Laguna Seca 240 - Street Tuner Class -2017

A Mini chases a Porsche Cayman into Turn Six during the four hour race.

This is the second of two blogposts on the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca 240 which is part of the Continental Tyre SportsCar Challenge series.  It was a four hour race and this post concentrates on the Street Tuner class. The ST or Street Tuner class is for four and six cylinder production models with just minor modifications.  The cars have up to 280 bhp and are capable of up to 155 mph.  I spent the four hour race walking around the entire circuit and took pictures from every conceivable spot accessible to the paying public, so I hope you enjoy the variety of shots.

The ST cars come around onto the start/finish straight for their rolling start and the green flag.  The field featured cars from Audi, Porsche, Mazda, Nissan and BMW.

A GS class McLaren mixing it with the ST class Mazdas and Mini at the Andretti Hairpin.

A BMW 228i chases a Mini JCW out of turn six.

The Street Tuner cars exit the famous Corkscrew.

Some of the same group continue the battle a few laps later at Turn Eleven.

A view up the start finish straight.

A wide angle view of the Andretti Hairpin during a pace car period.

A view of turn six and up the hill towards turn seven and the Corkscrew.

A view from the inside of turn six as a Porsche Cayman races by.

The Podium

The podium with the drivers of the Street Tuner Class.   Note Liam Dwyer, second from left.  He lost his leg in Afghanistan but now races cars!   True Marine grit. 

The Top Three Cars

The winning Audi S3 exits Turn Five.  It was driven by Roy Block and Pierre Kleiubing.

The second placed Mazda MX-5 of Andrew Carbonell and Liam Dwyer.

The third placed Nissan Altima of Sarah Cattaneo and Owen Trinkler.

The battle for the podium positions
After the last caution the battle got interesting!

The Mazda nips up the inside of the Nissan at Turn Eleven.

For the Grand Sport class, click here.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page.

The winning car awaits scrutineering in the IMSA Inspection tent.