Neither Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Championship Came With Ease

Bizarre and dramatic sum up the final miles to 2012’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championships. David Empringham and John Farano literally had the GS title handed to them when their closest rivals failed to score points in the Lime Rock Park finale. Empringham and Farano, driving the No. 83 BGB Motorsports Porsche Carerra, finished sixth to race winners Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi whose victory should have earned them the championship. But Longhi failed to complete the required 30-minute stint behind the wheel, thus going pointless and Plumb – entered in a second Rum Bum Racing Porsche 997 – was denied points by rule.

“This championship is very special. I thought my career was over. I’ve been coaching for five years,” said Empringham, whose car was fortunate to finish as high as it did due to early-race damage. The team had run high enough at one point to have claimed the title regardless of the post-race points decision.

Empringham, 51 and Farano, 52, failed to win in 2012 but logged three podium finishes, their best a second place at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The two Toronto natives prevailed by a 29-point margin although the Rum Bum organization walked away with a consolation prize – the GS team title with BGB second. The championship was the first for owner Luis Bacardi, whose team finished third in 2011 and has won six times in three seasons.

By finishing one-two, Rum Bum and BGB provided a major assist to Porsche winning the GS manufacturer championship by 13 points over BMW.

ST champion Pierre Kleinubing stood tall when it counted. The Coconut Creek, Fla. competitor, whose i-Moto MAZDASPEED3 team is based in North Carolina, had the title virtually sewn up before losing his lead – and more – at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Kleinubing needed the victory to edge Andy Lally, whose No. 10 Kia Forte Koup literally was fastened to the leader’s rear bumper going into the final laps at Lime Rock. The veteran’s last-ditch pass came up short, giving the 38-year-old Kleinubing his first CTSCC championship.

Kleinubing “book-ended” the season, winning the season opener race at Daytona International Speedway and the Lime Rock finale. He was 15th in 2011 with a single podium finish vs. four this season.

Lally actually finished third in the standings, a point behind pre-race ST leaders Derek Whitsis and Tom Long, whose No. 45 Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 suffered mechanical problems in the finale. Both driver and team titles were settled by just three points. Glenn Bocchino owns i-Moto and finished 15th in another i-Moto entry.

BMW, however, collected the most points on the manufacturer side of the ledger, edging Mazda by a 308-303 count.