Kia zmaga svoj prvi koli dirki

[Road&Track]

Čestitke za Kia Motors zmagovalni Kias prvi dirki je včeraj na frizerski Motorsports Park v bližini Birmingham, AL. Dirka je bila tretja v razredu Street Tuner (ST) od GRAND-AM Continental pnevmatike športni avto izziv (CTSCC).

Po kvalifikacijah v šestnajstem položaj, Michael Galati maneuvered v No. 10 Kia Forte Koup skozi polja in v top 10 v začetku dirke pred predajo avto Nic Jönsson z 90 minut, preostali dve in pol urni dirki. Jönsson nato hitro povzpela na področju in prehitela vodja z nekaj več kot 30 minut, ki ostanejo v dirko. Je končal manj kot sekundo pred Tim Bell/BJ Zacharias v Office Depot BMW 128i. Ellis/Ian Baas Ryan, ki je zmagal na prvih dveh dirkah letos vožnjo VW DriveGear VW GTI, končal na četrtem mestu.

Bilo je kot domačo zmago za Kia kot velika množica lokalnih Kia trgovci in člani ekipe iz companys U. S. tovarne v bližini West Point, Georgia so bili na strani videti Kias prvo zmago.

Ko sem se udeležil drugega kroga serije na domačija Park, FL marca, Jönsson /Galati končal 7. v razredu, medtem ko Adam Burrows/Trevor Hopwood končal 25 v drugi Infinity Audio Kia Forte Koup dirkalni avto. Burrows/Trevor Hopwood končal 10. Barber dirki. Pri Daytona, v prvi tekmi te sezone, je Koups končal 2. in 12. v razredu ST.

Ekipa polagala veliko upanja, da Kinetična dirke pripravljeni Kia Koups bi bilo veliko bolj konkurenčni na pravi cesti seveda ne tiste z uporabo dolgih ravnin in težkih bančništvo na vezje seveda kombinirane ovalne na cesti, kot domačije in Daytona in pričakovanja ekip so bili zagotovo srečali na frizerski.

Svoje omeniti, da je Kia končal 18. splošno v frizerski dirke, ki združuje več silen Grand Sport (GS) razred avtomobilov z počasnejši ST razred avtomobilov. Zmagovalni Ford Mustang 302 R osvojila nekaj več kot 45 drugo pred razred-zmagovit Kia. S primerjavo vrzel med zmago BMW M3 v razredu GS in zmagovit VW GTI v ST razred na prejšnji dirki v domačija je bil en krog in 39 sekund (skoraj tri minute), po 2. 5 ur dirke.

Congratulations to Kia Motors for winning Kias first ever race yesterday at the Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, AL. The race was the third round in the Street Tuner (ST) class of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC).

After qualifying in sixteenth position, Michael Galati maneuvered the No. 10 Kia Forte Koup through the field and into the top 10 early in the race before handing the car off to Nic Jönsson with 90 minutes remaining in the two and a half hour race. Jönsson then quickly moved up the field and overtook the leader with just over 30 minutes remaining in the race. He finished less than a second ahead of Tim Bell/BJ Zacharias in the Office Depot BMW 128i. Ryan Ellis/Ian Baas, who had won the first two races this year driving the VW DriveGear VW GTI, finished in fourth place.

It was like a home win for Kia as a large crowd of local Kia dealers and team members from the companys U. S. assembly plant in nearby West Point, Georgia were on hand to see Kias first-ever win.

When I attended the second round of the series at Homestead Park, FL in March, Jönsson /Galati finished 7th in class while Adam Burrows/Trevor Hopwood finished 25th in the second Infinity Audio Kia Forte Koup race car. Burrows/Trevor Hopwood finished 10th in the Barber race. At Daytona, in the first race this season, the Koups finished 2nd and 12th in the ST class.

The team had high hopes that the Kinetic Racing-prepared Kia Koups would be much more competitive on a true road course as opposed to ones utilizing long straights and heavy banking at a combined oval/road course circuit, like Homestead and Daytona, and the teams expectations were certainly met at Barber.

Its worth noting that the Kia finished 18th overall in the Barber race that combines the more powerful Grand Sport (GS) class cars with the slower ST class cars. The winning Ford Mustang 302 R finished just over 45 second ahead of the class-winning Kia. By comparison the gap between the wining BMW M3 in the GS class and the winning VW GTI in the ST class at the previous race in Homestead was one lap plus 39 seconds (almost three minutes) after 2. 5 hours of racing.