O’Connell survives to win GT, Pilgrim finishes fourth
MONTEREY, Calif. -Cadillac Racing driver Johnny O’Connell survived the Pirelli World Challenge Series Monterey Grand Prix presented by Cadillac season finale to win his fourth consecutive GT drivers’ championship.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) took the standing start from his fifth place qualifying position. Coming across the line to complete
the first lap of the 50-minute timed race he was in second position, with his championship protagonist, Olivier Beretta, No. 61 Ferrari in seventh. As the raced progressed Beretta began to pick off competitors coming from seventh to behind the No. 3 Cadillac ATS-V.R of O’Connell on lap 16, 27-minutes into the race. Over the next eight laps Beretta was charging after O’Connell. On lap 24, as the pair of championship challengers were coming through the famous Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Corkscrew turns, Beretta hit O’Connell spinning them both. Beretta was able to get his Ferrari restarted quicker as he rejoined the race. O’Connell restarted his ATS-V.R and rejoined the race in 14th. A few laps later Beretta was called in by the SCCA officials to perform a drive-thru penalty. However, he rejoined still in a strong points paying position ahead of O’Connell. On lap 32 as Beretta was feverishly trying to make-up positions he had contact with the Acura of P.D. Cunningham in the final turn forcing the Italian to pull his Ferrari off track, handing O’Connell his fourth championship in as many years.
“What a crazy race,” O’Connell said. “I was able to get a great start. I didn’t think I was going to be able to get Dalziel (Ryan, No. 31 Porsche). When we went into Turn 2 I was behind the silver Ferrari and the red one got into me a little. I was surprised how fast Olivier was coming through the field. I knew he would get to me. But getting there and getting bye is two different things. I was minding my tires as best as I could while digging as hard as I could. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking behind the wheel there in the Corkscrew. He took us both out. He wasn’t really close to me. When we crested the hill he was four or five cars back. It was a Hail Mary move. I didn’t get brushed I got drilled. There was so much time left, he just had to bide his time. The Cadillac Racing guys build a strong car. When I got back going the car was good and still quick. I was thinking he was going to get a penalty and he did.
“I am proud of everyone at Cadillac Racing. This whole team is made up of Joe Montana’s, we are a fourth quarter team.
“We had some adversity this year, the crash at Long Beach while running upfront. I had a car that could of won that race. When I got taken out, I got a huge fine and hit in the points. Then at Barber we were running fast and burned a car down. The spirit of the team came to the front at that point. What people don’t see is the hundreds of thousands of hours that the Cadillac Racing crew put into those race cars. I am just the guy who gets to put it on display for 100-minutes on the race weekend.”
Jim Campbell, GM vice president, Performance Vehicles and Motorsport, said “Johnny and the No. 3 ATS-V.R team’s focus, determination and never-give-up approach made the difference, right down to the last lap of the season. We are so proud of O’Connell’s fourth consecutive championship. His win in the all-new ATS-V.R makes the championship extra special.”
Campbell added, “the ATS-V.R’s LF4.R 3.6 liter direct injected, twin turbo V6 delivered the right combination of power, reliability and efficiency to help Johnny race to the championship.”
Cadillac Racing program manager David Caldwell said, “what a season! We introduced the all-new Cadillac ATS-V.R GT3 into competition at St. Pete. We had some adversity throughout the season when Johnny was forced into the spare car for three races. Through hard racing and a great team of professionals from Cadillac Racing, GM Powertrain and everyone involved on the marketing side Johnny was able to win his fourth drivers’ championship.”
Teammate Andy Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) posted his best finish of the year with a fourth place run in the No. 8 Cadillac ATS-V.R.
“It was a good way to end the season with a fourth place,” Pilgrim said. “I really wanted a podium for my Cadillac Racing guys after such a difficult year. Dalziel was very good in the places where I needed more speed and where I was better I couldn’t get to him. He is very good and didn’t make any mistakes. We had a good run today. The last two races of the year I had two top five finishes. I am really happy for Johnny. Winning four championships in a row is outstanding.”
Since the team’s inception in 2004, Team Cadillac has amassed 30 wins, 96 podium finishes (including wins) and 27 pole positions. The team won the World Challenge Manufacturer Championship in 2005, 2007, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Team Cadillac drivers have won the World Challenge Driver’s Championship in 2005 with Andy Pilgrim and in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 with Johnny O’Connell.
The Pirelli World Challenge finale will be televised on CBS Sports Network Sunday, September 20 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
The team will be presenting their Hands-free Automatic Coupling Restraint System (HACRS)
New Hudson, MI – Pratt Miller Engineering will be presenting their Hands-free Automatic Coupling Restraint System (HACRS) at the Association of the United States of America (AUSA) Annual Meeting on Monday, October 12th. The HACRS team is being included in the Monday morning Innovator’s Corner session that focuses on the US Army’s TRADOC Technology Imperative: Conduct Expeditionary Maneuver and the Army’s technology focus area; Mobile Protected Precision Firepower. The objective of the Innovator’s Corner is “to pro-actively identify innovative technologies/approaches to address our Army’s top challenges and provide a forum to encourage dialogue between industry, academia, and military stakeholders.”
HACRS (pictured) was designed under a SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program to address the limited use of seat belts in military ground vehicles by providing soldiers with an easy to use, comfortable system.
The HACRS briefing will begin Monday at 12:00 p.m. in the Innovators Corner booth #3725 (lower-level). Following the presentation the system will be on display in the Med-Eng booth #8342 throughout the remainder of the show.
Pilgrim fifth, O’Connell eighth in second race at Sonoma
SONOMA, Calif. – Cadillac Racing driver Johnny O’Connell will leave the Pirelli World Challenge GT Series race weekend at Sonoma Raceway with a slim 26 point lead in the GT Class with one race remaining after posting an eighth place finish today.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) took the standing start from ninth on the grid. As the lights went out, O’Connell was able to make up a position going into Turn 2 when a car spun in front of his No. 3 Cadillac ATS-V.R and the pair had contact. The resulting contact affected the downforce of the ATS-V.R making it less than optimal for the remainder of the race.
Teammate Andy Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) started from the eighth position and also had contact going into Turn 2. He was able to come out of the melee in fifth position where he would eventually finish.
“I had a good start off of the line,” Pilgrim said. “I went right then Mike Skeen in the Audi went right, so I went left and then I got hit pretty hard going into Turn 2, put sideways. I was able to pass Montecalvo (Frank, No. 66 Mercedes) down in Turn 3. I slotted in behind Beretta (Olivier, No. 61 Ferrari) and then the yellow came out. When it went green I tried to get by Beretta to help Johnny’s cause. His car was good at the exit of the corners. I really couldn’t get close to make a move. Pretty frustrating.”
O’Connell will go into the final race of the weekend in two weeks at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca leading the GT points by 26 over Beretta.
“I had a good run up to Turn 2 at the start,” O’Connell said. “Andy and Skeen got together and I had light contact with him as well. The hit took off the dive-planes at the front of my car. My car was a little better yesterday. I didn’t leave anything on the table today. It would have been nice to protect my lead a little more than I did today. I will tell you it is a real seesaw of emotions. We run great at Miller last weekend and then struggle here. So we are coming down to a one race shootout in two weeks. Cadillac Racing will be ready.”
The Pirelli World Challenge Series will travel to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the season finale to run Sept. 11-13. The races from Sonoma Raceway will be televised on CBS Sports Network, Sunday, September 6 at 5 p.m. ET.
Garcia, Magnussen lead GTLM efforts for Corvette Racing
• Wayne Taylor Racing, VisitFlorida.com Racing second and third overall
• Tough fight for both Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs in GTLM
• Chevrolet closes in on Prototype Engine Manufacturer title
AUSTIN, Texas (Sept.19, 2015) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen remain in the hunt for the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Driver’s title in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship headed to the season’s final race.
The pairing led the team’s efforts with the two Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs on Saturday in the Lone Star Le Mans race at Circuit of The Americas. Winners of the first two events of 2015 – the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring – Garcia, Magnussen and the rest of Corvette Racing can now turn their attention to the 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in two weeks time.
Also in Saturday’s TUDOR Championship race, Wayne Taylor Racing and VisitFlorida.com Racing scored podium finishes with their Corvette Daytona Prototypes to move Chevrolet closer to clinching its fourth consecutive Prototype Engine Manufacturer Championship.
Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor placed second in Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP for their third runner-up finish of the season. Prototype championship leaders Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante were third in VisitFlorida.com Racing’s No. 90 Corvette DP and unofficially increased their points lead to six points heading to Petit Le Mans.
Action Express Racing’s two Corvette DPs are tied for second in the championship after Saturday’s race. Eric Curran and Dane Cameron were fifth in their No. 31 Whelen Engineering Corvette DP after leading the race early, while defending Prototype champions Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi were sixth in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP.
In GTLM, Garcia started fourth and drove the first 90 minutes in the oppressive heat and was able to stick with the lead cars during his double stint. Magnussen took over at that point and attempted to keep the No. 3 Corvette close in the race’s final hour. However he had to stop two laps from the end for a late splash of fuel and finished sixth.
Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Jordan Taylor in the GTE Pro class, placed eighth in GTLM with their No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. Milner started the race from sixth and gained a spot early. After struggling early in the week, the stronger pace for the No. 4 Corvette was evident early on.
Milner drove the opening 80 minutes before the No. 4 crew called him to pitlane in a strategic call. Gavin replaced Milner on the stop and rejoined the field just before the race’s second and final full-course caution period. Gavin ran second on the restart and tried to hold his position on older tires compared to the rest of his competitors.
The final race for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship is Petit Le Mans on Saturday, Oct. 3 from Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga.
CORVETTE RACING GTLM QUOTES
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SIXTH: “At the start, everyone seemed to be aggressive. Early on everything seemed to go as planned. Going into the race we didn’t know what kind of pace we would all have. The Porsches had speed and were either controlling the pace or running their own pace. I was mostly able to match. In the opening stint, I opened a gap on the 25 car and learned what our Michelin tire would do, and that helped on the second stint. There isn’t much you can do at that point except try and stay with the lead pack. Once I was there, it was a matter of how much risk you would take to gain a position versus saving fuel.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SIXTH: “It was a difficult day for our Corvette. Honestly that wasn’t unexpected given the current rules. We tried to save fuel after the driver change but just didn’t have enough to get to the end. The way the race played out, it was the only chance we had to score decent points. Now we will head to Road Atlanta and do our best to end the season with another win, just like how we started it.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED EIGHTH: “Tommy drove a very good stint to start, and full credit to our Corvette Racing crew on improving the car as much as they did from the opening practice. We tried to make something happen with an earlier second stop than the rest of the class. Unfortunately the strategy went against us with the second yellow and we had to stop late. Whenever you are experiencing a gap in performance, you have to think outside the box to try and create your own luck. It just didn’t go our way today. So we’ll look forward to Road Atlanta and Petit Le Mans to end the season on a high note.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED EIGHTH: “The car was the best it’s been all weekend. That’s what you want in the race, obviously. These Corvette Racing guys worked really hard. We were pretty far off the pace all through practice, but that ‘never-give-up’ attitude never went away. We worked really hard on the setup to get something that would be optimal for the race. We tried to go a little off-sequence on pit stops but the last yellow kind of did that in. I’m proud of the job the team did to get the car as fast as it was. Traffic was a little weird. I had two prototype cars… one got in the way and the other one wasn’t paying attention. It was hot and I’m sure people were fatigued. The class was so close. In that heat, things kind of normalized.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “I can’t remember a time when everyone on the Corvette Racing team worked this hard for a less productive result than today. They have had their shoulders to the wheel the last three months trying to overcome the performance challenges we face. There were some bright spots that we absolutely will take to Road Atlanta for what we do best – long-distance endurance racing. We’re thankful for the support of our Corvette fans for sticking with us and cheering us on. They can rest assured that we’re doing everything we can to get Corvette Racing back to the podium.”
CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE QUOTES
RICKY TAYLOR, WAYNE TAYLOR RACING NO. 10 KONICA MINOLTA CORVETTE DP – FINISHED SECOND: “We had a good day. I think the team maximized our performance for the day. The stops were great. The strategy was good. We didn’t have the car to win, I don’t think, today, but the team gave us a shot and that’s all you can ever ask for. It’s nice to get on the podium again in front of all of our Konica Minolta partners who came out in full force this weekend to cheer us on. We’ll go on to Petit and build on this momentum and hopefully close out the year on a positive note like we did last year.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, WAYNE TAYLOR RACING NO. 10 KONICA MINOLTA CORVETTE DP – FINISHED SECOND: “It was a good stint. It was a hot day so we were trying to extend my stint to make Ricky’s a little bit shorter. I did two stints and they were pretty clean for the most part. We ran second for pretty much the whole day. I was behind the 01 for my first one and then was somewhat stuck behind the 31 for my second stint. That kind of opened up strategy a bit and stopped us early from behind the 31 when he couldn’t jump into the pits. And Ricky pretty much kept it clean from there. The 31 pretty much took himself out of the race. Same for the 5 car. And the 01 was too far ahead to catch. Second place, I think we’re pretty happy with that today.”
RICHARD WESTBROOK, VISITFLORIDA.COM RACING NO. 90 CORVETTE DP – FINISHED THIRD: “Michael drove like a champion today. We were dead set on getting good points today. It seemed like the other two contenders got a bit hot-headed out there. We had a good VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP today until the tires started to go off; we chose not to take tires on the last stint. In the end I had nothing, so I didn’t know if I could hold Oz Negri back. I love racing Oz and would have loved to have seen that Justin Wilson logo on the podium but it wasn’t meant to be. I enjoy racing Oz. He’s so fair and I could race him all day. Thanks to VisitFlorida.com and Team Chevy today. We want to finish up the season strong for them.”
MICHAEL VALIANTE, VISITFLORIDA.COM RACING NO. 90 CORVETTE DP – FINISHED THIRD: “It’s been a tough weekend for us. We had a number of problems. These are the weekends where you don’t have the speed that you just need to finish. It was a hard race for us in the VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP. Richard drove extremely well and the team performed really well. On now to Atlanta where anything can happen.”
JIM LUTZ, CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE PROGRAM MANAGER: “We achieved our goal of collecting valuable Manufacturer Championship points today. You never want anything less than a win but second and third is the next best result. Congratulations go to our partner teams at Wayne Taylor Racing and VisitFlorida.com Racing on today’s solid results. It puts us on the doorstep of another Prototype Engine Manufacturer Championship at Road Atlanta.”
SONOMA, Calif. – Cadillac Racing drivers Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim finished the first of a double race weekend in the Pirelli World Challenge GT Series at Sonoma Raceway in the fifth and sixth positions.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) and Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) finished in the same positions as they started. O’Connell was able to make-up a position on one of his championship contenders when he got by Oliver Beretta’s Ferrari at the start. On lap two Beretta came back with an aggressive move and made the position back.
“I may have a lost a gap to Olivier by six or seven points in the standings,” O’Connell said. “When he put his move on me I could have battled a little harder. But that early in the race you have to look at the war, not the battles. I had a good car in the early laps, I could have been a little more aggressive. I used to love coming to Sonoma. They’ve made a lot of changes to the circuit and it just doesn’t have the flow it used to have. All of the cars that finished in front of us were rear or mid-engine race cars, which have an advantage at tracks with really tight slow corners. I am proud of the team. To come home fifth and sixth that is a good result.”
Pilgrim is running in full team mode.
“I had a good start,” Pilgrim said. “As the race went on the Cadillac ATS-V.R got a little tail happy. Everyone at the end of the race was drifting their cars around. Johnny is in the championship hunt and I am here to support him as much as possible. I had a good car. The last couple of races have been really good for the No. 8 Cadillac guys after a tough first two-thirds of the season. Tomorrow is a standing start we will be looking for another good run.”
The Pirelli World Challenge Series race from Sonoma Raceway will be televised on CBS Sports Network, Sunday, September 6 at 5 p.m. ET. Lives streaming can be viewed at world-challengetv.com.
The Pirelli World Challenge Series race from Miller Motorsport Park, last weekend, will be televised on CBS Sports Network Sunday, August 30, 4 p.m. ET.
Title is Fourth Consecutive for the Chevrolet IndyCar Program
DETROIT (August 30, 2015) – For the fourth consecutive season, Chevrolet is the Verizon IndyCar Series Manufacturer Champion. The Chevrolet 2.2 liter turbocharged V6 IndyCar engine program combined with the new-for-2015 Chevrolet Aero Kit to produce16 poles and nine wins – including the Indianapolis 500 by Juan Pablo Montoya.
“Our fourth consecutive manufacturer championship is the result of consistent preparation, teamwork and execution by our Chevrolet teams, drivers and technical partners,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports for Chevrolet. “Together we focused on delivering strong engine and aero performance all season long.”
Chevrolet has won the manufacturer championship each year since returning to IndyCar in 2012.
“It is a proud moment for Chevrolet to win the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series Manufacturer Championship,” said Mark Kent, Director, Chevrolet Racing. “This title is the result of a collaborative and cooperative effort by Chevrolet, Ilmor Engineering, Hitachi, Pratt Miller Engineering and all of our Chevy teams that worked tirelessly to make this fourth consecutive championship possible.”
The four Chevrolet IndyCar key partner teams contributing to the title include: Team Penske, with drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Will Power, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud; Chip Ganassi Racing, with drivers Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Charlie Kimball, Sage Karam and Sebastian Saavedra; CFH Racing, with drivers Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter, and Luca Filippi and KV Racing Technology (KVSH Racing and KV Racing), with drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Stefano Coletti;
Since 2012, in addition to the four consecutive manufacturer championships, Chevrolet won driver championships with Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012) and Power (2014), and the Indianapolis 500 with Kanaan (2013) and Montoya (2015). Previously, Chevrolet competed in Indy-style racing as an engine manufacturer of V8 engines from 1986-93 and 2002-05, powering seven Indianapolis 500 wins and six driver championships.
2015 Race Wins:
Streets of St. Petersburg, Juan Pablo Montoya
Streets of Long Beach, Scott Dixon
Barber Motorsports Park, Josef Newgarden
Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Will Power
Indianapolis 500, Juan Pablo Montoya (2)
Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race No. 2, Sebastien Bourdais
Hard-fought, GT-only race in team’s eighth TUDOR Championship event
DANVILLE, Va. (Aug. 23, 2015) – Corvette Racing remains in the hunt for the GT Le Mans (GTLM) championship in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship following the Oak Tree Grand Prix on Sunday at Virginia International Raceway.
With two races remaining in the season, the two Corvette C7.Rs are embroiled in a tough fight for the GTLM Manufacturer, Driver and Team championships. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R stand second in Driver points after their sixth-place finish at VIR. The pairing won the first two races of the season at Daytona and Sebring. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed eighth in GTLM with their No. 4 Corvette C7.R after running as high as fourth mid-race on pace. The car had to stop on the final lap for a late splash of fuel.
Sunday’s results place Chevrolet third in the GTLM Manufacturer standings with 70 points remaining in the final two events.
Magnussen and Gavin were strong early. Magnussen picked up a spot at the start around Bill Auberlen with Gavin trying to follow through. He used a draft and strong braking from the No. 4 Corvette to gain a position as the three cars ran within a second for a handful of laps. Gavin took control of the position at the 35-minute mark when Auberlen spun trying to get inside of Magnussen at the first turn.
For the rest of the opening stint, the Corvette C7.Rs ran by themselves. Gavin and the No. 4 Corvette was the first of the team cars to pit at the 49-minute mark for fuel, four Michelin tires and a driver change to Milner. Magnussen followed two laps later and handed over to Garcia.
Trouble found Garcia just shy of the 65-minute mark with a brief power loss heading onto the long backstraight. A system reset brought the Corvette C7.R back to life and full power. Despite maximum effort by the team, Garcia and Magnussen finished their race in the same position they started.
Milner showed good pace while racing at his home track. In his double-stint, he climbed to fourth place after the No. 4 Corvette started seventh in class. He and Gavin were looking for their second victory at VIR with Corvette Racing.
The next race for Corvette Racing is the Lone Star Le Mans at 11:35 p.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 19 from Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. The race will air live on FOX Sports 2 at 12:30 p.m. ET with a replay on FOX Sports 1 scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 20.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SIXTH: “We needed a perfect race in order to score maximum points, and we were doing fairly well with that until the power loss. Jan did a great job at the start to gain a position. I’m not really sure what happened when I slowed, but fortunately I was able to reset the system. It put us in a difficult spot to try and recover. At this moment we simply do not have the performance of the other cars in our class to challenge for meaningful points. That is a very frustrating position for everyone on the Corvette Racing team, which is giving a great effort.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SIXTH: “It was a good run. I had a decent run and gained a spot. We were able to hold that spot but didn’t really have anything for the guys ahead of us. I had a little bit of oversteer but the crew and engineers made it better for Antonio. It was good to hold the 25 BMW behind us during that time.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED EIGHTH: “It was gentle start; no one was going too crazy. I had to fend Bryan (Sellers) off in the Falken car, and after that I caught up Bill (Auberlen) and Jan (Magnussen). We quickly realized it was going to be between the three of us for those positions. I got around Bill going into Turn 14 with a good draft and hard braking. He got around a few laps later at Turn 1 with a good run – we already had a little contact earlier. We were able to catch up before it looked like Bill tried to pass Jan at the same place but went around and I was able to avoid him. The important thing was that we try to help the No. 3 car guys out in the championship.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED EIGHTH: “The middle part of the race was quite good for us. We had a couple of good pit stop executions and were leading the second wave of GTLM cars for awhile. I had a small spin but nothing major. My only chance to catch the BMW was at the start of that second stint. I was driving as hard as I could but got caught out. With the current performance levels in our class, it was tough to make up any ground – much less a position. We’ll move on to Austin and give it our best shot.”
TOOELE, Utah – Cadillac Racing driver Johnny O’Connell did the double by winning both rounds of the Pirelli World Challenge Championship GT races this weekend at Miller Motorsport Park.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.), starting from pole position for the second race in a row, was able to get a good standing start in his No. 3 Cadillac ATS-V.R and lead the caution free 50-minute race from flag-to-flag. With his results this weekend, and some of his points protagonist not running as well, O’Connell leaves Salt Lake City second in the GT points battle, just 11 back. More intrigue will play out in one week at Sonoma Raceway, the GT points leader, Ryan Dalziel, is not scheduled to run.
“This was a great points weekend,” O’Connell said. “We had a good car yesterday, but the guys at Cadillac Racing improved it even more and just made it a little easier to drive today. James Davison was all over me in his Nissan. He even tried flashing his lights at me late in the race, I just ignore that stuff. He is a great young talent.
“We are a fourth quarter team. We are going away from this weekend second in the points. Two good wins and a lot of points going into Sonoma in one week.”
Teammate Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) started fourth and posted his best weekend of the year behind the wheel of the No. 8 Cadillac ATS-V.R.
“I had a pretty good start, I got some slight wheel spin but was able to get to Turn One in third,” Pilgrim said. “The Porsche is a very good braking car. My Cadillac went loose pretty early in the race. I couldn’t do much about the Porsche and the Bentley. I was then able to find a good pace for the ATS-V.R and was able to run a good race finishing in fifth. The crew did a great job all weekend and we come away with two good finishes.”
The Pirelli World Challenge Series race from Miller Motorsport Park will be televised on CBS Sports Network Sunday, August 30, 4 p.m. ET.
The series will travel to wine country for the Sonoma Grand Prix for a double race schedule in just one week, Aug. 28-30.
LEXINGTON, Ohio – Cadillac Racing driver Johnny O’Connell finished fourth and teammate Andy Pilgrim came to the checker in 11th in the second of a double race weekend at the Pirelli World Challenge StopTech Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course today.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) took the standing start lights from eighth with Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) going away from the start in 13th. Once again both Cadillac ATS-V.R drivers were able to get good starts only to be slowed soon after Turn One with a full course caution. On the restart O’Connell was able to move up one position to fifth and Pilgrim made his way to 11th where they both crossed the finish line under hot 88-degree temperatures 50-minutes later.
“I was able to get another good start,” O’Connell said. “I moved up a couple of spots until the yellow flew again right after Turn One. There are some missed opportunities when that happens like that right after the start, but I also understand and respect the reason for them. The series knows how to call those and I would rather be safe. This Cadillac Racing team doesn’t quit. Today was an example of that. I left everything out there today. It was a harder car for me to drive, it was unbelievably hot. We showed well this weekend with a pair of top six finishes so we are looking forward to Miller in a couple of weeks.”
Pilgrim will take the 11th place finish with a smile.
“It was nice see the checkered flag,” Pilgrim said. “The Cadillac Racing crew has been great. We have had a tough season so far. We got a nice finish today. It would have been nice to get a top ten, but I will take 11th. I had some wheel spin at the start and I got passed by Mike Skeen in his Audi. I ended up following him around all race. He had some issues, so we were evenly matched.”
The races from Mid-Ohio will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network Sunday, Aug. 9 at 4 p.m. ET.
The Pirelli World Challenge Series will travel to Miller Motorsport Park outside of Salt Lake City for a double race weekend Aug. 21-23.
Magnussen, Garcia keep GT Le Mans points lead with fourth-place finish
ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. (Aug. 9, 2015) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen, and Action Express Racing’s Dane Cameron and Eric Curran were the big winners for Chevrolet in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America on Sunday.
Cameron and Curran won their second race of the season in their No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette Daytona Prototype. In GT Le Mans (GTLM), Garcia and Magnussen used clever strategy late in the race to battle back to a fourth place class finish with their No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R and increase their lead in the class’ Driver’s Championship.
With three GTLM races to go, Garcia and Magnussen have a four-point advantage heading into the next round at Virginia International Raceway in two weeks. The No. 3 Corvette C7.R crew made the call to make their final stop earlier than most of their competitors, which allowed Garcia to push hard on new Michelin tires while others’ tires were falling off. The move allowed the No. 3 Corvette to gain four positions over the final 42 minutes.
Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed seventh in their No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. Milner drove two stints in the opening 82 minutes while the No. 3 Corvette changed drivers on their first three stops. Gavin was charging hard to pick up multiple positions late in the race before a fellow GTLM competitor forced him off track in the final minutes.
In the Prototype battle, Sunday’s results boosted Chevrolet’s lead in the class Engine Manufacturer standings. It was the seventh consecutive victory for the Corvette DP. Action Express Racing finished 1-2 for the first time since the 2012 Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix as Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi placed second in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP.
The No. 31 crew brought the Whelen Corvette DP in during the early yellow and changed drivers from Curran to Cameron. Cameron settled into podium position and took the lead for good with 37 minutes left during the final round of pit stops. Like Garcia and Magnussen, the No. 31 Corvette DP was the first of the leading Prototypes to pit, and the strategy proved sound.
The victory moved Cameron and Curran to within two points of the Prototype Driver’s Championship lead. VisitFlorida.com Racing’s Michael Valiante and Richard Westbrook placed fifth in their No. 90 Corvette DP and retained their points lead. Barbosa and Fittipaldi are second and just one point back.
Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP of Ricky Taylor and Jordan Taylor suffered a mechanical issue midway through the race and placed eighth in class.
The next round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship is the Oak Tree Grand Prix from Virginia International Raceway. The GT-only race is set for 1:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, Aug. 23. Live TV coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Flag-to-flag radio coverage also will be available via IMSA Radio.
CORVETTE RACING QUOTES
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM
WHEN YOU GET TO THIS POINT OF THE SEASON, EVERY POINT COUNTS: “That is the point. I mean I was excited, and at some points angry (during a battle with the No. 25 BMW) but that is where it is. We are heading into the last few races of a championship. Everybody needs to run as hard as they can. I wouldn’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same thing, but probably; everybody tries to find the limit on protecting. At the end of the day, we didn’t touch, we didn’t have any major issues. He got caught on the only way – in traffic. At the end of the day I played my card. Traffic is part of the deal. I really used my opportunity to go by. It was difficult since I got back in the car again on our second stop. During the first stint I was saving my tires just in case, then I was just 100 percent the rest of the way because I needed to pass everybody out there. We went off sequence (on pit strategy) so we probably forced most everyone to follow us, and at the end of the day it paid off. They stayed out as much as they could. I was really aggressive when I needed to be and I passed all those cars when they were on their first two or three laps. To be fair looking at our pace, that was the best result we could achieve today, so I am happy with that.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM
WHAT DID YOU SEE AND FEEL DURING YOUR STINT? “To start out with, things were pretty good. I liked the balance of the Corvette. I lost some time at the end of my stint with pickup on the tires. It might be something I’m doing or something that we need to try and help the car with to not produce all the pickup. I’m not sure why I had it in the warmup and during my stint. It’s something we have to work at for the next race.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SEVENTH IN GTLM
IT LOOKED LIKE A CLEAN RACE BUT THINGS JUST DIDN’T GO THE WAY YOU NEEDED: “I think we all drove really hard, and raced hard with the BMWs. It was a little frustrating at the end there. I thought I was racing Lucas (Luhr) pretty fair, but he put me in the grass coming out of (Turn) 13. I’m a little frustrated about that. I didn’t think that needed to happen, but sometimes that is just racing. I looked after the tires reasonably well throughout the stint, and really gained some time back on all the guys in front of me. But there were definitely two races in the (GTLM) race today. There was the Corvette/BMW race, and then there was the Porsche/Ferrari race. When it is like that it is just very demoralizing and very frustrating that you can’t have everybody in the class racing overall for all of the positions. We knew from the very start that we didn’t have a chance to finish on the podium unless either one of the Porsches or the Ferrari broke down. I hope the series is going to look at and do something about that before we go to VIR, otherwise the rest of the season is going to be very frustrating.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED FIFTH IN GTLM
WAS THE TRACK MUCH DIFFERENT WITH A DAY OF SUN AND DRY WEATHER? “The track felt pretty good. The sun certainly helps the grip level. We fought really hard with the cars around us. There was some tight and good racing. We really have nothing for the factory Porsches. They’re in a different class. We’ve really done nothing wrong today.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “Today, I think we did the best with what we had to work with. It was a very interesting race between our Corvettes, the BMWs and the Falken Porsche. I know the fans got a kick out of it. We would have liked to have a higher finish but with the way the cars are situated right now, that wasn’t going to be. We advanced ourselves in Driver and Team championship points and gathered points in the Manufacturer Championship. We’ll move on to Virginia where we’re hoping for a better result. We’re going to work hard to achieve that.”
CORVETTE DP QUOTES
DANE CAMERON, ACTION EXPRESS RACING NO. 31 WHELEN ENGINEERING/TEAM FOX CORVETTE DP – RACE WINNER
HOW SATISFYING IS TODAY’S RESULT? “The competition in the prototype category is unbelievable. We were all three nose-to-tail and were all in it. It would just come and go in traffic, and it was hard to get it done on the track when everyone is that close together. So we took a different strategy and Simon (Dawson, engineer) got us a lot of clean air and we were able to get some good laps out. These races, you have to be perfect to win, you’re flat out for every single lap. Every morning before, when we have our pre-race meetings, the goal is to finish 1-2. It might have taken a few races to get there, but it’s always to goal for each race.”
ERIC CURRAN, ACTION EXPRESS RACING NO. 31 WHELEN ENGINEERING/TEAM FOX CORVETTE DP – RACE WINNER
HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS FINISH? “No question, this is a big deal. It’s our second win of the year. Action Express did an incredible job. We finished one-two in a race. I couldn’t be happier – moving our whole Corvette DP program over to Action Express and the Whelen Engineering team. We’re only 1 or 2 points out of the championship going into the last few races. This isn’t one of my favorite race tracks, but we always seem to do well, so it’s becoming one of my favorite race tracks. We charged forward and had a good race for a while. The combination of the pit strategy and timing was unbelievably spot on. The team was, I think, the fastest of the race. And Dane did what he does best. It’s unbelievable, the 1-2, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
THINGS ARE REALLY CLOSE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP. “I don’t think you can get much closer than three points. It’s a great championship. Action Express gives great Corvette DP cars. We were very fast today. We had great teamwork. One and two was right what we wanted for points. The No. 90 had issues, so we were able to make up points on them. It’s going to go down to the last lap of the last race to see who is going to win the championship. It’s going to make it very exciting. It’s going to be very intense.”
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, ACTION EXPRESS RACING NO. 5 MUSTANG SAMPLING CORVETTE DP
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE OUTSIDE FRONT ROW? “It was excellent for the team to get a podium today. It was exciting, the beginning of the race. For the start, I thought we had agreed on going on the throttle on the bridge and not the bottom of the hill. The 01 started pretty strong and I fell from second to almost fifth after getting caught up. After that stint I struggled a bit with the car, but when I got my second stint the car was a lot better. Then the No. 10 and the No. 31 were running really close to each other. I knew if we didn’t have any mechanical problems, at the end, the race would be between us. Hats off to the No. 31 team. I’m really happy to go on to the next couple of races. The championship is really close. I’m excited to be part of this Action Express family getting a one-two today.”
RICHARD WESTBROOK, VISITFLORIDA.COM RACING NO. 90 CORVETTE DP – FINISHED FIFTH
“The car was good, but we got taken out by a competitor. It is really, really disappointing at that stage of the race for the No. 31 to make that sort of move after the restart. He was completely out of control. It was a terrible move. And as I was trying to avoid his mistake, it means I get knocked out for checking up. It is really, really disappointing. The team deserved better. The car was decent. We were having a bit of inconsistency with the tires. Some stints we were good. Some stints we were not so good. We shouldn’t have been that far back. At that stage of the race it should be cleaner. It is a shame that Race Control didn’t have a clear view of it, but in my opinion it was amateur driving.”
TROY FLIS, OWNER, VISITFLORIDA.COM NO. 90 CORVETTE DP: “Today wasn’t a great day for us by any means. We lost some points we didn’t want to lose. But the car performed well. I think we had pace with the leaders. We could run the same pace with the leaders in traffic. We were trying to points protect on our driver’s side and weren’t taking the risks that we should have. We have to look at a couple of balls, but now we are going to have to swing at them. We have a good product to go to the last two. To put a great championship together it is going to be exciting for the last two.”
JIM LUTZ, CHEVROLET PROGRAM MANAGER, CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPES: “It was another good day for our Corvette Daytona Prototypes at Road America. While we may not have been the fastest cars over one lap, the consistency and reliability of our Chevrolet power, along with solid strategy by the Action Express Racing teams, proved to be the difference. With two races left, we need to keep our work ethic and preparations at high levels.”
