Team Cobalt aims for Championship in sophomore season, five cars compete in opening G
01-22-2006, 07:23 PM
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Team Cobalt aims for Championship in sophomore season, five cars compete in opening G
<img src="https://www.cobaltss.net/articles/css32.jpg" align="left" border="0" hspace="5" vspace="5">Coming off a successful debut racing season where the Chevrolet Cobalt SS Supercharged entries challenged for the Manufacturer’s Championship, Team Cobalt returns for its sophomore season with a trophy firmly in sight as the 2006 Grand-Am Cup season opens at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 27.
“The Cobalt SS Supercharged won three races and a pole positon in 2005, and we finished third in Manufacturer’s Championship points,” said Ken Wasmer, small car program engineering manager for the GM Performance Division, which provides engineering technical support for the Cobalt entrants.
“We’re pleased with our success, but for 2006, our sights are set much higher. This year we want to win the Manufacturer’s Championship,” Wasmer added.
The 200-mile Grand-Am Cup race on Daytona’s 3.56-mile combination infield road course and high-banked oval layout, will take the green flag on Friday, Jan. 27 at 2:15 p.m. EST. The Cobalts will compete in the newly re-named Sport Tuner class.
“Cars like the Cobalt SS Supercharged are very popular among today’s young ‘Tuner’ car enthusiasts,” added Wasmer. “We like the fact that Grand American is keeping up with the trends by re-naming the class.”
Three teams are bringing five Cobalts to Daytona. Mike Kuznicki’s Georgian Bay Motorsports team will have two, as will Californian Tom Lepper, and Powell Motorsport will have a single entry.
“The manufacturers we race against – nine of them last year – are very much the manufacturers we’re competing with in the marketplace,” added Wasmer. “The fact our cars performed so well in 2005 definitely helped sales.”
Jim Holtom of Carp, Ontario, Canada will drive the Georgian Bay team’s #01 car alongside Daniel Colembie, a Belgian now living in Malibu, Calif. Holtom’s son, Jamie, will share his #00 entry with a new co-driver, Grand-Am Cup veteran and two-time Rolex Sports Car Series driving champion Eric Curran of Chicopee, Mass.
Tom Lepper of Benecia, Calif. is paired for the second year with Bo Roach of Tulsa, Okla. in the #48 car, and Lepper’s son, Jeff, will drive #98 with V.J. Mirzayan of Fresno, Calif.
Devon Powell of Blackstock, Ontario, Canada, a Grand Am Cup driving titlist himself, has built a new Cobalt SS Supercharged (#06), which will be raced by veteran Ed Magner of Grand Blanc, Mich. and newcomer Phil Malgren of San Pablo, Calif.
The Holtom family made Grand American Road Racing Association history last June at Mosport Raceway when Jim and Jamie won the ST class race to become the sanctioning body’s first father-son winners – on Father’s Day weekend. To make it even better, Jamie, who was 17-years, 8-months, 19-days-old, also became Grand Am’s youngest winner.
Built on United Auto Workers assembly lines in Lordstown, Ohio, the Cobalt variants debuted in dealer showrooms in January 2005. The most powerful and most agile of the line, the SS Supercharged model with its 2.0 liter ECOTEC engine, was engineered by GM Performance Division.
GM Performance Division delivers compelling, low volume, high-performance production vehicles, and the Chevrolet Cobalt SS Supercharged is the third performance car developed by GM Performance Division engineers. Others include the 400 hp Cadillac CTS-V, 469 hp STS-V and 443 hp XLR-V; Chevy SSR and the 395 hp Trailblazer SS; and the 205 hp Saturn ION Red Line.
The racing versions of the Cobalt SS Supercharged, like its competitors, are built to Grand American’s rules, which specify what parts can be upgraded.
Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged Powered Entrant/Driver Line-up:
00 Georgian Bay Motorsports – Jamie Holtom, Eric Curran
01 Georgian Bay Motorsports – Jim Holtom, Daniel Colembie
06 Powell Motorsport – Ed Magner, Phil Malgren
48 Team Cobalt California – Tom Lepper, Bo Roach
98 Team Cobalt California – Jeff Lepper, V. J. Mirzayan
source: http://www.whowon.com/Results.asp?Tr...StoryID=174302
“The Cobalt SS Supercharged won three races and a pole positon in 2005, and we finished third in Manufacturer’s Championship points,” said Ken Wasmer, small car program engineering manager for the GM Performance Division, which provides engineering technical support for the Cobalt entrants.
“We’re pleased with our success, but for 2006, our sights are set much higher. This year we want to win the Manufacturer’s Championship,” Wasmer added.
The 200-mile Grand-Am Cup race on Daytona’s 3.56-mile combination infield road course and high-banked oval layout, will take the green flag on Friday, Jan. 27 at 2:15 p.m. EST. The Cobalts will compete in the newly re-named Sport Tuner class.
“Cars like the Cobalt SS Supercharged are very popular among today’s young ‘Tuner’ car enthusiasts,” added Wasmer. “We like the fact that Grand American is keeping up with the trends by re-naming the class.”
Three teams are bringing five Cobalts to Daytona. Mike Kuznicki’s Georgian Bay Motorsports team will have two, as will Californian Tom Lepper, and Powell Motorsport will have a single entry.
“The manufacturers we race against – nine of them last year – are very much the manufacturers we’re competing with in the marketplace,” added Wasmer. “The fact our cars performed so well in 2005 definitely helped sales.”
Jim Holtom of Carp, Ontario, Canada will drive the Georgian Bay team’s #01 car alongside Daniel Colembie, a Belgian now living in Malibu, Calif. Holtom’s son, Jamie, will share his #00 entry with a new co-driver, Grand-Am Cup veteran and two-time Rolex Sports Car Series driving champion Eric Curran of Chicopee, Mass.
Tom Lepper of Benecia, Calif. is paired for the second year with Bo Roach of Tulsa, Okla. in the #48 car, and Lepper’s son, Jeff, will drive #98 with V.J. Mirzayan of Fresno, Calif.
Devon Powell of Blackstock, Ontario, Canada, a Grand Am Cup driving titlist himself, has built a new Cobalt SS Supercharged (#06), which will be raced by veteran Ed Magner of Grand Blanc, Mich. and newcomer Phil Malgren of San Pablo, Calif.
The Holtom family made Grand American Road Racing Association history last June at Mosport Raceway when Jim and Jamie won the ST class race to become the sanctioning body’s first father-son winners – on Father’s Day weekend. To make it even better, Jamie, who was 17-years, 8-months, 19-days-old, also became Grand Am’s youngest winner.
Built on United Auto Workers assembly lines in Lordstown, Ohio, the Cobalt variants debuted in dealer showrooms in January 2005. The most powerful and most agile of the line, the SS Supercharged model with its 2.0 liter ECOTEC engine, was engineered by GM Performance Division.
GM Performance Division delivers compelling, low volume, high-performance production vehicles, and the Chevrolet Cobalt SS Supercharged is the third performance car developed by GM Performance Division engineers. Others include the 400 hp Cadillac CTS-V, 469 hp STS-V and 443 hp XLR-V; Chevy SSR and the 395 hp Trailblazer SS; and the 205 hp Saturn ION Red Line.
The racing versions of the Cobalt SS Supercharged, like its competitors, are built to Grand American’s rules, which specify what parts can be upgraded.
Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged Powered Entrant/Driver Line-up:
00 Georgian Bay Motorsports – Jamie Holtom, Eric Curran
01 Georgian Bay Motorsports – Jim Holtom, Daniel Colembie
06 Powell Motorsport – Ed Magner, Phil Malgren
48 Team Cobalt California – Tom Lepper, Bo Roach
98 Team Cobalt California – Jeff Lepper, V. J. Mirzayan
source: http://www.whowon.com/Results.asp?Tr...StoryID=174302
01-26-2006, 11:05 AM
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Originally Posted by Cobalt_Supercharged
Sweet. Look forward to the results and hopefully I can catch them when they run at PIR this year.
01-30-2006, 08:15 PM
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Well we had a OK race. My name is Jeff Lepper. I raced the #98 car. Here is our press release for the weekend.
Our pics are here: http://www.teamcobaltcalifornia.com/Photos.html
Team Cobalt California cars take checkered flag at Daytona thanks to tremendous crew effort
Jan. 30, 2006.
BENICIA, Calif. - The crew of Team Cobalt California sounded a heartfelt “well done” on Friday as they watched both their cars take the checkered flag at Daytona International Raceway in the first race of the 2006 Rolex Grand American race season.
Car No. 48, driven by Thomas Lepper and James “Bo” Roach, finished 13th in-class after experiencing fuel supply and transmission problems.
“It’s a new car and we need to work out the bugs,” said Lepper, the team’s owner.
Car No. 98, driven by Jeff Lepper and V.J. Mirzayan, finished 24th in-class after an engine setback required an engine change during a Thursday practice session.
With the technical assistance of GM Performance Division, Team Cobalt California crew worked relentlessly to replace the engine – which had contended in every race during the 2005 season.
“We did not have one crew member that was not involved with changing that engine,” Jeff Lepper said. “I could not be more proud of those guys.”
The No. 48 and No. 98 cars will return to the track April 21-23 at Virginia International Raceway.
“With some adjustments we’re expecting a better performance at VIR,” Thomas Lepper said.
Our pics are here: http://www.teamcobaltcalifornia.com/Photos.html
Team Cobalt California cars take checkered flag at Daytona thanks to tremendous crew effort
Jan. 30, 2006.
BENICIA, Calif. - The crew of Team Cobalt California sounded a heartfelt “well done” on Friday as they watched both their cars take the checkered flag at Daytona International Raceway in the first race of the 2006 Rolex Grand American race season.
Car No. 48, driven by Thomas Lepper and James “Bo” Roach, finished 13th in-class after experiencing fuel supply and transmission problems.
“It’s a new car and we need to work out the bugs,” said Lepper, the team’s owner.
Car No. 98, driven by Jeff Lepper and V.J. Mirzayan, finished 24th in-class after an engine setback required an engine change during a Thursday practice session.
With the technical assistance of GM Performance Division, Team Cobalt California crew worked relentlessly to replace the engine – which had contended in every race during the 2005 season.
“We did not have one crew member that was not involved with changing that engine,” Jeff Lepper said. “I could not be more proud of those guys.”
The No. 48 and No. 98 cars will return to the track April 21-23 at Virginia International Raceway.
“With some adjustments we’re expecting a better performance at VIR,” Thomas Lepper said.
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