moabman Posted October 31, 2008 Report Share Posted October 31, 2008 I forgot to post this news. They drive the FR500C variant in the Grand Am Koni GS class. The major competition is the BMW M3 and Porsche 911 GT3. Way to go Ford and all of the Mustang teams. Special conrgatulations to Joe Foster and Scott Maxwell. For those who didn't know, Scott was instrumental in helping sort out the FR500C while it was being developed a couple of years ago. From the Koni Challange website: DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 31, 2008) - On the strength of two victories and strong driving by Joe Foster and Scott Maxwell, the No. 55 Hyper Sport Ford Mustang GT was the championship winning team and car in the 2008 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series Grand Sport (GS) point standings. Foster, the team owner, and Maxwell won at their home tracks - Mosport International Raceway (Maxwell) and Barber Motorsports Park (Foster) - to give Hyper Sport its first series championship. It also capped a successful season in which Hyper Sport also moved into the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GT class. Top-10 finishes in eight of the 10 races was enough for Hyper Sport to take the championship by only six points (248-242) over JBS Motorsports and nine points (248-239) over Automatic Racing. The season started with a season-place finish with Foster, Maxwell and Jeff Courtney taking turns behind the wheel. A 28th-place finish at Lime Rock Park ensued in late May, dropping the car down in the standings, but the team rebounded with its victory at Mosport. Maxwell passed JBS driver James Gue at Barber Motorsports Park for the team's second victory in three races, following an 11th-place run at Watkins Glen International. Consistency was important in the second half of the season. All five races resulted in a top-10 finish, with a best of fourth at Miller Motorsports Park that gave Hyper Sport its first point lead of the season, by one over JBS. A fifth-place finish in the Bosch Engineering Twin Six Hours at Virginia International Raceway was the best of the four title contenders at the checkered flag, thus breaking up an already close race to give the Mustang GT the title. The No. 37 JBS Ford Mustang GT was second, followed by the No. 09 Automatic BMW M3, No. 83 BGB Motorsports Porsche 997 and No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT. And: DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 31, 2008) - While the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) driving and team owner championships were tight throughout the 2008 season, perhaps one of the most overlooked - and closest - title chases was for the GS manufacturer crown. Three marques - Ford, Porsche and BWM - won over the 10-race season, and at one point the trio was separated by only three points. In the end, a 1-2 punch by the Rehagen Racing Ford Mustangs in the season-concluding Bosch Engineering Twin Six Hours at Virginia International Raceway was enough to catapult Ford from third to first and secure its second-ever manufacturer championship in the KONI Challenge Series. The first came in 2005. At least one Ford finished fourth or better in every race, and with three victories, two 1-2 finishes and a podium sweep at Barber Motorsports Park, Ford took the title by four points over Porsche (313-309) and five points over BMW (313-308), which entered the season finale with the lead. An eighth-place finish at VIR dropped BMW down two positions after finishes of fourth or better in the first nine races. Ford was solid from the get-go, but as seen in the results, all three manufacturers stood their ground until the end. Ford was second to Porsche in the Fresh From Florida 200, while BMW picked up fourth. BMW won its first race at Lime Rock Park, with Porsche second and Ford third. Ford won at Mosport International Raceway and also captured second, and followed that with a fourth-place finish at Watkins Glen International after Porsche and BMW cars fought tooth and nail until the checkered flag. The Mustangs kept the strong finishes coming. Championship team-winning Hyper Sport won at Barber, with second-place JBS Motorsports coming in the runner-up position and Rehagen Racing third. The title chase further tightened as BMW was fourth and Porsche a best of ninth. That ended the first half of the season. All three manufacturers earned top-four finishes over the next four races. Ford was fourth at Iowa Speedway, second at Le Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres, fourth at Thunderbolt Raceway at New Jersey Motorsports Park and third at Miller Motorsports Park. Still, the Mustangs were no better than third in the standings with only VIR remaining. But that changed, and for the better. Rehagen Racing grabbed the top two spots, leapfrogging Porsche in the standings. Mustangs also took fifth and sixth, and with Porsche taking third, fourth and seventh, the best BMW car finished eighth. That swapped Ford and BMW in the standings, ending BMW's bid for a second straight title. Meanwhile, Porsche was trying to make it five titles in six years (Porsche swept the GS I and GS II championships in 2003). Nissan was fourth in the standings, after one of its 350Zs competed in five races, with a best finish of 13th at Trois-Rivieres. Pontiac, which earned an 18th-place finish at Daytona, was fifth in the standings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedRacer Posted October 31, 2008 Report Share Posted October 31, 2008 Mark, Great news. Thanks for keeping it real. Now we're talking about things that should be discussed!!! Regards. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moabman Posted October 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2008 Here are some links: Grand Am Koni home page Final race at VIR photo gallery enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Saute Posted October 31, 2008 Report Share Posted October 31, 2008 Here are some links: Grand Am Koni home page Final race at VIR photo gallery enjoy! And enjoy, I did! Thank you very much for the links. I especially like the photo of the Blue FR500C with the foliage blurred around it. All the best... Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moabman Posted November 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2008 I missed that one! You are right - that's a nice picture :happy feet: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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