With race cars approaching from behind 40 mph faster than their Chevrolet Corvette, Oliver Gavin and his teammates turned to electronics for help at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
A unique device that combines cameras and radar lets Corvette drivers know where approaching traffic is located without forcing them to look away from the road. It’s not new technology — camera and radar devices are readily available in production cars, primarily for help while the car is in reverse — but the technology has been updated for the 82nd running of the prestigious sports car race that begins Saturday in Le Mans, France.
Meet the Collision Avoidance System, which combines sensory technology with graphic elements like multi-colored arrows on a screen placed in the drivers’ peripheral vision. In the slower GTE Pro class at Le Mans, Corvette Racing’s two cars and six drivers are expected to benefit from the electronic assist to prevent collisions with prototype cars approaching quickly from behind.
“You’ve got to spend a lot of time looking behind you; that’s part of the skill of competing in the GT classes,” Gavin said. “Now we’ve got an extra set of eyes behind us. You have to consider that the GT drivers have a harder job than the guys in the (faster) prototype classes. We’re constantly looking behind while trying to pay attention to what’s ahead of us.”
The idea emerged after a bad rear-end crash in 2010 at Le Mans with a faster Peugeot. Corvette Racing teamed with engineers from Pratt Miller Engineering and Bosch Motorsport North America to develop a system that identifies approaching cars. It debuted in 2013 at the 12 Hours of Sebring and received the motorsport technology of the year award at the Professional Motorsport World Expo in November.
This year’s upgraded, lighter version of the CAS adds graphics — arrows that grow and change color as the faster car approaches — that make it easier for drivers to keep their eyes on the road and not on the screen.
“The screen is placed to the side of us, just on our peripheral vision,” Gavin said. “You can pick up the graphics without taking your eyes off the track. You have to train yourself a little to use it, but it’s very effective.”
Pratt Miller and Bosch are preparing the device for distribution to other race teams. One of its most significant selling points is its effectiveness in the dark.
“It’s really useful in the dark or the rain when cars aren’t readily visible,” said Doug Louth, Corvette Racing’s engineering director. “When the faster cars come up from behind with their LED headlights, its very hard to see what’s happening behind you. This helps drivers know where the other cars are, how fast they’re going and which side they’re passing on.”
Because of its low-slung design, the Corvette presents rear-view issues for drivers. The car features a small rear window and large rear wing that make it difficult to see approaching traffic through a traditional rearview mirror. Side mirrors leave natural blind spots that the CAS resolves.
“Without it, you’re always looking in your mirrors,” driver Tommy Milner said. “You get used to that in some ways, but it’s better if you can know exactly where everything is without looking away from what’s in front of you. They’ve utilized a camera for a number of years to be able to see behind, but the radar is new. We feel like we’re more aware of what’s behind us and able to pay better attention to what’s ahead of us.”
Corvette Racing, which has won its class in seven of the last 13 years at Le Mans, will start second and fourth Saturday in the GTE Pro class — 30th and 32nd overall. Milner, Gavin and Richard Westbrook will share the driving duties in the No. 74 Corvette C7.R, while Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Jordan Taylor share the No. 73 Corvette.
Written by Jeff Olson, Special for USA TODAY Sports 3:25 p.m. EDT June 13, 2014
New Hudson, Michigan – 6/2/2014 – Pratt Miller Engineering attended the fifth annual, National Defense Industrial Association’s (NDIA) Michigan Defense Expo (MDEX), to illustrate the transfer of technology from race track to battlefield, at Macomb Community College Expo Center in Warren, Michigan.
The event was held to demonstrate the newest technologies, products and services the industry has to offer to the warfighter with a primary focus of attracting the neighboring United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and Tank-automotive Armaments Command (TACOM).
“It was a very successful event; it brought a lot of new attention to Pratt Miller and our capabilities. We are really excited about this event; it’s the fifth year we have been here. For us, this is the largest booth and the largest amount of foot traffic we’ve had. We’re thrilled at the results and the investment we’ve made here at the show,” said Brandon Widmer, Director of Business Development at Pratt Miller.
About:
Pratt Miller Engineering – a dominant force in professional motorsports – designs, engineers, and manufactures world-class vehicles, components and software. Our company is defining the future of mobility, survivability, occupant protection, electronics, and lightweight systems for vehicles. Pratt Miller serves a global customer base including those in the Motorsports, Defense, Automotive, and Powersports industries.
New Hudson, Michigan – 5/12/2014 – Pratt Miller Engineering to attend the Michigan Defense Expo (MDEX) with Corvette Racing’s C7.R racecar and Northrop Grumman’s Medium Assault Vehicle – Light (MAV-L), May 20-21, 2014 at Macomb Community College Expo Center in Warren, Michigan.
The largest Pratt Miller display at MDEX to date will house a unique combination of vehicles to showcase technology transfer, from track to battlefield. This year’s fifth annual MDEX event, once again, aims to demonstrate the newest technologies, products and services the industry has to offer to the warfighter.
About:
Pratt Miller Engineering – a dominant force in professional motorsports – designs, engineers, and manufactures world-class vehicles, components and software. Our company is defining the future of mobility, survivability, occupant protection, electronics, and lightweight systems for vehicles. Pratt Miller serves a global customer base including those in the Motorsports, Defense, Automotive, and Powersports industries.
New Chevrolet Corvette C7.R a winner again in California
MONTEREY, Calif. (May 4, 2014) – It wasn’t nearly as easy as last time, but Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen scored their second straight GT Le Mans victory in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship on Sunday. The duo won a hard-fought battle for the second consecutive season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – this time in their No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.
Garcia won by 4.710 seconds as Corvette Racing took its third straight win at the track and seventh since 2004.
“Today was another fantastic day for Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Corvette Racing,” said Mark Kent, Chevrolet’s Director of Racing. “It was a tremendous performance by everyone involved. The strategy and execution was perfect from the start. We saw again why this class of racing is among the best in the world.”
Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette C7.R ran among the leaders early and often before finishing fifth in class after Gavin was hit from behind and spun off track late in the race.
Magnussen led all 42 laps of his stint, although this one wasn’t nearly as calm as his race to victory at Long Beach last month. Instead of a 10-second lead, he rarely led by more than a second and was under tremendous pressure. Twice, the Dane had to lock up the brakes going into the Corkscrew turn, the first time when he was pushed wide by a prototype just before the braking zone.
On a one-stop strategy following a pit stop and driver change at the one-hour mark, the focus of the battle turned to Garcia and Giancarlo Fisichella’s Ferrari. Garcia bided his time and used a slower car as a pick to move into the lead with 22 minutes left. With solid tires and great balance, he was able to steadily pull away.
Corvette Racing’s next event is the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 14-15. The next GTLM round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship takes place at Watkins Glen on June 29.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“I knew we had a really good car going into this race. The C6.R was successful coming into here, and I knew the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R would be good too. We proved that yesterday (in qualifying) because everything was running up to where we wanted it to. I knew the trick would be to save the tires because I saw Jan was having troubles with that. I knew he flat-spotted once or twice the front right, so it was difficult for me getting into the car knowing I had to save the tires. It was a good call on the pits just to do one stop. We lost a position to the Ferrari because Jan lost quite a bit on the in-lap and we lost maybe a second. I tried to overtake once or twice the Ferrari but I saw on pure pace that it couldn’t happen. Then getting back on my mind I knew I had to run those tires for half an hour, so I decided just to give up a little bit of pressure on them and just start saving tires as best I could. Doing that I wasn’t losing much time to them, maybe a little bit, and as soon as he caught traffic I could get him back. In the end if paid off pretty good and then I used traffic again. When I saw that prototype going to pass (the Ferrari), I really went for it and make a run as much as possible and he had no chance to block me. Then with 20 minutes to go I could use the tires I had saved.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“This is the perfect preparation for the team to go on to Le Mans full of confidence. We know when everything works we can win. Antonio did a fantastic job. He was fighting every lap. When the opportunity came there wasn’t a clear track where he was able to pass the Ferrari. As soon as the opportunity came he was there and then able to pull away for a safety margin. It was a fantastic job by the whole crew, the engineers, everyone at Corvette Racing.”
(His stint) “This was a tough stint. To begin with I had quite good grip and balance in the car. Towards the end there when the Porsche was catching me, I got pushed a little bit wide by the DeltaWing and had a huge lock-up into the Corkscrew which gave us a flat spot so that kind of took our edge away a little bit. I really, really had to fight for my position then.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It was another one of those races where we showed a lot of promise, and it just didn’t really work out for us whatsoever. With the limited track time we got here, we took a bit of a shot with the setup of the car. For whatever reason, we were working our rear tires just a bit harder than most other cars out there. Tommy did a great job in hanging on to the car for so long with those worn rear tires. We took a gamble with the tires for my stint, and it was looking like it was going to be pretty good. Then the rear of the car just started to really snap away. It caught me out going into (Turn) Six – I ran wide up the hill there. I was able to get back on it and got going again. But then the No. 56 BMW was coming like no tomorrow; they had stopped and I knew they were quicker than us… I don’t know what happened, but as I came through the center of turn one, I got hit and turned around and we lost three spots. It kind of summed up our day really… very frustrating. A lot of effort from all the guys with the stop, and they did a great job. It is frustrating. It just seems right now like we can’t seem to catch a break. We always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with people. We’ve got to turn that around. We go to our next race, which is our biggest race of the year, the Le Mans 24 Hours. Hopefully it is a really nice change in our fortunes this year because it has been a rather testing first few races for us. We need to go back, regroup and think about exactly how we are attacking these weekends and if we are doing something slightly wrong, we need to address it and fix it because we need to be 100 percent for our next big race in Le Mans.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“Tough stint there for sure. With the practice schedule, we didn’t get a whole lot of running. We weren’t too sure how long the tires were going to last. We found out pretty quickly in the race that we were on a little too soft of a compound early on so our lap times suffered quite a bit. Then I made a mistake in (Turn) Four and ran wide. We lost five or six seconds, something like that. Stuff like that makes a difference in a race like this with no yellows. It would be nice to get a yellow to pack everybody up, and go for the race. But, that is probably not going to happen. The gap was pretty big for awhile there, then it kind of closed up as Jan had issues as well. So he kind of brought the whole field back to me again so we aren’t too far away. But, it is hard to pass here, so every little mistake and things like that will definitely show itself at the end of the race.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“What an incredible day for Corvette Racing! Today, everything had to be perfect to win – the driving, the strategy and execution. Once again, Corvette Racing did it all and that is what enabled this victory. Two victories in a row is a great way to head to Le Mans – the most important race on our schedule.”
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., (April 27, 2014) – Cadillac Racing drivers Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim finished third and seventh in the second race of the Pirelli World Challenge Series Barber Grand Prix presented by RECARO.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) starting from the third row in sixth based upon his fast lap from yesterday’s race. Teammate Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) started from the fifth row in tenth. When the lights extinguished for the standing start, O’Connell was able to get a good jump off of the line and move up three spots into third by Turn One. A little further back in the field, Pilgrim took advantage of a hesitant Rob Thorne in his McLaren to make up a spot to ninth. A first lap caution had the Pirelli World Challenge field parading around for six laps before the action restarted. Pilgrim took advantage
of the restart and moved up another position to eighth. The remaining 32 minutes had the field pretty much holding station until Pilgrim was able to get a run on Alex Figge in the second McLaren and move into seventh.
“The time and effort that Cadillac Racing has put into getting these starts paid off again today,” O’Connell said. “I was able to go from sixth to third and hold the spot to the end. To get on the podium twice here at Barber, if you would have told me that four days ago, I would have said it would be impossible. The team raised their game and gave me a great handling race car. I had to dig deep to keep Mancuso (Nick, No. 16 Ferrari) behind me while trying to maintain pressure on Andrew Palmer in the Audi. The leaders were pulling away from me. My tires started going off and that is when Mancuso started to chew on me. So I had to maintain a gap to him and keep pushing, which is fun psychological battle. If it wasn’t for getting a good start I think we really had a fifth place car.”
Pilgrim, like his teammate, had to make up ground on the start and restart.
“The start was really busy,” Pilgrim said. “Thorne in the McLaren got a slow start, so I went left it was getting tight, so I was just able to make up one position. On the restart I was able to get by Tim Bergmeister in his Porsche, but I couldn’t make up any track position the Audis toward the end. I got some help in traffic and was able to pass Figge late in the race. The Audi and the rest of the FIA GT3 cars were really fast through 14, 14a, 15 and the exits of Turns Five and Three.”
The races from Barber Motorsport Park will be televised on NBC Sports Network, Saturday, May 10 at 4 p.m. ET with a re-air Friday, May 16 at 1 a.m.
The series will travel to Detroit for the Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac Grand Prix of Belle Isle to run May 30 – June 1.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., (April 26, 2014) – Cadillac Racing drivers Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim finished second and fifth respectively in the first of two races at the Pirelli World Challenge Series Barber Grand Prix presented by RECARO.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) starting from the fourth row alongside teammate Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) got a great standing start and blew bye the two McLaren competitors who stalled on the grid to find himself running in third position by the entry of Turn One. Pilgrim also was able to get a good start, but saw a waving yellow and hesitated, fell into sequence in eighth place. A first lap caution brought the field together for a restart. As the 50-minute race progressed Pilgrim moved up into sixth place just before the second caution on lap 18. The last caution allowed O’Connell to cool his Pirelli tires for a run at Nick Mancuso’s Ferrari running in second. The yellow also gave Pilgrim some cool down time and helped him to move up to fifth place by the time the checkered flag flew.
“The team is really the most responsible for the result today,” O’Connell said. “Cadillac Racing puts a lot of effort into the standing starts. I had one yesterday in practice, when I hit the gas the car really hooked up. I think I got an even better one in the race. The McLarens in front of me didn’t get going so I had a huge gap around the outside and I got to Turn One and things were looking great as I slotted into third. We opened up a little gap and then our tires started to go off and the Audis started coming. They were chewing on me pretty good. I had to use a lifetime of experience to get through traffic and control things. We got lucky. If there wasn’t that full course caution late to cool my tires I would have been done. That allowed me to cool things down and go after Mancuso. It was a fun race for me. When a Cadillac can finish between two Ferraris that is a good day.”
Pilgrim had a strong race, but wanted more.
“The car started well, and then I caught a yellow flag waving out of the corner of my eye and I lifted off of the gas and that cost me a few positions,” Pilgrim said. “It was really tight out there. The front running cars were evenly matched. You could make up a little here and there, but it was difficult to pass. Traffic gave you the opportunity to pass, which is what is great about the series. I was sliding all over the place, it was the hottest it has been all weekend. Start seventh, finished fifth, satisfied, but could have done better.”
Race two for the Pirelli World Challenge Series Barber Grand Prix presented by RECARO will go off on Sunday at 10:40 a.m. CT. Live streaming can be viewed at www.world-challengetv.com. The races from Barber Motorsport Park will be televised on NBC Sports Network, Saturday, May 10 at 4 p.m. ET with a re-air Friday, May 16 at 1 a.m.
DETROIT, (April 22, 2014) – Team Cadillac drivers Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim will take on the undulating Barber Motorsports Park in this weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge Series Barber Grand Prix presented by RECARO.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) and Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) will be racing at the 2.38-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park located just east of Birmingham, Alabama for the time. The duo had the chance to get a view of the Alabama track through the windshield of the Cadillac CTS.V.R on the way to the season opener at St. Pete where they had a two days of testing. The duo come into the race with Pilgrim leading O’Connell in the driver standings by 36 points (224 to 188) with Cadillac leading the GT manufacturer ranks.
“The biggest thing the test at Barber showed Johnny and myself was which way the track goes,” Pilgrim said. “This was critical as neither of us has ever raced there. The Barber track has a lot of high-speed and mid-speed transitions that will really suit the FIA GT3 cars. With wider tires, less weight and more down force than our Cadillac CTS.V.Rs it looks like we will have to be pushing to the max and have a little luck to be up front.”
“On a track such as Barber, that has maybe one possible place to pass per lap, qualifying is way more important than normal,” he continued. “This track looks like it was designed for motorcycle racing and as an ex-motorcycle road racer, I’m thinking it’s brilliant for motorcycles, but with 40+ Pirelli World Challenge cars and barely anywhere to pass, we are going to be busy and we’ll find out who can be patient and who chooses not to be.”
O’Connell is coming off of a win at Long Beach.
“At the test we learned a lot about the nuance of the Barber circuit,” O’Connell said. “It was really used more as a shakedown prior to St. Pete, but also to get data that should be useful for the race. The FIA GT3 spec cars should be tough this weekend. Where those cars have a distinct advantage is in higher speed corners. Their aerodynamic advantage over us will be evident there in the fourth gear and higher areas.”
“Qualifying is always important, but the track looks like the type of place where it is difficult to pass,” he continued. “Having watched previous races there, I think most drivers would agree. It is going to be very busy to say the least. One of the advantages, I think, Andy and I have over others is experience working traffic. I’m counting on race craft to play a big role in both races this weekend.”
The Pirelli World Challenge Series Barber Grand Prix presented by RECARO will have the GT cars qualifying on Friday at 4:45 p.m. CT. Race one will go off on Saturday at 3:55 p.m., with race two taking the standing start on Sunday at 10:40 a.m.
LONG BEACH, Calif., (April 13, 2014) – Team Cadillac drivers Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim finished first and second in today’s running of the Pirelli World Challenge Series Long Beach Grand Prix presented by KIA. O’Connell posted his 11th career Cadillac victory.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) was able to race to some Long Beach redemption this afternoon in southern Calif. Last year he was winning the event while nursing his CTS.V.R around the 1.9 mile 11 turn closed street course with a three inch piece of a competitors brake rotor lodged in the radiator. Just five turns from the checkered flag he coasted to a stop. Today O’Connell was able to get a great start and head the field the entire race distance of 31 laps. He had to soldier through one restart, following a first lap caution, but was pressed only by teammate Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) who finished second.
“I got a pretty good start,” O’Connell said. “Andy may have gotten a little better launch than I did, but there was no way I wasn’t going into Turn One deep. The first couple laps were very challenging. The car was really sliding around after the restart, then the Pirelli tires came in and the car really came to me. I got some really good breaks with traffic and was never really held up. I know Anthony Lazzaro was chewing on Andy, so I had to keep pushing. I think Andy I were really close I just had the track position. Getting so close last year I was super motivated to get the win today. It was nice to get the victory for the team and all of the Cadillac fans that came out this weekend.”
Pilgrim had a strong start, was being pressed by Lazzaro, but held on to make it a Cadillac one – two finish.
“I got a really good start,” Pilgrim said. “Johnny was on the inside, so I was happy to slot in behind him into Turn One. Our plan was to work hard at the beginning of the race as we thought it would get slippery towards the end with our heavy car. We both were sliding at the end. Traffic worked in our favor. Anthony got hurt twice toward the end of the race with slower cars, so that helped. I had a good car, it was going away at the end, but that is to be expected. A good day for Cadillac.”
The win will have Pilgrim as GT points leader heading into the next round at Barber Motorsports Park.
The race from Long Beach will be televised on NBC Sports, Sunday, April 20 at 5:30 p.m. with a re-air Friday, April 25 at 1 a.m. The Pirelli World Challenge Series will travel to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. for the first time in series for a double race weekend April 25 – April 27.
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 13, 2014): Mike Conway scored his first win of 2014 to take Chevrolet IndyCar V6 power to Victory Lane in the Verizon IndyCar Series for the second consecutive race. It is the second win for Conway in the Grand Prix of Long Beach on the Streets of Long Beach, his first coming in 2011.
In only his second race as the road and street course driver of the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Premium Ultra Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Conway led once for two laps to score the win, and move to second in the Series’ championship standings.
Congratulations to Mike Conway and the Ed Carpenter Racing team for a very well executed race in the midst of a number of incidents,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Program Manager, Verizon IndyCar Series. “Today’s competition on the Streets of Long Beach was a solid example of the motto “Never Give Up”. We had our share of issues before and during the race, but persevered, and the breadth of talent and determination across Team Chevy came away with the top two steps of the podium.”
Giving Chevrolet the top-two tiers on the podium was Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. With his runner-up finish on the heels of his victory in the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, Power now holds a 27 point lead on second place Conway.
In his return season to the Verizon IndyCar Series, Juan Pablo Montoya brought his No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet to the finish line in fourth place. Giving Team Chevy four of the top-10 finishers in today’s 80-lap/157.4-mile race was Sebastian Saavedra, No. 17 KV AFS Racing Chevrolet with a ninth-place finish.
Carlos Munoz (Honda) completed the podium.
Next on the 18-race schedule will be on April 27, 2014 at Barber Motorsports Park.
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA/ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – RACE WINNER:
THE MODERATOR: We’ll get started with the remainder of our post-race Verizon IndyCar Series press conference. We’re pleased to be joined by the winner of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Mike Conway. This is Mike Conway’s first win of 2014, and the third win of his IndyCar career. His first one came here in Long Beach in 2011, he also won at Belle Isle in Detroit in 2013. This is Ed Carpenter Racing’s second win in the Verizon IndyCar Series. It previously won with Ed Carpenter at Auto Club Speedway in 2012. Mike, congratulations and tell us about the race today.
MIKE CONWAY: Thank you. Yeah, I was really started back in 17th, and we really had to fight for every position. The guys made a good call on strategy. We were able to bump past some people, and on race restarts we gained some positions as well. So, great job by all the team.
I know on that last restart I had to get by Will, because I knew he had one push to pass left, and I knew that (Carlos) Munoz behind me had four, and Munoz was very good all day, so it was hard it was going to be hard to keep him behind. So managed to get by Will (Power) and then was kind of all over the back of Justin (Wilson) and Scott (Dixon) and they were battling it out as well. And they touched going into Turn 8, and it got close to me and Scott. I was thinking of driving up both of those guys (Indiscernible), but thought better of it.
Then Scott was kind of all over them, but when the safety car came out again, I thought maybe I’ll have a chance to get by him here, but I knew at the same time he may not have enough fuel to get to the end. So I wasn’t sure, because I could see he wasn’t saving much fuel, and the guys are saying he’s saving fuel because he can’t make it. I was like, oh, I don’t know. Maybe he saved enough.
But, yeah, that was I was like, you know, this is it now. We can make this two times winning at Long Beach. Yeah, awesome. I can’t believe it really. It’s been a really tough day to be here. After, yeah, just a fantastic job by the team, and thanks to Long Beach again for putting on such a good show.
THE MODERATOR: A unique situation for you this year. You’re only racing the road and street courses while your team owner Ed Carpenter races the ovals. How gratifying is it for you personally and also for the team to see the results of that strategy pay off in the second race of the season?
MIKE CONWAY: Yeah, I’ve got to say a big thanks to Ed for making it happen, and all the guys at Fuzzy’s Racing to put me in this position. Yeah, I think it’s a great combination. I think everyone’s quite excited about it. It’s great to repay them this soon with a win.
Yeah, I think Ed’s going to be awesome on the ovals, and he’s really looking forward to the Texas test next week and Indy in May. So, yeah, it’s great to be part of it.
Q. There are a lot of great drivers that haven’t won this race. You’ve won it twice. The satisfaction of being able to be a two time Long Beach Grand Prix winner?
MIKE CONWAY: Yeah, it still hasn’t sunk in yet. I mean, as I went over the land, I got that same feeling, that feeling in my stomach and not being able to get any words out because it kind of just meant so much. Probably the same as the first time. You know, it’s always tough the first time as well.
So, yeah, it’s just a really special place. It’s so hard to win around here, and to do it twice, I’ve not done that on many tracks, so to do it here is really cool.
Q. It’s hard enough for drivers to get a full time ride. I was wondering what did you think of your chances were of getting a road course only ride when the season started? What do you have to say to people who were skeptical?
MIKE CONWAY: Slim, definitely slim. Yeah, I wasn’t sure obviously at the end of 2012 too, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it back. But managed to pick up some rides last year and kind of showed that I’ve still got a lot of speed, and we won in Detroit as well. I still wasn’t sure at the end of last year what was going to happen. Yeah, to be able to pick this up is a dream come true. It couldn’t have worked out any better between me and Ed. So, yeah, I’m very thankful for the position I’m in and trying to make the most of it.
Q. A little while ago Will was saying you don’t get many gifts in racing, and he was talking about the big pileup that allowed you guys to do what you did. How do you look at that?
MIKE CONWAY: I didn’t really see what happened. So you know, I saw the last part of it as I was approaching the corner, and I thought someone was going to go around there, and I heard over the radio call there was an incident in the corner, be very careful and stay right. I’m thankful for that call because they really kept me out of trouble through there.
It was tight just to get through with the speed we have. I really had to dive around people. Yeah, I mean, luckily obviously that that happened and advanced us a good four positions. I think we were still within the hunt to get a good result today. But, yeah, obviously, unlucky for those guys and made it fortunate for us.
But it’s always like that on street courses. It gets really close, but I don’t know what really happened. I’ll have to look at that.
Q. Great finish. You didn’t start very well. Describe the start and how that worked snout also heard there was damage to the front wing, and did that affect you at all during the race?
MIKE CONWAY: Yeah, the start wasn’t great. The revs really dropped, and I thought I was maybe going to stall and I had to quickly pull the clutch again and go again and obviously two cars got around me at that point. Managed to get by Ryan and pick that position back up. But all the way through the race it was hard to know where we were going to end up.
There were lots of cars around you, and when you got within a second of a car, you’d lose half a second in pace, and it was really hard to make your way by. But we did manage to pick some people off as the race was going on and made some good passes. But, yeah, it was a real unknown until that last kind of restart where we were going to be. So had to fight all day. Yeah, kind of had the car to do it, so big thanks to the guys for that.
Q. During the race while you were battling, did you notice a major difference between the power characteristics of the Honda and Chevy? Because in qualifying it looked very dominant for Honda. I think they had nine of the top 12 qualifying positions, but we ended up with a Chevy 1, 2 at least. Did you notice any difference coming out of the final hair pin?
MIKE CONWAY: I don’t know. It was really how you get around the hair pin. It was hard to tell sometimes on how you get off. But I mean I was behind Munoz for a good few laps. It felt similar to be honest. I mean, he was on the blacks to that point and his car was really turning well through that last corner, so he could get off well just with traction. So it was really close to be honest. And we did trim out a little bit for the race so I think we had better speed than some people down the strait.
But I forgot to answer your question about the front wing. That did feel like it slowed us down a little bit because it was flapping around. That top element definitely some drag there. But I think we did have some good top end speed because of the downforce level we had, but it felt close.
Q. You mentioned being told over the radio about the accident. Are you one of the few drivers that has a spotter?
MIKE CONWAY: Well, just lucky they saw it. I mean, they were there at the time. I thought he said he was going to be down in turn one, but he must have seen it on the big screen or from where he was standing in one. Normally he doesn’t have to say too much, but obviously if there are any incidents anywhere and he’s there at that point he’ll let me know, otherwise the team will let me know on the TV. But, yeah, kind of lucky he was down there.
Q. The spotters were on turn one, and I think there were only six or seven spotters because it’s not required on a road course?
MIKE CONWAY: Yeah, well, I have (Indiscernible), and he’s a really key part of the team. He’s out there making sure we’re making the most of every corner. He watches what all the other cars are doing. Yeah, he’s obviously in the race. He can’t do so much of that, but he can also definitely help me if there are any incidents, and that definitely helped today.
Q. Regarding the accident, it seemed like it went on for quite some time. I think Takuma Sato came into it five or six seconds afterwards. Were the course marshals signaling adequately that there was a blockage of the track around the corner which I assume you couldn’t see coming through?
MIKE CONWAY: Well, as I said, when I got there it just happened. So, yeah, I mean, I didn’t see any yellows at that point. I don’t recall. But it’s hard to tell because I was so focused on looking for what was around the corner. You know, you kind of miss sometimes what’s on the entry with the marshals.
But, yeah, there were a lot of cars behind me at that point, and some made it through, some didn’t. I suppose it was a bit of luck, I suppose. Yeah, it was definitely not the yellows, but if you didn’t know where the cars were, it was still tricky. You had to slow down a lot to miss it all. There was really one line, and it took a long time to clear up. There were a lot of cars involved.
Q. This is a smaller team in the series, but yet it really seems like they can take on the power teams and whip them at their own game. What is it about Ed Carpenter racing that they seem to do so well particularly at certain tracks in?
MIKE CONWAY: Yeah, I think we’ve got a really good group of people. Some great engineers on board and everyone’s working really hard and they’re always pushing between St. Pete and this weekend, they were nonstop in the shop trying to develop some parts and make things better. You know, I think if you’ve got that drive and that hunger within the team you can definitely achieve anything.
It does make it harder, a one car team, but I think with all the help and all the people we have on the team, we can definitely make some waves.
Q. What do you think about the hair pin? The tightest one in all of Indy racing.
MIKE CONWAY: I mean, it’s Long Beach, it’s been here since the start, I presume. It does make it tricky. Obviously the restarts, first lap of the race it does get quite choked up in there. But I think everyone’s smart enough to stay out of trouble, but I’m not sure. Obviously I saw Graham was spun down around there. I mean, it’s easy enough to hit someone’s back side going in there because if you don’t choke up a little bit and you’re not aware of it can catch you up. But I don’t know. It’s just part of the course, I suppose.
Q. You mentioned that you started 17th, but you didn’t qualify well. Someone asked Will Power how come he was so far down in the field, and he said well, the car was great, he just didn’t hit it during qualification. How come you were like 17th, because after all, you’re past champion here?
MIKE CONWAY: Yeah, it’s very close, the series. As years go on it gets closer and closer. If you’re behind a little bit it can really show up in qualifying. When everyone’s on that ultimate limit putting in really quick times. We felt like we needed a couple more laps to get the tires in. It was taking a little bit longer, and before we knew it, the session was finished. Yeah, that’s all it takes. If you don’t quite get it together, you’ll just miss that advance.
So, yeah. Any slight mistake on a lap, and you really risk not making it through. It was a shame. Obviously, we didn’t want that to happen around here. We thought we had a good car for top eight, maybe more. Yeah, obviously the race we knew made it difficult for us, but we had some good speed and got into the run.
Q. You avoided the carnage in turn four. You finished very strong. What was the biggest challenge you faced in the final laps of the race?
MIKE CONWAY: Having Will behind me and Scott in front, two wily cats. I knew I had my work cut out. I just couldn’t make any mistakes. I had to really push them all the way. Will was very good through the last sector, so I had to be strong through there, and make sure I went through the last hair pin well. I knew he didn’t have many overtakes left, if any, at that point. I didn’t have any either. So I really just had to get as good as I could through that sector and clean down the straight.
But Scott was very good off that last corner, and it was hard to get close to him. I could get close to him on the infield, but he was pretty good out there.
Yeah, it was tricky. I didn’t know whether he had the fuel to finish or not. The guys were telling me he was saving fuel and they weren’t sure that he could make it, but at the same time, you don’t want to rely on that. I don’t know. I was kind of trying to make things happen and maybe get by him. But when I saw pull in I was like, okay, the guys are right, and just have to bring it home.
THE MODERATOR: Before we let you go. In two weeks you’ll be continuing your deal with Ed Carpenter racing at Barber Motorsports Park. Give us a preview of what we can expect at that track?
MIKE CONWAY: I like Barber a lot. It’s a cool track, very fast flowing. The test was okay for us there. We’ve made some progress since then. So hopefully we’ll come back stronger. Obviously, we have two weeks in between and we’re going to keep pushing and make sure the car is quick for me to ride there. But always a good race. Qualifying is really cool around there. It is harder to pass, however, it’s still possible. Yeah, hopefully, we’ll have a good showing.
Q. How much fuel did you have left?
MIKE CONWAY: Loads, loads. I don’t actually know the numbers, but maybe we can let you know after.
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:
THE MODERATOR: We’re pleased to be joined by Will Power, Will Power finished second in this race. His second podium finish of 2014, and his sixth podium finish in nine starts at Long Beach. Will has now finished first or second in his last four Verizon IndyCar Series races and is the current points leader with 93 points. Will, you seem to be on quite a roll dating back to 2013?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I was definitely thinking after qualifying we might have been in a bit of trouble, but we know this track well and IndyCar Racing well. There is always a lot of action, so definitely a good day.
Mike (Conway) was very strong. I kind of regret not using the push to pass on the restart where he got me. I knew he had one and I had one, and I thought I’m going to try to save it and he used it on that restart. But definitely take second from 14th, you know, good for the championship, not that I want to think about that crap anymore. I just want to race. I’m just going to race to win every time.
Q. Will, after finishing first and second, I know you don’t want to look at the points. You’re the leader. If you guys could talk a little bit about it seemed for a while it was Ryan Hunter Reay’s race, and all of a sudden, one thing completely turned the nature of this race around. Just talk about how big an impact that had, and Will, you were able to get through that carnage without hitting anything?
WILL POWER: I saw it unfold. I mean, those two came out of the pits in front of me on cold, black tires, I was on reds and down a lap or two. You know, then all of a sudden I saw Newgarden come out and I’m thinking this is going to be really interesting because all these guys know that that is for the win. It became even more interesting in turn four when they all thank you. Yeah, unbelievable.
I saw Hunter Reay go inside, and me going, oh, this will be interesting if he turns and there they go together. Then Hinch piles into him, and I got through, like yeah, you don’t get those gifts often in racing, so I’ll take it.
Q. Will, talk about the final laps and the temptation to overtake Mike Conway in the last few laps?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, none of us had a push to pass, so, yeah, I did everything I could when I saw Dixon pull in with only two to go. I was like oh, man, that restart got me. But like I said, it was 14th, and we’re going to be happy with a Top 5. So second is okay.
Once Dixon peeled off, Mike was very quick anyway. If I had one push to pass, I’m pretty sure I would have had a good shot. It would have been interesting, maybe he would have ended up winning because Mike and I would have crashed into turn one or something (laughing). Yeah, it was a good day. Definitely a good day.
Q. Two quick questions, first one, Simon Pagenaud and you got hooked up there a little bit. Obviously, he’s upset with you. He said you guys aren’t going on vacation anytime soon together. Do you guys two weeks, six weeks, eight weeks down the road, I know you are good friends, how do you mend that fence? Second question is a lot of really young drivers are showing real strength this year. What do you put that towards?
WILL POWER: Simon, it’s on him. It depends what he wants to do. He’ll probably pay me back at some point on the track. If I got a penalty, he probably wouldn’t have, but he told me he’s going to get me back. I thought he had a flat tire. He was so slow on the restart. He went from second back to he was in front of me. I thought, oh, he’s going to brake early, and I brake, went up the inside and realized he was going to turn. I tried to get out and just touched his back tire.
Yeah, I hate to ruin someone’s race like that. I do. But I think if he looked in the mirror, he could have prevented that incident. We talked about in the driver meeting that there’s got to be a bit of give and take there. But still I hit his back tire with my front wheel, so it’s on me.
Q. And the question about the young drivers?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, man, these guys are definitely putting the pressure on it. They’re quick, really quick. They’re not making mistakes either. Carlos was super quick and very good in the Indy 500 last year. He’s just backing it up this year and showing everyone how to do it on road courses as well. So definitely got a long future in the series, and so is Jack Hawksworth also.
Q. Will, when Ed Carpenter decided to split the driving duties on his team, I was wondering what your thought. Now it may pay off very big in points later in the year. How do you feel about that kind of strategy?
WILL POWER: I thought when they told me that, I thought championship contenders as far as team championship, you know, and they will be because Mike was coming at St. Pete. He was probably going to finish second or third there too. Obviously it was a bit of a blunder in the pits, but those guys were on it every week. Then Ed is definitely capable of winning pretty much in all the ovals too, so it’s a pretty strong combination they’ve got right there on that team.
Q. Describe the standing start because you were kind of in the middle of the pack for the start. So describe what happened for you all.
WILL POWER: Yeah, I thought it was pretty good. We all got a good start. I think it’s definitely better for the fans. It looks cooler for all the people sitting in the grandstands for everyone to have a standing start. See on the luminator the lights going out. And no one stalled so that was good. Unless there was someone behind me, I don’t know. But it was good, a good first lap, yeah.
Q. Will, you talked about them coming out of The Pits on black tires, and you were on Reds. What was your strategy on tires with the constant temperature change here in Long Beach?
WILL POWER: Well, I was surprised that those guys went on Blacks, unless they used up their new Blacks from the start. I don’t know or new Reds from the start. Because Reds to me, I had a good chance to get a couple of those guys coming out of the pits on cold tires. They took care of it themselves. But, yeah, our strategy was start on blacks. Hopefully the Reds would go off and go red red because the Reds were definitely quicker.
THE MODERATOR: Will, you’re the points leader heading into Barber Motorsports Park, a track that’s been historically very good for you. Talk about a preview of two weeks from now what we’ll be expecting at Barber?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, to me I’ve got to qualify a bit better for sure. Definitely aiming to be pole because that track is very difficult to pass. Everyone’s tested there. Everyone’s run a lot of miles there, so there are a lot of good guys with good cars, so it’s definitely going to make it an interesting weekend.
Q. You seem to be quite a significant performance difference in you and qualifying and the race performance today. Can you comment on that at all? Any major changes that went into the car or the set up or to any of the mechanicals?
WILL POWER: Well, actually, this is the worst qualifying in my career. I just didn’t get it right. It’s just one of those laps that I had a couple of laps to do it in, and I just didn’t get it right. Because in the practice session before that, we were quickest. We had a very good car, so it’s just one of those things, you know. We didn’t change anything. The car was the same in the race. That sucks, but we had a good day anyway.
Garcia, Magnussen dominate street race; Gavin, Milner take third-place GTLM finish
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 12, 2014) – Corvette Racing won its first race with the new Chevrolet Corvette C7.R on Saturday at Long Beach as Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen dominated in their No. 3 Corvette to take the GT Le Mans class of the Patrón Sports Car Showcase. The duo led all but one lap and took the checkered flag by 5.408 seconds in the third round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed third in class in their No. 4 Corvette C7.R. It was the fourth time Corvette Racing placed both of its entries on the podium at Long Beach since 2007.
“Congratulations to Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and the No. 3 Corvette C7.R team on scoring the win today here at Long Beach,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “It was the first win for the Corvette C7.R and a great day. It started with a great qualifying run by Jan to put the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R on the pole, which was a huge advantage in a short, 100-minute sprint race. Antonio did a great job getting a nice lead; the Corvette Racing team had a great pit stop and Jan took it home for the win. It was also great to see Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner put the No. 4 Corvette C7.R also on the podium. Just a tremendous effort for Corvette Racing.”
Saturday’s victory was the fifth at Long Beach for Corvette Racing. Magnussen qualified on pole position Friday, and Garcia led the entirety of his 41-minute stint – the result of a great start that allowed him to put two slower prototypes between himself and the rest of the class. His lead grew as much as seven seconds before handing off to Magnussen.
The Dane’s biggest advantage was 12 seconds during his stint as he won at Long Beach for the second time; Garcia won his first Long Beach race.
The No. 4 Corvette gained one position from its fourth-place starting spot. Gavin and the two competing cars in front of him were balked by the slow prototype that Garcia managed to get around on the opening lap. Gavin also fought high tire pressures but still had the fastest race lap in class for most of his stint.
After the driver change to Milner, the young American whittled down the gap to second place from three seconds to a half-second halfway through his stint. He ended the race just 0.273 seconds shy of the runner-up spot. Milner also set the fastest GTLM race lap at 1:18.954 (89.733 mph).
The next round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship takes place at Laguna Seca from May 3-4.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It’s been a really good race for us. We couldn’t expect more. We saw yesterday that we were very fast. I think 50 percent of the race was done by Jan yesterday in qualifying. Today he stayed away from the walls but yesterday he was really, really close to them! That pole position made a big difference. I knew that the race was all about Turn 1 and the first three laps. I was probably a bit on the high side of being aggressive on the opening laps because I knew the prototypes were struggling to warm their tires. I made it through at Turn 1, and that was mainly it for the race. That risk made the rest of the race a little more relaxing. Taking the first victory for the Corvette C7.R is very big for us. We have been battling really hard from the beginning. All the Corvette Racing and Chevrolet guys have worked really hard throughout the offseason and into this year. A big thanks to them.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It was an important victory for the team and the guys who have worked so hard to get the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R ready for the season. The whole time we have had a fast car but didn’t make the most of it. We had some reliability issues at Daytona and Sebring, so it’s really nice that we can have a weekend like this with pole position and a win by leading from start to finish. I couldn’t be happier for Antonio and myself, and for all the guys on the team. They really deserve it. A big thanks to Antonio. He did all the hard work and got a huge lead. That last hour for me was like a holiday for me! I just drove around making sure I didn’t make any mistakes and stay off the wall.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It was a great result for Corvette Racing today. To get both cars on the podium and to get the first win for the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R is fantastic. It was a little frustrating for myself getting caught up behind one of the prototypes and battling with the BMWs. I was also struggling with high tire pressures for some reason. We just missed that all weekend. I don’t know why but maybe we need to look at the systems we have. We kept the car in the race. Tommy got in and did a sterling job and got us right up behind the BMW but I think it was a bit too much to do to get by that car. It seemed that where we were quick, they weren’t so good but then they were fast in some key spots. Tommy did all he could and drove extremely well. But the main thing for both cars is that we got fantastic results for points and the first win for the Corvette C7.R. It’s a fantastic day for Corvette Racing.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It was a great day for Corvette Racing. You could really see how strategy plays a part in tire wear and things like that. Great job to Antonio and Jan. They had a great race and got ahead of that one LMP car and could cruise. Our class has always been super-competitive, and it’s fun to see it all play out with pit stops and strategy. It was a great day of racing here at Long Beach.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“What a fantastic race for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing today at Long Beach! The team’s strategy played out perfectly, and Antonio and Jan had mistake-free stints. Having Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin join them on the podium makes this a very rewarding day for the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R program. Rest assured, we will work to capitalize on this momentum in our continued push for the first championship in the new TUDOR series.”
