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ThunderSport's Saturn ION Red Line Grinds to Points Lead |
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The ThunderSport Report 2008
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Written by Mike Kramer
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
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 | | ThunderSport's Red Line ION |
Braselton, Georgia - The Touring 3 (T3) class lead in SCCA's Southeast Division belongs to Mike Kramer and his Saturn ION Red Line Touring Car. With three top-four finishes in as many races, Kramer advanced to a one-point margin over Miami, Florida's Mike Wheeler.
Over the Memorial Day holiday and in front of a splendid Saturn cheering section, Kramer guided his Kumho Tire-sponsored machine to fourth and third-place finishes at the fastest road course in North America, Nelson Ledges. "I think we were pretty stout," explained Kramer. "Nelson is really fast, we average close to 95 miles per hour around it's omigod-fast and bumpy asphalt. We had a good setup for the car, and that Ecotec power is simply amazing. The Honda S2000 is a really quick package, and we just need to make more speed to catch 'em. I'm pleased with the near-podium and podium finish for our team this weekend." During Monday's (May 26, 2008) race, Kramer's fight for third was with John Costello in a Honda. "John and I ran nose to tail for the entire second half of the race. It was a great battle, he tried to move me out of the way a couple of times, but the Saturn stayed strong all the way to the end, and so did those sticky and stout Kumho tires," smiled Kramer. At the stripe, "it was the Saturn by a polymer nose." Kramer finished behind Honda fast-guys, Nate Ellis and Lee Niffenegger, both in S2000s. One week later, the #42 Saturn rolled off the trailer at Kramer's home track of Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA. Kramer qualified on the outside of the front row with a quick lap of 88 miles an hour around Road Atlanta's daunting 12-turn road course. He was just a "tick" slower than Rob Hines's Honda S2000. At the green, Kramer and Hines set a blistering pace and ran away from the rest of the T3 field with Hines in the lead and Kramer on his bumper in second. Hines edged out a five-second lead that Kramer could never make up. At the checkered it was Hines, then Kramer. Tim Hund and Eric Van Cleef rounded out the top four in their Mazda RX-8s. "The Saturn ran really well. Having good track position was key. Rob and I got a good start and got away from the field. The beautiful silver Saturn was dynamite up and down Road Atlanta's hills with that Ecotec grunt. We ran strong." said Kramer. With that 2nd place finish at Road Atlanta, Kramer climbed to the top of the T3 points lead in SCCA's Southeast Division. The #42 Saturn ION Red Line was built at GM's Spring Hill Manufacturing assembly plant in Spring Hill, TN and is supported by: Kumho Tires, Red Line Oil, and Cobalt Friction Technologies. SCCA's Touring 3 class is the racing battleground of America's most popular new performance cars including; Mazda RX-8, Mazdaspeed Miata, BMW Z4, Subaru Legacy, Audi TT, Honda's S2000, Chrysler Cross Fire, Chevrolet's Cobalt SS Supercharged and Saturn's ION Red Line. Mike Kramer is a five-time SCCA Southeast Divisional Champion with 42 SCCA National victories. Each of those 42 wins was earned in a Saturn racecar. In 2003, he piloted a 1997 Saturn SC2 to the Showroom Stock C, SCCA National Championship - a first time achievement for him and the first for a GM front-drive car in SCCA's 40-year history. Kramer and his ThunderSport Racing team head to Roebling Road Raceway near Savannah, GA for the Lou Ella Cook Memorial Double National on July 4 - 6, 2008. For more information visit the ThunderSport Racing website at http://www.saturnracer.com. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 17 June 2008 )
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; "ThunderSport's Red Line ION")
