Speed GT Racing on the Streets of St. Petersburg - Remembrance of Things Past

Lou Gigliotti put his LG Pro Long Tube Header C6 on the pole and led for19 of the race's 33 laps.

The 1.8-mile, 14-turn racetrack surrounded by a harbor full of yachtsisn't Monaco or Long Beach; it's St. Petersburg, Florida. For the secondyear in a row, this popular tourist destination, located on thepeninsula that separates Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, hosted roundtwo of the SPEED GT championship.

It could be argued that the roots of the SPEED GT series reach all theway back to March 25, 1966 and nearby Sebring International Raceway. Itwas on this day that the SCCA sanctioned its first Trans-American Sedanrace. Trans-Am vehicles were primarily modified versions of road-goingproduction cars. Shelby-prepared Mustangs were early series winnersuntil Roger Penske showed up in 1967 with a Sunoco-sponsored Camaro.Driven by Mark Donohue, the Camaro ended Ford's domination andestablished a formidable competition legacy for the Z28, winning 20races and three series championships between 1967 and 1970. EarlyTrans-Am racing was tight, tough, and popular with race fans. Sadly, themanufacturers dropped out of the series a few years later, and the eraof production-based Trans-Am racing drew to a close.

Leighton Reese sweeps by the beautiful St. Petersburg harbor duringqualifying.

Fast-forward almost 30 years, and the introduction of a new SCCA racingseries similar to the original Trans-Am. Titled the SpeedVision WorldChallenge, the series got underway in 1999. Although a change ofownership brought a fresh name for the network in 2002, the newlychristened SPEED channel continued to sponsor the World Challengeseries. Currently, Corvettes, Vipers, Porsches, Audis, and Cadillacsrace head-to-head for the top spot in the GT class. The SCCA closelyregulates the performance of each car, hitting race winners with aweight penalty to prevent any single team from dominating the series.

Factory C6.R Corvette driver Johnny O'Connell was brought in by Pratt &Miller to drive the No. 16 CTS-V Cadillac.

In 1999, Chevrolet built 20 special-production, frame-only Corvette racecars. They carried VINs GMM0001 through GMM0020--or General MotorsMotorsports numbers 1 through 20--and were sold to race teams for $20,000each. Each car included fixed-roof-coupe bodywork that was packed inboxes and shipped with the chassis. The cars were produced for two moreyears, during which time they earned the nickname "Boxcars." Many havesince been reconfigured with C6 Z06 bodywork and continue to compete inthe SPEED GT series today.

Which brings us back to the spring of 2006 and the streets of St.Petersburg. Twenty-seven cars qualified for the race, eight of whichwere Corvettes. Lou Gigliotti put his LG Pro Long Tube Header C6 on thepole with a time of 1:17.796. A Porsche 911, a Viper, a Pratt & MillerCadillac CTS-V--piloted, incidentally, by factory C6.R driver JohnnyO'Connell--and another C6, this one driven by Leighton Reese, followedclosely behind. Other notables included last year's driver champion,Andy Pilgrim, who qualified sixth in another P&M Caddy.

Greg Weirick (No. 40) leads Claudio Burtin (No. 26) into Turn One.Weirick finished 11th, while Claudio took 14th.

The race was flagged off at 4:45 p.m. under clear skies. Gigliotti wonthe standing-start drag race and went on to finish a contact-free firstlap ahead of a 911 and Reese's Corvette.

Unfortunately for the Corvette contingent, things would soon change.During the second lap, Viper driver Tommy Archer clobbered the back ofReese's C6, badly damaging both cars. Although Archer was hit with asevere penalty, it was of little consequence, as neither car wouldfinish the race.

Gigliotti led for the next 19 laps before surrendering the top spot toPilgrim. When Pilgrim's engine quit just three laps from the finish,rookie Lawson Aschenbach grabbed the lead in his 911, while O'Connellsettled into second. Gigliotti, meanwhile, faded back to third, a victimof overheating tires. Ultimately, another Porsche passed him, but he wasstill able to finish an impressive Fourth overall.

The names and makes may have changed, but fortunately for fans ofproduction-based road racing, it looks like the true spirit of Trans-Amis alive and well in SPEED GT.

2006 St. Petersburg SPEED World Challenge GT Results

1. Lawson Aschenbach, Porsche 911 GT3
2. Johnny O'Connell, Cadillac CTS-V (-7.973)
3. Ricardo Imery, Porsche 911 GT3 (-21.726)
4. Lou Gigliotti, Chevrolet Corvette C6 (-24.251)
5. Bob Woodhouse, Dodge Viper (-24.540)

Sonny Whelen ran a trouble-free race, finishing 12th in this beautiful"Boxcar" ex-Phil McClure Corvette.	O'Connell finished Second in this LS2-powered CTS-V.	Reese qualified his Banner Engineering Corvette in Fifth place. He movedup to Third on the second lap but was hit from behind by Tommy Archer'sViper. The crash heavily damaged his Corvette, and he ended up in 21st.
Tony Gaples (foreground) battled this Viper throughout the race. Hefinished Ninth.	Venezuelan Ricardo Imery, driving the No. 64 Porsche 911, pressuredGigliotti late in the race. Imery passed Gigliotti on the penultimatelap, denying him a Third-place finish.	A disappointed Gigliotti takes a minute to cool off before climbing outof his Corvette after the race. He and his car had the right stuff formost of the afternoon.