New Hudson, MI – November 19, 2012 – Pratt Miller Engineering was featured in the 2012 Detroit Free Press Top 100 Places to Work in the Detroit Metro Area. Pratt Miller ranked 17 out of the 35 companies featured in the midsize category. The company thanked all of its “amazing employees” for their passion and commitment to excellence.
Pratt Miller is known, primarily, for its connection to GM Racing. Serving as GM’s factory race team for both Corvette in the ALMS and Cadillac in the SCCA World Challenge; Pratt Miller also provides support for Grand-Am Racing, NASCAR, and IndyCar.
In addition to Motorsport’s customers, Pratt Miller offers full scale mobility solutions to the Automotive, Powersports, and Defense Industries; providing clients with leading-edge engineering and prototyping solutions. Our range of design, engineering, manufacturing, and vehicle program management capabilities are among the most sophisticated in the world.
For much information on the 2012 Detroit Free Press Top 100 Places to Work please go to http://www.topworkplaces.com
New Hudson, MI – November 15, 2012 – Pratt Miller recognizes Sara Blackmer, Director of Government Markets. Sara recently received the prestigious Women in Defense (WID) Horizon Industry Award for her efforts in the category of Business Development. Sara was nominated for her profound achievements in developing and executing Pratt Miller’s emerging Ground Robotics business unit and applying that technology to defense industry.
The 4th Annual WID Black Tie Gala was held last Friday evening at the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester and Sara’s award was the first presented of the evening. Sara graciously accepted the award and spoke of her deep connection to the military and how exciting and natural it is to represent Pratt Miller and their advanced engineering capabilities in this market.
Chevrolet Team Reigns in 2012 American Le Mans Series GT
DETROIT, Oct. 29, 2012 – As Chevrolet celebrated the 60th year of Corvette production, Chevrolet’s Corvette Racing team reigned in the production-based GT class in the 2012 American Le Mans Series. In 10 ALMS races, the twin Compuware Corvette C6.Rs posted four victories, six runner-up finishes, 12 podium appearances, two poles, and five fastest race laps.
That performance propelled Corvette Racing to a sweep of the GT class championships. Corvette Racing won the team title and Chevrolet captured the manufacturer championship. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner won the GT drivers championship in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R, while Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia finished third in the driver standings in the No. 3 Corvette C6.R. Magnussen and Garcia won the Michelin Green X Challenge four times, securing the Green X GT manufacturer championship for Chevrolet. Corvette Racing also won the ALMS From the Fans award in popular voting.
The 2012 season saw Corvette Racing return to the championship-winning form that previously produced eight consecutive team and manufacturer titles and seven straight driver championships in the GT1 class. After a mid-season move to the fiercely competitive GT (formerly GT2) category in 2009, the team scored single ALMS victories in each of the following seasons. The introduction of new wide-body Corvette C6.R race cars and a realignment of the driver roster produced a dramatic turnaround in 2012.
“There may have been some in the sports car racing community who had questions about the capability and resolve of Corvette Racing after our initial struggles in GT,” said Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing program manager. “I think 2012 answered those questions conclusively as Corvette Racing once again demonstrated its passion, its dedication, and its execution, thereby reaffirming Corvette’s standing as a championship-winning, world-class sports car.”
Many of the updates in the 2012 Corvette C6.R race cars were the result of changes in the GT class rules. The new Corvettes were two inches wider than the preceding version, with corresponding revisions in the bodywork and suspension to accommodate the increased track width. The rear wing was raised and the Corvettes’ 5.5-liter engines were outfitted with larger intake air restrictors in accordance with the GT regulations.
“The rule change that allowed wider bodywork and increased track width was a significant gain for us,” said Corvette Racing team manager Gary Pratt. “That was really what the car needed. Michelin developed tires specifically for the C6.R that worked well with the changes to the chassis. We spent considerable time in the wind tunnel and doing CFD simulations that improved the aerodynamics. The first time the drivers tested the new package, they were very happy.”
Corvette Racing’s revised driver lineup delivered a winning combination of youth and experience this season. Jan Magnussen and Tommy Milner traded seats, with Magnussen returning to the No. 3 Corvette C6.R alongside Antonio Garcia, who became a full-season driver after three years as third driver in endurance events. Corvette Racing’s “youth movement” accelerated with the addition of 21-year-old Jordan Taylor as third driver in the No. 3 Corvette for Sebring, Le Mans, and Road Atlanta. Milner joined Oliver Gavin in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R, with Richard Westbrook continuing his role as third driver in the three long-distance races.
The Anglo-American alliance of Gavin and Milner produced immediate results. After a third-place finish in the ALMS GT class at the season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the pair scored back-to-back wins in Long Beach and Laguna Seca. A third at Lime Rock after the Le Mans break was followed in short order by another win at Mid-Ohio, a fourth at Road America, and a runner-up finish in Baltimore. The pair clinched the GT championship with a decisive victory at Virginia International Raceway in Gavin’s 100th career ALMS start. Even when things went wrong – a gearbox problem at Mosport, a broken steering rack at Road Atlanta – the No. 4 Corvette fought back and was running at the finish.
“This year has been the toughest and hardest championship in all of my years with Corvette Racing,” Gavin said. “The level of competition, whether it’s coming from Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, or our own teammates, has been phenomenal. We rose to the challenge, and a lot of that comes down to the fantastic crew working on the car. Tommy has been a great teammate and performed brilliantly, and that’s one of the reasons we won this championship.”
“This year has been special,” Milner said. “In 2011 we won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but we struggled a bit in ALMS. Then I got my first ALMS win at Long Beach, and that felt really good. This year we had the whole package, and it came down to being consistent and not making mistakes. It’s been great to be a part of the competition in the GT class, and I’m looking forward to more.”
It was boom-or-bust for the No. 3 Corvette in 2012. Magnussen, Garcia, and Taylor racked up the first of five runner-up finishes at the Sebring season-opener. Second-place finishes at Laguna Seca, Lime Rock, and Mosport kept Magnussen and Garcia in contention for second place in the driver standings going into the final round at Road Atlanta. First-lap incidents in Long Beach, Baltimore, and VIR, combined with late-race contact at Mid-Ohio and Road America, cost the Danish/Spanish pairing valuable points. The Petit Le Mans season finale was another heartbreaker, as the ESM Ferrari pulled off a risky fuel strategy to win the race over the fast-closing Corvette, leaving Magnussen and Garcia second at the checkered flag and third in the championship.
“All in all, it’s been a fantastic year, and we were very competitive at every race,” Magnussen said. “We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, most of the time. We were in with a shot at winning every race, but it was just one of those years. Corvette Racing has done a fantastic job on both cars, and I can’t wait for next year.”
“I learned a lot this year, and I appreciate all that the team did for me,” said Garcia after his first full season with Corvette Racing. “I’m proud that I have become part of Corvette Racing and the team knows they can rely on me. We will continue to learn and come back stronger next year.”
The Michelin Green X Challenge is a “race within a race” at every ALMS event that recognizes clean, fast and efficient performance to accelerate the development of new technologies and energy sources. Corvette Racing won the inaugural Michelin Green X Challenge at Road Atlanta in 2008. This year the No. 3 Corvette C6.R scored a quartet of Green X Challenge victories at Laguna Seca, Lime Rock, Mosport, and Road America to capture the Green X Challenge GT team championship and secure the Green X GT manufacturer championship for Chevrolet.
Engine manager Dave Henninger and the GM Powertrain team developed the 5.5-liter Chevy small-block V-8 engines that proved to be powerful, reliable, and efficient through a long season without a single engine-related issue. Technical partners Mobil 1 and Michelin provided proprietary technology that minimized friction and rolling resistance, thereby improving overall performance in the Green X Challenge.
“In the sports car world, we are trying to deliver power, efficiency, and durability,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President for Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “The Michelin Green X Challenge award addresses that area of efficiency. That’s important not only at the race track, but also with the production car today and tomorrow.”
ALMS fans showed their appreciation for the team’s performance on and off the track by casting their votes for Corvette Racing as having made the biggest contribution to sports car racing during the past year. Corvette Racing won the From the Fans award, the sixth time that the award has been given to the Chevrolet team or its members.
Corvette Racing drivers also enjoyed success in other venues in 2012. Westbrook scored three wins in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series driving a Corvette Daytona Prototype, two of them with Garcia as co-driver. Taylor tallied a win in the Grand-Am Rolex GT driving a Camaro, and Magnussen won the Danish Touring Car championship in a Camaro.
Corvette Racing’s next event is the season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway on Saturday, March 16, 2013.
Corvette Racing 2012 ALMS Season Summary
GT Manufacturer Champion: Chevrolet
GT Team Champion: Corvette
GT Driver Champions: Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner
Michelin Green X Challenge GT Manufacturer Champion: Chevrolet
Michelin Green X Challenge GT Team Champion: No. 3 Corvette C6.R, Jan Magnussen/ Antonio Garcia
No 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R, Gavin/Milner/Westbrook
4 wins: Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio, VIR
1 second: Baltimore
2 thirds: Sebring, Lime Rock
1 pole: Baltimore (Gavin)
3 fastest laps: Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Baltimore (Gavin)
No. 3 Corvette C6.R, Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor
5 seconds: Sebring, Laguna Seca, Lime Rock, Mosport, Road Atlanta
1 pole: Mosport (Magnussen)
2 fastest laps: Road America (Magnussen), VIR (Garcia)
NEW HUDSON, Mich., Oct. 23, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pratt & Miller Engineering joined defense contractor, Northrop Grumman, yesterday at the unveiling of its offering for the U.S. Special Forces command Ground Mobility Vehicle 1.1 competition at the Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, D.C. The Northrop Grumman vehicle is known as the Medium Assault Vehicle – Light (MAV-L).
Northrop Grumman teamed with Pratt Miller Engineering and BAE Systems for the GMV 1.1 pursuit. The MAV-L is modular, transports up to seven operators, and is air transportable in a MH/CH-47 Chinook helicopter. The vehicle is built specifically for the Special Operations Forces and is designed to function worldwide on any battlefield.
“Our clean-sheet approach and purpose-built solution applies innovation from across our industry team. We deliver an affordable solution that meets the warfighter’s mission requirements and a great new capability,” said Tom Vice, Corporate Vice President and President, Northrop Grumman Technical Services. “We’re fully committed to providing the Special Operations Command with the most modular and agile vehicle capable of top performance in any operational environment.”
Pratt Miller was tasked in December 2011 with designing, building, and testing the MAV-L. “We were honored to be included in the MAV-L team with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems,” said Lynn Bishop, Vice President of Engineering Services at Pratt Miller. “It is extremely gratifying to see what we’ve accomplished using a Motorsports inspired approach on this innovative vehicle.”
Pratt Miller Engineering President, Jim Miller, went on to say, “The MAV-L project ranks as one of the most important we’ve completed at Pratt Miller, alongside our seven 24 Hours of Le Mans race wins, because of the contributions this vehicle will make to our nation and warfighters.”
“I applaud the Northrop Grumman MAV-L team for their committed focus on building the best possible vehicle to meet the needs of the Special Operations warfighter,” added Gary Pratt, Pratt Miller Vice President.
“The capabilities of our partners combined with Northrop Grumman’s decades of land forces sustainment and military platform C4ISR integration experience ensure our customers receive a vehicle as capable and flexible as their mission requirements,” said Frank Sturek, Deputy Director of Land Forces Sustainment and MAV-L Program Manager, Northrop Grumman.
Pratt Miller is a world-class engineering company and a respected industry leader in automotive, commercial, military, and aerospace industries. Our range of design, engineering, manufacturing, and vehicle program management capabilities are among the most sophisticated in the world.
Please visit www.prattmiller.com for more information or contact Pratt Miller’s Director of Business Development, Brandon Widmer: (248) 446-9800.
No. 3 Corvette Finishes Second for Fifth Time in 10 American Le Mans Series Races
BRASELTON, Ga., Oct. 20, 2012 – The race for the GT class victory in the season-ending Petit Le Mans came down to speed versus fuel economy. With the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R driven by Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia, and Jordan Taylor cutting seconds from the No. 01 Ferrari’s lead with every lap, Ferrari driver Toni Vilander made it to the finish without a final fuel stop. Thus the No. 3 Corvette finished second for the fifth time in 10 American Le Mans Series races this season.
The winning Ferrari and the runner-up Corvette both completed 375 laps on the 2.54-mile Road Atlanta circuit, with the Ferrari 30.676 seconds ahead at the checkered flag after nine hours and 37 minutes of intense racing. The championship-winning No. 4 Compuware Corvette of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Richard Westbrook pitted from the lead just before the six-hour mark with a steering problem, and lost 26 laps to the leaders while the Corvette crew replaced the rack, ultimately finishing 12th.
Garcia drove the final two-hour stint in the No. 3 Corvette, taking the class lead at eight hours into the race. Vilander pitted the Ferrari for fuel at 8:28 in the race, and Garcia made his final stop 13 minutes later. Vilander emerged with a 60-second lead, but Garcia cut that to 30 seconds in the closing laps. Two years ago, Corvette Racing won Petit Le Mans when the class-leading Ferrari’s fuel cell ran dry on the final lap; this year the outcome was different.
“It was a good gamble for them,” Garcia said. “At the end they stretched it, and they got the victory. Corvette Racing did what we had to do, we ran our plan perfectly, and all three drivers did all we could.
“I learned a lot this year, and I appreciate all that the team did for me,” said the Spaniard after his first full season with Corvette Racing. “We just need to learn and come back stronger next year.”
“It’s hard not to be a little disappointed, but that’s how it is,” Magnussen said. “Tonight’s result was an indication of how our season has gone – so close and yet so far. We had a fantastic car, we just missed out at the end.”
The Corvettes started third and fourth on the grid after the pole-winning No. 02 Ferrari was disqualified for a infraction in post-qualifying technical inspection. At the green flag, Gavin grabbed second behind Scott Sharp in the No. 01 Ferrari, while Garcia made it safely through the first lap in sixth. Garcia methodically moved forward, gaining fifth on lap six, fourth on lap eight, and third on lap 12. Gavin and Garcia were then running second and third behind the No. 01 Ferrari. Gavin took the lead at the 40-minute mark with a pass in Turn 7.
“At the start I managed to get a jump on the BMW and followed Sharp through,” Gavin said. “There was a bit of banging and bumping behind us, so I wanted to just hang with the Ferrari and get away. Sharp got up on the curb in Turn 6, then I nipped inside into Turn 7 and got by him.”
“We made it through the first turn and the first lap, that’s the important thing,” Garcia laughed. “I just waited to see how the car felt, and when I saw my opponents starting to make mistakes or have problems, that’s when I made my charge, one by one.”
Driver changes just before the first full-course caution at the one-hour mark saw Magnussen take the lead in the No. 3 Corvette with Milner second. At 90 minutes, Johannes Van Overbeek in the No. 01 Ferrari passed the Corvettes to take the point in GT. Both Corvettes then pitted under the second full-course caution, dropping to sixth and seventh behind several cars that did not pit. After the cars cycled through their pit stops, Magnussen was second and Milner third after 2.5 hours of racing.
“I made a mistake in Turn 5 and went for a big ride over the curb,” Milner reported. “I got too greedy with how much curb I thought I could use. It spit me out pretty far, and I’m glad I got away with it.”
“We were developing the car throughout the day so we’d have a good car at the end,” Magnussen said. “The traffic was crazy, crazy, crazy, and not just the new guys.”
The next round of pit stops came at 2:45 into the race, with Richard Westbrook getting into the No. 4 Corvette and Jordan Taylor into the No. 3 Corvette. They ran second and third, respectively, through their stints. Garcia replaced Taylor at 3:42, while Westbrook did a double stint before handing off to Gavin at 4:34 in the race.
“I spent a lot of time in traffic around guys who didn’t want to get passed even though they were a couple of laps down,” Taylor reported after his first race laps at Petit Le Mans. “It was frustrating and I lost a bit of time. We were still on the lead lap, and that’s what mattered at that point.”
Both Corvettes pitted during the race’s third full-course caution, with Gavin replacing Westbrook in the No. 4 Corvette and Garcia staying in the No. 3 Corvette. Gavin took control of the race at the midpoint, extending his lead to 17 seconds with only himself, Sharp, and Garcia on the lead lap after five hours of racing.
“It’s just extremely busy out there,” Westbrook explained. “You get 10 laps in clean air and feel like a hero, and then you get 10 laps in traffic and that brings you right back down to Earth. You have to fight hard to stay out of trouble, as strange as that may sound.”
Fortuitous timing of the race’s fourth full-course caution at 5:27 in the race helped the Corvette cause. Both cars reached pit lane before the pits were closed, while Sharp had to wait for the pits to open before pitting. When racing resumed, Milner was in the lead in the No. 4 Corvette and Magnussen second in the sister No. 3 Corvette.
At 5:56 in the race, Milner radioed to the crew that he had a problem with the steering. He was called to the pits, where the crew inspected the front end. Milner went back out for an exploratory lap, and with the problem persisting, he then took the car to the transporter. The Corvette crew replaced the steering rack and Milner returned to battle 45 minutes later, 26 laps down to the leader.
“Everything was going to plan, and then something happened with the steering,” Milner said. “I had a big dead zone turning left that made the car very difficult to drive. More importantly, if there was something broken internally, it could put our car and other racers at risk. They made the right decision to replace the steering rack, and we went back out. This team never gives up!”
With the No. 4 Corvette’s mechanical misfortune, Magnussen became the GT leader in the No. 3 Corvette. Magnussen lost the lead to the No. 01 Ferrari on a pit stop exchange at 6:34 in the race, then shadowed the Ferrari as a series of caution periods interrupted the race. Three cars were on the lead lap in GT: No. 01 Ferrari, No. 3 Corvette, and No. 55 BMW.
“I had a good first stint, but it was a shame that the second stint was mostly behind the safety car,” Magnussen said. “We put ourselves in good position to fight for the victory at the end, and that was really what it was all about.”
Magnussen handed off to Garcia at 7:39, and Antonio promptly passed the No. 01 and No. 02 Ferraris on his out-lap. Running second in GT behind the No. 55 BMW of Joerg Mueller after the pit stop sequence, he held off van Overbeek’s Ferrari. When the No. 55 BMW pitted, Garcia took the lead and held it until his final pit stop at the 8:41 mark dropped him to third. After the BMW was assessed a stop-and-go penalty for improper refueling procedure, Garcia took off in pursuit of the class-leading No 01 Ferrari, now driven by Vilander. He cut the Ferrari’s lead in half, but the Italian car won its gamble on fuel, running the last hour and 11 minutes without a pit stop.
The No. 3 Corvette C6.R won the 2012 Michelin Green X Challenge championship in the GT class. Overseen by the Green Racing steering group comprised of representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, SAE International and the sanctioning International Motor Sports Association, Corvette Racing won the “race within the race” with the best score for clean, fast, and efficient performance.
Petit Le Mans GT Results (Top 10)
Pos./Car No./Drivers/Car/Laps
1. 01 Sharp/van Overbeek/Vilander, Ferrari 458 Italia, 375
2. 3 Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor, Corvette C6.R, 375
3. 55 J. Mueller/Auberlen/Summerton, BMW E92 M3, 374
Gavin and Garcia Separated by .021 Seconds in Intense Petit Le Mans GT Qualifying Session
BRASELTON, Ga., Oct. 19, 2012 – Corvette Racing drivers Oliver Gavin and Antonio Garcia qualified the twin Compuware Corvette C6.Rs for Saturday’s season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta with nearly identical lap times. Gavin put the No. 4 Corvette C6.R fourth on the GT grid with a 1:19.065 lap time (115.652 mph) on the 12-turn, 2.54-mile road course. Garcia was just .021 seconds behind his teammate with a time of 1:19.086 (115.621 mph) that secured the fifth spot in the production-based GT category for the No. 3 Corvette C6.R.
Guy Cosmo captured the GT pole in the No. 02 Ferrari with a track record qualifying time of 1:18.677 (116.222 mph). The top six GT qualifiers were separated by less than half a second.
“GT qualifying was very close, as always,” said Gavin, who ran his quickest time on his fifth flying lap. “Antonio helped me out massively; he was caught behind a Porsche and I was catching them both quickly. He moved over at just the right spot going into Turn 10, which meant that I got a clean run through to the front straight. Then when I felt my tires were at their best, I caught traffic in the chicane, which killed my speed onto the straight for my next lap. Perhaps there was a tenth of a second in that, but we weren’t going to beat the Ferraris today.
“The final race of the year, qualifying fourth – we’ll take that,” the Englishman declared. “We’ve won from farther back on the grid this year. It’s a long race, and there will probably be plenty of action just in the first corner, so we’ll need to have our wits about us.”
Garcia had to contend with traffic throughout his qualifying run, and nailed his quickest time on his eighth and final flying lap.
“My fastest lap was at the end of the stint, so that means that our car is very competitive,” Garcia explained. “That’s where we have focused during the week, and we have a fast race car. We knew the Ferraris were going to be strong in qualifying. If we had put everything together, we might have been a little closer to the front.
“Petit Le Mans is one of the longest races of the year and it doesn’t really matter where you start,” he observed. “After the first round of pit stops, everyone will be mixed up. We have a very competitive car, very driveable, and we proved that today by doing competitive times through the entire qualifying session.”
The 10-hour/1,000-mile Petit Le Mans, the season finale of the 2012 American Le Mans Series, will start at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 20. The race can be viewed live on ESPN3.com starting at 11:15 a.m. ET. ABC will televise the race at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 21.
Petit Le Mans GT Qualifying (Top 10)
Pos./Car No./Drivers/Car/Time
1. 02 Brown/Cosmo/Lazzaro, Ferrari F458 Italia, 1:18.677
2. 01 Sharp/van Overbeek/Vilander, Ferrari 458 Italia, 1:18.729
3. 55 J. Mueller/Auberlen/Summerton, BMW E92 M3, 1:18.972
Special Note: There will be an exciting auction held in the Corvette Corral Tent on Friday afternoon, 10/19/12, after seminars & drivers autograph session.
This Registered auction is for Vicki & George’s son, Bart, waiting for a heart transplant.
For more information and to check out some of the auction items please follow the facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/278050202307392/279999895445756/?notif_t=plan_mall_activity
With GT Championships Clinched, Corvette Racing Still Has Unfinished Business at Petit Le Mans Season Finale
BRASELTON, Ga., Oct. 12, 2012 – Petit Le Mans, the finale of the 2012 American Le Mans Series, will crown a season that has seen Corvette Racing score four victories in nine ALMS races and sweep the GT driver, team, and manufacturer championships. The pressure to win the class titles may be off, but the Corvette team has unfinished business in the 10-hour/1,000-mile endurance contest in the red clay hills of northern Georgia on Saturday, Oct. 20.
Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner wrapped up the GT championships with a victory in the preceding round at Virginia International Raceway in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R, but teammates Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen are fighting for second in the final standings in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R. Despite a run of misfortune in the last two races, Garcia and Magnussen hold a two-point margin over their four closest rivals on the strength of four runner-up finishes. It’s indicative of the heated competition in the GT category that 10 drivers are still in contention for the second spot. Magnussen’s record streak of at least one victory in every ALMS season since the series’ inception in 1999 is also on the line at Petit Le Mans.
“The race will be tough, dealing with traffic, dealing with conditions, dealing with darkness as well,” said Magnussen. “Nevertheless I always look forward to Petit Le Mans, it’s one of my favorite races of the year. The atmosphere is fantastic, and when I first came to the States to race with Panoz, Road Atlanta was my home track. I’d like to finish off the year there in style.”
“Petit is always a big event,” said Garcia. “The race has been part of my schedule for the last three years, so I know the track and what to expect. Road Atlanta was where we first tested the wide-body Corvette C6.R last year, and we knew right away that the new bodywork was a big improvement. Now with a year of development, it should be even better. The competition will be really strong as always, but I think we are in a good position to fight for the win. That would be the best way to finish the season.”
Corvette Racing’s driver roster will be bolstered at Petit Le Mans by the return of third drivers Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Corvette and Richard Westbrook in the No. 4 Corvette. Taylor and Westbrook drove for the team in the Sebring 12-hour and Le Mans 24-hour races this season.
Corvette Racing has won Petit Le Mans eight times, including two dramatic come-from-behind victories. In 2000, Andy Pilgrim passed the race-leading Viper in the closing minutes to score the team’s first win in a major endurance race. Then in 2010, Oliver Gavin passed the class-leading Ferrari for the victory on the final lap as the Ferrari’s fuel tank ran dry.
“The 2010 victory was certainly the most extraordinary win of my career, an extraordinary turn of events,” Gavin recalled. “I still find the Road Atlanta circuit a great challenge even though we have done so many races and thousands of laps of testing there. It’s a grueling race, a tough race, and as we found a couple of years ago, you cannot give up. You have to keep pushing to the very last lap because you never know what is going to happen with the guys in front and behind you.
“It’s a place that you must always be 100 percent focused because there are some areas if you get it wrong, you are going to have a big accident,” the Englishman noted. “You have to use controlled aggression, be mindful of where you need to place the car on the track. Going down the hill through the Esses, you must be absolutely inch-perfect. With the race later in the year, we’ll have more time in darkness, which will add to the challenge.”
Gavin’s championship-winning co-driver agreed: “Petit is tough,” Milner said. “It’s a great event, a great race track for our cars, and a great way to end the season. I wouldn’t be surprised to see six or seven GT cars racing nose-to-tail for nine hours.
“We saw in testing last year that the wider C6.R is better,” he reported. “We have improved our Corvette throughout the year, so I’m looking forward to going back to Road Atlanta and seeing just how much the car has progressed since our first test there. The wider car produces more downforce, which helps you everywhere on that track.”
Petit Le Mans will run for 1,000 miles or 10 hours, whichever comes first. The season finale of the 10-race 2012 American Le Mans Series will start at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 20. The race can be viewed live on ESPN3.com starting at 11:15 a.m. ET. ABC will televise the race at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 21.
Gavin and Milner Win Drivers Championship with Fourth Victory; Chevrolet Clinches GT Manufacturer Championship, Corvette Racing Takes Team Title
ALTON, Va., Sept. 15, 2012 – Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner won the American Le Mans Series GT Drivers Championship with a victory today in the VIR 240 at Virginia International Raceway. Their fourth victory in nine races clinched the GT Manufacturer Championship for Chevrolet and wrapped up the GT Team Championship for Corvette Racing.
“This is the kind of day you hope for – a perfect race, a great race car, the right pit calls, and no drama,” said Milner. “I got my start in professional sports car racing at VIR, so to get my first championship here in my home state of Virginia is very special. I can’t say enough for Oliver and the Corvette Racing crew; they’ve been best friends from the day that I arrived. Just a great day!”
Gavin avoided trouble in a chaotic start and took the lead at 42 minutes into the four-hour race. A well-timed pit stop at the one-hour mark put the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R in control with Milner taking the two middle stints. Gavin then drove the final hour and crossed the finish line with a 19.5-second margin of victory over the second-place No. 45 Porsche.
“There is no better way to crown 60 years of Corvette production than by winning the ALMS GT Manufacturer Championship,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President for Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “This achievement is the result of a tremendous effort by the entire Chevrolet team. Start with a high-performance platform from the Corvette production group, add power, durability and efficiency developed by GM Powertrain, perfect the package with the engineering expertise of Corvette Racing, put exceptional drivers behind the wheel, and then go head-to-head with world-class competition in the most intense road racing series on the planet. Corvette Racing’s championship season reflects Chevrolet’s commitment to winning on the race track and in the showroom.”
“Winning the Drivers Championship in a category as fiercely competitive as the ALMS GT class requires speed, stamina, strategy, and teamwork,” said Mark Kent, director of Chevy Racing. “Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner have those qualities, and now they have the 2012 GT Drivers Championship. Both are excellent racers and outstanding representatives for Corvette and Chevrolet. We congratulate Oliver and Tommy on their well-deserved championship, and we are confident that there are many more titles in their future.”
Gavin scored his 38th career ALMS victory today in his milestone 100th start. He joined Corvette Racing in 2002 as an endurance racing specialist, and became a full-season driver in 2003. Gavin won three consecutive ALMS GT1 championships in 2005-07, and twice finished second in the GT1 championship. Following Corvette Racing’s move to the GT class in 2009, Gavin was runner-up in last year’s GT title race.
“Tommy made it so easy for me,” Gavin said. “We had a decent lead and I just wanted to make sure I kept that in case there were any problems at the end. From the championship standpoint I knew we were really strong and just needed to make no mistakes and get to the finish.”
Getting to the finish wasn’t easy. Just as the race started, chaos erupted in the first corner when the No. 20 LMP1 spun. With the track blocked, there was a chain reaction pileup. Gavin made it through, but Jan Magnussen was in the middle of the melee in the sister No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R.
“I was on the inside, and fortunately all of the craziness was happening to the left of me,” Gavin said. “I followed the No. 01 Ferrari into Turn 1, then there was a wall of smoke and I could see Johannes was really cutting to the inside. I had to go even farther to the inside, and then an LMPC car spun right in front of me. I thought I was going to nail it, but it just seemed to evaporate. I got through on the grass, and was nearly T-boned by Bergmeister as he was trying to avoid the wrecks. It was like the seas parted and I went through.”
The No. 3 Corvette’s race essentially ended in the first corner, with the car sustaining damage to its hood and left-front fender. Magnussen pitted and the Corvette crew taped the damaged panels, but he had to return to the pits on the next lap for a complete new nose assembly. The Dane rejoined the race four laps down to the leaders. Despite running some of the fastest laps of the race, the deficit was too great to make up.
“There was a bit of stop-and-go and it was looking like it was going to be a messy start,” Magnussen said. “Then we got going and as we went into Turn 1, the inside lane stopped a bit and it was clear for me on the outside. I don’t know what happened up in front, but they started spinning and I had nowhere to go. I tried to stop, but hit an LMPC car and had a lot of damage to the nose. I couldn’t go to the inside because the other Corvette was there. I can’t believe it.”
Gavin emerged in second, and was shadowing van Overbeek’s race-leading No. 01 Ferrari. At the 42-minute mark, Gavin made his move for the lead.
“I passed him in Turn 1 and made it stick in Turn 2,” Gavin recalled. “He got a bad run off Turn 11 and then a GTC car slowed him in 14 and 15. The GTC driver didn’t see him and pushed Johannes wide so I got a run on him. My car was better under braking, and I thought I could make it through if he didn’t put me in the grass.”
As the stint continued, Gavin’s tires began to lose grip and he was passed by the No. 01 and No. 02 Ferraris. He pitted from third at 1:01, and while Tommy Milner was getting into the No. 4 Corvette, the race’s second full-course caution began. That fortuitous timing put the Gavin/Milner Corvette in the GT lead when racing resumed after the pit stop cycle.
Milner ran a relatively uneventful double stint, maintaining a steady four-second lead over the second-place No. 56 BMW. Milner pitted at 2:12 into the race for tires and fuel and stopped again with one hour to go, turning the No. 4 Corvette over to Gavin for the run to the finish. Almost simultaneously the No. 56 BMW of championship rival Dirk Mueller pitted with a broken toe link, falling from second to eighth.
“When the car is that good and so comfortable, when you’re by yourself and out in clean air, it’s a lot of fun,” Milner said. “That was a good two stints. A great pit stop and a bit of good luck got us in before the yellow and put us ahead, but nobody could catch us.”
Magnussen ran to 2:19 before handing off the No. 3 Corvette C6.R to Antonio Garcia. The Spaniard drove to the checkered flag, gaining spots with quick laps and attrition among his rivals to finish eighth. Magnussen and Garcia are second in the driver standings going into the season finale at Road Atlanta.
Today’s victory was Corvette Racing’s 85th win in 140 races. Chevrolet and Corvette Racing have won nine ALMS manufacturer and team championships since 2001. The team made the transition to the production-based GT category in 2009, and has scored eight wins in the super-competitive class.
“I think today was emblematic of all the things that make Corvette Racing a champion,” said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. “Preparation, strategy, and execution.”
Corvette Racing’s next event is the 10-hour/1,000-mile Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., on Saturday, Oct. 20.
American Le Mans Series VIR 240 GT Results (Top 10)
