Curran Tastes Victory, Kleinubing Wins SPEED Touring Car Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Curran Tastes Victory, Kleinubing Wins SPEED Touring Car Championship at
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

 

MONTEREY, Calif., (Oct. 22, 2006) - Eric Curran, of East Hampton, Mass.,
scored a dominant victory in the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge
Touring Car finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, part of the Monterey
Sports Car Championships, while his teammate, Pierre Kleinubing, of
Coconut Creek, Fla., earned his fourth Drivers' Championship.

 

As the starting lights went out on the final round of the 2006 SPEED
Touring Car Championship, polesitter Curran rocketed off the line and
into the lead. The No. 43 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing
Acura RSX would pull a steady gap on the field throughout the 26-lap,
58.188-mile race without a single challenge for the lead. Curran crossed
the finish line 4.921 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor to take
his second-career victory with an average speed of 82.532 mph.

 

"This couldn't have been planned any better for RealTime Racing to have
us all here in these positions," Curran said. "The season didn't start
off well at Sebring and then after the big crash at St. Petersburg, I
thought that it was going to be a really long season. But the second
half of the season has just gone better and better and better. To finish
off the season with a win after starting on the pole-you just couldn't
ask for a better day. What more to ask for-me winning the race, Peter on
the podium and Pierre taking the Championship? Couldn't have scripted
this any different."

 

Chasing Curran throughout the race was the No. 72 Mazdaspeed/Tri-Point
Motorsports Mazda 6 of Jeff Altenburg. Starting third, Altenburg, of
Ellicott City, Md., inherited the runner-up spot from teammate Randy
Pobst on lap two, when the No. 73 Mazda 6 dropped a wheel at Turn Six
and had a right-front tire go down, forcing him to pit. Unable to catch
Curran and too quick for third place Peter Cunningham, two-time Laguna
Seca winner Altenburg would have to settle for second.

 

"[Teammate] Randy [Pobst] was in a position, with the right set of
circumstances, to win the Championship, so I was ready to be a wingman
and do what I could to help him," Altenburg said. "My car was the best
it's been all year. It was very consistent. I got a pretty good start
and was following Randy. I guess he went off at the inside of six, broke
a wheel and that pretty much ended his day.

 

"So I set off after Eric [Curran] and there was just nothing that could
be done. When I realized I couldn't catch him, I went into a slight tire
conservation mode. Then PD [Cunningham] came up and I was just running
as hard as I could."

 

Altenburg also dedicated the race to the family of fellow SPEED Touring
Car driver Jim Osborn. Jim and wife Amy Jo lost their nine-week old son
Austin Hatcher "Hatch" this past week to cancer. Many teams carried
stickers remembering Hatch on their cars.

 

Starting fifth, defending SPEED Touring Car Champion Cunningham, of
Grafton, Wis., was bested by the all-wheel-drive Audi of Chip Herr on
the start. But, with the help of teammate Kleinubing, the pair worked
their way around Herr on Lap 10, moving the No.1 Acura Certified
Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura TSX of Cunningham up to third and
Kleinubing's No. 42 Acura TSX to fourth. Cunningham spent the rest of
the race hunting down Altenburg, whom he caught near lap 18, but the
opportunity for a pass never presented itself.

 

"I get #42 back next year, which appears to be good luck," Cunningham
said about turning over the defending Champion's #1 to Kleinubing for
2007. "I had a great race. I'm thankful that everyone fell into line at
the start and didn't end up in a big pile down in turn two. Once I was
able to get by Pierre [Kleinubing] and Chip [Herr] when they were
arguing, I set off to chase down Jeff [Altenburg] and I caught up. I
thought I'd give him a ration of you-know-what, but I couldn't make an
honest bid to sneak up inside of him.

 

"It was definitely a grand year for RealTime Acura," the team owner
said. "To have five good drivers in five great cars is just fantastic.
We had great reliability all season long, and that's what the
Championship really came down to."

 

The battle for the 2006 SPEED Touring Car Championship had an early
climax, when, on the opening lap, Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga.,
bobbled in Turn Six, clipped the apex curb and damaged his right-front
wheel.  Pobst was forced to pit on lap two, dropping him to last in the
order and easing the pressure on Kleinubing. Although Pobst was able to
claw his way back through the field to 13th, setting a new race lap
record of 1:36.429 (83.551 mph) along the way, a fourth place finish by
Kleinubing was good enough to claim the 2006 SPEED Touring Car Drivers'
Championship, his fourth-career title.

 

"It's not just for me, but for this whole team. To have five cars in the
top 10 in the points. It's just amazing," Kleinubing said. "The last few
years, it was tough. You know, there was just that racing bad luck and
it's the kind of stuff that makes you stronger. You learn and figure out
how you can fix the things that go wrong. 

 

"I think that I drove my best season ever. I was patient. I did what I
needed to do at the right times."

 

Herr, of Lititz, Pa., completed the top five.  The No. 17
ClearCapital/STaSIS Audi A4 driver put some heavy pressure on Kleinubing
in the closing laps. Herr appeared to be setting Kleinubing up for a
last lap pass, but a dropped wheel in Turn Three quickly dashed his
hopes.

 

Charles Espenlaub (Mazda 6) finished sixth followed by the BMW 325i of
Seth Thomas and the Acura RSX of Nick Esayian. Dino Crescentini (Mazda
6) finished ninth and earned the Sunoco Hard Charger award for advancing
seventeen positions during the race. Kuno Wittmer (Mercedes-Benz C230)
completed the top ten.

 

Jason Martinelli in the No. 27 Techmark Corporation/LecticAir BMW 325ci
earned the B&M Holeshot Award for advancing six positions on the start.

 

The Piloti Rookie of the Race award went to the No. 3R-Racing Dodge
SRT-4 of Robb Holland, who was unable to catch Jeff Courtney for the
2006 Piloti SPEED Touring Car Rookie of the Year honors, despite the
Audi A4 driver's mechanical retirement from the season finale.

 

Kleinubing earned the 2006 SPEED Touring Car Drivers' Championship
nineteen points ahead of Pobst (286 to 267). Herr finished the season in
third, with 232, followed by last year's Champion Cunningham (228) and
Curran (221).

 

The 2006 SPEED Touring Car Manufacturers' Championship was clinched by
Acura at Road Atlanta in September. Acura finishes the season fourteen
points ahead of Mazda (75 to 61), followed by Audi with 40 points, BMW
with 11 points and Dodge with 5 points.

 

Today's race will be broadcast on SPEED, Saturday, October 28th at 1
p.m. (EDT).

 

Stay tuned to www.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com/>
for information about the 2007 SPEED World Challenge season.

 

-30-

 

Attached image: Eric Curran led the SPEED Touring Car finale from
flag-to-flag at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Credit: (c) SCCA/Mark Weber

 

MONTEREY, Calif. - Results from Sunday's 26-lap, 58.188-mile SCCA Pro
Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship Round 10 race,
part of the Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna
Seca with finishing position, starting position in parentheses, driver,
hometown, car, laps, distance behind winner and reason out (if any).

 

1. (1), Eric Curran, East Hampton, Mass., Acura RSX, 26.

2. (3), Jeff Altenburg, Ellicott City, Md., Mazda 6, 26, -4.921.

3. (5), Peter Cunningham, Grafton, Wis., Acura TSX, 26, -5.503.

4. (4), Pierre Kleinubing, Coconut Creek, Fla., Acura TSX, 26, -15.625.

5. (10), Chip Herr, Lititz, Pa., Audi A4, 26, -16.293.

6. (6), Charles Espenlaub, Lutz, Fla., Mazda 6, 26, -17.148.

7. (11), Seth Thomas, Cumming, Ga., BMW 325i, 26, -19.735.

8. (7), Nick Esayian, Encinitas, Calif., Acura RSX, 26, -21.663.

9. (26), Dino Crescentini, Malibu, Calif., Mazda 6, 26, -29.613.

10. (25), Kuno Wittmer, Montreal, Canada, Mercedes-Benz C230, 26,
-34.127.

11. (13), Brandon Davis, Denver, Colo., Acura TSX, 26, -43.635.

12. (12), Robb Holland(R), Denver, Colo., Dodge SRT-4, 26, -51.914.

13. (2), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Mazda 6, 26, -1:00.605.

14. (17), James Clay, Radford, Va., BMW 325i, 26, -1:05.527.

15. (19), Charlie Putman(R), Mills, Wyo., Mazda 6, 26, -1:13.568.

16. (9), Dan Aweida(R), Boulder, Colo., Dodge SRT-4, 26, -1:24.935.

17. (22), Lucho deCastro(R), Stone Mountain, Ga., BMW 325i, 25, -1 lap.

18. (24), Jonathan Meris, Elk Grove, Calif., Honda Civic, 25, -1 lap.

19. (23), Mary Katharine(R), Delray Beach, Fla., Mazda Protege, 24, -2
laps.

20. (16), James Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., BMW 325Ci, 19, Trans.

21. (20), Freddy Baker, Bedford, Ohio, Audi A4, 11, Mech.

22. (8), Brian Smith(R), Simpsonville, S.C., Dodge SRT-4, 8, Mech.

23. (15), Christian Miller(R), Newark, Calif., Volkswagen Jetta, 2,
Mech.

24. (18), Jason Martinelli, Woodbury, Conn., BMW 325ci, 1, Susp.

25. (14), Jeff Courtney(R), Slinger, Wis., Audi A4, 1, Mech.

26. (21), Tomy Drissi, Hollywood, Calif., BMW 325i, 0, DNS.

27. (27), Andrie Hartanto(R), San Francisco, Calif., Honda Civic Si, 0,
DNS.

28. (28), Kenny Yim, Hong Kong China, Honda Civic Si, 0, DNQ.

29. (29), Marco Ferrera(R), Broomfield, Colo., Honda Civic SI, 0, DNQ.

 

Time of race: 42 minutes, 18.111 seconds.

Average speed: 82.532 mph, Record

Margin of victory: 4.921 Seconds

Lap leaders: Laps 1-26, #43 Eric Curran

Fastest race lap: #73 Randy Pobst, 1:36.429 (83.551 mph), Record

Fastest qualifier: #43 Eric Curran, 1:35.599 (84.277 mph), Record

Piloti Rookie of the Race: #67 Robb Holland

Sunoco Hard Charger: #74 Dino Crescentini

B&M Shifters Holeshot Award: #27 Jason Martinelli

Cautions: None

 

SCCA SPEED Touring Car Drivers' Championship Final Point Standings

Ps, Driver, Car, Points (Wins)

1, Pierre Kleinubing, Acura TSX, 286 (2)

2, Randy Pobst, Mazda 6, 267 (2)

3, Chip Herr, Audi A4, 232 (3)

4, Peter Cunningham, Acura TSX, 228

5, Eric Curran, Acura RSX, 221 (1)

6, Brandon Davis, Acura TSX, 209 (1)

7, Jeff Altenburg, Mazda 6, 208

8, Charles Espenlaub, Mazda 6, 154

9, Nick Esayian, Acura RSX, 145

10, Jeff Courtney(R), Audi A4, 140

 

SCCA SPEED Touring Car Manufacturers' Championship Presented by RACER
Magazine

Ps, Manufacturer, Points (Wins)

1, Acura, 75 (4)

2, Mazda, 61 (2)

3, Audi, 40 (3)

4, BMW, 11

5, Dodge, 5

 

 

Erin Cechal

SCCA Public Relations Specialist

800/770-2055

ecechal@scca.com