Lane's SCA - 2001 SPC Rally (8)

Several individuals from Saturn & GM corporate also arrived later in the day in some very unique cars. Chris Berube, Jon Heltman, and Ken Wasmer from Saturn's One Lap of America Race team (see my writeup HERE) brought the race cars to run with us on the track and to offer rides (alright!). Todd Christensen also brought a pre-production red 02 SC2 with a two-tone leather interior.

After dinner, Todd Christensen (Brand Planning Manager - S-series) gave a presentation on Saturn's direction in the performance & aftermarket area. We discussed several of the cars that were produced for automotive shows, and cars that were worked-over by aftermarket tuners. It was nice to see that Saturn was putting in some effort in this area, but it was unclear as to whether enthusiasts would see any benefits from it in the near future.

Chris Berube (GM Portfolio Department) and Ken Wasmer (Assistant Chief Engineer - L-Series) also addressed the group, detailing the components and build-up of the One Lap of America race cars and gave some insight into Saturn's plans for next year's One Lap race. It sounded like several wagons may run in the mid-priced sedan category with enough horsepower to make them very competitive. The team felt that the race would most likely run through Indianapolis in 2002, so you can bet that a whole lot of SPC members will make the trip to show their support!

Presentation (22k)

After the presentation was complete and all of our questions were answered (well, some of them anyway), we headed back to our rooms to turn in. Tomorrow would be out day out on the road course and we were ready!