2011 Ends Early for Burrows and Hopwood at Mid-Ohio
September 17, 2011 Leave a comment
2011 Ends Early for Burrows and Hopwood at Mid-Ohio
Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
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(317) 908-2975-Mobile
Lexington, Oh (17 September, 2011)– Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood have never enjoyed particularly good luck at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition, and Saturday’s season-finale event unfortunately provided another chapter in that unloved history. Sharing the No. 12 Infinity Audio Kia Forte Koup as part of the Kinetic Motorsports championship-bound effort, Hopwood started the race from 15th in class on the 71-car GS and ST-class grid.
An aggressively upwardly mobile racer, Hopwood was hoping to move up and put the machine in good stead before pitting to turn the Koup controls over to co-driver Burrows in the 2.5-hour race. But before even the first lap could be scored, Hopwood was moved off-track and sent into the barriers as another car didn’t have all the spacial awareness that probably he could have. Unfortunately, the damage and time off track put Hopwood one lap down on the leaders.
But with 10th in the overall championship standings firmly in sight as a goal and the ambition to help the Kinetic championship charge, Hopwood rejoined the fray and was working to move himself back to the lead lap. Unfortunately, that effort was stopped short when a mechanical issue proved terminal and sidelined the Kia entry for the duration of the race.
The disappointing result was somewhat salved by the finishing results, which saw the sister Kinetic Kia Koup No. 10 driver Nic Jonsson come home seventh to win the Driver Championship and Team Championship. Burrows and Hopwood, who have raced with Kia since the inception of the program and brought the Koup a first-ever race finish in the machine’s debut at Daytona International Speedway in January, 2010, gladly put away the disappointment of another tough Mid-Ohio race and joined in the championship celebrations. The team will be feted at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the GRAND-AM banquet event, before heading West to Las Vegas for a Kia National Dealer Meeting.
“Congratulations to Nic and Russell (Smith). It really just an incredible achievement for Kinetic and Kia to win a championship in just the second year of this program,” said Burrows. “Seeing and feeling the constant improvement with the Koup, every weekend out, is a testament to the team’s effort. It has been great to be here every step of the way. Now it’s time for some celebrating with the team and then we are heading off to Vegas to spend some time with a great group of Kia dealers.”
“It was not a great day for us, getting knocked off track and then losing power. But, it is a great day for the team and we’ve seen first hand all the incredible work that the Kinetic guys put in, every weekend,” said Hopwood. “It’s been great to be a part of the Kia family and even though the results didn’t fall our way this year, it was great to once again be a part of a championship effort. Hat’s off to the guys, I know it is going to be a BIG celebration in Cleveland!”
SPEED will broadcast the race September 25th at 1:00 PM ET. Make sure to catch the first part.
PR inquiries about Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood should be directed to Matt Cleary at Sunday Group Management; 317.908.2975 (mobile) or media@ sundaymanagement.com
For additional information:
www.trevorhopwood.com
www.sundaygroupblog.com
www.adamburrowsmotorsport.com
You can also follow the teams progress at www.facebook.com/kiaracing.
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Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
media
http://www.sundaymanagement.com
317.908.2975 (m)
Based in Indianapolis, Sunday Group Management is a leading motorsports management and communications consulting firm.
Sunday Group Management works with clients in a variety of motorsports categories, including NASCAR Sprint Cup driver AJ Allmendinger, Riley Technologies, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series organization Michael Shank Racing, Continental Tire, and several teams and drivers in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition.
For additional information: www.sundaymanagement.com, http://sundaygroupblog.com, www.facebook.com/sundaygroup, or twitter.com/Sundaygroup
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