GT championship co-leader Garcia qualifies No. 3 Corvette fourth in GT; Gavin seventh in No. 4
BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 18, 2013) – The final race for the Chevrolet Corvette C6.R will see two of Corvette Racing’s GT challengers starting fourth and seventh on the GT grid for Saturday’s Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Antonio Garcia qualified the No. 3 Compuware Corvette fourth with a lap of 1:19.128 (115.560 mph) in the finale of the American Le Mans Series.
Garcia and Jan Magnussen enter the 1,000-mile/10-hour race leading the GT drivers’ championship. With three wins this season, the duo needs a seventh-place finish or better Saturday with Jordan Taylor to clinch the title. Their only challenger for the title – Dirk Muller – will start fifth. The top seven cars were within 0.579 seconds of each other.
Garcia set his best time on his final lap of the session to beat Muller’s time. The No. 3 Corvette placed second in last year’s Petit Le Mans, and a similar showing Saturday would give Corvette Racing a drivers’ championship for the ninth time since 2001. Magnussen won the 2008 GT1 title, and Garcia was third in last year’s GT standings with Magnussen for his best championship finish.
In the ALMS’ previous round at VIR, Chevrolet clinched its 10th manufacturers’ championship, and Corvette won an ALMS team title for the 10th time.
Gavin, driving with Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook, set a best lap of 1:19.440 (115.106 mph) in the No. 4 Corvette. The trio hopes to bookend their season with a victory to match a season-opening win in March at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Gavin and Milner – last year’s ALMS champions – stand third in this season’s drivers’ points and have a chance to move up to the runner-up position in the final standings.
Saturday’s race begins at 11:30 a.m. ET with live coverage alternating between FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2.
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“We had a decent setup and decent pace compared to where we have been in past races. I felt like I could really attack. We seem to be a little closer to our competitors than where we expected. It’s a very good starting position for a long race. No one will be taking risks right away. The more toward the front you are, the less chance there is of having an issue. This is a good starting point. Now we need to run a clean race. Who knows – for sure we want to make 70 percent. After that, we will go for the win.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“We are still searching for some punch out of the slow-speed corners. We also were looking for some direction change in the middle of the corners and made some adjustments before qualifying. I think we overshot with that. Now we have a car that is very much the other way and oversteering everywhere. I couldn’t attack any of the corners or carry my brakes all the way in. I was very nervous with the rear of the car, and my steering inputs were very, very small. It was the sort of stuff you expect when you have a little too much on the nose of the car and the rear is too light. But it’s a long race. We will take seventh place; we have worked our way up well from those positions all year. I’m pretty confident we can do it again. We will get the car right and will be there in the race.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“One of the main goals of the session was to start in front of the BMW, which we accomplished. Antonio put in a great final lap, and Oliver positioned the No. 4 to help the team car fight for the championship. Now the goal is to have a clean, mistake-free race under very competitive conditions to wrap up our ninth ALMS drivers’ title – a remarkable feat over the last 15 years. The drivers, engineers and crew have performed brilliantly under pressure all season. Now it comes down to the final race. We are prepared and ready.”
O’Connell wins driver’s Championship, Cadillac manufacturer title
DETROIT, (Oct.18, 2013) -Team Cadillac driver Johnny O’Connell defended his Pirelli World Challenge GT Driver’s Championship by winning five races over the 14 race season which concluded in Houston 12 days ago. Teammate Andy Pilgrim finished the season in third, and Cadillac won the GT manufacturer championship for the second year in a row.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) took the championship right down the last few laps of a very exciting final round in Houston. The Georgian posted wins at Circuit of the America’s (COTA), Detroit, Lime Rock, Toronto and Houston to win the GT driver’s championship by a slim 57 point margin. Teammate Pilgrim posted a win at Sonoma Raceway and was credited with eight podium finishes on the season.
“There were two big highlights to my season,” O’Connell said. “The first would be COTA where we first showed that we can be competitive. Personally it was an important event to reestablish ourselves as contenders for the championship. The other would be the Houston win. We needed to deliver in the last race, in the rain and Team Cadillac delivered.”
“I think I will always look back on that drive as one of my best ever,” he continued. “The conditions going from wet to dry were challenging. It took patience at times and when we needed to attack we had the car, which was critical. There was a lot of pressure on me that weekend and to deliver for Team Cadillac was very satisfying.”
“Currently there are so many positive things going on with World Challenge,” O’Connell explained. “I’ve seen over my three years the great improvements the organizers have made and I’m confident that in 2014, and beyond, World Challenge Racing will become more of a destination for top line drivers.”
Pilgrim capitalized on his race win at Sonoma to place third in the GT championship while playing a significant role in helping Team Cadillac win the manufacturer title and O’Connell the driver’s championship.
“I had a really good year,” Pilgrim said. “I felt that I was driving as well as I ever have. We had some set-up gremlins to sort out early in the season, but once we got a handle on things we were getting stronger and stronger right through to the end of the year.”
“There were way more high points than low points that’s for sure,” he continued. “The Detroit crash was avoidable and not a great way to end that weekend, but I cannot complain. The high points were numerous. The hard fought second place finish at COTA with both rear tires falling apart was a good one. The race at Mid-Ohio, racing Mike Skeen for fourth place was a really memorable scrap down to the last turn. The win at Sonoma was great and the final round street fight in Houston capped off the year with me having a bump and banging few laps to pass the two Audi R8s to help Johnny win his second straight championship. The Houston race weekend was a bit like being in an episode of The Twilight Zone, every minute, things just kept getting weirder and weirder. We started in the rain, the track dried and all of the drama from the green to the checker was exciting for both the drivers and the fans.”
John Kraemer, Cadillac V-Series Marketing Manager, was pleased with the race results as well as the Team Cadillac presence within the event.
“Everyone at Cadillac is ecstatic that Team Cadillac won our second consecutive manufacturer title and that Johnny won and defended the driver’s championship,” Kraemer said. “Throughout the season we built quite a following, we entertained over 600 Cadillac CTS-V owners who enthusiastically supported the racing effort throughout the year. We interacted and educated thousands more on Cadillac products through our at the track activation. We are looking forward to even more competition in 2014 and expanding the Team Cadillac fan base over the 16 race schedule.”
2013 Pirelli World Challenge Drivers’ Points Standings:
Johnny O’Connell, Team Cadillac, Cadillac CTS-V, 1481
James Sofronas, GMG Motorsports Audi R8 LMS, 1444
Andy Pilgrim, Team Cadillac, Cadillac CTS-V, 1379
Randy Pobst, K-Pax Volvo S60, 1321
Alex Figge, K-Pax Volvo S60, 1177
2013 Pirelli World Challenge Manufacturer Championship Points:
Cadillac 109
Audi 82
Volvo 80
Chevrolet 30
O’Connell’s 2013 Pirelli World Challenge season stats include:
* Five wins: COTA, Detroit, Lime Rock, Toronto and Houston
* Second place finishes at Detroit (race two) and Mid-Ohio
* Third place runs at St. Pete (2) and at Lime Rock (race two)
* Average finishing position of fifth
* Average starting position of 2.62
* Seven fastest race laps
* Completed 380 of a possible 446
Pilgrim 2013 Pirelli World Challenge season stats:
* One race win at Sonoma
* Second at Long Beach, COTA, Lime Rock and Toronto
* Third place runs at COTA (race one), Detroit and Houston
* Pilgrim has an average race finish of 3.31
* Completed 444 race laps of a possible 446
The Pirelli World Challenge Championship season finale FOAMETIX Grand Prix of Houston will be televised on NBC Sports, Sunday, October 20 at 4 p.m. ET.
Pirelli World Challenge Championships Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg,
March 23-24
O’Connell started fifth, finished third; race two, started fourth, finished third
Pilgrim started sixth finished fifth; race two started sixth, finished fourth
O’Connell and Pilgrim started the 50-minute first race together on the third row of the Pirelli World Challenge GT grid based upon their fifth and sixth place qualifying times. For the first of two races this weekend, the series’ officials decided to have the competitors come to the green flag using a rolling start. Tomorrow’s round two will be a traditional standing start.
From the drop of the green flag the Cadillac CTS-V race cars of O’Connell and Pilgrim took up positions in fourth and seventh places. As is the nature of closed street course racing, the parade effect took over. On lap 11 O’Connell was passed going into Turn One, relegating him to fifth position. On lap 26, a full-course caution brought the field back together. On lap 30 the race restarted with a rejuvenated O’Connell and Pilgrim, each able to make up positions on the lap finishing the race in fourth and fifth place.
Tampa Race 2
Based upon their fastest race laps O’Connell started the second race of the double event weekend from fourth, with teammate Pilgrim starting directly behind him in sixth. Unlike the first race, the Pirelli World Challenge officials went back to the traditional standing start for this morning’s race.
With light precipitation in the air, the Cadillac CTS-V racers of O’Connell and Pilgrim jumped off of the starting grid and headed to Turn One. O’Connell was able to put his CTS-V Coupe between the Corvette of Michael Skeen and the apex picking up a position in fifth with teammate Pilgrim following in behind. As the race progressed the threat of rain went away and left the Pirelli World Challenge competitors to run the 50-minute event without a caution. On lap 30, the front runners began to experience problems. Early race leader Alex Figge, No. 9 Volvo, experienced engine problems and retired, he was soon followed in by second place runner Dalziel with a flat tire on his Porsche. Keeping the pressure on, O’Connell was able to drive his No. 3 Cadillac Racing CTS-V Coupe to a podium paying position of third. Pilgrim came to the checkered flag in fifth.
Pirelli World Challenge Championships Long Beach Grand Prix presented by Kia, April 21
O’Connell started fifth, finished eighth
Pilgrim started seventh finished second
At the start of the 50-minute race through the streets of Long Beach, Pilgrim and O’Connell both had very strong starts from their seventh and fifth-place starting positions. By Turn One, O’Connell was third and Pilgrim had moved to fifth. The Cadillac duo was taking advantage of every opportunity in the early laps. On lap two, O’Connell passed Sofronas in the Audi (the eventual winner) for second place. Two circuits later Pilgrim moved past the Corvette of Mike Skeen to take over fourth position. The first of two full course cautions flew on lap 15. The subsequent restart on lap 20 had the top four GT competitors nose-to-tail. Six laps later the lead Volvo (No. 9 of Alex Figge) had a brake issue and spun going into Turn One, giving O’Connell the lead. Soon after the Flowery Branch, Ga. resident radioed that he had lost water pressure. At the same moment, the second full-course flag flew. The team had O’Connell nursing the Cadillac CTS-V Coupe around under the yellow when eventually he came to a stop just five turns from the checkered flag robbing him of a win. After the race Team Cadillac pulled a three-inch piece of steel from the radiator of the No. 3 Cadillac that came from the Volvo.
Pirelli World Challenge Series Cadillac Sports Car Challenge GT win at the Circuit of the America’s (COTA), May 18-19
O’Connell started first, finished first; race two started first, finished seventeenth
Pilgrim started fourth, finished third; race two started fourth, finished second
O’Connell got a great start from his pole position. The strong start had O’Connell leading up the steep hill of COTA into Turn One. Just two corners into the race the caution flag flew, the first of two, bunching the field back up. The Georgian’s No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V handled the restarts and led the 50-minute race from start to finish.
Teammate Pilgrim had to work twice as hard to find his way onto the GT podium in third place. At the start, the No. 8 Cadillac CTS-V stalled on the grid. The stall negated his second row qualifying position as the other 18 cars in the field went by him as he restarted the Cadillac. With nothing but opportunity in front of him, Pilgrim began his drive back through the field. By the restart of the first yellow, he was tenth, by lap 10 he was sixth and by lap 20 he was fourth. He was then locked in a battle with the fast Volvo of Randy Pobst, eventually getting by in the esses with three laps remaining to take the last spot on the podium alongside teammate O’Connell.
Race Two
O’Connell started from the pole position for the second race based upon running the fastest lap of the first race, which he won. O’Connell got another strong start and raced into the lead. On the second lap, O’Connell pulled off the track in Turn 12 with a steering issue on the CTS-V Coupe.
Teammate Pilgrim also got a good start following his teammate into Turn One, making it a Cadillac one-two on the first lap. As the race progressed, Pilgrim managed to lead 13 laps while being hounded by the Audi competitors. He was passed on lap 14 by the eventual winning Audi R8 of James Sofronas. Two laps later he was passed by the No. 24 Audi of Duncan Ende. On lap 20 the only caution of the race flew. The restart on lap 24 was the opportunity Pilgrim needed to get second place back for his second podium finish of the weekend.
Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac V-Series Challenge GT race on Detroit’s Belle Isle June 1-2
O’Connell started first, finished first; race two started third, finished second
Pilgrim started fourth, finished third, race two started fourth, finished second
O’Connell came to the rolling start of the 50-minute race from the pole position. Getting a strong jump he managed to the lead entire 25-lap race fending off his pursuers through three restarts. For O’Connell, the victory was his second on the season and third for Cadillac on Belle Isle.
Teammate Pilgrim started from fourth position and made quick work of the third-place Audi, passing him in Turn Three following the first restart. The Cadillac duo will be looking for a repeat result in the second race of the weekend to go off at 12 p.m. tomorrow.
Race Two
O’Connell was hoping to carry the momentum forward from the previous day when he won the first race of the weekend in his No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe. In qualifying this morning, O’Connell ran a time of 1:33.368 to start third, with teammate Pilgrim starting alongside in fourth with a time of 1:33.989. At the start of the race, O’Connell was able to get the power of the 6.2-liter Cadillac engine to the ground and exit Turn Two in second place. Then, between turns two and three the caution lights came on inside the cars and the front runners slowed. One turn later the race went green again. This gave front-runner and eventual winner Randy Pobst’s Volvo a gap to O’Connell in second and cost Pilgrim positions as well. The duo pressed forward. On lap nine the first of three caution flags flew with O’Connell in second and Pilgrim running in fourth. The race went green again on lap 14 and then immediately to yellow on the same lap. On lap 20 the race resumed. Pilgrim was able to get a run at the exit of Turn Two and had the Audi of James Sofronas lined up, for the second day in a row, to make the pass on the outside before Turn Three. Sofronas was not going to have the move repeated and took Pilgrim deep into the corner using the Cadillac to help stop the Audi. Andy turned in and was hit from behind parking his No. 8 Cadillac CTS-V in the middle of the corner. Before he could get going, he was hit once again rendering him immobile. The race ended under caution.
Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac Grand Prix of Lime Rock, July 5-6
Pilgrim starts second, finishes second; race two starts second, finishes second
The Cadillac duo started from the front row for the 50-minute race with O’Connell on pole. From the drop of the green with a rolling start the Georgia based driver sped off into the lead. On lap five, O’Connell was held up in traffic, giving way to the eventual winner Mike Skeen in his Corvette. Following the only caution flag of the race on lap 33, O’Connell was running second with Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) in third. Coming through the last turn of the final lap O’Connell was held up and teammate Pilgrim used his momentum to carrying him by into second at the checkered flag.
Race Two
Coming back from second and third-place finishes, Pilgrim second and O’Connell third, in the first race at Lime Rock, the duo improved one position each on today’s podium to make it a Team Cadillac win for O’Connell and second place for teammate Pilgrim.
Starting from the pole, based upon running the fastest lap in yesterday’s race, O’Connell was able to speed off into the lead. Teammate Pilgrim started third, directly behind the No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V of O’Connell, but the Volvo of Randy Post beat him to Turn One, putting the Cadillac drivers one and three for the first nine laps. On lap nine, Pilgrim was hounding Pobst and made the pass into Turn Three. The race witnessed one caution on lap 27, which bunched the field. On the restart, there was the lapped No.12 Nissan of Tim Bell between O’Connell and Pilgrim. Pilgrim made quick work of the Nissan, but his pursuers were caught behind the GTR as the Cadillac duo were able to get some breathing room thanks to lap traffic.
Pirelli World Challenge Toronto Grand Prix GT at Exhibition Place, July 14
O’Connell wins, Pilgrim second
When the lights on the starting lamp went off the Volvo of Alex Figge, starting second, got the jump on O’Connell into Turn One. Pilgrim filled in fourth position. As the race progressed O’Connell was hounding the Volvo for the top spot in GT. On lap 12, with reported water on the track in Turn Six, Figge spun and O’Connell assumed the lead. Nine laps later, the No. 14 Audi of James Sofronas had a moment going into Turn One, went wide, which allowed Pilgrim to take over the second position. For the remainder of the 50-minute race, the No. 3 and No. 8 Cadillac CTS-V cars went on to take the checkered flag. O’Connell logs his fourth win of the season.
Pirelli World Challenge Championship race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Aug. 3-4
Jordan Taylor start third, finishes seventh; race two starts eighth, finishes twelfth
The rolling start had the Pirelli World Challenge field funneling into Turn Three with O’Connell 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 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.
Race Two
From the excitement of the standing start O’Connell was able to fall in line and run in fourth. Teammate Pilgrim 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.
Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac Grand Prix of Sonoma, Aug. 25
O’Connell started first, finished eleventh
Pilgrim started second, finished first
Pilgrim was able to get a strong standing start from his front row grid position. He sped by teammate O’Connell who was stalled on the grid. Pilgrim was side-by-side with the Volvo of Randy Pobst into Turn Two, but was able to hold the lead. On lap seven the only caution of the race flew. The Florida based driver was able to control the restart to lead every lap of the race for his first victory of the season.
Pirelli World Challenge FOAMETIX Grand Prix of Houston, Oct. 6.
O’Connell started second, finished first
Pilgrim started third, finished third
The 90-degree temperatures with the high humidity of the practice days gave way to mid-60s and rain on race morning. Track action was delayed for more than an hour as rain blanketed the greater Houston area. The Pirelli World Challenge race started in the rain and would end in drying conditions.
The World Challenge officials scrubbed the traditional standing start and began the event under yellow in a single file with GT points leader James Sofronas, No. 14 Audi R8, on the pole. O’Connell was slotted in second when the race took the green flag. The early going had the drivers making in-car adjustments to maximize traction in the wet conditions on the 1.7-mile, 10-turn track that runs alongside Reliant Field, home to the Texans NFL team. In the early laps O’Connell fell back to fourth position. As the rain stopped and the track began to dry the temperature rose and so did the level of on track action. Rene Rast, No. 95 Audi R8, was brought in to help Sofronas secure the championship. Rast was lapping in the rain better than three seconds faster than the field. Early contact by Rast and Volvo driver Alex Figge had him chasing the field. Rast was able to catch O’Connell on lap 17 and get in front of the No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V, doing his job a “blocker” for points leader Sofronas. As the Volvo S60 with its four-wheel drive driven by Randy Pobst was passing Sofronas for the lead O’Connell was battling with the two Audi R8s. As the track began to dry O’Connell began to make his moves. O’Connell went by Rast on lap 21 for third place. On the next lap the Flowery Branch resident passed Sofronas for second. The points scenario dictated that O’Connell win as he set his sights on Pobst. On lap 26 going into Turn Two O’Connell took the Volvo deep under braking making the championship winning pass to take the win, his fifth on the year, and the 2013 Pirelli World Challenge Driver’s Championship.
The 2014 Pirelli World Challenge Championship will kick-off at the Tampa St. Petersburg Grand Prix March 28-30, 2014.
Team Cadillac 2013 Pirelli World Challenge GT Results
Road Atlanta marks final race for Corvette C6.R and ALMS championship
DETROIT (Oct. 16, 2013) – This weekend’s Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta will see two of modern-day sports car racing’s most prominent names take the checkered flag. The Corvette C6.R competes for the final time in the hands of Corvette Racing for the final event of the American Le Mans Series. One of the most successful models ever fielded by Corvette Racing, the C6.R will make way for the all-new C7.R to debut in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona in the new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
Two Compuware-sponsored Corvette C6.Rs are entered for this weekend’s 1,000-mile/10-hour Petit Le Mans. GT championship leaders Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen team with Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Corvette while Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook pilot the No. 4 entry that opened the ALMS season with a victory at Sebring.
All said, the C6.R helped deliver six ALMS manufacturer and team championships along with five driving titles since 2001. Garcia and Magnussen can add to that tally this weekend by finishing at least seventh or better in class. Considering those facts, it is no surprise to see Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and its drivers throughout the ALMS’ history records.
There are 55 victories worldwide for the C6.R, which made its racing debut in 2005. Of those, 51 were in the ALMS and four came at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Breaking down the numbers further, the GT1 version of the C6.R scored 42 victories – including a record-setting 39 in the ALMS. At one point, the C6.R won 25 consecutive races in class between 2007 and 2009; it is the longest such streak in ALMS history, regardless of class.
Corvette Racing will end the American Le Mans Series as its most successful entrant. The team’s 82 victories are 27 more than any other competitor. Corvette Racing also has 54 1-2 team finishes in ALMS events and has been the fastest qualifier in 64 races – both series records.
Current Corvette drivers rank near the top of the ALMS’ lists of individual categories. Jan Magnussen enters Petit Le Mans as the co-leader in the ALMS starts with 115. Oliver Gavin isn’t far behind with 110 starts. The Brit leads in career fastest race laps with 29, and ranks third in both career victories (40) and career poles (20).
The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship is a result of a merger between the ALMS and GRAND-AM. The series will feature 12 events throughout North America.
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“This car has won Petit Le Mans several times. For sure it would be great to end the ALMS by winning again this year at Petit Le Mans with it and win the drivers’ championship. It’s a very special car and has won so many races around the world.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“I’ve been involved in the ALMS since the beginning. It’s been a championship that personally gave me a second career in racing. I pretty much thought that when I was done with Formula One and the way it ended that it would be it for me. Coming here and getting into this championship – first with Panoz and then in GT racing – has been a super privilege. It’s not just to race but also to fight for championships with the biggest manufacturer in the ALMS.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“It is going to be the last race for quite a few things – whether it’s the last race of the ALMS or the last for the C6.R. I’ve gone all the way through the life of the C6.R – both the GT1 version and the GT spec. It’s been so successful and been a great car to drive and be around. I take a huge amount of pleasure in driving it. I’m sure the team has taken a lot of pleasure in working on it and preparing it for the racetrack each weekend. It has been up against the best car manufacturers in the world and oftentimes putting us on the top step.
“If journalists are looking to write a story on the ALMS, the GT car that been there through all its years is America’s sports car – the Corvette. It will be viewed as one of the dominants cars of the ALMS. Corvette has been there for every single Petit Le Mans. If you say ‘ALMS GT car’, I think the automatic reference is a Corvette. The noise and the velocity yellow scheme are the hallmarks of the ALMS. Other cars have come and gone. Chevrolet and Corvette Racing have always been here. The key has been a group of people who have stuck together and functioned properly as a team. Weekend after weekend, we are able to get that high level of performance from the mechanics, engineers, other crew and drivers. It’s been an amazing run. I have to pinch myself sometimes to realize I’ve been part of it. Sometimes in the sport, you have to look back after a couple of years and realize what you’ve been involved in. You look at the last couple of years here with great competition against different brands of cars and different teams. I’m sure we will look over the last couple years of the ALMS GT class and say there was some mighty and fantastic racing at every single round.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“The C6.R has featured pretty prominently throughout the ALMS. It was incredibly successful in the GT1 spec. And I think in GT that we have proven pretty well that the chassis and package – no matter where it was raced – was competitive, fast and won championships and everything there is to win in production-based racing. It’s a testament to the car and to the team’s drive, determination and competitiveness to make it a dominant force.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“By any measure, the Corvette C6.R has rightfully earned a place among the greatest sports cars of the modern area. Its on-track successes have proven it to be a more-than-worthy successor to the C5-R. Teamed together, these two proud representations of the Corvette production car have made Corvette Racing the most successful team in ALMS history. In addition, with seven Le Mans victories to its credit, Chevrolet and the Corvette brand are now highly respected around the world. All this was achieved through the hard work and dedication of al the guys on the team and the unwavering support of Chevrolet’s management, marketing and engineering personnel. I could not be more proud of all of them.”
(Saluting the ALMS) “It was the extraordinary passion and vision of Don Panoz that led to his creating the American Le Mans Series. In doing so, he literally set the stage for Corvette’s return to international sports car glory. His ability to bring together the historic 24 Hours of Le Mans in combination with the ALMS created what is now considered to be the most competitive sports car racing in the world. Chevrolet and Corvette will be forever grateful for his efforts – Thank you, Don!”
O’Connell wins race, Pilgrim third, Cadillac wins manufacturer title
HOUSTON, Texas, (Oct.6, 2013) -Team Cadillac driver Johnny O’Connell defended his Pirelli World Challenge GT Driver’s Championship by winning today’s FOAMETIX Grand Prix of Houston. Teammate Andy Pilgrim finished the race in third, closed the season third in the driver points and Cadillac won the manufacturer title, second in two years, as well.
The 90-degree temperatures with the high humidity of the practice days gave way to mid-60s and rain on race morning. Track action was delayed for more than an hour as rain blanketed the greater Houston area. The Pirelli World Challenge race started in the rain and would end in drying conditions.
The World Challenge officials scrubbed the traditional standing start and began the event under yellow in a single file with GT points leader James Sofronas, No. 14 Audi R8, on the pole. O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) was slotted in second when the race took the green flag. The early going had the drivers adjusting to the wet conditions on the 1.7-mile, 10-turn track that runs alongside Reliant Field, home to the Texans NFL team. In the early laps O’Connell fell back to fourth position. As the rain stopped and the track began to dry the temperature rose and so did the level of on track action. Rene Rast, No. 95 Audi R8, was brought in to help Sofronas secure the championship. Rast was lapping in the rain better than three seconds faster than the field. Early contact by Rast and Volvo driver Alex Figge had him chasing the field. Rast was able to catch O’Connell on lap 17 and get in front of the No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V, doing his job as a “blocker” for points leader Sofronas. As the Volvo S60 with its four-wheel drive driven by Randy Pobst was passing Sofronas for the lead O’Connell was battling with the two Audi R8s. As the track began to dry O’Connell began to make his moves. O’Connell went by Rast on lap 21 for third place. On the next lap the Flowery Branch resident passed Sofronas for second. The points scenario dictated that O’Connell win as he set his sights on Pobst. On lap 26 going into Turn Two O’Connell took the Volvo deep under braking making the championship winning pass to take the win, his fifth on the year, and the 2013 Pirelli World Challenge Driver’s Championship.
“When it started raining at 8:30 this morning I thought that the Volvo guys did a better job of praying than we did,” O’Connell said. “The rain just added another challenge to the day. Team Cadillac had done a lot of work on wet set-up during the off season and that paid off today. In the opening laps when it was raining it took everything I could not to wreck. Sofronas really had a good car in the rain. Once I got my traction-control system set, I started to go. At that time Rast caught back up. He made a semi late move and got by me going into Turn Six. Then he started to play games by slowing down at the apex, trying to give his teammate a little bit of a gap. I couldn’t tolerate that and give up a win. I knew what game he was playing. I started racing him aggressively and got by him and James. As the track dried out I was able to catch Randy. With seven minutes to go I got a good run off of the last corner and made a move on him going into the chicane and got it done for the win.”
O’Connell wins his second GT Driver’s Championship in as many years and his sixth as a General Motors driver, previously with Corvette.
“The championship, both drivers and manufacturers, means a lot to the team and everyone at Cadillac,” he continued. “They give Andy and I amazing race cars and support. As a driver you spend all winter working out and training with the big picture of the possibility of winning a championship in October. This one came down to the last race and the last few laps, which is the way you want it to in racing. When you have a great car like the Cadillac CTS-V and a great team behind you it makes it things a lot easier. Everyone at Cadillac puts a lot of work into this effort and we were able to reward them today.”
Teammate Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) had a very busy race as well.
“The rain makes things very intense,” Pilgrim said. “You don’t know what level of grip there is, where the puddles are and everything that goes with racing in the rain. The guys who knew the track and had raced here before were now on a more level playing field with the rest of us. We didn’t know how good or bad the cars would be. The Cadillac wasn’t great when it was very wet. Once the rain stopped and it was drying I was able to drift the car a little bit and go faster. The guys told me I had to get by both of the Audi R8s or Johnny would not be the champion. Rast short braked me and was blocking me. I managed to get by him. He was right on me and I knew what his job was – basically the same as mine. I got inside James and we touched and they brought me in for a drive through penalty. I hated that James got a flat. Congratulations to Johnny on the championship and to Cadillac on the manufacturer title as well.”
Pilgrim closed the season with a win at Sonoma Raceway and finished third in the driver’s standings.
Jim Campbell, General Motors vice president performance vehicles and motorsports, is proud of Team Cadillac.
“What a race,” Campbell said. “Congratulations to Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim on a great season and helping Cadillac secure its second manufacturer’s championship. Johnny showed today what it’s like to drive like a champion. The entire organization had excellent preparation all season. They came into Houston with a plan, executed the plan and won the race and the championship. It is a great team win.”
“That was a fierce battle,” David Caldwell, Team Cadillac technical program manager, said. “This race demonstrated some of the best racing that can be found in any series and at any level! I’m so proud of our drivers – they raced with precision and executed every lap without error. Johnny was able to take the lead for the final laps and clinch the driver’s championship with Andy close behind finishing third. I want to thank every member of the Team Cadillac for putting in the extra effort all year long to deliver both the Manufacturer and Driver’s championship titles for Cadillac.”
2013 Pirelli World Challenge Drivers’ Points Standings:
1. Johnny O’Connell, Team Cadillac, Cadillac CTS-V, 1481
2. James Sofronas, GMG Motorsports Audi R8 LMS, 1444
3. Andy Pilgrim, Team Cadillac, Cadillac CTS-V, 1379
4. Randy Pobst, K-Pax Volvo S60, 1321
5. Alex Figge, K-Pax Volvo S60, 1177
2013 Pirelli World Challenge Manufacturer Championship Points:
1. Cadillac 109
2. Audi 82
3. Volvo 80
4. Chevrolet 30
The Pirelli World Challenge Championship season finale FOAMETIX Grand Prix of Houston will be televised on NBC Sports, Sunday, October 20 at 4 p.m. ET.
The 2014 Pirelli World Challenge Championship will kick-off at the Tampa St. Petersburg Grand Prix March 28-30, 2014.
Team Cadillac 2013 Pirelli World Challenge GT Results
Garcia/Magnussen 3rd, Gavin/Milner 6th on title-winning day
ALTON, Va. (Oct. 5, 2013) – For the 10th time in the 15 years of the American Le Mans Series, Corvette Racing can lay claim to an ALMS team championship. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen finished third in the Oak Tree Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway in their No. 3 Compuware Chevrolet Corvette C6.R to clinch both the ALMS manufacturer and team titles with one round of the series to go.
The result moved Garcia and Magnussen ahead in the drivers’ standings by 18 points with 24 available at Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans in two weeks.
Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette placed sixth on an up-and-down day that saw the cars begin the race eighth and ninth on the GT grid. Once again, clever strategy and engineering plus quick pitwork allowed the two yellow Corvettes to march toward the front early.
Garcia made a steady and sometimes aggressive charge to the race lead by the end of his stint. The Spaniard displayed many of the same skills in traffic that delivered a Corvette Racing victory in the previous ALMS round at Circuit of The Americas. He handed the C6.R over to Magnussen with a little more than an hour left, and the Dane drove a measured stint the rest of the way.
Meanwhile in the No. 4 car, Gavin had a rough-and-tumble two hours that saw him work his way into the top-five at one point before multiple incidents of contact and a one-minute penalty after colliding with a GT Challenge Porsche just after the one-hour mark. Gavin handed off to Milner with 60 minutes left, and the Virginia native moved up quickly through the field to fourth late in the race. As the final 10 minutes of the race clicked away, Miler and the No. 56 BMW became involved in a dicey fight. The pair battled to the checkered flag which saw the No. 4 car settling for the sixth finishing position.
The 2013 American Le Mans Series closes with Petit Le Mans on Saturday, Oct. 19 from Road Atlanta. The 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance race will air live on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2.
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“After yesterday, we knew would be a hard race. We knew that if we didn’t have ultimate pace, we would focus on at least having a good car for the race. We worked on not having a lot of tire degradation, and that’s what saved us on race pace. We definitely needed to move up quickly, and Olly (Gavin) and I did at the start. Even when we fell back early after the first stop, I was able to muscle back toward the front. Our Corvette was very good, and our pace was really good. That’s what allowed us to catch and pass people, sometimes very aggressively. We needed to keep moving forward. Overall, we had a nice car and good stops.
“Even if we couldn’t win, we ended up with really good points. The most important thing is that we wrapped up the manufacturer championship for Chevrolet and the team title for Pratt Miller. That is a great goal and I am very happy we were able to win these championships for them.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“Antonio did a fantastic job in his first two stints. When I got in the car, I really felt like there was a lot on the line. I couldn’t risk anything – there could be no penalties or anything. We had to lock up the manufacturer championship, and we could do that by finishing ahead of the BMWs. That was the number one goal. I was far from as aggressive as I normally would have been. It was difficult because you definitely lose a little bit of your edge. I had to defend a couple times on the BMW; he was fast in some places and I was faster. Every time I got a gap over him, something would happen and he would catch right back up. It was tough, but I’m happy for Chevrolet. I’m happy for Corvette Racing. It’s great to get both these championships today.”
“Now we go to Petit Le Mans with a good margin (in the drivers’ championship). We can relax a little bit, and the pressure is on the 56 car to win or finish second. If we score even just a few points, I think we will have it.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“Today was quite a tough day. Every way I seemed to turn, there was contact or people hitting me. The track is so narrow and slick at times with the different amounts of dust and rubber on it; it makes for a very tricky surface to race on. The first stop was a great job by the guys to get us from almost last to almost first. But after that, something silly would always happen. Our car wasn’t great toward the second stop; we were on the harder tire, and the car was nervous, skating around and wasn’t hooked up. The thought was to get through my stint, hand over to Tommy, we’ll make some changes and we’d move on from there. But I got blocked by a slower GTC car and caught another slow car at the end of the backstraight. He blocked me all the way down to the last corner before pit entry. He stopped on both apexes and we had contact. We ended up both spinning, I fell back and then had to serve the penalty. It was super-frustrating. Fortunately we got a caution and got Tommy in the car. He did a great job all the way to the end under difficult conditions. For sure, the BMW was blocking him but the officials didn’t want to look at it that way.
“It’s been a rough day and weekend for the No. 4 car. But it’s a great day to come away with a great result in winning the manufacturer and team championships. The manufacturer title is the main goal for the whole year. Everyone is and should be happy about that. All in all and in the bigger picture, it’s been a great day considering how we started. The crews were fantastic in the pitlane and delivered.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“Oliver had a really tough two hours. But after all that trouble in Oliver’s stint, I got in and came out right on the tail end of the lead lap with a car that was still pretty quick. I was chomping at the bit to go chase after some guys. I had fun for awhile there – passing some of the other GT competitors and getting into the race. I was quick initially and then settled in with five other cars and we ran together for awhile. At the end, Dirk (Muller) flat-out blocked me and it should have been a penalty. In the end, we are ALMS GT manufacturer and team champions, so that’s not a bad way to end the day.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“I spend a lot of time not only in Europe but among the people that run and organize (Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship), and to a man they look at the ALMS as the most competitive GT racing in the world. I think you would have a difficult time arguing that if you look at every race this year – including all day here at VIR. We were eighth and ninth on the grid, and they were many out there who would have written us off. We have been in that position before. The beauty of continuity and keeping a team together over the years is that you develop an inner strength that galvanizes the team to an extent that makes you literally unbeatable. This is a team that does not give up despite all the odds. We took a car that qualified eighth and ninth, but ran up front with both of them. That is a testament to the team Gary (Pratt, team manager), the drivers and the crew.”
GARY PRATT, CORVETTE RACING TEAM MANAGER
“This means everything to us. Our number one goal when we start at Sebring is the manufacturers’ championship. Once we get that, we go on to the drivers and team championships. When you execute like the guys did today and have a good strategy –even though we aren’t the fastest car, somehow we get it done with great pit stops. We have what we think are the best drivers in the paddock; they execute and do a great job every single race. Chevrolet expects a lot out of us, and we just try to deliver. There is a lot of good engineering and a great group of mechanics and crew chiefs that execute in the shop, in the paddock and in the pits. Sometimes it looks easy but it’s really not.
“I also want to thank Chevrolet. We started in 1999 doing just the endurance races. They were patient, let us build the team and get experience. We didn’t have a lot of engineering on staff but we were able to go out and get Doug Louth and Lynn Bishop as our head engineers. That mix of good engineering, great mechanics and good drivers has really paid off. Corvette is a great product to start with. And the patience from Chevrolet with us to build the team and allow us to continue to do this after this many years really puts us in a big advantage.”
Corvette Racing delivers another Bowtie title with VIR victory
ALTON, Va. (Oct. 5, 2013) – Chevrolet added to its record-setting tally in the American Le Mans Series on Saturday by wrapping up its 10th manufacturer championship. A third-place class finish by the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R of Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen in the Oak Tree Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway was enough to clinch the GT manufacturer title with one round of the ALMS remaining.
This is the second consecutive GT championship for Chevrolet to go along with eight straight GT1 titles from 2001-08.
“It’s exciting for Chevrolet to clinch the ALMS GT manufacturers’ championship for the second year in a row,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet’s U.S. Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “This championship is the result of tremendous preparation, persistence, teamwork and great driving all season long. Thanks to the Corvette C6.R drivers, Chevrolet powertrain engineers, and our partners at Pratt and Miller for their efforts and results.”
Saturday’s result also clinched the ALMS GT team championship for Corvette Racing – its 10th in the ALMS and most in the series’ history. In addition to VIR, Chevrolet and Corvette Racing were victorious at Sebring, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Baltimore and Circuit of The Americas.
“The ALMS GT class was as deep and competitive as ever in 2013,” said Mark Kent, Chevrolet’s Director of Racing. “Winning this manufacturer championship required the highest level of teamwork from our group, Pratt Miller, and GM Racing Powertrain. We look forward to closing the ALMS season at Road Atlanta in two weeks and beginning the 2014 Tudor United Sports Car Championship in Daytona Beach with the Corvette C7.R.”
ESPN2’s coverage of the Oak Tree Grand Prix airs at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
HOUSTON, Texas, (Oct.4, 2013) -Team Cadillac driver Johnny O’Connell will start from the front row in second position for Sunday’s Pirelli World Challenge Championship season finale FOAMETIX Grand Prix of Houston. Teammate Andy Pilgrim will start third.
An early delay in on track action this morning limited run time for the Pirelli World Challenge competitors. In the 15-minute first practice session, O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) was the fastest around the 1.7-mile, 10-turn track that runs alongside Reliant Field, home to the Texans NFL team. He was able to post a time of 1:11.845.Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) was fourth with a time of 1:13.673. A near four hour delay followed the World Challenge practice which resulted in a new chicane being placed at end of the front straight to slow cars down over a severe bump in the track. This delay eliminated the World Challenge qualifying session. The grid for Sunday’s race will be set by driver points, with Audi driver James Sofronas on pole. O’Connell is 21 points behind Sofronas and is in a must win situation to retain his driver’s title.
“We had 15 minutes of track time this morning,” O’Connell said. “This track presents a difficult challenge, with the bumps and the limited track time. I am fortunate that I have run here before. The biggest challenge is to get a car dialed into run the race with so little track time. It would have been nice to have qualifying. I love to qualify. We made some changes to the car for the last practice that I wasn’t too happy with tonight. I liked the car better in the morning. We are in a good position. I have to push hard and go for the win. I feel comfortable on the circuit. Once we get the car working I will be in good shape.”
Audi has brought in factory driver Rene Rast to drive the No. 95 GMG Audi R8 LMS in the finale. Rast had the fast time in tonight’s final practice session.
“Rast can affect the race a lot,” O’Connell continued. “He is starting at the back of the GT grid, so he will have to work hard to get up to us. Getting there and getting by is two different things. I have to run my own race. I have to get a good start and get the lead and let things take care of themselves.”
Pilgrim is disappointed with the amount of track time, but knows that these things can happen on a street course.
“It is not the first time we haven’t qualified on a street course,” Pilgrim said. “The organizers have a lot to do to get these tracks race ready. We have to be flexible, but it is frustrating. Johnny and I wanted to have a run at the pole. It would have been an important seven points to win the pole this weekend. As it is there is nothing we can do. It is an advantage for the guys who have been here before. With little track time, it is a big benefit if you’ve raced here in the past.”
“It is going to be a traffic race,” he continued. “It is going to take a lot of patience and making the moves when they present themselves. You can’t be stupid and make a mistake, like clipping a wall. You can’t afford to sit back you have to go. I think we are going to see the GTS slower cars by about lap five.”
The Pirelli World Challenge Championship season finale FOAMETIX Grand Prix of Houston will take the standing start Sunday morning at 10:45 a.m. CT. The race will be televised on NBC Sports, Sunday, October 20 at 4 p.m. ET.
Team Cadillac 2013 Pirelli World Challenge GT Results
Magnussen eighth in GT; Milner ninth following spin on oil slick
ALTON, Va. (Oct. 4, 2013) – Corvette Racing faces a tall mountain to climb for Saturday’s Oak Tree Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway. The two Compuware Chevrolet Corvette C6.Rs qualified eighth and ninth Friday in the American Le Mans Series’ ultra-competitive GT class.
Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette set the team’s best time in the 15-minute session at 1:46.923 (110.098 mph). Tommy Milner, driving the No. 4 Corvette, was next in the order at 1:47.038 (109.980 mph) but the defending race and ALMS GT co-champion spun on another car’s oil and fluid at VIR’s famed Oak Tree turn with four minutes left in the session. The damage was confined to the front-left portion of the Corvette.
Corvette Racing seeks its 10th ALMS GT team championship, which it can achieve with a sixth-place class finish or better. Chevrolet will wrap up the manufacturer title with a victory in Saturday’s race, set for 2:15 p.m. ET. Live coverage on ESPN3 begins at 2 p.m.; ESPN2’s coverage airs at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Magnussen and Antonio Garcia are on a two-race winning streak, and their three victories are the most in the GT class this season. The pair leads the drivers’ championship by 13 points – 44 remain over the final two rounds.
Milner and Oliver Gavin won last year’s race at VIR to take the drivers’ title. It also delivered the manufacturer championship for Chevrolet and team title to Corvette Racing. Entering the weekend, they stand third in the GT standings and are 18 points back of their teammates in the No. 3 Corvette.
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“That was a tough session for both Corvettes. The car was actually pretty balanced.
The only strategy we can look at now is that we need to react to what everyone else does. We need to try to stay clean and get as many points we can. The chance of getting 20 points is slim. But if we’re good for 10 points, we’d better get 10 points.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
“Looking at the track now, you can see a pretty big wet spot on the track. I had just wound up for another quick lap and wound some front brake bias into the car. My first indication of it was when I went for the brakes and locked the front. The first reaction was that I went too far on the front brake bias and just went off. I started apologizing to the crew over the radio. When I finished, Chuck (Houghton, No. 4 engineer) said, ‘I don’t think it was your fault. It looks like there was something on the race track.’
(The session) “It’s not the best qualifying all the way around. We have struggled all weekend but I think everyone has with grip levels and other areas. Maybe we are having the worst of it. We’re not miles off the pace but would like to be farther up the grid than where we are now. The good thing is that our pit crews have been phenomenal all year long. We are making the most of things because we have the right strategy calls, not making mistakes and the pit work has been great. They’ll always be up to the task and will gain us a couple spots if we need.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“Today was a difficult and frustrating day. Weather conditions compounded by a tricky and dirty race track proved to be a difficult challenge to overcome. But those out there at follow Corvette Racing know that we never give up. COTA was a perfect example of coming home victorious and not necessarily having the fastest car.”
Auto Engineering Firm Leverages CliQr’s CloudCenter to Reduce Simulation Runtime from Days to Hours; Enables Advanced Engineering Support to the Corvette, Cadillac and Chevrolet Race Teams
Sunnyvale, Calif. —Oct. 2, 2013—CliQr Technologies, a leading cloud application management platform enabling businesses to move, manage and secure applications from any physical, virtual or cloud environment to any private, public or hybrid cloud, today announced that Pratt Miller Engineering has successfully implemented its CloudCenter solution to simulate high performance street cars, race cars and tracks to predict lap times faster, more efficiently and with higher accuracy. Pratt Miller Engineering, a full service engineering company, is a well-recognized name in racing circles with victories in American Le Mans series, SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge, NASCAR, IndyCar and the GRAND-AM series. The company provides design, development, construction and at-the-track engineering support to racecar makers like Corvette, Cadillac, and Chevrolet.
Prior to deploying CliQr CloudCenter™, Pratt Miller was faced with the challenge of insufficient compute resources that reduced their ability to run simulations, costing them valuable time and potentially a race. One of Pratt Miller’s key software products is a Windows-based vehicle simulation called Pratt Miller Lap Time Simulation (PM-LTS), which gives their clients a dynamic “13 Degrees of Freedom” vehicle model to predict lap times. The software accepts input parameters for all aspects of the vehicle and race track being simulated including vehicle information such as tires, brakes, suspension, engine and drive train; and race track details including elevation, banking, friction, cornering and atmospheric conditions. Using these variables, Pratt and Miller ran simulations on a single machine, with each simulation often exceeding an hour to complete, and if multiple iterations were required, the run time increased to days. Ultimately these simulations became a design bottleneck, forcing Pratt Miller to reduce the amount of design analysis while also necessitating they pass over additional projects or markets of interest due to the inability to compress the design schedule. To address this issue, Pratt Miller concluded they needed to parallelize their simulations across multiple machines by leveraging the power of and scalability of the cloud. The company also wanted a solution that integrated the PM-LTS application to the public cloud without any recoding or re-architecting.
“Cloud computing is a game changer for technical computing—it enables any size simulation to be completed in mere hours compared to what would have taken us several days in the past,” said Chris Morgan, senior systems engineer, Pratt Miller Engineering. “CliQr lets us harness the enormous compute power of the cloud from our native user interface without forcing our users to become cloud computing experts. By programmatically benchmarking different clouds for price and performance, CloudCenter also makes it easy for us to identify the cloud provider that best meets our needs based on our simulation requirements.”
“Helping companies like Pratt Miller realize the promise of the cloud has always been CliQr’s mission. The CloudCenter platform allows companies to take advantage of the cloud infrastructure in a way that that is unprecedented in the industry,” said Basab Pradhan, president and CEO of CliQr Technologies. “The solution helps companies move, manage and secure their applications on the cloud with the click of a few buttons, without the complex migration or re-coding previously required. We are thrilled that Pratt Miller is now able to capitalize on the elasticity of the cloud giving them the resources to pursue other markets and projects.”
“Although the cloud computing market has matured significantly in recent years, we have yet to realize the promise of universal cloud computing for enterprises, where workloads can be moved between clouds as market prices and service quality fluctuate between the cloud providers,” said Paul Burns, President of Neovise, a cloud computing research firm. “CliQr has developed a solution to the workload portability issue that plagues the cloud computing market and the CloudCenter platform represents a significant advance in making the ethos of cloud computing more attainable.”
CliQr’s CloudCenter is a cloud application management platform, providing Pratt Miller with most of the functionality they asked for out of the box. CloudCenter’s unique profiling templates allow quick migration of a variety of application classes including simulation and other high-performance computing applications. Using CliQr’s command line interface to the CloudCenter, Pratt Miller was able to transfer simulation files from local machines to cloud storage options and invoke the simulation workflow in the cloud without any changes to the desktop GUI. The platform also allows Pratt Miller to benchmark their application and then run simulations without modification, at any time, and on any public cloud provider based on the lowest price, the best performance or the best overall price/performance value.
With the CliQr platform, Pratt Miller was able to increase processing power anywhere from two to hundreds of times with no changes to the PM-LTS application. In the past Pratt Miller users ran simulations on a single multi-core machine and a base simulation model took one hour to run and 200 iterations typically took multiple days. But with CliQr, users are now able to run iterations in parallel, enabling 200 iterations to run in about 1.5 hours.
About CliQr Technologies
CliQr Technologies is a leading provider of cloud-application management solutions, enabling businesses to quickly and efficiently move, manage, and secure applications from any on-premise physical or private cloud environment onto any private, public, or hybrid cloud without the need for a costly and complex migration. Unlike other approaches to cloud migration and runtime management, CliQr’s innovative CloudCenter™ enables businesses to on-board once and run anywhere by decoupling a business’ application from the complexity of the underlying cloud infrastructure without scripting, recoding of applications or creating virtual machine images. Once on-boarded, CliQr enables applications to be benchmarked across any cloud or cloud configuration, optimizing price-performance by ensuring the application is running on the best cloud environment possible. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., CliQr Technologies is backed by Foundation Capital and Google Ventures. For additional information, please visit
DETROIT, (Oct. 1, 2013) – Team Cadillac is heading to the Pirelli World Challenge season finale FOAMETIX Grand Prix of Houston to run Oct. 6 focused on repeating as GT champions. Cadillac drivers Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim have a shot at the GT driver’s title.
The tale of the tape for the Houston finale shows a very tight battle for the 2013 Pirelli World Challenge GT driver’s championship (Cadillac has already sewn up the GT manufacturer title). O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) is the GT series defending champion. The No. 3 Team Cadillac driver has weathered a season of ups-and-downs in his CTS-V, but is still in contention to defend his title. This weekend’s advantage has to go to O’Connell. The Georgian is the only driver on the grid that has raced and won on the Houston street circuit which runs next to Reliant Field, home to the National Football League Houston Texans. In 2007, piloting the Chevrolet Corvette in the American Le Mans Series, O’Connell, together with teammate Jan Magnussen, won the GT class.
“I need to win,” O’Connell said. “That is the only way to secure the championship. So each lap will need to be attacking. We were very strong at Houston in the Corvette, and my win there with Jan Magnussen was very special. It is a challenging circuit with a lot of nuance to it. It necessitates that the driver is committed. It’s always nice returning to a circuit where you have won before.”
O’Connell is ready to help teammate Pilgrim who is also a possible for the championship.
“Andy is a world-class driver and certainly doesn’t need any help from me,” he continued. “As teammates we have always worked extremely well together to make each of us stronger drivers. I’m confident that we will both be helping each other in Houston and will have a pair of very competitive Cadillac CTS-V race cars for the weekend.”
O’Connell’s 2013 Pirelli World Challenge season stats include:
• Four wins: Circuit of the America’s (COTA), Detroit, Lime Rock and Toronto
• Second place finishes at Detroit (race two) and Mid-Ohio
• Third place runs at St. Pete (2) and at Lime Rock (race two)
• Average finishing position of fifth
• Average starting position of 2.62
• Six fastest race laps Completed 351 of a possible 417 race laps, 84.17%
O’Connell received a 20 point penalty for avoidable contact in race two at Detroit to go along with four did not finish classifications. Those penalty points, if not received, would put O’Connell a single point behind current GT points leader James Sofronas, No. 14 Audi R8 LMS, who also received a penalty at Lime Rock for avoidable contact.
Teammate Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) is also very much in contention for the GT title. Known for his speed and consistent finishes, the Floridian is within striking distance to equal last year’s second place championship standing or he can win it all. Pilgrim is looking to be a factor at the front come race day.
“With such little practice time at Houston I am going to take it one corner at a time,” Pilgrim said. “I see good places to pass on the videos I’ve seen, so I am thinking we can wait and see as opposed to being super aggressive. Obviously qualifying will be critical. A good qualifying run with little practice and no track knowledge will make it very tough for all the drivers. Putting it on the limit and making a mistake in qualifying could end your championship hopes right there. Some caution will be needed, there is just too much concrete to afford any errors. It looks like Johnny will be the only driver with any knowledge of this track. I will be talking to him for sure to get some pointers or to hear about particularly rough or difficult areas of the track.”
Pilgrim knows the track surface will change throughout the weekend.
“I like the track layout, it seems like we will have some areas to pass, but the track will be very dirty to start and changing every hour,” he continued. “On Friday, passing will be difficult, but by Sunday it will be a totally different track as it gets rubber down and also cleans up, which is typical of a temporary street circuit. I’m looking forward to running the track. I really enjoy Texas as I used to live in El Paso for many years. It will be great to get back there for the second time this year.”
Pilgrim 2013 Pirelli World Challenge season stats:
• One race win at Sonoma
• Second at Long Beach, COTA, Lime Rock and Toronto
• Third place runs at COTA (race one) and Detroit
• Pilgrim has an average race finish of 3.31
• Completed 415 race laps of a possible 417, only GT leader Sofronas is better with 417/417 (Sofronas 2.85 average finish).
The Cadillac duo has been successful on closed street courses. O’Connell has posted two wins, Detroit and Toronto to go along with a second place and two third place runs on temporary circuits. Pilgrim has two second place runs at Long Beach and Toronto to go along with a third place as well as fourth and fifth place street race runs.
Team Cadillac will travel to Houston, Texas for the Pirelli World Challenge finale Oct. 4-6.
Team Cadillac 2013 Pirelli World Challenge GT Results
