New Cobalt wins

[Jaguar D-Type]

LALLY AND HOLTOM WIN SPORT TOURING CLASS IN STRONG OUTING FOR CHEVROLET COBALT (at Watkins Glen)

In a close ST battle, Andy Lally and Jim Holtom claimed their first class victories of the season in the No. 00 Georgian Bay Motorsports Chevrolet Cobalt. It was a good day for the Cobalt, as three of the top five spots were claimed by that make. The performance also allowed Holtom to move into third place in the ST driver standings, trailing new points leaders Will Turner and Don Salama--who co-drive the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW 330i--by just one point, 104-103.

Lally and McCalmont started fifth in class, and watched as many of the top ST cars fell victim to oil on the track in the latter stages of the race. Like the No. 96 machine, the No. 00 was able to stay clean and work its way to the front to claim victory.

"The car wasn't all that strong out of the box, but we did a lot of work on handling," Holtom said. "It's really a race-winning car. We knew we would be strong here."

"It was good for Cobalt," Lally said. "This is a good track for the car. There are tracks that suit different cars and this one (Watkins Glen) is good for the Cobalt. It's a huge achievement."

Due to New York State age requirements, Holtom's usual co-driver, his 17-year-old son Jamie, was unable to drive. However, Jamie Holtom and Lally will share the No. 00 for the rest of the season, while Jim will compete against them in a sister car.

It was a strong day for the Cobalt as the No. 32 Franklin American Mortgage Chevrolet Cobalt of Tom Lepper and Bo Roach finished second. After starting second in class, the No. 32 worked its way up to the front of the class for a number of laps. The No. 20 Nuzzo Motorsports Mini Cooper of Tony Nuzzo and Steve Pattee finished third for the first podium of the season for the Mini. Tom Milner and Matt Connolly finished fourth in the No. 64 Matt Connolly Motorsports BMW 330ci, while Rod Strub and Ed Magner in the No. 48 Chevrolet Cobalt finished fifth.

The Grand-Am Cup Series Chemung Canal Trust 200 will be televised on SPEED Channel June 19 at 5 p.m. ET.

- grandamerican.com

This is from Friday's practice.

[lamehonda]

That thing really looks like a honda/acura in race trim

[Jaguar D-Type]

It does look similar to an Acura RSX.

[89IROC&RS]

thats hot although its funny, i would have thought handling would have been a strength of the car, and they said that was one of the things they were working on to improove the car.

[Jaguar D-Type]

They won again at Mosport last weekend.

http://grandamerican.com/News/Article.asp?ID=4476

[Rampart Crawler]

Originally Posted by Web Article

"We just got a little beside each other coming into (Turn) 5 and it was a drag race from there," said Jamie Holtom. "Luckily our Cobalt has lots of power so it was good coming up the straight. Just on the last lap there was a bit of contact but that's racing. It wasn't a blatant attempt to spin me out or anything, it is just close tight racing and it is great that Grand-Am can produce that. We recognized that the Cobalt was going to be a really strong program so we really backed it 100% and it is starting to show."

Nice.

[Jaguar D-Type]

Mosport

[Jaguar D-Type]

Just a few miles down the road from the factory that builds the Chevrolet Cobalt and with several Cobalt builders in attendance, Andy Lally and co-driver Jamie Holtom co-drove the No. 00 Georgian Bay Motorsports Cobalt to a popular Sport Touring (ST) class victory in the Grand-Am Cup 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Lally kept the pressure on leader Don Salama in the No. 95 Turner Motorsport 330i throughout the closing minutes and pounced on the opportunity to take the lead when Salama made contact with the lapped No. 20 Nuzzo Motorsports Mini Cooper of Tony Nuzzo with fewer than four laps remaining to secure the victory.

"It was all about managing traffic," Lally said. "Don (Salama) got blocked by a slower car and I was able to slip by and get that win. It was great to be able to do that in full view of the 600 plus UAW partners here from the Lordstown, Ohio plant where the Cobalt SS Supercharged are made."

Holtom, who qualified the car sixth in the ST class, avoided trouble early before handing control to Lally during a full-course caution at approximately the halfway point of the race. Holtom gave credit to the car for keeping him out of trouble during his stint.

"The torque of the Cobalt engine helped me out of a tight hole when a slower car spun coming out of the esses (early in the race)," Holtom said. "The brakes were good, too."

The win was the second of the season for each of the Georgian Bay Motorsports drivers. Holtom won the Mosport 200 in June with his father, Jim, and Lally won with the elder Holtom in Round 4 at Watkins Glen International.

- grandamerican.com