually won races so far this year.
The “double Charlie” car of 2010 Series GS Class Champions Charles Espenlaub and Charles Putman leads the way in the top GS category with 115 points, with the sister Fall Line Motorsports BMW M3 of Hugh Plumb and Al Carter following closely behind as the Michael Harvey-led squad enters the weekend 1-2 in the points.
“We are really, really happy to be leading the championship points at this point!” said Putman, who will also be in Rolex Series GT Class action for Dempsey Racing. “I can only credit that to the superb performance of the entire team, and a bit to the grace of the racing gods. Mid-Ohio is one of the favorite tracks for us drivers. As always, from drivers to engineers to pit crews, the Fall-Line Motorsports team will bring a top effort and put on a great show.”
In four rounds, Putman and Espenlaub have finished no worse than sixth. That consistent running is in stark contrast to the up and down results of some other championship contenders.
Notably, Rum Bum Racing picked up two wins in a row after making the dramatic move to the Porsche 911, only to suffer a DNF at NJMP. Similarly, the powerhouse Ford Mustang of Roush Racing duo Billy Jonsson and Jack Roush Jr. opened the year with a win at Daytona, only to suffer two finishes of 20th or worse. With those cars finishing the 2011 race 1-2, it will likely be a big battle for the win.
In the ST ranks, the opening rounds of the season saw the Kinetic Motorsports Kia train looking as though a return championship was inevitable as the red rockets scored two podiums and a fourth place finish in the opening three rounds. But a 15th place finish at NJMP for Nic Jonson and Andy Lally has tightened up the order considerably as the Mazda machine of Pierre Kleinubing is just 2 points behind. Heading to Mid-Ohio, he can take comfort in the fact that his i-Moto Racing squad won the Mid-Ohio round last year.
But there are plenty who will be looking to dethrone the championship leaders with a strong run at Mid-Ohio. Not least will be the multi-entry squads of former champions Compass360 Racing, which will have four Honda Civic Si machines. In fact, 3 teams make up twelve entries as APR Motorsport (VW Jetta) and RSR Motorsport (MINI and Civic) will also have four cars on hand.
With experience at Skip Barber Racing School, Lime Rock Park, and several IndyCar teams, Matt Cleary has covered open wheel and sports car racing for over a decade. Working for Sunday Group Management, Cleary also provides strategic motorsports consulting for a range of clients in the sport. You can follow him on Twitter @sundaygroup.
That little secret is set to be spilled this weekend as the series heads to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Round 5 of the 10-race championship.
The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) regularly boasts large fields, and the Mid-Ohio round should not disappoint with over 70 entries set for the combined-class (GS class comprised largely of Porsches, Mustangs, Camaros, BMW’s, with the ST field sporting front and rear drive machines including Civics, GTI’s, Kia’s, and Mazda’s) field.
In a season that has seen some teams go hot and cold in the championship battle, Saturday’s 2.5-hour enduro (Saturday, 11 a.m. Live! on SPEED2 & June 17, 12 p.m. ET, SPEED) could turn out to be a significant turning point as the season plays out.
Recent history has shown that winning the CTSCC championship has depended nearly as much on big wins as on avoiding that big bogey result. With such a tight field full of championship contenders, it’s just as key to finish consistently well as it is to avoid the kind of race that nets a championship-thwarting result. Underscoring that fact is that of the top six cars in the championships, only two cars have actually won races so far this year.
The “double Charlie” car of 2010 Series GS Class Champions Charles Espenlaub and Charles Putman leads the way in the top GS category with 115 points, with the sister Fall Line Motorsports BMW M3 of Hugh Plumb and Al Carter following closely behind as the Michael Harvey-led squad enters the weekend 1-2 in the points.
“We are really, really happy to be leading the championship points at this point!” said Putman, who will also be in Rolex Series GT Class action for Dempsey Racing. “I can only credit that to the superb performance of the entire team, and a bit to the grace of the racing gods. Mid-Ohio is one of the favorite tracks for us drivers. As always, from drivers to engineers to pit crews, the Fall-Line Motorsports team will bring a top effort and put on a great show.”
In four rounds, Putman and Espenlaub have finished no worse than sixth. That consistent running is in stark contrast to the up and down results of some other championship contenders.
Notably, Rum Bum Racing picked up two wins in a row after making the dramatic move to the Porsche 911, only to suffer a DNF at NJMP. Similarly, the powerhouse Ford Mustang of Roush Racing duo Billy Jonsson and Jack Roush Jr. opened the year with a win at Daytona, only to suffer two finishes of 20th or worse. With those cars finishing the 2011 race 1-2, it will likely be a big battle for the win.
In the ST ranks, the opening rounds of the season saw the Kinetic Motorsports Kia train looking as though a return championship was inevitable as the red rockets scored two podiums and a fourth place finish in the opening three rounds. But a 15th place finish at NJMP for Nic Jonson and Andy Lally has tightened up the order considerably as the Mazda machine of Pierre Kleinubing is just 2 points behind. Heading to Mid-Ohio, he can take comfort in the fact that his i-Moto Racing squad won the Mid-Ohio round last year.
But there are plenty who will be looking to dethrone the championship leaders with a strong run at Mid-Ohio. Not least will be the multi-entry squads of former champions Compass360 Racing, which will have four Honda Civic Si machines. In fact, 3 teams make up twelve entries as APR Motorsport (VW Jetta) and RSR Motorsport (MINI and Civic) will also have four cars on hand.
With experience at Skip Barber Racing School, Lime Rock Park, and several IndyCar teams, Matt Cleary has covered open wheel and sports car racing for over a decade. Working for Sunday Group Management, Cleary also provides strategic motorsports consulting for a range of clients in the sport. You can follow him on Twitter @sundaygroup.
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