http://www.faro.com/en-us/

Lake Mary, FL (June 20, 2013) – FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: FARO), the world’s most trusted source for 3D measurement technology, is proud to sponsor Chevrolet’s Corvette Racing Team, campaigned by Pratt Miller Engineering, as they prepare for the 90th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The most famous endurance race in the world will begin Saturday, June 22nd and conclude on Sunday, June 23rd in Le Mans, France. With 50 competitors from around the world, including Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin and Lotus, the 24 Hours of Le Mans requires a balance of speed, stamina and managing resources such as tires, fuel and brakes. Winning this event is a testimony of cutting edge technology and dedication to developing world class sports cars.

Having won the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans seven times, Pratt Miller’s Corvette C6.R No. 73 & 74 Teams carry the pride of American manufacturing. As one of the most technically advanced sports car ever developed by General Motors, the C6.R race car has dominated Grand Tour Racing in the U.S. and abroad. Pratt Miller’s technology, products and personnel have propelled Corvette Racing to the pinnacle of production-based sports car competition. This year is no different as the Chevy Corvette looks to prevail once again to claim another championship in the 90th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Corvette Racing Team may don the colors of yellow and black on the race track, but underneath their carbon fiber shell is the work of good old-fashioned red, white and blue American pride that every Corvette fan can be proud of. As a U.S based manufacturer FARO proudly supports the Pratt Miller Corvette Racing Team and their commitment to excellence.

Visit prattmiller.com/lemans to follow the Chevy Corvette Racing Team

About Pratt Miller

Pratt Miller Engineering specializes in advanced vehicle design, modeling and simulation, and low volume manufacturing for the motorsports, defense, automotive, and commercial industries. As a dominant force in professional motorsports, Pratt Miller has been at the forefront of Grand Tour Racing and the American Le Mans Series. As the powerhouse behind Corvette Racing, Pratt Miller has made the American icon a formidable competitor throughout international racing.

About FARO

FARO is the world’s most trusted source for 3D measurement technology. The Company develops and markets computer-aided measurement and imaging devices and software. Technology from FARO permits high-precision 3D measurement, imaging and comparison of parts and compound structures within production and quality assurance processes. The devices are used for inspecting components and assemblies, production planning, documenting large volume spaces or structures in 3D, surveying and construction, as well as for investigation and reconstruction of accident sites or crime scenes.

Worldwide, approximately 15,000 customers are operating more than 30,000 installations of FARO’s systems. The Company’s global headquarters is located in Lake Mary, Fla., its European head office in Stuttgart, Germany and its Asia/Pacific head office in Singapore. FARO has branches in Brazil, Mexico, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Netherlands, India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Japan.

Ahead of difficult test in world’s most famous endurance race

LE MANS, France (June 19, 2013) – Members of Corvette Racing met with media at the Circuit des 24 Heures on Wednesday ahead of the first practice and qualifying session for the 90th anniversary running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race begins at 3 p.m. CET/9 p.m. ET on Saturday.

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

With such a deep field in GTE Pro, how many hours into the race do you think you will know exactly where you stand?

“It’s hard to say. You’ll find during the race your strength and weaknesses, along with those for the competition. The way it looks like the race will go with the weather, you will have to be faultless and run to plan. You cannot be distracted by what other teams are doing, especially if they are faster than you. It’s important to say dedicated to what the plan is and stick to that 100 percent. That will be very, very hard even in a dry race because of the competition. But if the weather keeps doing what it is doing, it will be a huge accomplishment to come out with a victory.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

How big a boost is it to come to Le Mans after winning in the ALMS at Laguna Seca?

“It was definitely a good thing to have that victory. Since I joined Corvette Racing, we had won the big races like Sebring and Le Mans. But the win at Laguna gave the team (in the No. 73 car) a big push ahead of Le Mans. We are very confident for the race. It will be a very big battle with all the manufacturers that are here. For sure they are all very well prepared but I think we have shown them before what it takes to win the race. We need to believe and trust in Corvette Racing to do it again.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

Is it a big difference coming to Le Mans in your second year instead of as a rookie?

“Last year was a big experience with a lot to learn. It’s such a unique event. I didn’t really know what to expect coming in. You get here on Monday and are here throughout the week with appearances, media events and autograph sessions… it is a roller coaster of emotions but you are here to drive a race car. Now this year I know what to expect and have such a great team and crew behind me. I’m very much looking forward to it.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

This is 12 years at Le Mans with Corvette Racing. How has the event and preparation changed?

“Certainly, year on year the competition has grown stiffer and stiffer. Again this year is another high watermark in our class with five big manufacturers slugging it out in our category. Corvette Racing has raised their game year after year, which is an impressive thing – whether it is in preparation and leading up to the event, preparing the car, laying out pits, practicing pit stops, the routines and schedule… the way the team studies itself and improve year on year is spectacular. It’s hugely impressive and something that gives the drivers a lot of confidence to see that they are on the top of their game. The C6.R is at the end of its life and is at the top of its development curve. We plan to get out there and take on whoever is the best. If it turns out to be us, then great. But we will be fighting to get a victory. Certainly you will have to earn it, without a doubt. There is just so much strength and depth.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

You were part of the winning trio in 2011 for Corvette Racing. What will it take to get back there this year?

“Every year, the biggest challenge is not making mistakes and staying out of the pits. Ultimately when you look back, the winning team has been the one that hasn’t made mistakes and hasn’t pitted except for driver changes, tires and fuel. This weekend it looks like the weather will play a role, which it typically does at Le Mans. We saw that at the Test Day and got in some wet-weather running. And the GTE Pro class is super, super deep with five strong manufacturers that can all win the race. This whole week has been about preparing in every way possible with little details that will help make any kind of repairs quicker. Our guys have looked at every little aspect that may cause issues for the race, and we’re prepared for anything that comes at us.”

RICHARD WESTBROOK, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

The last time you were in the car was a win at the Sebring 12 Hours. What did that do for the mindset of the team?

“To be honest, we needed that win at Sebring. Olly and Tommy had won the ALMS championship but we had had a poor run in the endurance events. It was important to turn that around. You don’t want to come to a race like Le Mans lacking in confidence. So Sebring did us a world of good. It is great to run with these two (Gavin and Milner). I know what they want from the car, and they know what I want from the car. We want to win this race in the last Le Mans for the C6.R.

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER

What does this race mean to Chevrolet and Corvette Racing?

“First of all, bonjour! We are very pleased to be back. Those of you who have followed us here at the 24 Hours of Le Mans know that this program is representative of the cornerstone of everything we do in racing. Our objective throughout our year is all designed and focused on this event. We realize it is the single most important road race in the world. This is our 14th consecutive year with Corvette and we have been very fortunate to have seven victories – all of which we are most proud. This is a remarkable year because we have three anniversaries that we can celebrate. First and foremost is the 90th anniversary of this great race, and we’re happy to participate. The second is that this is the 60th anniversary of the production of Corvette, and currently we are approaching 2 million Corvettes that are registered and on the roads today. That’s an amazing number. And this will be our 100th race with one of our strategic partners – Michelin. Those three are of extreme importance to us, and we’re proud and pleased to be part of all those significant events.”

The next time Corvette Racing takes to the circuit at Le Mans is 7 p.m. CET/1 p.m. ET today for the final two sessions of qualifying. Corvette Racing will go for its eighth class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001 at 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 22 with live coverage on SPEED.

Le Mans 24 Hours (all times CET)

• • Practice/qualifying: 4-8 p.m., 10 p.m.-midnight, Wednesday
• • Qualifying: 7-9 p.m., 10 p.m.-midnight, Thursday
• • Warm-up: 9-9:45 a.m., Saturday
• • Race: 3 p.m. Saturday-3 p.m., Sunday

Le Mans: Watch It!

Saturday, June 22-Sunday, June 23 (all times EDT)

• • SPEED: 8:30 a.m-2 p.m., Saturday; 4-7 p.m., Saturday; 7:30 p.m., Saturday-9:30 a.m., Sunday
• • SPEED.com: 2-4 p.m., Saturday; 7-7:30 p.m., Saturday
• • Corvette 24-Hour Live Stream: 9 a.m. Saturday-9 a.m. Sunday

Compuware Corvettes make progress in first qualifying session

LE MANS, France (June 19, 2013) – With an eye toward its eighth class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001, Corvette Racing continued to work toward the ideal race setups for the two Compuware Corvette C6.Rs on Wednesday. Both cars ran through a predetermined program on the opening day of track activity for the world’s greatest endurance event.

Antonio Garcia set the team’s fastest time in the No. 73 Compuware Corvette at 3:59.526, good enough for eighth on the provisional grid in GTE Pro. Oliver Gavin was next in the No. 74 Corvette at 3:59.860. But just as during the official Test Day on June 9, much of the focus remained on fine-tuning both cars for the race that begins Saturday.

The strength of the GTE Pro class was evident Wednesday with the top seven cars within 0.915 seconds with provisional pole position at 3:55.658. So there is room for improvement for Thursday’s two final qualifying sessions.

“I don’t think anyone is completely happy with the performance today,” said Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing Program Manager. “The good news is that we turned a significant number of laps compared to our competitors. But on the flip side, our competitors enjoyed an advantage on lap times and speeds. Fortunately we know what it takes to win Le Mans, and that is perseverance and endurance. That is the advantage of having won this race seven times before. Our guys will use that experience and feedback to improve the car for tomorrow’s final qualifying session.”

The Compuware Corvettes return to the track Thursday for a pair of two-hour sessions beginning at 7 p.m. CET/1 p.m. ET.

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

“We’ve been trying to get into our testing program, and we’re still a little bit away from the handling and the setup we thought we were going to have at this point. We made some setup changes from the test till now but they didn’t work the way we thought they would. So right now we’re trying to find a good baseline and the work from that. It seems we’re giving a lot of lap time away in Sector 2, which is the Mulsanne straight, maybe upwards of 1.5 to two seconds. So we still have a little bit of work to do. We also ran a little bit in the wet early on, but the conditions were changing rapidly all the time. I’d have an out-lap where there was spray and then the next lap it dried, so I didn’t get a real good feel for the wet lines.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

“It was my first time being the first one on track here in Le Mans. I had stories about going down the Mulsanne and you get all the dust and dirt from the road cars which have used the road right until a few hours before, so that was a cool experience getting those special feelings everyone has probably gotten for the past 90 years. For me it was also about getting used to the car again, coming straight from America where I had driven the Corvette Daytona Prototype (at Mid-Ohio the weekend prior), readjusting myself to the Corvette C6.R. I did a few longer runs, which meant I had to adapt to the constantly changing track conditions, wet-dry, wet-dry. We’re getting closer to the setup as we go on as I think the car wasn’t ideal for all three drivers to begin with, so we’re dialing it in right now and hope to have a good start to the week.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

“It looks like we’ll have some homework to do between now and tomorrow’s qualifying. The car feels good, but just isn’t fast enough at the moment. I’m confident that by tomorrow night the engineers will have come up with an answer.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

“When you look at the outright lap time, we’re 3.5 to four seconds off and no one wants that. But we have won at this event when we’ve been off our fastest competitors. We have the best team in the pitlane to do this. We have the most reliable car. We have a great setup. And of course we have won this race many, many times. I have great faith in how we are going to go out and run the race. We have to keep a logical approach, keep our heads about us and work the problem to go through all the variables. We will come up with a solution and a plan for tomorrow.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

“Certainly, we know we have work to do. It’s not where we want to be. We’re off in every aspect. The car that we had at the test felt good – better than what we have now. We need to figure out how to get it to what we had there. What we had at the test was competitive, but our competitors have gone significantly faster and we’ve stayed the same. We have to explore every single detail about our cars and see if we are missing something. The race is Saturday, not tomorrow. So we still have time to work on it and our guys will do that.”

RICHARD WESTBROOK, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

“It seems like we’ve got a lot on our plate this year. The competition is extremely tough, and the times we are seeing now are quite unbelievable. We seem to be in a division below the other competitors at the moment and we need to get to the bottom of it, quickly. But we’ve got the right guys in the team to do that and pull all the stops out to bring that gap down. The good news is it’s a 24-hour race and normally the fastest car never wins. That said, all is not lost but we’ve definitely got some work to do.”

Le Mans 24 Hours (all times CET)

• • Qualifying: 7-9 p.m., 10 p.m.-midnight, Thursday
• • Warm-up: 9-9:45 a.m., Saturday
• • Race: 3 p.m. Saturday-3 p.m., Sunday

Le Mans: Watch It!

Saturday, June 22-Sunday, June 23 (all times EDT)

• • SPEED: 8:30 a.m-2 p.m., Saturday; 4-7 p.m., Saturday; 7:30 p.m., Saturday-9:30 a.m., Sunday
• • SPEED.com: 2-4 p.m., Saturday; 7-7:30 p.m., Saturday
• • Corvette 24-Hour Live Stream: 9 a.m. Saturday-9 a.m. Sunday

Live streams from Le Mans enhance coverage of 24 Hours

LE MANS, France (June 18, 2013) – Do you want to get inside the action with Corvette Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans? You can thanks to Chevrolet and SPEED for the 90th anniversary of the world’s greatest auto race.

Starting with the green flag at 9 a.m. ET/3 p.m. CET on Saturday, fans around the world can watch the race online through the eyes of Corvette Racing at SPEED.com. In-car cameras will run for the full length of the race in both the Compuware Corvette C6.R race cars that will compete in the GTE Pro class. Additionally, SPEED.com will stream a garage cam for the entire 24 hours.

Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Jordan Taylor drive the No. 73 Compuware Corvette at Le Mans. Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook pilot the No. 74 Corvette. With seven class victories at Le Mans since 2001, Corvette Racing and Chevrolet rank among the most successful teams and manufacturers to compete at Le Mans in the modern era.

“The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the most historic and challenging endurance sports car races in the world,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President Performance Vehicle and Motorsports. “It’s truly a test. We are proud the Corvette will be competing in the GTE Pro class against the Aston Martin Vantage V8, Ferrari 458 Italia, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and Viper GTS-R on the 8.47-mile Circuit de la Sarthe. Chevrolet and SPEED are providing a unique opportunity for race fans to ride along in the cockpit of the No. 73 and No. 74 Compuware Corvette C6.R race cars. We’re pleased to give our supporters the ultimate insiders’ look at Corvette Racing’s action at Le Mans.”

The next time Corvette Racing takes to the circuit at Le Mans is 4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 19 for free practice and qualifying. Corvette Racing will go for its eighth class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001 at 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 22 with live coverage on SPEED.

Le Mans 24 Hours (all times CET)

• • Practice/qualifying: 4-8 p.m., 10 p.m.-midnight, Wednesday
• • Qualifying: 7-9 p.m., 10 p.m.-midnight, Thursday
• • Warm-up: 9-9:45 a.m., Saturday
• • Race: 3 p.m. Saturday-3 p.m., Sunday

Le Mans: Watch It!

Saturday, June 22-Sunday, June 23 (all times EDT)

• • SPEED: 8:30 a.m-2 p.m., Saturday; 4-7 p.m., Saturday; 7:30 p.m., Saturday-9:30 a.m., Sunday
• • SPEED.com: 2-4 p.m., Saturday; 7-7:30 p.m., Saturday
• • Corvette 24-Hour Live Stream: 9 a.m. Saturday-9 a.m. Sunday

Team goes for eighth class victory since 2001 at 24 Hours

LE MANS, France (June 17, 2013) – Each year in the middle of June, the road-racing universe turns its eyes to the Sarthe region of France for the world’s most famous endurance event. Corvette Racing is back at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in search of its eighth class victory since 2001.

The two velocity yellow Compuware Corvette C6.R race cars undertook a successful test at Le Mans on Sunday, June 9. Jan Magnussen in the No. 73 Corvette set the team’s best time in of 3:59.491 (127.3 mph) to rank fifth in the GTE Pro class. The top six cars in the class were less than a second apart, a preview of how close and competitive things will be for the June 22-23 race.

Magnussen partners with full-season American Le Mans Series teammate Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor (endurance races). Magnussen and Garcia took a trip to victory lane at Laguna Seca in early May. Meanwhile, in the No. 74 Corvette C6.R, defending ALMS GT champions Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner team with Richard Westbrook for the prestigious race. The trio already scored victory together this season at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring to open the season.

“The test day confirmed what we already knew,” said Mark Kent, Director of Racing – Chevrolet. “This year’s GTE Pro class will be the deepest and most competitive in which we have competed. As always, we welcome the monumental challenge that only Le Mans can provide. Experience has taught us that it takes an exceptionally well-coordinated effort from everyone on our team to succeed. We demonstrated that skill and commitment at both Sebring and Laguna Seca and I am confident our guys can deliver again on the biggest stage here in France.”

Corvette Racing is a seven-time winner at Le Mans having won in 2001-02, 2004-06, 2009 and 2011. This year’s race begins at 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 22 with live coverage on SPEED and SPEED.com.

Le Mans 24 Hours (all times CET)

· Practice/qualifying: 4-8 p.m., 10 p.m.-midnight, Wednesday

· Qualifying: 7-9 p.m., 10 p.m.-midnight, Thursday

· Warm-up: 9-9:45 a.m., Saturday

· Race: 3 p.m. Saturday-3 p.m., Sunday

Le Mans: Watch It!

Saturday, June 22-Sunday, June 23 (all times EDT)

· SPEED: 8:30 a.m-2 p.m., Saturday; 4-7 p.m., Saturday; 7:30 p.m., Saturday-9:30 a.m., Sunday

· SPEED.com: 2-4 p.m., Saturday; 7-7:30 p.m., Saturday

· Corvette 24-Hour Live Stream: 9 a.m. Saturday-9 a.m. Sunday

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

This is your 10th Le Mans appearance with Corvette Racing. Have the keys to success changed over time?

“My whole year is based around doing well at Le Mans because we are always there with a chance to win. We have three golden rules that Doug Fehan pounds into us every chance he gets: Don’t hit anything, don’t break anything and stay on the track. They are three pretty good rules because it seems like every time we’ve run – apart from one or two – that’s been the case. Obviously the competition is very tough so we have to push. Le Mans is very different now than it was 10 years ago in terms of how you treat the car and approach the race. You can take a little more time when you fight with another GT car as pit stops come into play. But if you gotta go, then you gotta go and take chances. I’ll bet good money that the car that wins isn’t necessarily the fastest car but the one that makes the fewest mistakes.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

Where do you think the main competition will emerge for this race?

“The good thing about GT now is that there is not just one big manufacturer to fight against. Aston Martin looks very strong, just as they did last year. Porsche and Viper have new cars, and Ferrari won the race last year. I hope the No. 74 Corvette will be the other strongest car in the field. We hope to fight with them for a 1-2 finish. I believe Corvette Racing is the most prepared team at Le Mans. We are the main competitors for everyone. But we don’t know where everyone will stand during the race. Most of the teams are running ELMS, some in the FIA WEC. But we will find out soon where everyone will stand. But in my mind, Corvette Racing has the top two cars in the class.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

What is the biggest challenge of Le Mans?

“Le Mans is definitely a unique place because half of it is race track and the other half is public roads. It’s very spread out so you don’t have to learn where you’re going. It’s a lot of driving in a straight line but when you do get to those corners, they are massively important because they lead on to long straights. The whole week is very busy and you’re not expecting it for a whole event. Driving is almost the last thing you’re thinking about, but when you get in the car you have to switch your head around immediately and be fully focused. But at the end of the day, that is the most important part of the event.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

“Looking back over the last few years, our car has been good enough to win the race every year. I’m confident we are going to go there with just as much potential. The competition level is higher than ever before. It’s an unbelievably strong year. I feel as always that I feel we have the best team at Corvette Racing and I feel I’ve got the best teammates to execute and win the race. So yes, I’m confident.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

Is there anything you learned from winning in 2011 that you can apply this year?

“In many ways, you put past experiences behind you. You can’t rely on them to pull you through in a new year. But each race I do, I learn something new. In 2011, the important lesson was that you don’t have to have the fastest car or try and make up that difference if the car isn’t perfect. What mattered the most that year was having a clean race and not making any mistakes. If you can do that, you’ll be there at the end. Obviously you’d love to have the fastest car and that in some ways can make life easier. But that’s not the end game. That is part of Le Mans and what makes it special.”

On being an American driving an American car at such an international race?

“Le Mans for me is the biggest race in the world. Representing a brand, a team and the history that Corvette has at Le Mans is incredible. Being an American driver only adds to that. Whether you’re Jan from Denmark or Oliver from the UK – the fans are so into the car and the sound it makes. All the fans appreciate the race, the history and what makes Corvette special. It’s an honor for our guys to be there and compete every year. Their passion for the race and what we do shines through. For me, it’s special be part of that team.”

RICHARD WESTBROOK, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

“Le Mans is a funny thing. Some people find it incredibly difficult. A lot of people get caught out with a sense of the occasion because Le Mans is Le Mans. But it’s important to treat it like any other track. Things are pretty straightforward until you get to the Porsche Curves. Then things get hairy. You need bags of confidence through there, and if don’t then you’re going to be slow and that’s a lot (of extra time) on the stopwatch. You can never overstate it enough – I don’t come to Le Mans to finish second. I’ve been on the podium but not on the top step. I want to win, and I want to win in a Corvette.”

Ahead of 12th Le Mans start with Corvette Racing

LE MANS, France (June 16, 2013) – Oliver Gavin’s Le Mans career with Corvette Racing reaches the “dandy dozen” level this year when the Englishman makes his 12th start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 22. The four-time winner – who drives the No. 74 Compuware Corvette C6.R with Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook – discusses the challenge of Le Mans.

Question: How important was the victory at the Sebring 12 Hours in March, and can you take anything from that to Le Mans?

Oliver Gavin: The momentum we gained at Sebring can put us in good stead for Le Mans. I think it’s something that will give us a certain amount of confidence, especially coming off the battles of winning the ALMS championship last year. Tommy and I have really established a very good partnership. We seem to work really well together. Some races, we are right together in terms of lap time and that’s fantastic; it’s happening more and more now. It’s great to see that this partnership is working so well.

Q: What is the secret to Corvette Racing’s success?

OG: It starts with the people at the top – those who are running the program whether it is people like Doug Fehan (program manager), Gary Pratt (team manager) and Doug Louth (engineering manager). They do the basics very, very well. They aren’t trying to overcomplicate things. They know they don’t have to re-engineer the wheel. They aren’t trying to find a silver bullet. They know that to win the 24 Hours, you have to have good pit stops, cars that are strong and reliable, and drivers who can drive them. You have to have momentum going into it where everyone is confident and comfortable with their jobs. That’s the reason Corvette has been so successful. It’s nothing secret.

Q: With all the depth in the GTE Pro class, do you think the strongest competitor may come from within your own team with the No. 73 car?

OG: They have two of the most experienced drivers in the whole field in Antonio (Garcia) and Jan (Magnussen). I’ve never driven with Antonio but I’ve driven with Jan for four years off and on so I know how strong a competitor he is. It’s a huge amount of fun racing with and against him. Antonio is much the same. Whereas Jan can be a bit bullish, feisty and will hound you throughout, Antonio operates a bit under stealth. He is an assassin who creeps up on you, bangs you over the head and passes you. He’s a very clever guy in the car and is calculating all the time in the car. That’s a great thing to have in a 24-hour race – thinking constantly about the long game and not necessarily what’s happening right in front of him at that point. And then Jordan (Taylor) is going from strength to strength. Sure, he’s lacking experience at Le Mans but he’s gaining confidence all the time. He is having great success in GRAND-AM and hopefully he comes to Le Mans full of confidence and ready to go. Jordan is learning all the time and is maturing. He is willing to listen and is great to have on board.

Q: So who do you think presents the biggest challenge at Le Mans?

OG: If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on Aston Martin (being the biggest threat). They’ve loaded everything up into this one year. It’s their 100th anniversary and it’s their opportunity to nail it for a victory at Le Mans. They have great lineups and experience. They were exceptionally fast at Sebring, Silverstone and Spa. For the first couple hours (at Le Mans) in 2012, I was racing against (Stefan) Mucke as I remember racing the Aston Martins in 2005-08. Porsche also have been very smart approaching this year. They aren’t to be underestimated and never show up just to bolster numbers. The real unknown is SRT and Viper. They have been fast in a lot of races. We don’t know whether that big 8-liter motor is going to make a difference. You can’t get away from the fact that Le Mans is all about horsepower. It’s all very new for them. Whether their car is right for 24 hours is the biggest question. Then there is Ferrari who always is right there. The class is incredibly strong. I can’t remember it being as strong as it is right now.”

The next time Corvette Racing takes to the circuit at Le Mans is 4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 19 for free practice and qualifying. Corvette Racing will go for its eighth class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001 at 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 22 with live coverage on SPEED.

Le Mans 24 Hours (all times CET)

• • Practice/qualifying: 4-8 p.m., 10 p.m.-midnight, Wednesday
• • Qualifying: 7-9 p.m., 10 p.m.-midnight, Thursday
• • Warm-up: 9-9:45 a.m., Saturday
• • Race: 3 p.m. Saturday-3 p.m., Sunday

Le Mans: Watch It!

Saturday, June 22-Sunday, June 23 (all times EDT)

• • SPEED: 8:30 a.m-2 p.m., Saturday; 4-7 p.m., Saturday; 7:30 p.m., Saturday-9:30 a.m., Sunday
• • SPEED.com: 2-4 p.m., Saturday; 7-7:30 p.m., Saturday
• • Corvette 24-Hour Live Stream: 9 a.m. Saturday-9 a.m. Sunday

Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittapaldi earn first victory of the season for Action Express Racing

LEXINGTON, Ohio (June 15, 2013) – Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi teamed to win the Diamond Cellar Classic on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette Daytona Protype (DP), giving the team its first victory of the season. The victory is Barbosa’s 11th career GRAND-AM series win and Fittipaldi’s third.

Close behind in second place, giving Team Chevy the top-two positions on the podium, was defending race winner Michael Valiante in the No. 3 8Star Motorsports Corvette DP started by Enzo Potolicchio.

“After an intense battle throughout the race, it was exciting to see the No. 5 Action Express Corvette DP capture their first win of the season, and the No. 3 8Star Motorsports Corvette DP score their first podium since joining Team Chevy,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. “Mid-Ohio is very technical, but our teams were up to the challenge today and added another win to boost Chevrolet’s lead in the important Manufacturers’ Championship battle. Congratulations to both organizations on their tremendous runs today. Now we head to Watkins Glen for the Six Hour Endurance race.”

Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor finished sixth in the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP, managed to retain a one-point lead over Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP, who finished fifth. Action Express Racing’s No. 5 Corvette DP piloted by Brian and Burt Frisselle ended the day in seventh followed by the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP driven by Richard Westbrook and Ricky Taylor in ninth, to give the Bowtie Brigade six of the top-10 finishing positions.

In the Grand Touring (GT) class, Eric Curran driver the No. 31 Marsh Racing Corvette, passed the leader in the closing minutes. However, unavoidable contact was made resulting in a penalty which relegated Curran and co-driver Boris Said to a fourth-place finish. John Edwards and Robin Liddell brought the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R to the finish in 10th place.

The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge pair of Matt Bell and John Edwards carried the banner for Team Chevy, bringing home a strong third-place podium finish in their No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R to round out the weekend.

Next on the GRAND-AM schedule will be June 28-30 at Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York featuring both the Rolex Sports Car Series and the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

POST RACE DRIVER QUOTES:

JOAO BARBOSA, NO. 9 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE:

WITH ABOUT 35 MINUTES TO GO YOU AND RICHARD WESTBROOK WERE HAVING A GREAT BATTLE. YOU WERE SO PATIENT BECAUSE IT SEEMED LIKE EVERY TIME YOU MADE A MOVE HE WOULD SHUT THE DOOR. WAS IT DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO USE THAT PATIENCE AND NOT JUST MOVE HIM OUT OF THE WAY?

“Obviously GRAND-AM has always been like this really tight competition and really intense. Just I knew I was faster I just had to be careful with the guys that were behind me so I wouldn’t get caught off guard. I was able to manage traffic really well during the whole race. I was able to get the move for the lead. Westbrook made it really difficult, but it was hard, clean racing. I’m really proud the way he drove and I just hope we can continue racing like this in GRAND-AM. It should be awesome to see in the next future races.”

CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, NO. 9 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE:

HOW GOOD WAS THIS RACE CAR TODAY?

“Well it was definitely good, but it was good the whole weekend actually. It didn’t turn out to be good only during the race. We knew we had a strong car in the race. We qualified pretty decent. We were in the top-three. We thought we had a shot at the pole, but unfortunately it didn’t go that way. The race it all connected. As you mention I had a very strong first sting. Joao (Barbosa) just kept it on from there. He did an awesome job and he drove unbelievably well. That is it. We ended up P1. The team really did a great job. The Corvette was awesome the whole day.”

IT’S BEEN AWHILE SINCE YOU’VE BEEN TO VICTORY LANE HERE IN THE ROLEX GRAND-AM SERIES IS IT AS SWEET AS IT ALWAYS WAS?

“Victory Lane is always sweet it doesn’t matter where you are racing, how much time you have been out of Victory Lane. Victory Lane is always Victory Lane.”

MICHAEL VALIANTE, NO. 3 8 STAR MOTORSPORTS CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE:

WE KNEW YOU GUYS HAD A TON OF SPEED IN YOU. WE SAW IT IN DETROIT IN THIS CAR, BUT I GUESS WE ARE A LITTLE SURPRISED THAT YOU WERE AS DOMINANT AS YOU WERE TODAY. HOW GOOD WAS THIS RACE CAR THIS AFTERNOON?

“Well first off I have to thank the team. It’s a brand-new car. Enzo (Potolicchio) has done a great job putting this whole program together. It’s just getting better and better each race. We have so much to learn. We hit it just right in the race. Enzo did a great job in his first stint. For me I was able to get a good jump on that middle stint and pull away from the field. We lost a little bit of time on that last stop not sure why and kind of shuffled us back, but we had the pace to win today. I think second right now is like winning for this team because we have been pushing so hard to get on the podium.”

ENZO POTOLICCHIO, NO. 3 8 STAR MOTORSPORTS CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE:

YOU HAVE DONE SO MUCH WITH THIS CAR. IN FACT YOU GOT OUT OF THE RACE CAR AND LET SOME OTHER PEOPLE GET IN, GET THE PROGRAM GOING. YOU WERE WORKING ON A TWO CAR TEAM AND THEN THE CAR GOT WRECKED AT DETROIT YOU HAD TO USE THIS BRAND-NEW CAR THIS WEEK. IT’S BEEN A STRESSFUL TIME FOR YOU AS AN OWNER HOW SWEET IS IT TO BE ON THE PODIUM HERE AT MID-OHIO?

“It’s unbelievable what the team did in six days after the big crash we had in Detroit. We hired the right guy (Michael) Valiante for the team. We knew he is quality and the engineer loves him. The feedback is excellent. So we knew he was going to do well here. The car, it’s just a team effort. It’s unbelievable what these guys are doing. We are a new team. We were born in November last year. We promised we were going to be a contender by the end of the season and here we are. This is a show of what these people can do and it’s just a team effort all around. It’s unbelievable. I have to thank Valiante for his podium. It gives everybody more will to go forward and keep on pushing because we want to be one of the top teams and today we showed that we can be one of those.”

ERIC CURRAN, NO. 31 MARSH RACING CORVETTE GT:

TALK ABOUT THE CONTACT AT THE END OF THE RACE:

“Yeah, it was pretty wild. It’s great running with Billy (Auberlen) he does a good job. The Turner guys, Will Turner is a good friend of mine, all those guys are great friends. It’s awesome to battle with those guys. It was just good hard racing and I was better in some place with this Whelen/Team Fox Corvette, but he was better in others. I thought it was all done after those two DP’s (Daytona Prototypes) hit each other in the key hole and I had nowhere to go but to touch the back of them and tore up the nose a little bit. This Whelen/Team Fox Corvette was just awesome all the way through. I love racing hard and I love racing with Billy he is a clean guy. It was my bad for getting into him and spinning him. That is not the way I want to win a race. Feel bad about that, but real happy for Marsh Racing and Teddy (Marsh) and all the guys. That was a good run. I wish it ended a little bit differently. Just happy to be up on the podium, too bad about the penalty.”

Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Drivers Sweep Top-Five Finishing Positions on Famed One-Mile Oval

WEST ALLIS, Wisc (June 15, 2013) – Ryan Hunter-Reay is not a stranger to Victory Lane at the famed Milwaukee Mile. For the second consecutive year, and the third time in his career, the defending IZOD IndyCar Series Champion won at the storied track.

Driving the No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, Hunter-Reay was credited with leading three times for a total of 65 laps in the 250-lap/250-mile race. He took the lead for the final time on lap 198 and never looked back on the way to his second victory of 2013 and the 11th of his career.

The victory was sixth for the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Twin Turbocharged engine in 2013 and extended Chevrolet’s lead in the IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Championship Standings.

It was an all-Chevrolet podium as well as an all-Chevrolet top-five. Filling out the podium were the two Team Penske Chevrolet drivers. Points leader Helio Castroneves finished second in the No. 3 PPG Automotive Finishes Chevrolet and Will Power brought the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet to the checkered flag in third position. Castroneves now leads Hunter-Reay in the championship standings by 16 points.

Hunter-Reay’s Andretti Autosport teammates E.J. Viso and James Hinchcliffe completed the top-five finishers in the ninth race of the 2013 season.

“Following a strong command of qualifying, Team Chevy added another win to the season tally,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, IZOD IndyCar Series. “Ryan Hunter-Reay drove a solid race starting 4th to take the win for the second year in a row here at the Milwaukee Mile. Congratulations to Ryan and Andretti Autosport, as well as Team Penske for Helio and Will completing the all-Chevy podium! Team Chevy is working well together and this second consecutive sweep of the podium moves Chevrolet to a 9 point lead in the manufacturers’ battle. We shift our focus now to Iowa for the unique qualifying format and short oval excitement.”

Pole winner and points leader coming into today’s race, Marco Andretti, suffered an electrical problem that sent him to the paddock for repairs. He returned to competition 74 laps down to the leader, but gained three spots in the finishing order to be scored 20th at the checkered flag. He now sits third in the standings.

Next on the IZOD IndyCar Series Schedule is the Iowa Corn Indy 250 set for Sunday, June 23, 2013. The 250-lap race is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. ET with live TV coverage on ABC TV.

Live radio coverage will be on IMS Radio Network XM 211/Sirius 211 as well as in conjunction with live timing and scoring on www.indycar.com.

POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY

MICHAEL ANDRETTI

HELIO CASTRONEVES

WILL POWER

THE MODERATOR: We’ll get started with today’s post‑race press conference. We’re pleased to be joined by Helio Castroneves, who finished second. He retains the points lead by 16 over Ryan Hunter‑Reay.

Talk about today’s race.

HELIO CASTRONEVES: It was interesting day. Certainly very difficult to pass. It’s interesting, this place, it’s tough because we have a lot of downforce. It’s difficult for you to go around someone because of the banking, no banking at all. Everyone using very similar lanes.

But I worked through, able to work through the field. I thought it was a great race, to be honest, because people that used a different strategy, like myself, for example, were able to pass people. It turned out to be a similar situation like Texas. A lot of people with new tires passing and keep going.

So for us, we put ourselves in that position. Great strategy by Roger and the whole PPG boys.

THE MODERATOR: We’re also joined by Will Power.

Will, you started strong, finished strong. Talk about today’s race.

WILL POWER: There were a few guys that went off strategy like Helio, kind of mixed things up with tire life. People come out on new tires when you’re on old tires passing you.

In the end, we had a good, solid run. Kind of got the car sorted by the end of the race. It was a little bit late. But I thought we had one of the strongest cars out there, kind of challenging Helio out there. It was difficult to pass, yes.

But I was very mindful coming on Helio, he’s leading the championship. For Penske, it’s all about the team. I didn’t want to do anything desperate or anything. I want to make sure that he maintains the points lead.

If I could have passed him easy, I would. All in all, very good day. I’m very happy with third.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. (No microphone.)

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Again, I don’t know what sequence of tires he was running, if he had a better tire than us. I think probably he pit afterwards, probably helped us.

Takuma and I, he was fast, too. He was have some big moments. I was just waiting for when it’s going to happen. He stop. Fortunately the yellow came.

But he did a good job. He took advantage of the traffic. I think his tires were a little bit better, so he was able to take the lead. The yellow came right away. Everybody stops, got in the same sequence.

It was certainly interesting. Like I said, the whole race was very back and forth. It was a very difficult race because you have to drive the car.

WILL POWER: When was that? He was always ahead of me. I can’t remember. Was he? I couldn’t remember him passing me. I always thought he was ahead.

I don’t think he did. Did he pass me?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: He passed me (laughter).

WILL POWER: I think he was ahead of me. But, yeah, so I don’t know. He didn’t pass me. He was always ahead of me.

But still, he was obviously fast. We should check what he’s got on his car.

HELIO CASTRONEVES: You were joking, right?

WILL POWER: I was joking. Very dry sense of humor. Terrible really (laughter).

Q. (No microphone.)

WILL POWER: Like I’ve always said, never been a lack of pace. In the past years it’s always been something really unusual that’s happened to me on ovals whenever I’m in a good position.

So, you know, at Texas, we’re sitting second in the last stint. Still finished seventh, which is a very strong result for us this year. Very strong all day today.

I like ovals. I really enjoy them. I expect to always be extremely competitive on road courses or oval, as competitive at each.

We’re just kind of putting it together. I guess there’s not as much expectation on myself to win now, especially kind of not being right in the championship. A little bit more of not a relaxed approach, but methodical, not desperate in any way.

Q. (No microphone.)

WILL POWER: Probably from myself. Like, you know, when you have a real big slump, you have to recheck yourself, get back to what actually got you in the position to be a great team. That’s kind of the stage I’m in right now. It’s good. You go back to working really hard.

Q. Helio, we caught the tail end of your explanation of what happened with Will there at the end. Did you see him? You had traffic in front of you. Tell us what happened. He was in the grass, by the way.

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Well, he runs good in the grass. He’s a road course guy (laughter).

WILL POWER: I’m a dirt‑tracker from way back (laughter).

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Our intention was never to put the guy in the grass. That was my line basically. I was running low, high, basically everything, trying to find grip, especially when I had traffic in front of me. I was trying to stay ahead of that traffic.

Yeah, he took a chance, took a look. Mears was saying that he was there. When I saw he was there, obviously I open up a little bit. But we kept going.

It’s a tough corner because of that. You’re trying to find grip. Sometimes it’s on the inside, outside. In that case, it’s three laps to go, you want to be difficult as much as you can.

I was just chasing grip. I wasn’t trying to put the car in jeopardy. I was looking to the front. That was a little bit of my line. At the end of the day, great performance for both of us. We’re very happy. We wanted to be first and second, but unfortunately the yellow car got first.

Q. Helio, coming back from as far back in the field as you did to finish second, probably doesn’t feel like a victory, but how close does it feel?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Great result. Extremely excited, to be honest. Adrenaline is still rushing, you’re still thinking because it was so difficult. Very similar to Texas. You have to think a little bit ahead, especially when you have so many guys using those same lanes. You have to use the tools that you have in your car.

I should have used a little bit towards the end, but I was concerned and it was too late. For me, it was a very good race because this is the type of things that you have to be patient, aggressive, at the same time know what to do.

Roger was great on the radio, great strategy, like I said. The boys did a great job. So definitely is going to be a great Father’s Day tomorrow.

Q. (No microphone.)

WILL POWER: Yeah, points lead is pretty far away right now. Our focus is just every weekend having solid results.

For sure, once we start Toronto, there’s a bunch of street and road courses that have been my strength in the past. I don’t know, I mean, at the moment it’s just focusing race by race for me. See how it plays out. That’s a pretty big deficit to chase down right now. It’s not impossible. Mathematically possible, and if you keep pushing, anything can happen.

Q. Can both of you talk about the package, this style of racing on the one‑mile oval? Are you satisfied with the way the car works or would you like to see any changes? Is this all driver skill to get around everybody?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Well, certainly Milwaukee Mile always gave a fantastic race. I don’t remember a time that there was a very difficult one. Probably a long time ago in CART times, Champ Car times.

Right now I feel on the one‑mile oval, but also the one‑and‑a‑half‑mile oval, we have a good package. We still remember like the side‑by‑side and things like that. Before side‑by‑side, it was this style of racing. I think it’s even more fun.

We got to go back to what we used to. I think we have a fantastic product right now in the IndyCar Series.

WILL POWER: I agree. This race here, Milwaukee, it would look similar to Texas. The leader took off, a little lap traffic, people are off sequence.

To me in Texas, we had to drive the thing. If the fans knew how hard we were having to push, they did a good job with televising it, telling the story, catching all the passes in the middle of the pack, it would look like a great race.

I just think, like Helio said, when we used to go to Texas, it was pack racing, the leader would stay on the white line, wide open, there would be guys right behind him wide open and never pass. Is that talent? No. Your grandma could jump in and do it.

Now you really have to drive. Everybody that finished that race, Man, had to stay on top of the car. The guy that won drove better than everybody else. Wasn’t the best car, no. Now it’s the best driver.

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Will, my grandma is too old, she can’t drive the car.

WILL POWER: My grandma’s dead. I do love my grandma.

Q. (No microphone.)

WILL POWER: He came motoring by. Even on older tires…

HELIO CASTRONEVES: He was impressive. I thought he was very good. Unfortunately he got caught up in the yellow. I don’t know. He probably could be a factor in Ryan’s race.

I think my car was very good on the long run. I was very, very good on the long run. He seemed to be very fast. It’s a shame. They stop early, because we were stopped in the same sequence. He was having a lot of hard moments. Oh, my God.

WILL POWER: This guy can drive a car looser than anyone else, even on a road course.

HELIO CASTRONEVES: He catch me so many times.

WILL POWER: It just blows my mind sometimes to see him. He’s just phenomenal.

HELIO CASTRONEVES: He did a great job.

Q. (No microphone.)

WILL POWER: That’s normal for him. Yeah, he’s good.

Q. (No microphone.)

HELIO CASTRONEVES: For me in the end it was. We were 10 laps, 12 laps. The problem is, I can see the blue flag. In all fairness for the lapped traffic, they’re not waving, they’re just put in position. This is fighting for first, second, third. First already checked out. They should be thinking.

Again, it’s not the series’ fault. Sometimes people need to use courtesy. Kind of like, Hey, let a guy by. Unfortunately for me, it wasn’t that case. Towards the end it was very difficult.

Q. (No microphone.)

HELIO CASTRONEVES: I have not had a chance yet. I think I need to let my blood pressure go a little bit down.

WILL POWER: You were angry.

HELIO CASTRONEVES: I was a little bit upset. It was just upsetting my car a lot. But, anyway, we talk about this at the drivers meeting sometimes. If it’s middle of the race, maybe it’s fine. But 10 laps left in the race…

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. Congratulations on a great race.

We’re pleased to be joined by Michael Andretti, the winning team owner today.

Michael, fifth win for your team here in Milwaukee, talk about today’s victory.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: We love Milwaukee. I can tell you that. As a team, it was great. As a driver, it was great for me. Now as a promoter, it’s great.

I’m excited about how today went obviously with the win, but also with the people that showed up to support the race. I think it’s a great day. I think a lot of people had a lot of fun out there with the Indy festival. Hopefully we can get this figured out and get this thing to stay on the map.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions for Michael.

Q. For a while, it looked like Marco might be able to give you a Father’s Day gift.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: He let me down (laughter).

Q. Are you considering adopting Ryan as your son?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Maybe. He gave himself a Father’s Day gift since he’s a new father.

I felt bad for Marco. He was running really strong all weekend. I don’t know what problem he had. Looked like kind of some sort of electrical problem. It was just a real bummer. It would have been nice to have him up there fighting for the win, as well.

Q. (No microphone.)

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I don’t know. I mean, we come here with a philosophy of what I had back when I was driving and we just carry that on, try to stress that to the engineering and the drivers on the way we used to do it then. There’s things we used to do that really used to work. Seem to still be working.

Q. (No microphone.)

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I think it actually ended up being not so bad. We were a little worried because of the weather. The last few days definitely hurt us with the forecast. It was a real shame because in the end, look at the sun shining. I’m thinking it kept some people home and they’re going to be sorry they were home because it was such a great event.

Q. (No microphone.)

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: To me it was typical Milwaukee. It’s all about traffic. Without traffic you normally don’t have passing here. That’s been since when I started racing here. That’s what makes it exciting, is having a car that works in traffic. That’s what won the race, to be honest with you.

Q. (No microphone.)

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I think it’s very possible. We sure hope so, for sure. I mean, we have Marco up there, as well. Hopefully he can get back on track.

But, yeah, I feel good about where we are. I think we’re coming up to a lot of strong tracks for us. Like I said, hopefully history will repeat itself.

Q. (No microphone.)

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Well, he’s definitely in his prime, there’s no question about it. He’s at the perfect age. He’s got all the experience he needs. He knows exactly what he needs in a racecar. He knows what he needs when he’s at certain positions in the race. Those are the things you just learn through experience. Those are things that win you championships.

Q. (No microphone.)

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, I mean, Ryan, he needed to have races where he didn’t have mistakes. I’d say in the middle of 2011, from then on it just clicked for him. I think those are things that happen with experience. All of a sudden he just knew when he needed to be aggressive and when he didn’t.

That’s where it really clicked for me with Ryan, the middle of ’11, he just started to see the bigger picture better.

I think he scored more points than anybody since then if you go back.

Q. (No microphone.)

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Well, actually, I mean, let’s face it, Helio got lucky. That yellow doesn’t come out, Helio is going to finish probably 15th, 12th maybe. But when Marco brought that yellow out, that saved him because they pitted on that early yellow.

Had that not happened, I think it would have been a race between Ryan and E.J. to be honest with you. The race would have ended up looking totally different and a lot more dominant for Ryan and E.J. at that point.

Q. (No microphone.)

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: He’s coming on. I just feel like he’s going to win a race before the end of the year.

Q. (No microphone.)

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, I think the team itself, he fit right in. I think he’s learning from his teammates. He’s learning that his teammates can help him. In return, he’s been doing things that have been helping the teammates.

Yeah, he’s falling into the system well. I think sooner or later he’s going to end up in Victory Lane.

THE MODERATOR: Michael, thank you for your time.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: We are pleased to be joined by our race winner Ryan Hunter‑Reay.

Congratulations on a great race and important day with the points. Walk us through today.

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: It was great to do it again in Milwaukee. What a racetrack. Oldest racetrack in the world, still producing such great racing. Every time I had the opportunity to race here, I feel blessed. Such a challenging place. When you get it right, there’s no better feeling in IndyCar than at Milwaukee Mile. Indianapolis definitely is right there with it, but this place is very special.

It was a lot of fun out there today. Really happy to get a win on Father’s Day with our six‑month‑old son in Victory Lane. Going to remember that forever, absolutely.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Yeah, it feels great. At Barber that was one of the races that Becky and our son didn’t come to. I felt bad because we didn’t have the pictures of him in Victory Lane.

This is even better. To do it on Father’s Day, to do back‑to‑back at Milwaukee, you’re only as good as the team you’re surrounded by, the car you’re in.

I’ve got a great team around them. I’m so proud of them. Thanks to my teammates for working together. That’s a product of what we did today, for sure.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Happy to get it done with them here.

Q. 53 laps to go you picked Will Power and Helio Castroneves off on the same lap. Talk about that move because it determined the race for you.

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: We were setting the pace of the race early. The yellow came out. I’m not sure for what. Maybe it was for Marco. That shuffled us back into the field a bit, which gave some of the guys off strategy, Helio, Takuma, et cetera, gave them the lead.

A little later in the race, for some reason we missed the balance. We lost our racecar, where it was really strong before. We lost it. Luckily in the last stint we got it back again.

To your point, I think we had a really good car in traffic. I was able to choose lanes that I wanted. They seemed to be handcuffed to one lane. That was the difference for me, being able to move around. When I saw what they liked, I switched it up, went the other way, got by them.

Fun on the Firestone tires today. We were sliding around a lot. It was fun.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Yeah, E.J. is always very good here. I saw him coming up from behind about halfway through the race. I knew it was going to be tough. I thought it was going to be between him and I at the end. He was very strong. We really seemed to click getting through traffic at the end of the race better than anybody out there.

It was the product of a really great racecar. I love this place. I love searching around for grip and finding the different opportunities there. Seemed to change a lot all day long.

And the players, who were the players for the win, you really never had an idea. You had to keep your head down and go 110% the whole time.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Well, in sports, when you get into a momentum, a rhythm, not something you can put a price tag on or finger on, it just happens. It kind of saturates the team with this feeling that, Hey, we can get it done. If we perform to our best, to our potential, we can absolutely win races.

That carried over week in, week out. We were able to win four more races than anybody else last year. It all started here last year. Great place to start. Andretti has great cars. You put the two together, hopefully it comes out the way we want.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: I don’t know. I heard something about Foyt, maybe I’m one behind.

THE MODERATOR: We can verify it for you.

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: I wouldn’t be surprised if you came back and said I’m seven behind Foyt. I don’t know.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: I don’t know, man, I’m just fighting every week. I’m fighting every week. I love the atmosphere I’m in, the team I’m in. I love IndyCar racing. I’m pushing as hard as I can. Hopefully I’m here racing for many years to come. If that’s the case, I’ll give it 110% like I did today to make sure it happens.

Michael, AJ, those guys, I’m not in their league.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: You mean something about the place?

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Well, it’s an oval. Every driver, you ask them, they respect this oval the most. It’s an oval that drives more like a road course. You have to really wheel the car the entire time. That’s because the banking is so flat. You don’t get the help from the banking.

You’re constantly trying to fight understeer, you’re fighting loose. It’s all over the place.

To get it right, these cars, especially when you want front grip, all of a sudden it goes loose, then you’re going backwards again. It’s hard to get it right, and it’s because it’s so flat around here.

What I love about it most is that it opens up to two lanes, a lane and a half, to create some great racing. Looked like it was pretty fun out there. Everybody was dicing it up.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Practice seems very short compared to the whole race weekend. Seems like it was 30 minutes, an hour session, then a qualifying race. It is a bit of guesswork. You have years past to go on. That’s where you make your educated guesses on what you need for the race. It’s tough to get it right. If you do go on the loose side, it could be a very long day for you.

We just went a little bit conservative in the beginning of the race, kept tuning on it, made it better and better. When you have a great team that has been fast in the past, it makes it great.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Yeah, you know, he’s six months old and has stuff all over the house and can’t even pick it up or play with it yet. There’s just stuff everywhere.

I’m leaning on my wife to help me sort it out a little bit, get some method to the madness.

But he’s a lot of fun. I’m sure we’ll have a big spot for it, because that’s a special win. Not that many where you get to hold your son on Father’s Day weekend in Victory Circle, Victory Lane.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: DHL suit on. If it was a NASCAR race, everybody would say it was fixed.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: That was great for us, yes. Every time the yellow came out, I was cringing. I wanted it to go as long as it could. Once the grip wore off the new tires, I think we were the best car out there.

I really wanted it to go green longer than it did. Yellows happen. It made for some exciting racing. I really wanted to be in traffic, too. I wanted to be able to come back and catch traffic. That’s where I was able to open up gaps, close gaps if I needed to. That was pivotal to our day.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Yeah, absolutely. The number one thing that will keep us coming back here for many years to come is filling up these stands. With the racing we have, we definitely need a big push in attendance next year.

I remember this place in the past, back in ’04, the attendance levels were getting up there. Then we had this drought came when the event fell off the schedule. That hurts an event. You need it year in, year out. You need that familiarity of a date that people know to come out and see it.

We really need the support. I thank all the fans that came out today. The top part was packed. We need to fill in the bottom section.

It’s a fun race. There’s not many other series that put on a race like that. Hopefully this event will be around for a long time. I love it.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Yeah, well, obviously it’s general terms that I have to speak in because we race on so many different types of tracks, it’s just not one thing or the other.

It’s the engineering staff that’s doing a great job developing things in the off‑season. I think it’s really ‑ and I talked about it last year a lot ‑ it’s the team atmosphere. When you have a good team atmosphere, four cars all pushing together in the same direction, it makes a massive difference. You’re getting four times the amount of data in one session. That’s a big deal.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Ryan. Congratulations. Happy Father’s Day.

RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Thank you.

Danish star talks ahead of his 10th Le Mans with Corvette Racing

LE MANS, France (June 14, 2013) – The 90th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hours is quickly approaching with practice and qualifying starting Wednesday. Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen shares his thoughts on his 10th start for the team ahead of the prestigious June 22-23 event.

Question: The last time you and Antonio (Garcia) raced, the No. 3 Compuware Corvette ran a perfect race to win at Laguna Seca in the ALMS. Can that carry over to Le Mans?

Jan Magnussen: The most important part of winning at Laguna Seca for us was to make it clear what we needed to do to win. Last year we were so close in the ALMS to winning races with five second-place finishes, and little things got in the way and messed it up completely. What the Laguna win showed is that when we work together and execute perfectly, we can win races. It also was a mental thing for the crew to show that we can do it, especially right before Le Mans. There is a lot of self-confidence on our crew and belief that we can do it. You need to be fast at Le Mans but also perfect. Hopefully we can learn from Laguna. If we aren’t the fastest car on track, we will need to stick to our plan and try to be faultless, which is really, really hard over 24 hours – not to mention four.”

Q: Corvette Racing poses a formidable two-car lineup. Is that a huge advantage at Le Mans?

JM: We measure ourselves against the (No. 74) car. They are strong competitors for everyone. Our advantage is that we work together with them, and the two cars work off each other to get faster as a team. At Le Mans that’s much more important – both cars need to be quick. It’s definitely much more of a team effort than in the ALMS. We do push each other a lot. We have to be perfect, just like they do.”

Q: Can you take us back to the 2004 race at Le Mans – your first win with Corvette Racing?

JM: At midnight we were leading by a couple minutes when I got taken out by one of the Audis at the Ford Chicane. I limped back to the pits, and the car was heavily damaged. The guys fixed it but we went six laps down. For the next eight hours, we were fighting back and gaining a little on the leaders but six laps was too much. Then with three or four hours left, the leading Prodrive car came in with huge problems and lost the same amount of time in the pits we did. I was getting back in the car at this time, and we came out of the pits together but we were 20 minutes ahead. So the race was back on in a big, big way. It was such a fantastic feeling getting the last briefing by Gary Pratt. Everyone was screaming on the radio when we pulled back out saying, ‘We gotta go! We gotta go!’ Then getting the win was perfect.

Q: The contingent of Danish fans at Le Mans is one of the largest at the race each year. How fun is that to see?

JM: To be at Le Mans as a Danish driver is one of the most fantastic things that a Dane can experience. You have to understand that there are more Danish fans at Le Mans than at the biggest Danish race. We don’t have very big race tracks in Denmark. There are years where we have had upwards of 40,000 Danish people at Le Mans. It’s quite a drive! They go there, make a vacation and party out of it. There is no doubt their favorites are on track. You really feel that every place you go.”

Q: You are quite fond of Le Mans today, but that wasn’t always the case was it?

JM: “My first Le Mans I have to say was a horrible experience. Our car (a Panoz prototype in 1999) was unreliable. We weren’t that fast. It was the first real long-distance race I had completed in. I have to say after 10 hours, it did not make sense to me. I wondered why we were here. But then I got the chance to drive the car across the line at the end of the race and see all the mechanics and the happiness there. For most people, it is more than a race where you go to win; for most you go there to finish the race and it’s a huge accomplishment to be there at the end of 24 hours. That experience driving the car across the line gave me real respect for Le Mans, and that is when I understood what it was about.”

The next time Corvette Racing takes to the circuit at Le Mans is 4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 19 for free practice and qualifying. Corvette Racing will go for its eighth class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001 at 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 22 with coverage on SPEED.

Magnussen fifth, Milner seventh in testing for highly competitive GTE Pro field

LE MANS, France (June 9, 2013) – Corvette Racing successfully worked through its testing program Sunday for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The pair of velocity yellow Compuware Corvette C6.Rs completed eight hours of running with no major issues ahead of the world’s most famous endurance race on June 22-23.

Jan Magnussen set the team’s best time of 3:59.491 (127.3 mph) in the No. 73 Corvette C6.R to finish fifth in the GTE Pro order. Magnussen, driving with Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor, opened and closed the test in differing conditions. The session began cool and damp, but the track eventually dried in the afternoon when the fastest times were set. The No. 73 Corvette turned a class-high 42 laps in the second session.

Meanwhile, Tommy Milner posted the best time in the No. 74 Corvette he shares with Oliver Gavin and Richard Westbrook. Milner’s best effort was a 4:00.319 (126.9 mph). The top six cars in class were separated by less than a second.

“Our guys followed the three golden rules today – don’t hit anything, don’t break anything and stay on the race track,” said Doug Fehan, Program Manager for Corvette Racing. “Considering the weather and track conditions, we feel comfortable with where we are in the program. Recording the fastest lap is never our ultimate objective during this test. Our experience at Le Mans has taught us that speed isn’t the single deciding factor. Our goal is simply to be capable of running a competitive pace and keep our time in pit lane to a minimum with great execution on every stop. You meet those objectives and good results will follow.”

The next time Corvette Racing takes to the circuit at Le Mans is 4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 19 for free practice and qualifying. Corvette Racing will go for its eighth class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001 at 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 22 with coverage on SPEED. Corvette Racing’s last victory at Le Mans came in 2011.

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

You were out early in the wet conditions. It had to be less than ideal.

“It wasn’t so nice out there. The track was right in between were the tires work best. Some parts of the track were dry-ish – not quite dry, but at least there was no spray. But it’s good to see the track again and get into the rhythm. But in those conditions you don’t really learn anything. You just get through the motions. I think that laptime-wise we were quite OK considering the conditions when we were out.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

How much did the track conditions improve in the afternoon?

“Finally we got to put the slick tires on the car, which was good for us because every single lap you can do in the dry here may be very important toward the race. I know It’s only two hours in dry conditions but we just need to focus on making the most of every single lap we can do. I was the first out on slicks in tricky conditions, which wasn’t maybe the best moment for the track (conditions). But at least I got to run a bit in the dry. The car felt quite good, as it has been doing during the season. We still need to double-check how it really goes, but so far it’s heading in the right direction.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R:

Did you enjoy your return to the Corvette and Le Mans?

“It was good to be back in the car for the first time since Sebring, and first time back at this track since last year’s Le Mans. So it was good. This was the first time I did a run in the rain in this car so I learned a few things, but overall we’re learning as much as we can on a day like this. So far so good.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

Were you satisfied with the test day?

“It was a kind of boring first half of the day. It was good to get some wet weather running since we don’t do that a whole lot on those cars. We got a good feeling for the car in the wet. It was good to get some dry running at the end there and prove some of the bits and pieces we’ve developed over the year. We got some new tires from Michelin to try and see how those worked. It’s nice to have sort of a baseline going into race week. For me it was good. I think I could have gone quite a bit quicker; my in-lap would have been quicker and probably have put us right at the front (note: Milner’s sector 1 and sector 2 times were the fastest of the day for the No. 74 car before he pitted). So the pace is good, and the car is comfortable to drive.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

The changing weather didn’t do anyone a favor, did it?

“The track was drying out, which was good as it gave us some good data. It looks like we’re there in the ballpark with everybody else so that’s encouraging. But it’s been a frustrating day for everybody; it’s been wet and then it’s been dry again and then wet again. You have one day a year here to test and it was beautiful the week before and it looks like it’s going to be nice next week. It’s frustrating for all but it just so happens that the wet day was today. But the car felt pretty well and things look good for next week.”

RICHARD WESTBROOK, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

Do you feel confident for the race after today?

“It’s always good to be back at Le Mans. It was a good test for us but it’s clear the competition has stepped up as it always does in GTE Pro. Just when you think it can’t get any tougher it seems to be getting more competitive. We’ve definitely got our hands full this year, and therefore it’s important we focus on our own job and that’s what we did today. The main thing is the car feels good and drivable for 24 hours. We’ve definitely got a good starting point for race week.”