Kia Motors to Make Racing Debut at Daytona

The US racing debut of South Korean manufacturer Kia will take place on January 29, at the Daytona Speedway, during the Fresh From Florida 200 events. The cars which will have to introduce Kia to the US motorsports fans are two Forte Koups, fielded by racing partner Kinetic Group.

The two cars - No. 10 and No. 12 – are sponsored by Infinity Audio Systems and will race in the Street Tuner (ST) class of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge 2010 season. The two cars will be driven by Andy Lally and Nic Jonsson (No. 10) and Trevor Hopwood and Adam Burrows, 2007 GRAND-AM ST champions ( No. 12).

Both cars are powered by a 2.4l inline four-cylinder engine and come in two-door, front-wheel-drive configurations. According to Kia, getting the to ready for the 2010 required 6 months of tweaking and testing.

"From the moment we announced Kia Motors was getting into racing we believed the Forte Koup would be a strong competitor in GRAND-AM, and the feedback we've received from Kinetic and Andy Lally and Nic Jonsson after their initial testing reinforces that belief," Michael Sprague, Kia Motors America vice president of marketing said in a release.

"Consumers have come to recognize the Kia brand for attractively designed and priced vehicles that are fuel efficient and have a long list of standard features, and we are looking forward to introducing Forte Koup and the Kia brand to a new audience of auto racing fans throughout the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season."