KONI Challenge Series
Encyclopedia
The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge is a racing series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association
. Originating from the Canadian Motorola
Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cup following the demise of rival IMSA
's Firehawk
series of similar rules in the US. KONI
became series sponsor for the start of the 2007 season when the series became known as the KONI Challenge Series, before renaming once more prior to the start of the 2009 season as the KONI Sports Car Challenge. The series name was once again changed for the 2010 season.
The Continental Challenge is the support series for Grand-Am's premier offering, the Rolex Sports Car Series
.
All vehicles have fewer modifications than most series, using a "showroom stock" format.
The format is reminiscent of the original Trans Am Series, combining conventional sports cars and touring cars, though the Trans Am Series usually had a single driver per car, unlike the Koni series, which has two drivers per car. Some vehicles in the Continental Challenge have actually been painted to resemble the original Trans Am cars, such as the Boss 302 Mustangs of George Follmer
and Parnelli Jones
or the original Sunoco Camaro.
1The Bimmerworld 328i of Bill Heumann and Seth Thomas and the Compass360 Civic of Thilenius and Aschenbach finished the 2010 season tied in ST points. As both teams had the same amount of wins and second place finishes, Thilenius and Aschenbach won the title by virtue of having more third place finishes.
Grand American Road Racing Association
GRAND-AM Road Racing or GRAND-AM is an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America...
. Originating from the Canadian Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cup following the demise of rival IMSA
International Motor Sports Association
The International Motor Sports Association is an American sports car auto racing sanctioning body based in Braselton, Georgia. It was started by John Bishop, a former employee of SCCA , and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France, Sr...
's Firehawk
Firehawk
Firehawk may refer to:*Firehawk, roller coaster at Kings Island amusement park near Cincinnati, Ohio*The Sikorsky S-70A Firehawk, a medium-lift helicopter*The Firehawk, a factory performance option of the Pontiac Firebird...
series of similar rules in the US. KONI
Koni
Koni or KONI is:* Koni , Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's black Labrador Retriever* KONI , an FM radio station located in Lanai City, Hawaii* Koni * Koni, Guinea* Koni, Côte d'Ivoire...
became series sponsor for the start of the 2007 season when the series became known as the KONI Challenge Series, before renaming once more prior to the start of the 2009 season as the KONI Sports Car Challenge. The series name was once again changed for the 2010 season.
The Continental Challenge is the support series for Grand-Am's premier offering, the Rolex Sports Car Series
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series is the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It is a North American-based sports car series that was founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed United States Road Racing Championship...
.
Races
In traditional sports car racing format, the races are often run with both GS and ST classes on track simultaneously, which is known as a "combined" race. Occasionally, races will be run in "split classes", with separate races for both classes. Current races are 2 hours 30 minutes with a required driver change.Telecasts
- Speed ChannelSPEED ChannelSpeed , is a cable and satellite television network broadcast to various parts of North America, but primarily the United States...
currently broadcasts the series exclusively. However, Speed will only cover races that occur on the same weekend as a Rolex Series race. Most races are also streamed live on SPEED2.com
Vehicles
The series uses two classes in each race:- The Grand Sport (GS) class features large-displacement 6-cylinder or 8-cylinder sports cars as well as small displacement 4-cylinder forced inductionForced inductionForced induction is the process of compressing air on the intake of an internal combustion engine . A forced induction engine uses a gas compressor to increase the pressure, temperature and density of the air...
sports cars.
- The Street Tuner (ST) class is for smaller 4-cylinder or 6-cylinder compact sedans, coupes, or roadsters.
All vehicles have fewer modifications than most series, using a "showroom stock" format.
The format is reminiscent of the original Trans Am Series, combining conventional sports cars and touring cars, though the Trans Am Series usually had a single driver per car, unlike the Koni series, which has two drivers per car. Some vehicles in the Continental Challenge have actually been painted to resemble the original Trans Am cars, such as the Boss 302 Mustangs of George Follmer
George Follmer
George Follmer is a retired American race car driver, and one of the most successful road racers of the 1970s. He was born in Phoenix, Arizona....
and Parnelli Jones
Parnelli Jones
Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones , is a retired American racing driver and racecar owner. He is most remembered for his 1963 Indianapolis 500 win, and almost winning the 1967 Indy 500 in a turbine car...
or the original Sunoco Camaro.
Champions
| Season | GS Champion | Car | ST Champion | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 |  Craig Stanton Terry BorchellerTerry Borcheller Terry Borcheller is an American professional racing driver who races in the Grand American Road Racing Association Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series.... |
Cadillac CTS-V | David Haskell Sylvain Tremblay |
Mazda RX-8 Mazda RX-8 The Mazda RX-8 is a sports car manufactured by Mazda Motor Corporation. It first appeared in 2001 at the North American International Auto Show. It is the successor to the RX-7 and, like its predecessors in the RX range, it is powered by a Wankel engine. The RX-8 began North American sales in the... |
| 2005 | David Empringham David Empringham David Empringham , is a Canadian auto racing driver. David is a two-time Toyota Atlantic and one-time Indy Lights champion. Most recently, Empringham won the 2005 Grand-Am Cup GS division drivers title, competing for Multimatic Motorsports.Empringham began his racing career in 1987, competing in... Scott Maxwell |
Ford Mustang Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A... |
David Haskell Sylvain Tremblay |
Mazda RX-8 Mazda RX-8 The Mazda RX-8 is a sports car manufactured by Mazda Motor Corporation. It first appeared in 2001 at the North American International Auto Show. It is the successor to the RX-7 and, like its predecessors in the RX range, it is powered by a Wankel engine. The RX-8 began North American sales in the... |
| 2006 |  Anders Hainer Spencer PumpellySpencer Pumpelly Spencer Pumpelly is an American race car driver, born 28 December 1974, in Arlington, Virginia.Currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia, Pumpelly is active in the American Le Mans Series, Rolex Sports Car Series and the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge driving for The Racer's Group.Pumpelly... |
BMW M3 BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M. M3 models have been derived from the E30, E36, E46 and E90/E92/E93 3-series, and sold with coupé, sedan and convertible body styles... |
Don Salama Will Turner |
BMW 3 Series BMW 3 Series The BMW 3 Series is a compact executive car manufactured by the German automaker BMW since May 1975. Successor to the BMW New Class, it has been produced in five different generations and in no less than five different body styles. It is BMW's best-selling model, accounting for around 30% of the... |
| 2007 | Jeff Segal Jep Thornton |
BMW M3 BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M. M3 models have been derived from the E30, E36, E46 and E90/E92/E93 3-series, and sold with coupé, sedan and convertible body styles... |
Trevor Hopwood Adam Burrows |
BMW 3 Series BMW 3 Series The BMW 3 Series is a compact executive car manufactured by the German automaker BMW since May 1975. Successor to the BMW New Class, it has been produced in five different generations and in no less than five different body styles. It is BMW's best-selling model, accounting for around 30% of the... |
| 2008 | Joe Foster Scott Maxwell |
Ford Mustang Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A... |
Jamie Holtom |
Chevrolet Cobalt Chevrolet Cobalt The Chevrolet Cobalt is a compact car introduced by Chevrolet in 2004 for the 2005 model year. The Cobalt replaced both the Cavalier and the Prizm as Chevrolet's compact car.... |
| 2009 | Kenny Wilden |
Ford Mustang Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A... |
Christian Miller |
Honda Civic Si Honda Civic Si The Honda Civic Si is a sport compact / hot hatch version of the Civic built by the Japanese automaker Honda. The Si trim, which stands for "Sport Injected," was introduced for the third generation of Honda Civics in both Japan and North America... |
| 2010 2010 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season The 2010 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season was the tenth running of the Grand-Am Cup series and the first season under Continental Tire sponsorship... |
Charles Espenlaub Charles Putman |
BMW M3 BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M. M3 models have been derived from the E30, E36, E46 and E90/E92/E93 3-series, and sold with coupé, sedan and convertible body styles... |
David Thilenius1 Lawson Aschenbach1 |
Honda Civic Si Honda Civic Si The Honda Civic Si is a sport compact / hot hatch version of the Civic built by the Japanese automaker Honda. The Si trim, which stands for "Sport Injected," was introduced for the third generation of Honda Civics in both Japan and North America... |
1The Bimmerworld 328i of Bill Heumann and Seth Thomas and the Compass360 Civic of Thilenius and Aschenbach finished the 2010 season tied in ST points. As both teams had the same amount of wins and second place finishes, Thilenius and Aschenbach won the title by virtue of having more third place finishes.