media.cadillac.com.

AUSTIN, Texas, (May 18, 2013) – Team Cadillac driver Johnny O’Connell drove his No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe to the Pirelli World Challenge Series Cadillac Sports Car Challenge GT win at the Circuit of the America’s (COTA) this afternoon. Teammate Andy Pilgrim finished third.

O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) 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 (Boca Raton, Fla.) 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.

“I had a really good start,” O’Connell said. “We usually lose out to the Volvos on the starts with their four-wheel drive. My objective was to just keep him behind me or to the outside going into Turn One. When I got that launch and I saw that the Volvo was not going to be able to get me into Turn One – that was the defining moment to the race.”

Following the strong start it was anything but a drive through the Texas country side for O’Connell.

“After the start I had to just hit my marks,” he said. “I wanted to push hard early. I brought my front tires in early and wanted to get a gap in the first couple of laps. When the Audi got by the Volvo I had to push because he was coming fast.”

A strong Cadillac CTS-V race car helped O’Connell get a little bit of redemption after a near victory last month at Long Beach.

“The restarts helped to keep the GTS cars back,” he continued. “I didn’t have too much traffic. I had a good race car from the Team Cadillac guys. They’ve worked hard to get these cars to handle in this heat. It was good to get the victory after my near win at Long Beach a couple of weeks ago. It is also special to get the first World Challenge Series GT win at a new track. I am looking forward to the second race tomorrow.”

Pilgrim had to bring the car back from the back of the field.

“I didn’t get a start,” Pilgrim said. “The clutch was dragging and stalled the engine. I had to switch the power back on, the car fired up, by then the field was gone.”

The Floridian had 25 laps of hard work to get to the front.

“This is a tough place to pass,” he continued. “I had to wait for people to make a mistake. I made some good moves, while trying to be patient. Randy was really fast on the straight, but he seemed to be having trouble through the esses. I just bided my time and was able to get him. It was good to get a double podium finish for Cadillac. We will get it right for the race tomorrow.”

The Pirelli World Challenge Series will run the Cadillac Sports Car Challenge at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, May 17-19. The race will be televised on NBC Sports, Sunday, June 16 at 5 p.m. ET. Live timing and scoring can be streamed from world-challenge.com.

 media.cadillac.com.

AUSTIN, Texas, (May 17, 2013) – Team Cadillac driver Johnny O’Connell drove his No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe to pole position for tomorrow’s first of a double race weekend at the Pirelli World Challenge Series Cadillac Sports Car Challenge at the Circuit of the America’s (COTA). Teammate Andy Pilgrim will start fourth.

O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) posted a final practice time on Thursday of 1:34.816 placing him third on the GT time sheet. Taking to the new COTA circuit in 90-degree temperatures this afternoon, he managed to post a pole position time of 1:33.539. Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) had limited running on Thursday’s promoter test day with car issues, missing the final practice session. Despite the limited running, the Floridian put in a lap of 1:34.092 that will have him start fourth.

“Pretty nice,” O’Connell said. “I really didn’t think we were going to go that fast. We made some changes to the car to make it fast over a couple of laps, and it worked. Even though we didn’t test here, I have run a thousand laps in my head and about five hundred laps since yesterday. I did what I had to do to lay a lap down, and we got it done.”

O’Connell liked the way the Cadillac CTS-V drove.

“This track requires the driver to be soft and smooth. My engineer said before qualifying to use slow hands. Make slow soft inputs into the car and it will reward you. We had a great qualifying car. We will have to make changes to make it a great race car.”

The reigning Pirelli World Challenge GT Champion knows Turn One will be a challenge.

“I love the thought of the standing start starring up that hill,” O’Connell continued. “Hopefully we have a good clean start. The tight first corner will invite a mix of stupidity and bravery. I hope that we can get everyone through Turn One clean.”

Pilgrim overcame the lack of practice time and will start his No. 8 Cadillac CTS-V from the second row.

“We had a rough practice day,” Pilgrim said. “In practice we had several issues with the car. I missed some practice time. It is very unusual for this team to miss practice laps. The Cadillac guys did a great job to get everything set for qualifying, and we will start on the second row.”

Last year’s GT series runner-up likes the new 2.3-miles, 17-turn COTA circuit.

“This is a great facility,” he said. “There are a lot of local fans and Australians here this weekend. I am disappointed, we are not running the long circuit, especially with the 53 cars we will have on the track for the GT/GTS race. It is going to take an extreme amount of patience in the race. We will come up on the GTS traffic in about three laps. There will be sections where you cannot even think about overtaking a car.”

Like O’Connell, Pilgrim is weary of the start.

“I think it will be great starting up that big hill,” Pilgrim continued. “People are going to want to go to the inside. But there is less of an incline on the inside and the ABS system on these cars is going to want to release, and you have to be ready for that to happen. I hope these guys are ready for that release. Hopefully, everyone will play it cool at the start.”

The Pirelli World Challenge Series will run the Cadillac Sports Car Challenge at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, May 17-19. The race will be televised on NBC Sports, Sunday, June 16 at 5 p.m. ET. Live timing and scoring can be streamed from world-challenge.com.

No. 4 Compuware Corvette Finishes 10th after Gear Box Issue Early in Race

SALINAS, Calif. – (May 11, 2013) – A well-executed team effort helped Corvette Racing return to victory lane at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Laguna Seca road course for the second consecutive year. Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia, drivers of the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R, scored their first American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GT Class win of the season and first since 2011. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, drivers of the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R scored Corvette Racing’s first win of 2013 in the season-opening race at Sebring.

Gavin qualified fourth for the ALMS GT Class at Laguna Seca while Garcia posted the sixth-fastest GT time in his No. 3 Corvette.

Right out of the gate, the No. 4 Corvette team faced adversity as they made contact with another car but were able to continue on with no damage. After both cars stopped for fuel and tires just over an hour into the race, the No. 3 car piloted by Magnussen powered their way to the front of the field while trouble struck the No. 4 Corvette again when Gavin radioed the crew that his car was stuck in sixth gear.

A full course caution coincided with the gear box problem and the crew brought Gavin down pit road and to their attention under yellow. The team quickly identified the problem which was a cracked hose in the gear box. Unfortunately the repairs cost the team five laps and they fell to the rear of the GT ranks, and came home in 10th position.

At the halfway mark of the race, Magnussen had stretched out a two second lead over second place until a full course caution fell for a car stuck in the sand. That is when the No. 3 team decided to bring Jan in for tires, fuel and a driver change. It was yet another lightning-fast stop for the Corvette Racing crew which kept the car at the front of the field.

With Garcia behind the wheel, the No. 3 team would not relinquish the lead again. The margin was tight most of the race and varied from three-tenths to almost two seconds. The crew and drivers had no room for error in such a close race. The No. 3 Corvette team impressively spent four seconds less on pit road than their competitors in second place. A number which surely factored into tonight’s victory.

Magnussen was happy with the long awaited win in a tough race. “I have to say, today was one of the most perfect races we’ve had with Corvette Racing,” he said. “We were under pressure the whole way. We never had a big lead, we really had to work through traffic and not get stopped by the slower cars and lose too much time. It was a matter of being precise the whole race. The pit crew made perfect stops. We didn’t have any issues in the pits. We did the driver change during only a short fuel, so there wasn’t a lot of time to make it. I am so happy we finally get a win over a year and a half. With this one, if you can’t win driving like this, you can’t win. It is a lot of pressure, but we have a great crew behind us the whole time.

“I knew right away we had a good car, but immediately in my mind I didn’t think we would win it because we have been in that situation many times last year where we had a good car, and a good situation going, but didn’t get the win. So this race was just a really tough race because we were under pressure the entire time and there was no room for any mistakes in the pits or on track and the whole team just performed fantastic.”

Garcia, who drove the final laps under intense pressure, gave much credit to this team. “It was brilliant,” said Garcia. “Even the driver change was amazing. Even if it was 11 or 12 seconds on fuel, we made it out on time and I could hardly even do my belts before taking off. So basically that is the main thing. The Corvette crew did a great job out there and all the pit stops were under yellow and even if we were coming in bumper-to-bumper, every time we were going out of the pits, nobody was behind us. They were behind, but they were further back than when we came in. You need a fast Corvette race car, but just as important is having a crew that performs like these guys did today. I think last year we did like 5 second places, so we really deserved a win or two. I thought today, with as perfect as we’ve been driving, if we don’t get this win, I don’t know what else to do. Everything worked, right where it needed to be.”

Gavin teamed with Milner to win the GT class in last year’s event at Laguna Seca, finishing 3.45 seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette C6.R, driven by Garcia and Magnussen for a 1-2 finish. Gavin and Milner continued their success that culminated in winning the 2012 ALMS drivers’ championship, and opened the 2013 season with a victory at Sebring last month.

The other top-ten finishers in Saturday’s race in ALMS GT competition were, No. 17 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2nd), No. 56 BMW Z4 GTE (3rd), No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R (4th), No. 23 Ferrari F458 Italia (5th), No. 55 BMW Z4 GTE (6th), No. 48 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7th). No. 06 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8th), and the No. 62 Ferrari F458 Italia (9th).

Corvette Racing has 79 ALMS class victories, including four in 2012, making it the most successful team in American Le Mans Series history.

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(SALINAS, Calif., May 10, 2013) – Oliver Gavin, driver of the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R, qualified fourth (1:22.924 secs.) in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GT Class at Laguna Seca. Antonio Garcia, qualified sixth (1:23.042) in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course.

“The car was pretty decent and it took a while for the tires to come in,” Gavin said about his qualifying lap at Laguna Seca today. “I thought we found a pretty good spot on the track but the Viper was a little bit in the way on the front. Unfortunately on the lap when it all started to come together, the Viper was right there when I came into the corkscrew which is a shame because I lost some time but I got by him and then the next lap I wasn’t so good getting into one and then into two and I never quite seemed to be able to string it together again. I don’t think we had enough to get on pole, but I think we had enough to get third.”

Gavin teamed with Milner to win the GT class in last year’s event at Laguna Seca, finishing 3.45 seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette C6.R, driven by Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen for a 1-2 finish. Gavin will again team with Tommy Milner this year. The two won the 2012 ALMS drivers’ championship, and opened the 2013 season with a victory at Sebring last month.

“Where we are right now with the car with the weight we have got on and everything else, I think we are pretty much maxed-out,” Gavin continued. “So I am relatively happy with the start position because it’s a four hour race and plenty can happen. Last year we proved that we could win races from third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and we didn’t have to be on pole. Very rarely does the pole sitter win anyway. So we just have to hit it right tomorrow and tires are going to be important and getting your pressures right with the track temperatures is going to be vitally important. It’s going to be important because it’s an hour and fifteen minutes longer than the standard race. Strategy is going to play a big part tomorrow.”

Garcia, who qualified the No. Corvette C6.R in sixth position also was not concerned with his starting position for tomorrow’s race.

“I could say that traffic was an issue, but it’s just three tenths and that was the difference in being on the pole or not,” Garcia said. “I am happy with how the car is behaving and if we had a cleaner run and more open track, then we could have been faster for sure. But I am not too concerned, especially in this race because it’s completely opposite to Long Beach where it was a complete sprint race. At Long Beach we had only one stop, and with a four-hour race here its going to be a minimum of three stops. Starting position is important, but I think the best thing is to have a really good car that can fight through the race and that is what I am happy with.”

Garcia will team with Jan Magnussen for tomorrow’s race.

The other top-ten qualifiers for Saturday’s race in ALMS GT competition were, No. 62 Ferrari F458 Italia (1st), No. 05 Porche 911 GT3 RSR (2nd), No. 17 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (3rd), No. 55 BMW Z4 GTE (5th), No. 23 Ferrari F458 Italia (7th), No. 56 BMW Z4 GTE (8th), No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R (9th) and the No. 48 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (10th).

Corvette Racing has 78 ALMS class victories, including four in 2012, making it the most successful team in American Le Mans Series history.

The American Le Mans Monterey for theTequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Laguna Seca starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, May 11th.

 http://www.prnewschannel.com/2013/05/10/rare-chevrolet-corvette-c6rs-supercar-races-to-ebay-auction-block/

(PR NewsChannel) / May 10, 2013 / LOS ANGELES

A Chevrolet Corvette C6RS Supercar will have a new owner once the eBay auction (#151042384280) ends on May 19.

One of only seven produced, and at a cost of over $330,000 with a year’s worth of time to build, this car is only the 2nd completed C6RS to be publicly offered for sale.

In 2007, General Motors (NYSE:GM) approached Pratt and Miller Engineering and asked them to build a special street version of their legendary GT1 class C6R racecar. The car was planned to be presented to Jay Leno.

Pratt Miller delivered the ultimate race car built as a street legal American supercar for GM, making the C6RS the only factory authorized and sponsored re-build/re-make of their venerable C6 Corvette.

Pratt Miller is the company that designed, built, supported and raced the Chevrolet Corvette C5R and C6R racing cars for GM since 1998.

The C6RS project was authorized and sponsored by the Chevrolet/Corvette division of General Motors a few years ago and the first of these seven supercars was given to Jay Leno by GM. Of the other six street legal race machines, only four are in private hands since Pratt Miller retained one and Jim Miller kept the other.

The vehicle listed on eBay, serial number C6RS003, was specially ordered and built for Pratt Miller’s official race photographer.

This specific C6RS Corvette was built as close as possible to the C5R and C6R race cars that were used by the Corvette Racing Team that earned an amazing five wins at the 24-Hours of Le Mans, the ultimate worldwide racing test along with seven American Le Mans Series GT championships since 2000.

The C6RS is a performance car powered by a 600+ HP Katech Aluminum 8.2 liter small block engine with a T-56 six-speed manual transmission and a light weight carbon fiber body.

The C6RS003 goes several steps beyond its C6RS siblings with several unique features that hold it out to be one of one in existence. Some car aficionados say it is hard to appreciate the car without seeing it in person and experiencing it’s presence and power.

The American made supercar features European interior refinements, race track features and unbelievable performance.

2013 is the 60th Anniversary for the Chevrolet Corvette, the car dubbed “America’s sports car.” This year, numerous auto shows and car races will feature the Corvette Marquis at their events.

This C6RS supercar is a Corvette enthusiasts dream as it promises to be the closest thing to a race car that can be driven comfortably down the road.

To view or bid on the Chevrolet CorvetteC6RS, visit the eBay auction page.

Media Contact

Mark Knass

Mark Knass & Associates

(949)642-7447

MarkKnassAssoc@aol.com

SOURCE: Mark Knass & Associates

O’Connell has heartbreaking last lap

LONG BEACH,Calif., (April 21, 2013) – Andy Pilgrim finished second in today’s Pirelli World Challenge Championships Long Beach Grand Prix presented by Kia. Teammate Johnny O’Connell suffered a heartbreaking last lap engine issue.

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.

For Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.), the two-front cars going out in a matter of two laps moved him into second place behind the winning Audi.

“At the start the whole right side of the field never went,” Pilgrim said. “Randy [Pobst, No. 6 Volvo] had problems and the Audi was stuck behind him. I thought this is great! I got a really good run into Turn One. Skeen came inside me into one, I never I saw him. It was a good move.”

“There were some GTS cars in front of me on the restart. We are not allowed to pull out to pass until we are at the start/finish line. I was a little concerned, but I pulled right and got a good run. The car was a little slippery in the rear. I had to be careful when I pointed it into the apex.”

“It was a shame what happened to Johnny,” Pilgrim said of his teammate. “That is really bad luck. I thought he was going to be able to nurse the car around to the finish.”

O’Connell was just three-quarters of a mile from winning the race.

“We got an awesome start,” O’Connell said. “The guys at Cadillac Racing have been really working on our starting procedures. We are improving. No one is going to beat the Volvo, at least not yet.”

“It was a good battle at the front. I tried to get around Sofronas a couple of times. Then on lap two we went into Turn One, he couldn’t get his car pointed in and I raced him to the fountain and won that battle. I set off to try and run down Figge. By that time, he had a really good gap. I was pushing hard to open up space to the Audi behind me, while looking after my Cadillac for the end of the race. Everything was going to plan.”

“When Figge broke his rotor, I thought yeah,” O’Connell said. “You don’t wish him to be hurt, but I am leading the race. I took a big piece of shrapnel into the radiator of my car. I had to keep it running for eight minutes. We ended up being about two minutes short. On the positive side for the team, we come away from the weekend with a good points day for Andy and Cadillac.”

The Long Beach Grand Prix presented by Kia will run Sunday will be televised on NBC Sports, Sunday, May 5 at 2 p.m. EDT.

The Pirelli World Challenge Series will run the Cadillac Sports Car Challenge at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Tex. May 17-19.

John Edwards and Robin Liddell Take Chevrolet Camaro GT.R to Top Podium Spot in GT for Second Consecutive Race

With GS Win Earlier in the Day, Edwards Becomes Only Fourth GRAND-AM Driver to Win Two Races in One Day

BRASELTON, Ga. (April 20, 2013) – Continuing their winning ways, the Stevenson Motorsports duo of John Edwards and Robin Liddell led the field at Road Atlanta to the checkered flag, and brought their No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R to Victory Lane for a second-consecutive week. The pair started sixth when qualifying was rained out, and the starting grid was set on team point standings for the Video Studio Ultimate Grand Prix of Atlanta, Round 4 on the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series 2013 schedule.

With strong driving skills and good pit strategy, they were able to keep their Camaro in the front of the field at the conclusion of the 2.75-hour race. The victory marks Liddell’s 20th career win in the GT division and Edward’s sixth.

Earlier in the day, Edwards won the PricewaterhouseCoopers 250 for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in the No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R, to join Michael Valiante, Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana (twice) as GRAND-AM’s only drivers to win two races in one day. Matt Bell shared the driving duties with Edwards in getting the Grand Sport class win. The run moves the team up to third (unofficially) in the team point standings with eight races remaining in 2013.

“Congratulations to Stevenson Motorsports on the team’s win in both Rolex Series GT, and Continental Tire Challenge GS,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, GRAND-AM Road Racing. “Both classes are very competitive, so to get one victory a weekend is an accomplishment, but to win in both classes is a remarkable feat. The teams and the drivers executed perfectly, putting together great race strategies for both cars.

“In addition, congratulations to John Edwards for scoring the “double” win. He and his co-drivers, Robin Liddell in GT and Matt Bell in GS, drove very smart races to get to the top of the podium in both classes.”

In the Daytona Prototype (DP) class the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP, with drivers Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty behind the wheel, finished third in the inaugural race for the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series at Road Atlanta to score the team’s third-consecutive 2013 season podium finish. The No. 90 Spirit of Daytona team of Richard Westbrook and Ricky Taylor brought home a fifth-place finish.

Other Team Chevy finishers in the 2.5-hour Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race were Lawson Aschenbach and Eric Curran who brought the No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro GS.R to the checkered flag in seventh-place; and, Ashley McCalmont and Bob Michaelian who finished 14th in-class driving the No. 00 CKS Autosport Camaro GS.R.

The next event for Team Chevy in GRAND-AM Road Racing Rolex Sports Car Series will be the Chevrolet GRAND-AM Detroit 200 at Belle Isle Park, in Detroit, Michigan, May 31 – June 1. The GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series race can be seen live on SPEED, Saturday, June 1, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. The Continental Tire Sports Car Series’ next race will be at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, June 15th at 12:00 a.m., with television coverage set for broadcast on June 23, 4:00 p.m. EDT on SPEED.

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES:

ROLEX SPORTS CAR SERIES RACE:

ROBIN LIDDELL, NO. 57 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GT.R – WINNER

WHAT WAS IT ABOUT TODAY THAT JUST CLICKED FOR YOUR STEVENSON TEAM?

“Well we have got a super crew and obviously Mike (??) and the guys from Pratt and Miller on the perch supporting us with strategy and what they do collectively. John (Edwards, co-driver) obviously did a great opening stint. We are not that high in the points so it was always going to be tough for him. We knew we didn’t have a car that was very strong on the back straight which is what a lot of it is all about here. Over a stint we felt we had a decent car. A lot of it was unknown for everybody because we haven’t raced here before with these cars on these tires, so we didn’t know what the degradation was going to be like. We did struggle a bit on old tires. It really came down to thinking on our feet. The guys made a good call to pit early, take the tires and try and establish a gap with some quick laps when everybody else was falling off. Essentially that is what we were able to do. Really happy, again, we have won today like two weeks ago in Barber (Motorsports Park) with ultimately not the quickest car out there but some great team work, some great pit work from the guys.”

ROUGH START TO THE SEASON FOR YOU GUYS DO YOU FEEL LIKE THAT IS BEHIND YOU?

“You never know if it’s behind you. It’s pretty bad to have two poor finishes right in the first two races, but this is a team that always fights hard and we never give up. We always look to improve and we have some super people, great engineering support and great crew guys. We are usually a team for the last five years we have always been a team that on any given weekend we are always threatening for a win. I don’t think this year is going to be any different.”

JOHN EDWARDS, NO. 57 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GT.R – WINNER

YOU WON THE GS RACE EARLIER TODAY GET IN THE GT CAR AND YOU WIN AGAIN. WAS THERE ANY CHALLENGE TO YOU AT THIS TRACK? OR WAS IT SOMETHING THAT YOU JUST QUICKLY ADAPTED TO?

“I think if you were watching the races it was always a big challenge. In the GS race Andy Lally was pressuring me at the end and I was really thankful for that yellow to take the pressure off of me. My stint in this race was relatively uneventful. We had to work through a little bit of traffic in the beginning starting sixth based on where we were in points. Then Andrew (Davis) was running well in the Porsche and they were getting a good run off the No. 7 so I never really had a chance to get by him except with some traffic and never really made it work. We came out of the pits in second when Robin (Liddell, co-driver) got in the car and the team made a great call to pit early, got Robin in the lead, had fresh rubber at the end and he made a hell of a pass on Alessandro (Balzan) to take the lead.”

CONTINENTAL TIRE SPORTS CAR CHALLENGE RACE:

MATT BELL, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R – WINNER

GREAT POINTS WEEKEND FOR YOU GUYS:

“It’s pretty surprising. I don’t think we have ever been in this position before. Really the team is working better than they ever have before. The pit stops, I think we gained something like 10 seconds on pit stops today. Everyone is just working overtime. The engineering stand they figured out this car without too much testing time. Obviously we were rained out yesterday so I am just completely impressed with everything. The car is exactly what we needed of it. John (Edwards, co-driver) had an incredible drive. So far we are looking pretty good in this championship.”

JOHN EDWARDS, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R – WINNER

PRETTY INCREDIBLE BACK-TO-BACK THERE SECOND LAST WEEK AND A WIN THIS WEEK:

“I think last week we were leading and I was a little bitter with a missed shift to lose it. I think we had a better car today. (Andy) Lally was there at the end I think we were pretty equal on lap time, but he was a little quicker down the straights but not as good in the brake zones. I think over one lap we were about even, but that made it stressful when his speed was coming from the straightaway and mine was coming from the brake zone because I had to work really hard there at the end. Awesome running with him I think we stayed clean. I didn’t think there was a scratch on the car, but I see some rubber so I know I got super sideways when I was next to Lally so I might have rubbed him there a little bit but other than that a really clean race.”

LONG BEACH,Calif., (April 20, 2013) – Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim will start their Cadillac CTS-V race cars from the fifth and seventh positions for tomorrow’s 50-minute Pirelli World Challenge Championships Long Beach Grand Prix presented by Kia.

O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Geor.) and Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.), along with the rest of the GT field, have been dealing with limited run time on the concrete lined 1.98-mile, 11-turn temporary street course surrounding the Long Beach Aquarium and Convention Center. In Friday’s practice, a couple of GT competitors experienced engine failures and issues that caused red flags stopping the action as well as spilling fluid on the track. The only quality laps were done this morning prior to qualifying. O’Connell and Pilgrim relied on their Long Beach racing experience and the data and guidance of Team Cadillac to set up their cars for qualifying.

In the 15-minute qualifying session O’Connell recorded a fast lap of 1:21.742, good for fifth place and a third row starting position in GT. Pilgrim posted a lap of 1:21.963 good for seventh, which will have him starting directly behind his teammate tomorrow afternoon.

“Twenty minutes on a Saturday morning, you need more practice time than that at a track like Long Beach,” O’Connell said. “I think every team is struggling with something, just due to lack of track time. One of the cars left a lot of gear oil on the race track on Friday. Then this morning the Corvette had a big wreck. We lost a lot of valuable track time. This sort of situation plays into the hands of Cadillac Racing. We have great data, engineering and a lot of laps here in other cars.”

O’Connell’s qualifying time was an improvement from 2012.

“I am pleased with my qualifying run. I ran a 1:22.1 last year, being 122 lbs. heavier. I went quicker this year, as I should. We qualified about where we expected to be.”

“You have to go hard right from the start,” O’Connell explained about the beginning of the race. “But, it is never worth taking a chance and wrecking your car. You have to wait and see and be ready to take advantage of every inch.”

Pilgrim, last year’s GT class winner, is relying on experience for this weekend.

“Practice on Friday was a bit of mess,” Pilgrim said. “We had a couple of crashes, a few engine blow-ups and someone was spewing gear oil on the track. That can’t be helped. What should have been a 30-minute session ended up being one or two laps at speed. That meant that the 20-minute session before qualifying this morning was really important. Luckily, we had a good run for 10-minutes, before the red flag. We literally had three or four laps before qualifying. It helps that we know the place and have raced here several times before. We did the best we could. The car was pretty good. I am a little quicker than last year.”

“I had a good qualifying run. There were some waving yellow flags in Turn One, so I didn’t get my third lap. I ran my fastest lap on the fourth circuit, so that was pretty good.”

“We don’t know how they race,” Pilgrim said about the new faces that will start in front of him tomorrow. “I am going to have to be aggressive at the start. I can’t afford to wait. Like St. Pete, we are in the same fifth to seventh range on the grid. A few of the guys in front of us are fast down the straights, but not so quick in the corners. So we have to take advantage when we can. It will require a lot of patience. Last year, the race went green the whole way, but I don’t think that is going to happen this year. Judging by what we have seen in the two practice sessions so far. But you never know.”

The Pirelli World Challenge Series Long Beach Grand Prix presented by Kia will run Sunday, April 21. The races from Long Beach will be televised on NBC Sports, Sunday, May 5 at 2 p.m. EDT.

Tied for Manufacturer Lead After 2 Rounds

LONG BEACH, Calif., April 20, 2013) – Corvette Racing scored two top-five finishes at Long Beach to maintain a share of the lead in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) Manufacturer Standings through the first two races of the season.

Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin, drove the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R to a fourth-place finish in the GT class in the two-hour Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen finished fifth in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R.

“As we saw in qualifying, the cars are just so close in performance,” Milner said. “We were in a good spot, but just a little unlucky there.”

Milner, who earned his first career ALMS race at this event last year, qualified sixth and had driven up to fourth when the team pitted with just over an hour remaining, and changed drivers. During the exchange, the team had a difficult time securing the steering wheel.

“Pretty much our race was so dictated by that pit stop where I got in and really just struggled to get the wheel on,” Gavin said. During the stop the team also experienced some trouble with one of the tires, and “the wheel got spun around and I was then trying to find the point where it had to slot on, and it wasn’t so easy to see. By the time I got it on, everybody else had finished up their pit stops and we came out pretty much at the back.”

Garcia, meanwhile, started fourth and quickly moved toward the front.

“Everything went to plan, basically,” Garcia said. “We knew how usually the first lap works here. I basically put pressure on, and the two cars in front of me both went off so I kind of made myself a little bit of a gap and made a pass on both.”

But, a series cautions slowed the No. 3 Corvette C6.R’s momentum, and brought pit strategy into play.

“All of those yellows – especially that first one, it was like flipping a coin,” Garcia said. “I think it was the right call to stay out, but then with all of these yellows coming after is where being in the lead wasn’t such an advantage anymore.”

The No. 3 Corvette C6.R was running second when the driver change was made.

“It started off pretty well,” Magnussen said. “I think the way the strategy and the pit stops worked out really hurt us. It seemed like everybody else was trying to salvage something and kind of went out of sequence and gained really well on it, and we lost on it, unfortunately. We were struggling a little bit too much right there at the end with grip.”

With less than 15 minutes remaining, Gavin passed Magnussen for fourth place.

“It was another learning lesson for us,” said Gavin, who teamed with Milner and Richard Westbrook last month to win the season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. “It was good just to score the points in the championship, to get fourth place, I’ll take that every day with how rough that race was. It was pretty nasty at times, and difficult, and traffic was hard. There was plenty of bumping and banging, and you just have to try and keep the car clean. There were a number of times where I thought, ‘Oh, this could get pretty messy here. We’re going to lose a corner off the car.’ Or, it was just sliding and sliding and you were just hoping that it was going to stop sliding before we ended up hitting the wall, and fortunately it did.”

The No. 55 BMW Z4 GTE won the race, followed by the No. 56 BMW Z4 GTE, the No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R, and the two Corvettes.

Unofficially, Chevrolet and BMW share the Manufacturers Standings with 34 points apiece.

“Those guys battled the whole race,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “I would say tires were a factor throughout the race. It was tricky out there. I commend the whole Corvette Racing team for really staying focused and driving toward the front. You know, a couple of cars in front of us were a little tight on gas. We didn’t get them today, but it was a good points day and momentum in the season continues. So, on to Monterrey.”

The ALMS season resumes with Round 3 on May 9-11 with the American Le Mans Series Monterey (Calif.) at Laguna Seca, where Gavin and Milner won last year.

Long Beach Results

1. 1. #55 BMW Z4 GTE (Auberlin/Martín)
2. 2. #56 BMW Z4 GTE (D. Muller/Hand)
3. 3. #91 SRT Viper GTS-R (Farnbacher/Goossens)
4. 4. #4 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R (Gavin/Milner)
5. 5. #3 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R (Magnussen/Garcia)
6. 6. #48 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (Miller/Holzer)
7. 7. #23 Ferrari F458 Italia (Sweedler/Bell)
8. 8. #93 SRT Viper GTS-R (Bomarito/Wittmer)
9. 9. #62 Ferrari F458 Italia (Beretta/Malucelli)
10. 10. #17 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (Henzler/Sellers)