IRVINE, California — After six months of rigorous building and testing, Kia's two Forte Koup racecars are finally ready to hit the tarmac. They will compete in the Street Tuner (ST) class in the Fresh from Florida 200 at the Daytona International Speedway today.
This is Kia's first-ever U.S. motorsports program, although the Korean automaker did have a Sorento run in the Baja 1000 off-road race. Today's competition is the opening race in 2010 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season.
The No. 10 vehicle (with the number alluding to Kia's 10-year/100,000-mile warranty) will be piloted by Andy Lally and Nic Jönsson, and the No. 12 car is set to be driven by 2007 Grand-Am Street Tuner champions Trevor Hopwood and Adam Burrows.
Kia partnered up with the Kinetic Group to develop, build and market the two vehicles. Kinetic has been racing in Grand-Am since 2006 and worked closely with Kia to make sure the cars were built under the strict series guidelines. Despite a bunch of aesthetic and exterior modifications, the front-wheel-drive racing cars will utilize the Forte Koup's production 2.4-liter four-banger.
The race kicks off the same weekend that will feature the 48th 24 Hours of Daytona, and you will be able to tune in to today's race on February 13 at 7 p.m. on the Speed cable channel.
Inside Line says: Kia hits a milestone with these Forte Koups and finally jumps into the U.S. motorsports scene. — Mike Lysaght, Correspondent
Add A Comment »