|
Saturn Scores Fourth at VIR |
|
|
|
|
The ThunderSport Report 2008
|
|
Written by Mike Kramer
|
|
Wednesday, 23 April 2008 |
 | | ThunderSport's Red Line ION |
Alton, VA - After a long winter, the #42 Saturn ION Red Line rolled off the trailer for the Sports Car Club of America's (SCCA) Double National at the Virginia International Raceway last weekend and found a fast groove taking two, fourth-place finishes in SCCA's ultra competitive Touring 3 class. With a good qualifying effort and consistent race laps, Mike Kramer wheeled his Kumho sponsored machine to strong finishes during both Saturday and Sunday's 40-minute sprint races. Kramer was outpaced by Rob Hines, Dom Himes and Lee Niffenegger, all driving Honda S2000s. "The Honda is a very quick car this year and we've been slowed a bit by performance restrictions" said Kramer, referring to SCCA's mandate for GM competitors utilizing the LSJ engine to run without GM's Stage II peformance kit. "It's like bringing a knife to a gun fight" he added. "We did have two good days at VIR and succeeded in waving the GM and Saturn flags as the highest finishing GM racecar here. We simply need to find some more speed."
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. Alex and Joey Kramer provided much needed paddock support (and comic relief) for the races at VIR, while Amber and baby Jack Kramer monitored the timing & scoring feed in Tennessee.
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 Southest Divisional Champion with 41 SCCA National victories. 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.
ThunderSport Racing heads to the World Center of Speed - the Daytona International Speedway - for the SCCA National on May 4, 2008. For more information visit the ThunderSport Racing website at
http://www.saturnracer.com. |
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 24 April 2008 )
|
; "ThunderSport's Red Line ION")
