7th season of the racing series organized by Grand-Am
The 2006 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the seventh season of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, and the fifth season under the sponsorship of Rolex .
It began on January 28 with the 24 Hours of Daytona , and ended on September 2 with the Discount Tire Sunchaser at Miller Motorsports Park . The championship was competed with Daytona Prototypes (DP) and Grand Touring (GT) class cars only, for the second successive season.
Starting with the VIR 400 , this season saw the introduction of qualifying races to set the field for the main race. Controversially, these races awarded the same points as a main race, despite being set at just 30 minutes (or 50 miles) in length. With no qualifying session, starting positions for a qualifying race were determined by speeds during a previously designated practice session.[ 1] After just three unsuccessful runnings, the format was discontinued in the aftermath of a major five-car crash at Phoenix International Raceway .[ 2]
Schedule
The schedule was expanded again to 15 races, although both classes did not compete at every event, with the Daytona Prototypes class remaining at 14 races and the Grand Touring class down to 13 races. The events at California Speedway and Circuit Mont-Tremblant , both on the calendar since 2002, were replaced by a first-time visit to the Streets of Long Beach , which hadn't held a major sportscar race since 1991, and the returning Lime Rock Park , which had itself been previously replaced by California Speedway. As a support race for IndyCar, the Long Beach event was exclusive for DP cars and limited to 90 minutes, while the Lime Rock race was exclusive to the GT class.
The second race at Watkins Glen was also limited to the DP class, while the third race was discontinued after just one season, as the IndyCar event it supported was moved to the weekend of the Six Hours event. This race was replaced by Infineon Raceway , which switched from the American Le Mans Series . With the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez race moved from its November date to an early March spot, the season finale was held as a 9-hour endurance event at the newly built Miller Motorsports Park . The races at Mid-Ohio, Phoenix and Virginia were also moved from their late-summer and early autumn dates to a very hectic spring portion, with nine events in a span of just 15 weeks.
Rnd
Race
Length
Classes
Circuit
Location
Date
1
Rolex 24 at Daytona
24 hours
All
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
January 28–29
2
Mexico City 250
250 miles
All
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
Mexico City , Mexico
March 4
3
Linder Komatsu Grand Prix of Miami
250 miles
All
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, Florida
March 25
4
Crown Royal Grand American Challenge
90 minutes
DP
Streets of Long Beach
Long Beach, California
April 8
5
QR
VIR 400
30 minutes
All
Virginia International Raceway
Alton, Virginia
April 22
R
400 km
April 23
6
QR
U.S. Sportscar Invitational
30 minutes
All
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Monterey, California
May 6
R
250 miles
May 7
7
QR
GAINSCO Grand Prix
30 minutes
All
Phoenix International Raceway
Avondale , Arizona
May 12
R
250 miles
May 13
8
Rolex GT Series Challenge
200 miles
GT
Lime Rock Park
Lakeville, Connecticut
May 29
9
Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen
6 hours
All
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen, New York
June 3
10
EMCO Gears Classic
250 miles
All
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, Ohio
June 24
11
Brumos Porsche 250
250 miles
All
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
June 29
12
Porsche 250
250 miles
All
Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, Alabama
July 30
13
Crown Royal 200 at The Glen
200 miles
DP
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen, New York
August 11
14
Sonoma 250
250 miles
All
Infineon Raceway
Sonoma, California
August 26
15
Discount Tire Sunchaser
9 hours
All
Miller Motorsports Park
Grantsville, Utah
September 2
Entries
Daytona Prototype (DP)
Team
Chassis
Engine
Drivers
Rounds
Howard-Boss Motorsports
Crawford DP03
Pontiac
2
Jan Lammers
1
Allan McNish
1
Danica Patrick
1
Rusty Wallace
1
4
Butch Leitzinger
All
Andy Wallace
All
Tony Stewart
1
16
Chris Dyson
1, 3, 5, 9, 11, 13
Guy Smith
1, 3, 5, 9, 11
Rob Dyson
1, 9, 13
Oliver Gavin
1
Southard Motorsports
Riley MkXI
BMW
3
Shane Lewis
All
Craig Stanton
5–7, 9–15
Randy LaJoie
1–2
Tony Burgess
1
Kris Szekeres
1
John Pew
3
Bill Auberlen
4
Essex Racing
Crawford DP03
Ford
5
James Gue
1–2
Duncan Dayton
1
Brian DeVries
1
Rick Knoop
1
Jim Matthews
1
Scott Maxwell
2
Finlay Motorsports Essex/Finlay Motorsports
Crawford DP03
Ford
Rob Finlay
All
Michael Valiante
All
Bryan Herta
1
Buddy Rice
1
Guy Cosmo
9
Dane Cameron
15
Playboy/Uniden Racing
19
Michael McDowell
1–7, 9–13, 15
Memo Gidley
1–4, 9–15
Guy Cosmo
5–7, 14–15
Alex Barron
1, 4
Graydon Elliott Fusion Racing w/ Shank Michael Shank Racing /Mears Motor Coach Playboy Racing/Mears-Lexus/Riley
Riley MkXI
Lexus
6
Mike Borkowski
All
Paul Tracy
1–2, 11
Paul Mears Jr.
1, 5, 9
Tommy Constantine
9–10, 12
Kenny Wilden
1, 3
Antoine Bessette
6–7
Burt Frisselle
13, 15
Brian Frisselle
14–15
Cort Wagner
4
Michael Shank Racing
Lexus
Pontiac (round 2)
60
Oswaldo Negri Jr.
All
Mark Patterson
All
A. J. Allmendinger
1
Justin Wilson
1
Rod MacLeod
Tuttle Team Racing / SAMAX Tuttle Team Racing with BAM Tuttle Team Racing
Riley MkXI
BMW (1–3, 5–6)Pontiac
Brian Tuttle
All
Jonathan Cochet
2–7, 10, 13–15
Rod MacLeod
9, 11, 15
Kyle Petty
1
Boris Said
1
CITGO Racing by SAMAX
Pontiac
Milka Duno
All
Marino Franchitti
1–5
Marc Goossens
6, 9, 15
Olivier Beretta
7, 10, 12
Stefan Johansson
9, 11, 15
Dario Franchitti
1
Kevin McGarrity
1
Ian James
João Barbosa
13
Patrick Carpentier
14
Synergy Racing
Doran JE4
Porsche
8
Brian Frisselle
1–7, 9–10
Burt Frisselle
1–7, 9–10
Patrick Huisman
1, 13–15
Boris Said
12–13
Clint Field
1
Al Unser Jr.
9
Brian Cunningham
12
Spencer Pumpelly
14
David Russell
15
Suntrust Racing
Riley MkXI
Pontiac
10
Max Angelelli
All
Wayne Taylor
Jan Magnussen
4, 6–7, 10, 12, 14
Ryan Briscoe
1, 9, 13
Emmanuel Collard
1
Ryan Hunter-Reay
15
Lowe's Fernández Racing
Riley MkXI
Pontiac
12
Adrián Fernández
All
Mário Haberfeld
All
Scott Sharp
1
Vítor Meira
15
Alex Job Racing/Emory Motorsports
Crawford DP03
Porsche
23
Mike Rockenfeller
1, 3–7, 9–15
Patrick Long
1, 3–7, 9–14
Lucas Luhr
1
Marcel Tiemann
Terry Borcheller
15
Ralf Kelleners
15
Sigalsport BMW
Riley MkXI
BMW
30
Matthew Alhadeff
10–15
Bill Auberlen
10–15
Rocky Moran Jr.
15
Team Cytosport
Riley MkXI
Pontiac
31
Greg Pickett
6, 14
Scott Sharp
6, 14
ADI Motorsports
Picchio DP2
BMW
33
Shawn Bayliff
3–5
Tim Hubman
3–4
Peter Argetsinger
5
Cheever Racing Crown Royal Special Reserve/Cheever
Crawford DP03
Lexus (round 1)Porsche
39
Christian Fittipaldi
All
Eddie Cheever
1–2, 4–6, 11, 15
Hoover Orsi
9–10, 14–15
Patrick Carpentier
1
Lucas Luhr
3
Stefan Johansson
7
Max Papis
12
Thomas Erdos
13
Lexus
51
1
Warren Hughes
1
Stefan Johansson
1
Derhaag Motorsports
Riley MkXI
Pontiac
40
Randy Ruhlman
All
Chris Bingham
1–2, 4–7, 10–11
Justin Bell
1, 3, 15
Ron Fellows
1, 14
Paul Dallenbach
13, 15
Hugo Guenette
9
Jonathan Cochet
12
TruSpeed Motorsports
Riley MkXI
Porsche
47
Rob Morgan
3–4, 6, 10, 12, 15
Charles Morgan
3–4, 6, 10, 15
B. J. Zacharias
12, 15
Blackforest Motorsports
Crawford DP03
Ford
50
Chris Gleason
1
Ian James
1
Tom Nastasi
1
Henri Zogaib
1
Rocketsports Racing
Crawford DP03
Ford
50
Tomy Drissi
2–4, 6, 10, 13–14
Paul Gentilozzi
2–4, 6, 10
Tõnis Kasemets
13–14
Red Bull /Brumos Porsche
Fabcar FDSC/03 Riley MkXI (12–15)
Porsche
58
David Donohue
All
Darren Law
All
Sascha Maassen
1
Buddy Rice
15
Brumos Racing
Fabcar FDSC/03
59
Hurley Haywood
All
J. C. France
1–2, 4–7, 9–15
Ted Christopher
1, 9
Roberto Moreno
3, 15
João Barbosa
1
AIM Autosport
Riley MkXI
Lexus
61
James Hinchcliffe
11
Mark Wilkins
11
Krohn Racing
Riley MkXI
Pontiac (round 1)Ford
75
Tracy Krohn
All
Niclas Jönsson
1–7, 9–13
Boris Said
14–15
Jörg Bergmeister
1
Colin Braun
1
Max Papis
15
Ford
76
Jörg Bergmeister
2–7, 9–15
Colin Braun
2, 4–7, 10–13, 15
Niclas Jönsson
14–15
Max Papis
3
Boris Said
9
Feeds The Need/Doran Racing
Doran JE4
Ford
77
Harrison Brix
All
Terry Borcheller
1–7, 9–13
Michel Jourdain Jr.
1, 14–15
Forest Barber
1
Oriol Servià
15
Doran Racing Doran/Pegasus Racing
78
B. J. Zacharias
1, 9
Oliver Kuttner
9, 15
Raul Boesel
1
Sébastien Bourdais
1
Tony Ave
15
James Gue
15
Robinson Racing
Riley MkXI
Pontiac
84
Darin Brassfield
1
Paul Dallenbach
1
Wally Dallenbach Jr.
1
George Robinson
1
Pacific Coast Motorsports
Riley MkXI
Pontiac
89
Ryan Dalziel
All
Alex Figge
All
David Empringham
1, 15
Jon Fogarty
1
CyberSpeed Racing
Riley MkXI
Pontiac
97
Tony Ave
3, 5–6, 10–12
Skip Cummins
3, 5–6, 10–12
Gainsco/Blackhawk Racing
Riley MkXI
Pontiac
99
Alex Gurney
All
Jon Fogarty
5–7, 9–15
Jimmy Vasser
1, 3, 15
Bob Stallings
1–2
Rocky Moran Jr.
1, 4
CompUSA Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates
Riley MkXI
Lexus
01
Luis Díaz
All
Scott Pruett
All
Max Papis
1
Scott Dixon
15
Target Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates
02
1
Casey Mears
1
Dan Wheldon
1
Spirit of Daytona Racing
Crawford DP03
Pontiac
07
Guy Cosmo
11
Bobby Labonte
11
09
Doug Goad
1–7, 9–11, 15
Larry Oberto
1–7
Bobby Labonte
1, 12–13
Marc-Antoine Camirand
10–11, 15
Stéphan Grégoire
9, 15
Guy Cosmo
12–13
Harold Primat
1
Race results
Overall winners in bold .
Championship standings
Championship points are awarded in each class at the finish of each event, including the qualifying races. Points are awarded based on finishing positions in the race as shown in the chart below.[ 3]
Position
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30+
Points
35
32
30
28
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Drivers' Championship
Standings: Daytona Prototypes (DP)
Colour
Result
Gold
Winner
Silver
Second place
Bronze
Third place
Green
Points classification
Blue
Non-points classification
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple
Retired, not classified (Ret)
Red
Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black
Disqualified (DSQ)
White
Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank
Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)
Bold - Pole position
Italics - Fastest lap
Standings: Grand Touring (GT) - Top 10
Teams' Championship
Standings: Daytona Prototypes (DP)
References
External links