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2007 Grand-AM GT Classic Races at
Lime Rock Park
Once again, StopTech donated a pair of VIP passes to a race weekend, this
time at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. The event covered a period of
four days, with practice on Thursday and Friday, qualifying on Saturday, and
most of the races on Monday. No racing is permitted at Lime Rock on
Sundays. Below are some photos from the weekend. Each photo is a
"thumbnail" and may be clicked for access to the full size version.
We drove up to Lime Rock on
Friday morning, avoiding the Memorial Day rush. A local police cruiser
was sitting directly opposite the entrance to the track with radar gun
active. With the 25mph speed limit on the access road, I'm sure he
contributed to the town coffers that weekend! Our credentials were
waiting for us when we arrived and we were "banded" with gold wrist straps,
giving us access to several VIP areas, including the active pits. Then
it was back on the road to a lovely B&B in Sheffield, Massachusetts, about
15 minutes from the track. |
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Parking
Maria's "birthday present" next to a fellow Corvette enthusiast |
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Saturday morning we arrived
at the track, ready to take in the day's activities. Race weekend is
an excellent place to find car enthusiasts of all types and many exotic cars
were evident, including some rare specimens. |
1978 Maserati Bora |
1968 Maserati Mistral |
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After checking out the fancy cars in the parking lot, we wandered down to
the paddock area to meet up with friends and check out the race cars to see
who was running our brakes. StopTech brakes could be found all over
the place. Of course Turner Motorsport's cars all had them. But
a set of StopTech brakes showed up in an unexpected spot. The Stasis
team uses their own Alcon-based brakes, which they sell in competition with
StopTech. However, Dino Crescentini started the year as one of their
drivers and, since he's a co-owner of Centric Parts - the parent company of
StopTech, his car was equipped with his favorite brakes. Of course, it
would be politically incorrect for the StopTech logo to adorn the brakes and
body of a Stasis race car. So "Centric" and "Posi Quiet" (Centric's
brake pad brand) logos appear on the car and the StopTech brake calipers
have no logos at all. Dino left the series after the first race to
spend more time racing vintage F1 cars, but his replacement driver, Adam
Pecorari, kept the StopTech brakes. Adam did well this weekend,
finishing 4th overall and winning the Rookie of the Race award. You
can click the wheels of his race car below to see close-ups of the StopTech
brakes. These are the same brakes you can buy from us and bolt on to
your Audi A4. |
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Stasis Grand AM Touring car with "stealth" StopTech brakes
Click each wheel for a close-up view |
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The StopTech-equipped
Tri-Point Mazdas are driven by World Challenge veterans Jeff Altenburg,
Randy Pobst, and 2007 rookie Robert Santos. All three Mazda6 sedans
have StopTech 4-piston front and 2-piston rear brakes. The Altenburg
Mazda finished 3rd this weekend in the Touring Car class, although Jeff is
in the lead for the championship, with 115 points, having won the first two
races of the season. He's followed in the points race by Randy Pobst
with 89 points. Randy finished in second place in the first two races,
but only managed an 11th place finish this weekend. |
Tri-Point Mazda Touring Cars with StopTech brakes
Click the #74 car's front wheel for a close-up |
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The number 24 Chili Pepper
Racing VW Jetta, driven by Jim Osborn, may not be leading in the points, but
it's certainly leading in advanced energy technology. The Jetta TDi is
the world's first pro race car powered by biodiesel fuel. This
weekend, Jim's car ran on a blend of 50% soybean oil and 50% conventional
diesel fuel. In addition to using advanced energy technology to make
the car go, this Jetta is also equipped with advanced technology to make the
car stop - StopTech
4-piston front and
2-piston rear brakes.
Chili Pepper Racing is
dedicated to raising awareness for the Austin
Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer., an organization that supports
research toward the diagnosis, treatment, and development of a cure for
pediatric cancer. In addition to raising awareness, Chili Pepper
Racing also donates proceeds from the sale of Sabelt, Deval, EuroGear, and
EZ-UP products to support a variety of 501-c3 charities. You can
contact
[email protected] for more information. |
World's first biodiesel powered race car |
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The highlight of the
weekend was the 2.5 hour, 138 lap Grand-AM KONI Challenge race on Monday. From
our vantage point in the pit area, we had a close-up view of all the action
on the main straight and into Big Bend, which is the main passing section.
Will Turner, in his StopTech-equipped BMW M3, started the race on pole and
lead initially, but was forced to pull into the pits for a stop-and-go
penalty for jumping the start. That sent him nearly to the back of the
pack. Maria was disappointed to see the only female driver, Valerie
Limoges, forced to retire when her #4 Blackforest Mustang FR500C suffered
terminal engine failure and began spewing oil all over the race track.
Valerie had worked her way from 23rd all the way up to 8th place before her
engine let go, ending her day at Lime Rock. |
Valerie Limoges' Mustang FR500C suffers engine failure at halfway point |
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Our special vantage point
allowed us to see the action in the pits, but we had to be careful to stay
out of the way. With unlimited access comes responsibility. We
didn't want to end up featured on SPEED TV, being mowed down by a refueler!
Below, Automatic Racing's #9 BMW M3 switches drivers and gets fueled up,
while a crew member stands at the ready with a fire extinguisher. They
went on to finish a respectable 6th place out of a field of 36. |
A driver change and some fuel for Automatic Racing's #9 BMW M3 |
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After 86 laps, race leader
Spencer Pumpelly slid his #49 Marcus Motorsports Porsche wide coming down
the hill and onto the main straight. Bill Auberlen shot by in the #96
Turner Motorsport BMW M3 and stayed in the lead for the rest of the race.
Even so, it was a nail biter as Pumpelly tried to chase down the BMW.
He closed the gap to less than two car lengths, and nearly managed to pass
Auberlen on several occasions. But luck, traffic, and clever passing
of lapped cars by Bill Auberlen paid off and the StopTech-equipped M3
finished in first place. |
Bill Auberlen extends his lead in the finishing laps |
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Auberlen being interviewed by SPEED TV after winning the race |
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