Chip Herr of Lititz, Pa., has recently obtained his very first win of the 2007 SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship season in Round of 3 at Lime Rock Park, part of the SPEED Touring Vehicle Classics. James Sofronas of Newport Beach California together with Jeff Altenburg of Ellicott City, Md., has completed the podium.
Everything was going correct for Herr from the quite start that the lights went out; he has gotten a fantastic launch in his No. 17 STaSIS/Clear Capital Audi A4 and beat polesitter Pierre Kleinubing into Turn 1 to take the lead. Kleinubing slotted his No.1 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Acura TSX behind Herr for four laps but was able to pass Herr on the fifth lap due to some mistakes made by Herr.
Herr said, “I came into Turn Six and there was a auto in the wall. I saw the marks and thought the accident happened at the turn-in. I turned in a little bit early and hit grass and dirt and got into a four-wheel slide and had to jump on the brakes. He just went appropriate inside of me on the downhill. I practically put it in the wall. I had to back out of it and he didn’t. He knows what to do, that’s why he’s good.”
Shortly after Kleinubing took the lead, a full course yellow came out when the No. 11 3R-Racing Dodge SRT-4 of Robb Holland and the No. 96 Tindol Motorsports/Pesco Inc. Mazda 6 of Charlie Putman came together in West Bend. Miraculously both drivers walked away uninjured.
On the lap 10 restart, it was Kleinubing with the fantastic launch going unchallenged in Turn 1 and slowly pulling out a lead over Herr which reached 2.514 seconds by lap 16. But Herr would not just let Kleinubing get ahead farther and trumped Kleinubing’s fast race lap with 1 of his on. Then on lap 26 it happen, Herr shot by a slowing Kleinubing on the front stretch. As Herr led by 1 3.207 second over Sofronas, Kleinubing headed to the pits.
Herr said, “I said ‘thank you’ on the front straight.”
Kleinubing after checking under the hood rejoined the field and finished 19th. The crew was able to repair the defending SCCA SPEED Touring Ca Champion’s running problem. From there it was all smooth sailing for Herr. He took his fourth career-win by three.211 seconds over Sofronas in the 44-lap, 67.32-mile race. Herr was also been able to set the fastest lap of the race at 58.646 (93.919 mph) on the 1.53 mile road course.
Herr explained, “It feels great. I love Lime Rock. Each and every time I’ve come here, I’ve carried out well. This is a momentum course that takes a lot of guts and you have to know your vehicle. STaSIS has really worked with me to get the auto right and with a new teammate, we’ve been able to share data between the three of us. Pierre had a strong automobile and he actually began pulling away from me. I didn’t know if I ought to try to burn the auto up and track him down or risk having [Sofronas] catch me. I was going to be happy with a podium, but then Pierre had his problem and came back to me.”
And after passing off present point leader Altenburg instantly on the start, Sofronas played a more relaxed and consistent race in his No. 29 Global Motorsports Group BMW 325Ci which has equaled his career-best finish second which last happened at Road America in 2005. The finish has also earned Sofronas his second straight Toyo Cup award.
Sofronas said, “I truly wanted to try to get a win for [Tecmark team owner] Walter [Swick], but second is obviously the next finest thing. On the start, I got a heck of a launch and Chip closed the door and I had to lift or else I would have plowed him. He made a nice move. My automobile was loose in the beginning and it was a little hairy the very first five laps, but Walter set the automobile up to be excellent over a long run. I was able to cut a couple of quick laps to try to chase Chip down, but it wasn’t enough to get up to him. All the while, I had Jeff behind me, so I tried to click off my laps, hoping Chip would make a mistake, but he didn’t.”
On the other for Altenburg the race was an even finish. He started third and finishes third. Nonetheless the present point leader has a close call with Seth Thomas of the No. 38 BimmerWord BMW 325i on the restart. Thomas had the jump on Altenburg going into Turn 1 and tried the outside line on the No. 72 Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development Mazda 6. The pair made a slight contact prior to Thomas finally went off course in the Esses with a flat tire.
Altenburg said, “On the restart, Seth Thomas got a great run on me and we went side-by-side by means of Turn 1. The second component of Large Bend tightens up. He was on the outside, maybe half a automobile back and we made a little contact. I was worried my day was over, but it turned out it may have been the end of his. When Pierre fell back, that took a little bit of my aggression away. I don’t know that I had anything for James–possibly not.”
The remainder of the race for Altenburg was a lot relaxed and the podium finish assist extend his lead in the Championship to 26 over teammate Randy Pobst who finished 11th place. With the win Herr lies in third, specifically 14 points behind Pobst.
Adam Pecorari of Aspon, Pa., has location two Audis in top five by wheeling his No. 19 STaSIS/Centre Parts Audi A4 to a fourth location finish. This is a career finest for the SCCA SPEED Touring Automobile newcomer who also collected the Piloti Rookie of the Race Award.
And after a long battle with the No. 97 Mazdaspeed/Tindol/Oakley/Sparco Mazda 6 of Charles Espenlaub, peter Cunningham of Grafton, Wis., has obtained fifth position in his No. 42 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Acura TSX on the final lap when the Espenlaub ran wide passing the Esses.
Espenlaub then returned to the track in time finish sixth ahead of Kuno Wittmer of Acura RSX, Ian Baas of Audi A4 , Michael Galati of Mazda 6 , and Jason Martinelli of BMW 325Ci—they completed thetop ten.
A lot more outcomes:
Stan Wilson of Mount Joliet, Tenn., finished 13th in the No. 92 sorted Performance Dodge SRT-4, collecting both the Sunoco Hard Charger and the B&M Shifters Holeshot Award given for advancing 10 positions in the race of which five had been derived from the start of the race.
And lastly, Mazda the maker of high-high quality Mazda distributor rotor continues to lead the Manufacturer’s Championship by 23 points over Acura and Audi who are now both at second place. BMW on the other hand is currently on fourth with nine points.
