What: Orion Energy Systems 245, Round 6 of the 2013 American Le Mans Series. The race airs live at 3 p.m. ET on ABC
No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R – Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen
• Starting second in GT. Antonio Garcia posted a lap of 204.212 (117.322 mph) Saturday in qualifying.
• History at Road America
o Antonio Garcia – One ALMS start. Best finish: 6th (2012)
o Jan Magnussen – Eight ALMS starts. Best finish: 1st (2003, 2008). One fastest race lap (2007).
No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R – Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner
• Starting third in GT. Oliver Gavin posted a lap of 2:04.277 (117.261 mph) Saturday in qualifying.
• History at Road America
o Oliver Gavin – Eleven ALMS starts. Best finish: 1st (2004-05, 2007). Four fastest race laps (2003, 2006, 2008, 2011)
o Tommy Milner – Six ALMS starts. Best finish: 2nd (2007, 2009)
Corvette Racing at Road America
• Number of races: 11
• Victories: Six (2002, 2004-08)
• Road America: 2002
• Team 1-2 finishes: Five (2002, 2004-07)
• First race: 2002 (1st in GTS)
They Said It
“Someone said to me a few years ago, ‘It’s all 90-degree bends. Where’s the challenge in it?’ And when you look at it, there are a few but they are all really different. Whether it’s in the length of them, the way they come off certain gradients, whether they are slightly banked, whether they are the crest of a hill, they are all very different in the way they are laid out and have their own unique challenges. It’s far more than just a circuit with a number of 90-degree bends. I really like the place. It’s fantastic.” – Oliver Gavin
“What is an impressive comparison is in the very small differences between the current GT car and the old GT1 car. We are getting closer in almost every aspect except horsepower. They are extremely close on downforce and performance levels. Everything has improved with development. There has been a lot of time gained just based on Michelin’s development. But it’s also in other areas. Every year we’ve gone a little bit faster.” – Jan Magnussen
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
DETROIT, (Aug. 20, 2013) – Team Cadillac drivers Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim are heading to wine country for the Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac Grand Prix of Sonoma running at Sonoma Raceway Aug. 23.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) is leading the Pirelli World Challenge GT driver points with teammate Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) third in the standings 139 out from the lead. Cadillac is in a strong position in the manufacturers title race with 90, 19 over second place Audi. Last year at Sonoma O’Connell and Pilgrim had an up and down double race weekend. O’Connell qualified on pole for the first race in 2012, with Pilgrim next to him in second, the duo went onto finish second and fourth respectively in the first race. In the second race Pilgrim finished second with O’Connell sixth.
The Cadillac pair are both veterans of the 2.3-mile, 12-turn circuit located at the gateway to California’s wine country. O’Connell was an instructor at the track and Pilgrim has a vast history, including a NASCAR Sprint Cup start. Both drivers will have to use their extensive Sonoma pedigree on this important weekend with just two races remaining on the Pirelli World Challenge schedule.
“This is a critical weekend for everyone at Team Cadillac,” O’Connell said. “As tight as the championship battle is, I know I will have to execute at the highest at Sonoma this weekend in my Cadillac CTS-V, which is a situation I greatly enjoy. Added pressure to perform is something I’ve always thrived on. The challenge of a close championship battle with just two 50-mintue races left is what drivers look forward to every year.”
“Lately I have been really in touch with everything on my CTS-V,” he continued. “I have a lot of history at Sonoma that goes back a long way. I used to be an instructor there with the Bondurant School. I taught for Bob [Bondurant] from 1988 through 1990 before the school moved to Phoenix. I’m confident that no one in any series has more laps around that track than I. I have also won there five consecutive years in the Corvette. I’m anxious to get that winning streak going again.”
Pilgrim has many Sonoma race track memories.
“I had my first professional win at Sonoma in 1986 in the Firestone Firehawk Endurance Series driving a Pontiac Trans-Am,” Pilgrim said. “Sonoma ranks very high on my list of favorite tracks. It’s a driver’s track that rewards a good set-up. The most critical part of the track, to me, is the Turn One and Turn Two complex and the Turn Five through the Carousel combination. Both these sections require great set-up and the ability of car and driver to carry a lot of momentum through these sections.”
“My craziest Sonoma story would have to be getting a call to see if I could drive a Chevrolet Sprint Cup car in 2011, less than two weeks from race day,” he added. “I had no testing time in the car at all. I had never sat in a Sprint Cup car before. We broke an axle in the only 90 minute practice session so I got less than 15 laps total before qualifying. I had no chance to do a practice qualifying run, which is a one lap dash on cold tires. I was able to qualify in 43rd spot, less than a tenth of a second from not making the race. I was up to 11th at one point in the race and found out we had no more new tires for the final pit stop. I continued to race as hard as I could on old tires to finish on the lead lap in 26th. I ended up as the top placed road course ringer. Crazy.”
The Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac Grand Prix of Sonoma is a single race weekend that will take the standing start on Sunday, Aug. 23 at 12:10 PT.
Team Cadillac 2013 Pirelli World Challenge GT Results
Taylor, Angelelli win for third time and regain DP championship lead
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Aug. 17, 2013) – Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli came away winners Saturday night in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series in more ways than one. The Wayne Taylor Racing duo won the inaugural SFP Grand Prix at Kansas Speedway in their No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette Daytona Prototype and regained the championship lead in the DP drivers’ standings in the process.
Jordan Taylor held off a stern challenge from Scott Pruett to win by 0.568 seconds. The son of team owner Wayne Taylor, driving the closing stint for the first time in a Daytona Prototype, kept Pruett behind him for the better part of an hour. Angelelli moved up from fifth at the start to third when he handed off to Taylor.
The third victory of the season for the Angelelli-Taylor pairing came with the extra bonus of now leading the drivers’ championship. Angelelli and Taylor lead Action Express Racing’s Christian Fittipaldi by two points, meaning Corvette DP drivers hold the top three spots in the championship with two races remaining.
The Wayne Taylor Racing entry made only three pit stops – the least amount of the DP field. After the team elected to short-fill on its first stop, Taylor moved into the lead for the first time midway through the race following the third and final caution period. The team called in Taylor for his final stop with 38 laps to and was the first of the lead cars to pit. That strategy proved to be the difference.
“Max was great at the start and gave me a great car,” Taylor said. “The guys had the perfect strategy, and we were the only ones to do what we did. So it worked out in the end.”
The victory allowed Chevrolet to increase its lead in the engine manufacturers’ standings, and Wayne Taylor Racing moved from fifth to second in the team championship.
“Congratulations to everyone at Wayne Taylor Racing for a fantastic victory in the inaugural Rolex Sports Car Series event at Kansas City and reclaiming the Daytona Prototype drivers’ championship,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Program Manager for the Rolex Series. “This was an incredible challenge with a number of incidents that impacted many of the top runners. Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor may not have had the fastest car on the circuit but the Wayne Taylor Racing team had the best strategy and made the fewest mistakes. In a series as competitive as this, those two factors are keys to winning races and championships.”
After starting third and fourth, Action Express Racing’s two Corvette DPs finished fourth and fifth.
In GT, Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 57 Camaro GT.R of John Edwards and Robin Liddell placed fourth. They are third in the class championship and only three points out of first place, as is Stevenson Motorsports in the team standings.
Earlier in the day, Edwards and Matt Bell won the GS class of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 9 Camaro GS.R. Both drivers led during their stints, and Edwards ran out front the final 23 laps for the duo’s second GS victory this season.
The next round of the Rolex Sports Car Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge is the Continental Tire Sports Car Festival. Both races are set for Sunday, Sept. 8 from Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. The Rolex Series event will air live at 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
ROLEX SPORTS CAR SERIES QUOTES
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“It was a stressful two hours. It was my first time finishing a race in the DP class. To have someone like (Scott Pruett) behind me for an hour-and-a-half was stressful but I knew I had a good car behind me and had all these guys (on the team) supporting me so I wasn’t phased at all.
“We went into this race thinking we had a third- to fourth-place car. Our engineers did their homework and it paid off. The car was solid for the whole stint. We usually have tire wear issues where they drop off a little bit, but the Continentals were perfect and we could push for the whole race.”
MAX ANGELELLI, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“Our Corvette was really good. Jordan did a fantastic job. It’s not easy to have Pruett behind you for over an hour. I’m very happy and very proud.”
CONTINENTAL TIRE SPORTS CAR CHALLENGE QUOTES
MATT BELL, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R:
“The Stevenson guys have been working really hard. This one definitely goes to the guys that run the car all week. Ryan (McCarthy) our engineer really pulled off a great job making this car drivable on the oval and on the infield. These guys have been working really hard. Ryan nailed the setup. My stint was mostly on my own, which really highlighted what the team did with the car. John had a lot of battling going on, and I think he did a very good job with that. It’s not an easy task keeping Matt Plumb behind you. I’m very impressed with everything the team has done this weekend.”
JOHN EDWARDS, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R:
“The car was great. I don’t think we expected this to be one of our (most favorable) tracks but that didn’t stop us from really focusing on the setup and just trying to make the car as good as we could make it. I think we had one of the fastest cars. I think we probably weren’t as fast as the No. 13 car but ultimately Matt (Bell) was faster than Nick Longhi and did a good job to get by him. So that move early in the race – even though this is an endurance race – really played a key part in the end because I was in a position to defend against the No. 13 instead of trying to get around them.”
Racing to Design and Build Winning Ground Vehicle Solutions
August 14, 2013
Pratt Miller Engineering will introduce its Defense Division at the 5th Annual Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS) in Troy, Michigan running August 20-22. This unveiling will expand Pratt Miller’s commitment to designing and building the highest performing mobility, survivability, and robotic technologies in military ground vehicles, building on its years of superior engineering and prototyping in support of servicemen and women.
“Pratt Miller has a rich history of designing and building lightweight, safe, high performance race cars that have earned multiple championships in motorsports series across the world, including seven wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” says Jim Miller, President of Pratt Miller Engineering. “This racing heritage coupled with our high performance engineering and rapid manufacturing uniquely positions us to provide lightweight, survivable, high mobility ground vehicles to the defense industry.”
Pratt Miller’s exhibition at GVSETS will reveal the Defense Division’s logo and branding, “Racing to design and build winning ground vehicle solutions”. Showcased at the event will be the MAV-L (Medium Assault Vehicle-Light), a high performance military vehicle that Pratt Miller Defense designed and built on behalf of the Northrop Grumman Corporation.
Pratt Miller Engineering is a world-class small business specializing in vehicle engineering, manufacturing, testing and development. Our focus areas within the defense industry include mobility, vehicle survivability, occupant protection, robotics, electronics, and lightweight systems. We have a race inspired pedigree of people, processes and technology to deliver high quality, innovation in a compressed-schedule environment.
For more information please contact Sandy McKinnon, Sales & Marketing Coordinator, at 248-446-9800 or smckinnon@prattmiller.com
For more information on the MAV-L and the unique 14 week program please visit:
Second and third for Compuware Corvettes; Gavin and Milner regain drivers’ title lead
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 11, 2013) – Corvette Racing scored two podium finishes Sunday at Road America in the Orion Energy Systems 245. The No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R of Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen placed second in the sixth round of the American Le Mans Series. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, driving the No. 4 Compuware Corvette, finished third.
The race, shown to a nationwide audience live on ABC, marked the first time this season that the two Corvettes finished on the podium in the same race. Even more importantly, the results provided a major boost for the drivers, Corvette Racing and Chevrolet in the ALMS GT championships.
Gavin and Milner, defending GT champions, moved back into the lead in the driver standings. Garcia and Magnussen unofficially are third but only six points out of the championship lead.
Chevrolet solidified its lead in the manufacturer standings, as did Corvette Racing in the team championship.
“The Corvette Racing drivers and team exhibited terrific teamwork on the track and in the pits, and with race strategy to claim two podium positions in the American Le Mans Series at Road America,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “The team’s never-give-up approach will bode well as we go into the final races of the season. It was a great points day for Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin as they reclaimed the lead in the ALMS GT driver standings. Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia also improved their standing, as well.”
Endurance racing is a true team sport, and that played out again Sunday. The Corvette Racing pit crew executed two perfect stops during the race’s penultimate full-course caution period. The two Corvettes entered the pits running seventh and eighth in class. with 90 minutes remaining but left pitlane first and third.
The race began on a wet track with Magnussen in the No. 3 Corvette and Milner in the No. 4. Both Corvettes, like the rest of the field, began on wet tires. Both Magnussen and Milner ran aggressive yet cautious stints in the beginning before both cars went to slick tires at the 40-minute mark. From that point, strategy and some of the best pit work in the ALMS took over.
Corvette Racing’s next event is the Grand Prix of Baltimore on Aug. 30-31 from the Baltimore Inner Harbor street circuit. Gavin and Milner placed second there last season, and Gavin and Magnussen teamed for a third-place finish in 2011.
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
Grand Prix of Baltimore (all times ET)
• Practice 1: 8:50 a.m., Friday, Aug. 30
• Practice 2: 12:05 p.m., Friday, Aug. 30
• GT Qualifying: 4:50 p.m., Friday, Aug. 30
• Warmup: 10:10 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 31
• Race: 3:45 p.m., Saturday Aug. 31
Road America: Watch It!
Friday, Aug. 30-Saturday, Aug. 31 (all times ET)
• Qualifying: 4:20 p.m., Friday, Aug. 30 (ESPN3)
• Race (Web): 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 31 (ESPN3)
• Race (TV): Noon, Sunday, Sept. 1 (ABC)
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
HOW MUCH DID YOU FEEL LIKE YOU COULD PUSH IN THAT LAST STINT: ” I had a really good restart and was making a lot of gap to the guys. When I saw the Viper coming, I held him off for like four or five laps and I was thinking, ‘no problem’. But the problem was right when he was catching me, my engineers were telling me I need to save fuel. I said ‘All right’, so I was saving fuel but going fast. I was kind of trying to guess how much fuel I needed to save. At some point Marc (Goossens) got a really good run out of Turn 3, and at some point I was asking on the radio should I defend or should I just let him go by. That’s what I did basically. They told me it was more important to save fuel than to keep the position. And then it was a matter of just holding back, just trying to save as much fuel as possible. I knew that Ollie (Oliver Gavin) was under pressure from the Porsches as well, so we were managing that gap too. I was really aggressive on the brakes in the traffic just trying to make a gap. Then as soon as we had a gap, went just went back toward them again. I think that is what we could do. I don’t know exactly if we were good or not (on fuel at the end); I think we were right on. The thing is that I wouldn’t risk it. I think we were probably better than the Viper, but I believed I should have kept that result. I preferred to keep Corvette two-three and in good position for the championship.”
HOW SURPRISED WERE YOU TO COME OFF PIT LANE IN P1 FROM THAT STOP? “I knew after all the pit stops came that we were the guys changing four slicks the latest, and we were almost leading the guys that came in the previous time the latest so I knew we had some advantage and fuel there. We needed just to do 13-14 seconds of fuel plus the tires, so we really needed to be sure that driver change was good. Everything went smooth. Fuel, tire change was perfect and I just remember launching myself out of the pits seeing the Ferrari just come in, and I just a half of a car ahead, or something like. So that put us into one-three at the moment. I was like…that is what I said yesterday after qualifying: When it comes to race time, Corvette Racing is the best that a driver can ever have. So, that is the thing.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
ON THE CHALLENGE OF THE FIRST HOUR: “It was a difficult beginning of the race with the wet track. But it was not super wet so I don’t think the wets (tires) really got up to working 100 percent. The balance of the car wasn’t great or right to begin with. Everybody was pulling away from us quite a bit. Then it seemed like the car and the tires came in, and we were doing pretty well for ourselves. But making the decision to go to slicks was really hard for me to make because the wets which don’t give you a good feel for what is going on. You can feel the grip is improving, but is it improving enough for slicks? And also just looking at the track, it wasn’t clear-cut dry or not dry, so you really have to rely on other people making the decision for you. Fortunately some guys down the back made the first move – it was wrong. So good thing we didn’t follow those guys. But when we did make the move for slicks, it was definitely the right time. So that worked out well. There was a lot of pressure from Tommy (Milner) throughout the stint when we were on the slicks.
“Then there was one absolutely fantastic pit stop from the Corvette guys! We came in seventh and eighth, and out one-three. That is unbelievable. So fantastic… absolutely fantastic. After that, Antonio drove under extreme pressure – saving fuel; trying to go fast… two things that are really, really hard to do at the same time. Overall it was a fantastic job for the whole team.
“I don’t know had we not had that yellow at the end what would have happened. We were very, very close on fuel. I have a feeling the Vipers were even closer. So who knows? But when the safety car came out right there at the end, there was a big sigh of relief from the whole team. It was ‘OK, now we have second’. I am sure we would have gone for it (if the race had restarted), but would we have won doing it or blown it?”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
ON THE RACE: “The race today was pretty hard. First of all Tommy (Milner) came in and we were seventh and eighth, and the guys just did a fabulous job with the tire stop, the fuel and everything. We went in eighth position, and came out third, and our sister car (No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R) came out in the lead! That is just a spectacular job by the guys. Just amazing that pit stop. At the restart, the (No. 62) Ferrari was pretty racy into Turn 1 and he tried to squeeze me as we came off. We just rubbed all the way down to Turn 3; I got by him and then I was up behind Antonio (Garcia) but the (No. 91) Viper was coming. It was quick. It just had a bit too much pace for us today.
“I was being told, ‘Save fuel, save fuel, save fuel.’ I was doing the best I could. The Porsche was catching us and catching us. They’ve got super straight-line speed so that was tough. In the end there, I think we were good to go with the fuel. I was wondering if everybody else was going to be in the same spot or not. I know we could have gone to the end, but I don’t know if the Viper could, whether the Porsche could or anybody else. We had done our job in doing that. The guys were fantastic in the pits. Tommy did a spectacular job of getting it through in very tricky conditions in the wet weather. So all-in-all it was a great team effort by everybody here at Corvette Racing.”
ON BEING TOLD TO SAVE FUEL: “You have to figure out your routine on how to do it and the way you are going to go about doing it. Where you are going to lift, where you are going to brake and how you are going to do it. I was working really hard with (engineer) Chuck (Houghton). It was frustrating, and a couple of times we were adjusting the engine map, and the Porsche was catching us, and Chuck was telling me, ‘Go back! Go back!’ The Porsche was so close. It was just one of those ones where it was nail-biting every single lap. You could not take your attention away, or ever think ‘We’ve got this now; we’ve got everything under control’, because everything was just in flux; right on the limit, and right on the balance the whole race. Sometimes that’s the way it is, and everybody on the team worked so hard.”
ON REGAINING DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD: “That is just fantastic. Of all the things that could have happened today, to get the points lead back, and to extend our lead in the manufacturers’ championship, that is spectacular. This is a huge win-win… we didn’t win the race, but in terms of the actual bigger picture, it’s been a great day for us.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
ON THE RACE: “We knew that the race would be dry toward the end. We didn’t do anything to the car to try to help it in the wet, so we actually struggled early on. It made it very difficult to keep the car underneath me. It was very loose the entire time in the wet conditions. It is tough here to tell when this track dries up; it is not very easy to see when the lines are drying and when they are still wet. So on that (first) yellow flag, we probably could have switched it to dry tires right then, but I wasn’t too sure, and didn’t want to gamble on that and then throw the race away. So we stayed out which hurt us a little bit there for awhile. But the car was really, really good on slicks in the dry again. I knew if we could just get Oliver in the car and get that last pit stop out of the way, we would be in good shape.
“I could have never imagined to go from basically eighth place to third place in the pits. Oliver did a great job on the restart and got second. So really, today’s result is thanks to Corvette Racing, the pit stops and the strategy that was played to perfection. The Viper definitely was quick today. Congrats to them. They’ve done an awesome job all year long so far. They’ve been right there, and they put one together. I know what that feels like; it is obviously very exciting for them. We’ve got a race on our hands for the rest of the year. They are quick, and we are quick. Porsche is quick; BMW is quick. It is going to be a big fight to the end.”
ON BEING THE POINTS LEAD – IS IT BETTER TO LEAD OR BE CHASING WITH A FEW RACES TO GO? “It can go either way. I think we all kind of approach each weekend as its own separate championship. We want to win that race, and if we can’t win, we want to finish as high as we possibly can. If you just focus on one race at a time, the championship takes care of itself. All we did today was not get too worried about the fact we were in seventh and eighth at the back. We were more focused on how do we make the best out of our race today. What is our best strategy. We did that. Here we are in third place, points lead. Everything is going the way it should right now.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“This race marks the middle of our 15th season in the American Le Mans Series. In those 14½ years, I don’t remember an event where a pair of pit stops had the impact on the outcome that it did today. The 3 and 4 car came in seventh and eighth, and they went out first and third. That’s all-world, and that’s what we do at Corvette Racing.”
Garcia qualifies second in No. 3 Compuware Corvette; Gavin fourth in No. 4 entry
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 10, 2013) – Corvette Racing’s two Compuware Corvette C6.Rs qualified second and fourth in class Saturday for the Orion Energy Systems 245 at Road America. That means the two velocity yellow Corvettes will roll off the grid one behind the other for Sunday’s sixth round of the American Le Mans Series. Antonio Garcia was second-quickest in the GT class with a 2:04.212 in the No. 3 Corvette he shares with Jan Magnussen.
Oliver Gavin qualified fourth in the No. 4 Corvette at 2:04.277 that he drives with Tommy Milner. The defending ALMS GT champions stand second in this year’s championship. Garcia and Magnussen are third. Corvette Racing and Chevrolet lead the team and manufacturer standings, respectively.
“I am very happy with the way we performed,” said Garcia, who made his Road America debut in 2012. “We got 100 percent out of the car. I believe everything will be even better for the race. We can use both cars to fight at the front.”
The Road America round begins at 3 p.m. ET with live coverage on ABC.
Saturday’s qualifying session was another tight one in the class. Only 0.699 seconds separated Garcia from the ninth-place qualifier. The pole-winning time was a 2:03.410. The Corvettes have a strong history at Road America with six class victories since its first race here in 2002.
So far in 2013, Corvette Racing has won three times in ALMS competition. Gavin and Milner won the most recent round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and opened the season with a victory at Sebring alongside Richard Westbrook. Garcia and Magnussen were winners at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
Orion Energy Systems 245 (all times CT)
• Warmup: 8:30 a.m., Sunday, Aug. 11
• Race: 2 p.m., Sunday Aug. 11
Road America: Watch It!
Sunday, Aug. 11 (all times ET)
• Race (TV): Live – 3 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 11 (ABC)
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“It was a good qualifying run. Yesterday I didn’t put together a full lap. But that’s what practice is for – to get used to new rubber and to see where you can and can’t push. It was a pretty good lap. I had a couple of very equal laps, and on the previous one I made a little mistake. Maybe we could have improved a little bit but not enough to fight for pole position. For sure it will help to not have to go through the field at the start (like at the previous round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park). We have a good car. If strategy goes the way it should, we will have a great car for the race.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4. COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“Coming off our victory in Canada, starting from the second row is very good. We have to hunt and search a lot to gain on the pole time. But the rest of the class is very close. You could throw a blanket over all of us. As it always is here, it will be a dogfight for those first couple of hours but then the last half an hour is the critical point. You have to make sure you have yourself in the right position and on the right tire otherwise you will really struggle. I’m confident that we have the right car and the right team.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“Today’s qualifying results were very encouraging. Hats off to Antonio and the crew of the No. 3 Corvette for picking up nearly a full second from the end of Friday’s practice session. Oliver’s time in the No. 4 car gives us an ideal spot to challenge and push early for the race lead. As we all know, Road America is full of challenges and one of the toughest circuits we will race. But good strategy combined with our solid teamwork will keep both our Corvettes in contention for a class victory.”
Compuware Corvettes come to Elkhart Lake in thick of ALMS GT championships
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 6, 2013) – For more than 50 years, Road America has come to define the quintessential American road racing circuit. Likewise, the Chevrolet Corvette has been America’s sports car for 60 years. This weekend, Corvette Racing serves as the bridge that once again reunites the two icons for the Orion Energy 245 – the sixth round of the 2013 American Le Mans Series. The team enters its two velocity yellow Compuware Corvette C6.Rs in the two-hour, 45-minute race.
Road America – featuring 14 turns and measuring 4.048 miles – is one of the more popular stops for Corvette Racing’s lineup and the whole of the ALMS paddock as well. The track also promotes fantastic racing as the last two ALMS races there produced the closest overall finishes in series history. Audiences on ABC can watch all of this year’s race action live at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, Aug. 11.
For years, Road America has been the site of numerous debuts and race victories for the Corvette brand. It only makes sense – a high-performance automobile deserves a high-performance track. Since 2002, Corvette Racing has carried on the proud tradition of winning at Road America. The span includes six class victories in the ALMS along with a plethora of pole positions and fastest race laps. Oliver Gavin, co-driver with Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette, owns a particularly strong record with three race victories, four career pole positions and four fastest race laps. Three times he was both the fastest qualifier and fastest driver in the race on the same weekend.
Gavin and Milner enter as winners of the most recent ALMS round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and sit second in the GT drivers’ championship and only five points out of first. The duo also is the only one in the class to win more than once in 2013. Third in the championship is the pairing of Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette. They won at Laguna Seca in May and placed second in early July at Lime Rock Park. Magnussen has two victories at Road America, and Garcia made his Road America debut last season.
With three victories this year, Chevrolet leads the manufacturers championship and Corvette Racing is first in the team standings.
The weekend has extra meaning for the North American sports car scene. The ALMS and GRAND-AM’s Rolex Sports Car Series share the Road America weekend as a preview to next year’s United SportsCar Series championship – a result of the merger of the two sports car racing organizations. Corvette Racing’s two endurance drivers – Jordan Taylor and Richard Westbrook – will race in Saturday’s Rolex Series event.
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
Orion Energy Systems 245 (all times CT)
• Practice 1: 11:50 a.m., Friday, Aug. 9
• Practice 2: 4 p.m., Friday, Aug. 9
• GT Qualifying: 10 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 10
• Warmup: 8:30 a.m., Sunday, Aug. 11
• Race: 2 p.m., Sunday Aug. 11
Road America: Watch It!
Saturday, Aug. 10-Sunday, Aug. 11 (all times ET)
• Qualifying: 10:45 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 10 (ESPN3)
• Race (TV): Live – 3 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 11 (ABC)
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“It’s one of the best tracks in America, for sure. It’s very tough and challenging because of the length of the lap and variety of turns. It has everything. You couldn’t ask for more as a driver. To get a good lap, you need to find a rhythm in the slowest corners for sure – like turns 5, 6 and 8. Most of them lead to very long straights so if you make a mistake you can lose a lot of time. Because the lap is about two minutes, you really need to get into a rhythm and not be afraid of corners like the Carousel and the Kink. Once you have that rhythm, the time comes very easily.
“If you are suffering from a bad setup or your car doesn’t match the track conditions, it is very easy to lose a lot of time to your competitors. You really have to nail the setup of the car. When everything works, it makes things much easier around Road America.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“The reason why Road America is on everyone’s list of favorites is that there isn’t only one piece that makes it great. It’s the whole thing. The layout is fantastic. It’s super fast in some places and super technical in others. You don’t have any really slow corners. The average speed is up there. And it’s a fantastic place to race. Obviously, there are a few places where you need to be fast to race other guys. It will be a tough weekend for us even though it’s a weekend we are looking forward to. At present time, the long straights aren’t our strongest suits. We will go there use all the knowledge we have with the C6.R and get as many points as we possibly can.
“In terms of exciting corners, I’d say Turn 1 is also one of them. You arrive at such a high speed and you don’t slow down very much to be able to go through there. You can also make up quite a bit of time if you get it right. You use every bit of road available to you… and then a little bit more. They have put in rumble strips there that can upset the car so you have to be careful of the attitude of the car when you enter the corner.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“You’ve always got this race track that’s fast, flowing and has a great feel to it. It has a lot of what everyone likes in a track – a decent amount of grip, decent straightaways, good brake zones, opportunities to overtake and places where you can tow up behind people. You have a couple quick corners that you can really get into. It takes some guts to go through. It has that really great combination of elements.
“It’s great to see how the track evolves through the weekend and picks up grip through the race. The way you set your car up, maybe you do it to take advantage of that at the end. We’ve been there and gone through different lengths of racing – two hours and 45 minutes, four hours, six hours… Whatever length of race there suits me perfectly. I’d like to do 24 hours there because it’s the type of place where you could drive all day and get a huge amount of satisfaction.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“It’s got everything: very, very fast corners – some that are taken flat-out, some that are close to flat, some aren’t quite there – then there are others where you have to brake massively beforehand to get the car slowed down before you can make the corner. Having super high-speed corners and straights followed by slow-speed turns makes for good passing opportunities along with a fun race track. I’ve always liked fast corners and fast tracks. That’s why I like Road America. It’s fast but also has a great flow to it. You have to do two or three laps to build up a little steam to get down to the lap times you’re capable of.
“I’ve raced at Road America throughout my career. My first race there was in 2004 with Formula BMW. It was incredibly quick in those cars. The horsepower and downforce made for a really fun lap. The speeds there were all pretty high. We were actually bump-drafting!”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“Road America is a classic circuit in every sense of the word. It is a favorite of competitors and fans alike and is a first-class facility that always promotes tremendous racing. Just as key to Road America’s aura is the history of racing in Elkhart Lake – first in the town itself in the early 1950s and then later at Road America. Likewise, Chevrolet and Corvette are proud to have a long and storied background at Road America. We expect that to continue this season with our two Compuware Corvettes in a GT championship that is competitive as ever. Fans at the track and watching live on ABC will be in for a treat.”
LEXINGTON, Ohio, (Aug. 4, 2013) -Team Cadillac driver Andy Pilgrim finished fourth in his No. 8 Cadillac CTS-V racer in today’s running of the Pirelli World Challenge Championship race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Teammates Johnny O’Connell and Jordan Taylor were classified in 11 and 12.
On the standing start O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) was able to fall in line and run in fourth. Teammate Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) had to avoid Taylor (Apopka, Fla.) who had wheel spin and the pair carried on in fifth and eighth. As the eventual winner Alex Figge in the Volvo, checked out, the Cadillac trio was embroiled in a battle with the third through eighth place runners for the first 14 laps. On Lap 14 Taylor reported a low voltage warning and coasted to a stop at the infield just off Turn Two. One half a lap later O’Connell was pushing to get third and hit the back of the Audi of James Sofronas, who checked-up behind a slower GTS car, forcing O’Connell to pit and retire. Pilgrim was able to make a late race pass on the Corvette of Mike Skeen to
take fourth.
“I saw Jordan’s car hesitate at the start, I thought he stalled it,” Pilgrim said. “So my experience said go right around him. I got by Jordan and eventually by Duncan Ende in the Audi. Then we were in a very intense parade for about 13 laps. When you are the third or fourth guy in line you can’t go in as deep. I think Sofronas was having trouble getting his tires up to temp early.
Skeen got by me and I was able to get back by when he was held up by traffic late in the race.”
The difficult finish hurt O’Connell for the points championship.
“We were working through traffic,” O’Connell said. “James got on the back of a Porsche and I was ready to make a run and then James got into the Porsche and I, unfortunately, got into James. I didn’t think it was that big of a hit. I guess the front of a Cadillac doesn’tmatch up with the rear of an Audi. You hate this to happen. We lost a lot of championship points today. It hurts me for the championship. We had a good car up until that point. It was a good close battle for third, when the Volvos left everyone. We have three races to go. We need to make the most of them.”
Taylor had a disappointing mechanical end.
“I am not sure what went wrong on the start,” Taylor said. “I may have messed
something up on the starting procedure. It was my first standing start. I had full wheel spin off of the line and got passed by about everybody. I was able to get a few positions back and then on lap 14 it just shut-off on me.”
The team will travel to Sonoma Raceway in California for the Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac Grand Prix of Sonoma to run Aug. 23.
The Pirelli World Challenge GT race from Mid-Ohio and Toronto will air on NBC Sports Sunday, Aug. 18th at 2PM eastern.
Team Cadillac 2013 Pirelli World Challenge GT Results
LEXINGTON, Ohio, (Aug. 3, 2013) -Team Cadillac driver Johnny O’Connell drove his No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V racer to a second-place finish in race one of two today in the Pirelli World Challenge Championship race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Teammates Andy Pilgrim finished fifth and Jordan Taylor came home in seventh.
The rolling start had the Pirelli World Challenge field funneling into Turn Three with O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) on the move from his third row qualifying position. By Turn Five, O’Connell moved his CTS-V into third position. The same aggression was shown by teammate Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) who moved up two positions from his eighth-place start. Taylor (Apopka, Fla.) followed Pilgrim through in seventh. The next eight laps were uneventful until the GT field caught the back of the GTS Class and traffic began to play a role. On lap 11 O’Connell was able to squeeze by Randy Pobst’s Volvo to take over second. Pilgrim was able to get by the Corvette of Mike Skeen and take the fifth position with Taylor following on lap 16. Taylor would give back the position when he got balked in traffic a few circuits later. The race was won by Alex Figge in the Volvo.
“I had a great start,” O’Connell said. “You have a vision in your head about how things will go at the start and I have to tell you I really didn’t see that coming. There was a gap and I was forced to do what I did by what Sofronas (James, No. 14 Audi) was doing. I was able to pick up two positions in the
first two corners. I was working hard to stay in front of the Audi all race. Pobst had a bobble and I was able to get by him. Then it was pray and work traffic. The race changed when we hit the GTS traffic. I had a lot of oversteer in the car. I had to rely on years and years of knowledge and race craft to keep the position. A good points day for Cadillac.”
Pilgrim knew the racing would be close.
“My start was OK,” Pilgrim said. “I was able to get by the Audi of Duncan Ende. It was tough, tight racing the whole time. The grid was really close from the front to eighth position. I was happy to be able to move from eighth to fifth. The traffic is difficult. I got hurt a couple of times big in traffic. Some guys are good, others not so accommodating. One time I got caught up and it cost me about three seconds. It is hard to make up that time in this fast field. I got back to Randy at the end there. He went off the track. I think he had a problem going into the last complex of turns and he just edged me at the line.”
Taylor also had an exciting run in the traffic at Mid-Ohio.
“I got caught out at the start,” Taylor said. “Johnny was coming and I didn’t want to make a move on my teammate and the guy who is leading the championship. Once
you get a few positions back it is hard to make up ground. The top cars have good drivers in them. I was able to get a position back in traffic. Once it was single file, not much you can do. The traffic was interesting. Some guys use their mirrors and others don’t. That makes this kind of racing interesting.”
The second of two 50-minute Pirelli World Challenge Races will go off tomorrow at 1:35 p.m.
The Pirelli World Challenge GT race from Toronto will be televised on NBC Sports, Saturday, August 18 at 2 p.m. ET.
Team Cadillac 2013 Pirelli World Challenge GT Results
LEXINGTON, Ohio, (Aug. 2, 2013) – Team Cadillac drivers Johnny O’Connell, Andy Pilgrim and Jordan Taylor will start fifth, eighth and third respectively for the first of two Pirelli World Challenge Championship races to run at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend.
The Team Cadillac drivers have had to adjust their CTS-Vs to a SCCA mandated increased engine restriction since the last round at Toronto. The reduced horsepower of the Cadillac 6.2-liter engine has put an emphasis on handling around the 2.2-mile, 13-turn natural terrain Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Taylor (Apopka, Fla.) was the fast qualifier for Team Cadillac turning a 1:22.445 good for a second row starting spot in third, O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) recorded a lap of 1:22.697 good for fifth with Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) turning a lap of 1:23.086 putting him eighth on the grid.
Team Cadillac temp Taylor is getting to grips with the ABS braking system in the CTS-V.
“Practice was good yesterday and this morning,” Taylor said. “The car was fast right out of the trailer. It takes a little time to get used to the Cadillac again, especially the ABS braking in these cars. It took me about an hour of practice to get used to the ABS. Once you get accustomed to it, it is a very nice tool to have. We’ve made some minor changes to the car. I have been in the top five each session and qualified third today, so that is a testament to this team’s ability to put a set-up on the Cadillac that works for the new guy. The Volvos are fast here as they were last year. The CTS-V has come a long way since I drove it last year. The team has done their homework.”
Pirelli World Challenge GT points leader O’Connell will start from the third row tomorrow.
Compared to last year Team Cadillac has made a lot of improvement on the car for Mid-Ohio,” O’Connell said. “They do a good job moving the program forward. I have a good car. We have the possibility of rain tomorrow. That will definitely favor the already very good Volvo at this track even more. Team Cadillac has improved the overall package, so we will be right there as well. The Volvos will probably lead early and then come back to us. The first time I won here I was running in third going into the last lap and ended up winning the race. Anything can happen.”
Pilgrim has been chasing the set-up of his CTS-V.
“We started the weekend really well,” Pilgrim said. “I thought the car was really good. We thought the rain would have changed the track the more than it did today. I think we missed it a little bit for qualifying. The car was sliding around, lacking grip. I had a lot of slide in the front. It wasn’t turning in quite like I wanted.
So we will review the data and make a few changes for the race tomorrow.”
The first of two 50-minute Pirelli World Challenge Races will go off tomorrow at 11:40 a.m. with the second taking the standing start at 1:35 p.m. on Sunday.
The Pirelli World Challenge GT race from Toronto will be televised on NBC Sports, Saturday, August 18 at 2 p.m. ET.
Team Cadillac 2013 Pirelli World Challenge GT Results
