Photos © DeFord Photo/Jim DeFord
LAGUNA SECA, CA (October 20, 2006) — James Sofronas, President of Global Motorsports Group (GMG) and driver of the No. 14 Porsche 911 GT3 in the SPEED World Challenge, is always a busy man on a race weekend. This weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, however, he is even busier than usual, because this weekend he’s also racing a BMW 325si in the SPEED World Challenge Touring Car division. “This is the first time I’ve done the double,” he confirmed at an interview this morning, “but I started out in the BMW in Touring Cars two years ago; since I began racing the Porsche in GT in 2005, I’ve only driven it competitively. However Tecmark, a partner of GMG, wants to get back into racing and they’ve asked me to sort the car for them to coach their drivers. The car is old, but will be completely rebuilt over the winter so it isn’t the fastest out there, but it’s fun to be back with old friends in a series I enjoyed.”

Asked what the big difference is between the Touring Car and GT car, Sofronas said at once, “In touring cars it’s all about momentum. I have to completely change my driving style when I get out of the Porsche, and remember that I have no ABS, no special technology to help me out; it’s just flat out and keep going, because if you don’t, there are plenty of guys that’ll blow right on by you. By contrast, the Porsche is all about driving; you have many competitors in many different kinds of cars, but you have more power; the car is more driver-friendly than the touring car is.”

In morning practice in the BMW, Sofronas was 11th, and he attributed this to not only the age of the car but to power steering issues. “You didn’t know whether it was going to grab or not,” he said, “and that made the car hard to drive. We expect to qualify that car around P8 and we’ll be happy to finish mid-pack.”

By contrast, the GT Porsche finished 8th, and Sofronas is confident they can do much better. “We were faster in practice yesterday,” he admitted, “and we made some changes that just didn’t work the way we expected them to, so we’ll change everything back and we believe we have a top-5 car.”

Much rumour is swirling about the calendar for 2007. Among the possibilities is a race in downtown Toronto in company with the Champ Car World Series. After the great success of the pairing in Long Beach last year, Sofronas (who works out of nearby Santa Ana and lives in Newport Beach) is delighted with the idea of another such pairing. “Long Beach was our best race of the year,” he enthused. “The crowds were big and the people who came to see our cars were knowledgeable and respectful, and they really enjoyed seeing and hearing us run. It was fabulous to run in front of big cars, especially in a market that is good for us.” The only caution he raised was that in such pairings SPEED World Challenge must be a co-partner and not a ‘second class citizen’. “We don’t want to have our practice times at 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.,” he pointed out, “or our paddocks out in the wilderness somewhere. But if we’re treated the way we were in Long Beach, I hope we have more of such pairings.”

Back in the days before stock car racing turned toward NASCAR, the mantra of sports car racing was “Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday.” In SPEED World Challenge this concept is alive and well, as Sofronas bears witness. “What we learn on the track,” he said, “helps us in our street products. Our clients are aware that we race, and they want us to help them do what we do. Of course, we’re not talking about moving people from a Volkswagen to a Porsche; our clients are looking for a better Porsche, so they are already familiar with the concept of higher horsepower, more powerful cars. Still, because there’s a difference, we offer our customers driving instruction and open track days as a way to familiarize themselves with their new equipment. Of course, there are clients who simply want the bling; they love having the extra 200 hp but have no intention of ever driving the car that fast. But we have a Street Modified GT2 available for test drives that contains every modification we sell and we take clients for a ride in that one and they come back and beg for one of their own! And we can put that right down to the SPEED World Challenge; because they see us racing in that series, they have an idea what the car can do, and the test drive in the modified car seals the deal. For the business we are in, there couldn’t be a better selling vehicle than the SPEED World Challenge.”

Turning to the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca track, Sofronas waxed enthusiastic about this natural road course which is one of his favourites. Although many Porsche drivers prefer the street courses because the Porsche is considered better at cornering than on the long straights, Sofronas prefers the chance to stretch himself on a twisty, varied track such as this one. “The only disadvantage to us,” he conceded, “is that the track gets slippery with all the dust and dirt that gets kicked onto it as the weekend goes along. But a good driver can work around such things and I really like to drive here. This is a great place to show off the Porsche In particular and I’m looking forward to a good race on Sunday.”

If the SPEED World Challenge is all about momentum, it surely seems that this weekend will come to James Sofronas – because he has the momentum on his side both in his enthusiasm, his ability – and what he can take home with him to boot. Look for James Sofronas at the sharp end of the grid at a SPEED World Challenge race coming to a track near you.