(LONG BEACH, Calif., April 19, 2013) – Jan Magnussen, driver of the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R, qualified fourth (1:19.047 secs.) in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GT Class at Long Beach. Tommy Milner, who won his first ALMS race at this event last year, qualified sixth (1:19.083) in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn Long Beach Street Circuit.

“We definitely made some good improvements between practice and qualifying,” Magnussen said. “It’s always hard here because there’s such a long time between the two sessions, so you really have to think about how the track is going to develop, so I think we made some good choices. We’ll go back and look at some old data and fine-tune a little bit, but overall, I’d be happy to race this car.”

Magnussen added that the No. Corvette C6.R experienced a minor problem during practice, but it was fixed before qualifying.

“We had a small issue shifting this morning. Fixed. All gone,” Magnussen said. “I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”

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

Milner will again team with Oliver Gavin. The two won the 2012 ALMS drivers’ championship, and opened the 2013 season with a victory at Sebring last month.

“Obviously, it’s super, super close, as it always is in GT,” Milner said. “So, the position doesn’t sound great; sixth is not what I was hoping for, but it was only two-tenths off the pole. That’s pretty close.

“Obviously, I’d love to get a win here again, like I did last year, my first win in ALMS, but at the end of the day is the championship and finishing the race and keeping the nose of the car clean, give it to Oliver and let him work his magic like he did last year.”

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

The Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach starts at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, April 20.

 http://media.gm.com/product/public/us/en/gmracing

(LONG BEACH, Calif., April 19, 2013) – Corvette Racing returns to where its championship season in 2012 earned its first of four victories: The 1.968-mile, 11-turn Long Beach Street Circuit.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, co-drivers of the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R, won at Long Beach last year en route to the Team and Driver championships. It was their first victory as a team, and Milner’s first victory in the American Le Mans Series.

“Long Beach was the start of the run to the Championship for Tommy and me,” Gavin said. “As you so often have to be on street races, we were a little lucky in that the two cars in front of us on the grid had issues on the fourth corner of the race and their race was compromised from there on. We still had to battle our way from then on to the front but our car was good straight off and that was a big plus point.”

One of the keys at Long Beach, Gavin said, is the very last turn.

“The most important corner on the track is the last one and getting off that corner well is vital for lap time and opportunities to overtake other cars,” Gavin said. “If you can get into someone’s tow on the straight it’s the best chance you get to pass others going into Turn 1. Street tracks are always a bit of a lottery, but if you are able to switch on your tires fast, ride the bumps easily and go through and off the corners well, you’ve got a good chance to be fast.”

Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing Program Manager, agrees that luck is important, particularly on street courses.

“There’s a formula that I like to extoll, and it’s for any race: It’s 25 percent great car, 25 percent great team and 50 percent good luck,” Fehan said. “And that gets modified just a little bit when you go to street races, and the good-luck portion plays a much greater role. Because you have a great car and a great team, but in a street race anything can happen to you – from turn one, lap one to turn 10, final lap of the race. You’ve got to have good fortune on your side. Anybody who wins at Long Beach, has good fortune on that day. That’s just the way street races work.”

Corvette Racing, which also won the 2012 ALMS Manufacturer Championship, opened the 2013 season with a victory last month. Milner made a late pass for the lead and held on for the final 15 minutes as the No. 4 GT Compuware Corvette C6.R overcame an early electrical issue and two key penalties to win the GT class 61st Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway.

Fehan thinks the one-month break between the first two races will be a good thing for the two Corvette Racing teams.

“It lets the guys wind down a little bit, and you clearly get to take more time and get the car correct and ready for the next race,” Fehan said. “There’s a huge emotional build-up to that event at Sebring, and a huge emotional release when you’re victorious, so to have a little extra time to catch your breath, get yourself sorted out, and enjoy and contemplate what you’ve accomplished, and then re-focus on what you have to do. So, the break is actually pretty good.”

The No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R, driven by Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen, looks to bounce back from an electrical issue at Sebring.

“The issues that we had with the 3 team at Sebring were just devastating,” Fehan said. “As it turns out, a simple little pin on one little wire, and it took those guys out of contention – and they had a car that was good enough to win. Now, if you do this game long enough, you’re going to have those experiences. Everybody goes through that. They all want to perform at their optimum, they all want to make sure that they bring a car that they know can win. And they did that at Sebring. It just didn’t work out. It was one of those racing bad days. As quickly as that can happen to you, it can turn around. I think they are very energized by that, I think they know that at a street race it is anybody’s ballgame and the 3 guys are not at all down and out about it at this point. You go home, you get past it and you come back harder than ever.”

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

The Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach starts at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, April 20. GT Qualifying is at 5:25 p.m. Pacific time on Friday.

St. PETERSBURG, Fla., (April 16, 2013) – Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim are ready to take on round three of the Pirelli World Challenge Championships Long Beach Grand Prix presented by Kia on Sunday, April 21.

O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Geor.) and Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) sit fourth and fifth respectively in GT points based upon their finishes in round one at St. Petersburg last month. Since that time the team has run some test laps at Sebring, making up for lost time in the off season. The concrete lined 1.98-mile, 11-turn temporary street course surrounding the Long Beach Aquarium and Convention Center is the longest active street race in North America, having hosted the first race in 1975.

O’Connell used the first race of the Pirelli World Challenge season to size up his competition.

“St. Pete was the first opportunity for us to get a feel of what the competition level of the GT competitors will be for the 2013 season,” O’Connell said. “I honestly had one of the best race cars I’ve had in ages and even with driving a strong race ended up third only through attrition. My strategy for this weekend is to push hard, make no mistakes, and make sure to finish every lap.”

“Long Beach is a circuit that I very much enjoy driving. There are several good overtaking areas as well challenging turns. Of course qualifying is always important, if for nothing else, seeing how perfect a lap you can do.”

The Georgia resident has had success at Long Beach.

“I have some very good racing memories of Long Beach,” O’Connell continued. “My first race there was in 1986 in Formula Mazda. My favorite memory, so far, would have to be winning with Jan Magnussen in the Corvette in 2008. A peculiar memory would be racing Indy Lights in 1991 when a broken water main flooded the hairpin about five minutes into our first session.”

Last year’s Long Beach performance ranks high with Pilgrim.

“Winning last year is easily my favorite racing memory at Long beach,” Pilgrim said. “I had podiums before, but never the top step, that was very special. I raced there the first time in 1994. I have about eight Long Beach races under my belt.”

The 2012 Pirelli World Challenge Championship GT point’s runner-up will put a premium on qualifying this weekend.

“Qualifying is important. The race is only 50-minutes long and a lot of things can happen on a closed street circuit. It will also be vital to get a good start. It is hard to pass at Long Beach. You have to save the tires as they can become very slippery towards the end of the race, particularly if the race goes all green like it did last year.”

“I personally think the run from Turn Six to the exit of Turn Eight is critical on this track. I try to be very clean and as late as I can on the brakes, but still keep good momentum. You can really gap people here if you keep momentum through the apex of these three turns.”

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.

O’Connell post two third place finishes

St. PETERSBURG, Fla., (March 24, 2013) – Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim drove their Cadillac CTS-V race cars to third and fifth-place finishes in race two of the Pirelli World Challenge Championships Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg this morning.

O’Connell and Pilgrim improved one position each on the final standings from race one at St. Pete yesterday. The “gift” was the result of the Porsche of Ryan Dalziel, yesterday’s GT race winner, being disqualified in post-race inspection for the front splitter being out of compliance. As a result O’Connell was granted third place and Pilgrim fourth.

Based upon their fastest race laps from yesterday, O’Connell started today’s round two of the double event weekend from fourth, with teammate Pilgrim starting directly behind him in sixth. Unlike the first race, the Pirelli World Challenge officials went back to the traditional standing start for this morning’s race.

With light precipitation in the air, the Cadillac CTS-V racers of O’Connell and Pilgrim jumped off of the starting grid and headed to Turn One. O’Connell was able to put his CTS-V Coupe between the Corvette of Michael Skeen and the apex picking up a position in fifth with teammate Pilgrim following in behind. As the race progressed the threat of rain went away and left the Pirelli World Challenge competitors to run the 50-minute event without a caution. On lap 30, the front runners began to experience problems. Early race leader Alex Figge, No. 9 Volvo, experienced engine problems and retired, he was soon followed in by second place runner Dalziel with a flat tire on his Porsche. Keeping the pressure on, O’Connell was able to drive his No. 3 Cadillac Racing CTS-V Coupe to a podium paying position of third. Pilgrim came to the checkered flag in fifth.

“I slid more than I thought at the start,” O’Connell said. “I ran fifth pretty much the entire race. I ran clean. Looking at the total weekend, I ran about as perfect as I could have yesterday and today. I can honestly say that I got 110% out of the car. Thanks to the misfortune of Dalziel yesterday, I finished third and two guys had trouble in front of me today, which put me on the podium again. Team Cadillac puts great cars under us and we had a pretty good weekend.”

Pilgrim experienced some handling issues in race two.

“There was a tiny bit of precipitation on the warm-up lap, but not enough to affect anyone,” Pilgrim said. “I was able to get a good start. I got by Skeen’s [Mike] Corvette at the start. I knew I was going to be running with him again, like yesterday. He was a little better around more of the track than I was today. As long as I could lean on the brakes, I was alright. We had a slight push in the car all weekend and we just couldn’t quite figure it out. About 15 laps into the race, the brake pedal began to get a little soft, so I had to back out of it.”

Round two of the Pirelli World Challenge Championships Honda St. Peter Grand Prix was won by James Sofronas in an Audi R8.

The Pirelli World Challenge Series, race two, will run tomorrow, Sunday, at 10:25 a.m. The races from St. Pete will be televised on NBC Sports, Sunday, April 7 at 12:30 p.m., EDT. Live streaming can be viewed on race day at world-challengeTV.com.

Rounds three and four of the Pirelli World Challenge Series will be at the Long Beach Grand Prix presented by KIA, April 19-21.

 http://gmauthority.com/blog/2013/03/corvette-racings-secret-weapon-is-the-pratt-miller-radar-camera/

With the start of the 2013 American Le Mans Racing series at last weekend’s 12 Hours of Sebring, Corvette Racing was able to snatch a victory in the GT class with the C6.R race car. The car also featured something special for the first time that may have helped Tommy Milner, Oliver Gavin, and Richard Westbrook win: an innovated rear-view camera system that relays the distance of approaching vehicles, even in the blind spots. And it works in the rain, and in the dark.

The system runs on a custom Linux machine with an Intel Core i3 CPU and uses a rear-facing radar sensor that is capable of tracking up to 32 objects while working in tandem with the camera. Different colors and symbols are displayed on the rearview screen, which allows the driver to easily see race cars that are behind, how close they are, their closing speeds, and even the approaching vehicle’s racing class.

For instance, a green marker means the car behind the Corvette C6.R is falling back, while yellow means it’s moving at the same rate of speed; a red marker indicates that the car is closing the gap and about to pass, with a blinking arrow indicating on which side the C6.R will be passed. To differentiate racing classes, an extra line in the marker indicates when the computer believes the encroaching vehicle to be of a faster class (as shown above).

Pratt Miller claim it to be the only system of its kind in racing, but plans to sell the technology to other teams in the future, with pricing still to be determined. Watch how the radar camera works in this video (visit the following URL):

St. PETERSBURG, Fla., (March 23, 2013) – Team Cadillac’s Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim finished round one of the Pirelli World Challenge Championships Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in fourth and fifth respectively this afternoon.

O’Connell and Pilgrim started the 50-minute race together on the third row of the Pirelli World Challenge GT grid based upon their fifth and sixth place qualifying times. For the first of two races this weekend, the series’ officials decided to have the competitors come to the green flag using a rolling start. Tomorrow’s round two will be a traditional standing start.

From the drop of the green flag the Cadillac CTS-V race cars of O’Connell and Pilgrim took up positions in fourth and seventh places. As is the nature of closed street course racing, the parade effect took over. On lap 11 O’Connell was passed going into Turn One, relegating him to fifth position. On lap 26, a full-course caution brought the field back together. On lap 30 the race restarted with a rejuvenated O’Connell and Pilgrim, each able to make up positions on the lap finishing the race in fourth and fifth place.

“The start was pretty clean,” O’Connell said. “I was able to gain a position going into Turn One. The front cars seemed like they could get off of the turns a little better than we could. Early in the race they just inched, inched away and the next thing you know there’s a gap. Then you add in the GTS traffic and you almost lose touch. I had the Audi behind me at the start. It was a matter of time before he was able to get by. On the restart, Randy [Pobst] in the Volvo bobbled in the kink and I was able to get a place back on him. I am pleased with the race. Team Cadillac gave Andy and me great race cars. We will be ready for round two tomorrow.”

Pilgrim had a clean start and was able to make up two positions on the restart.

“Everyone really bunched up quickly on the start,” said Pilgrim. “A lot the guys behind me didn’t get up to the pack in the last turn. The traffic here is unbelievable with so many GTS cars. They are not that far off of us, speed wise, down the straight, but in the turns they are much slower. You have to be so patient with them. I don’t think you’ll see as much patience tomorrow. On the restart, I was able to make a couple of good moves and get some positions. I was able to get inside Skeen [Mike, No. 2 Corvette] in Turn Four and held the position. In Turn 10 Randy [Pobst] got balked a little and I banged in behind Johnny to make the pass. It was tight coming out of that turn, but I got by.”

Round One of the Pirelli World Challenge Series from St. Petersburg was won by Ryan Daiziel in a Porsche 911 GT3.

The Pirelli World Challenge Series, race two, will run tomorrow, Sunday, at 10:25 a.m. The races from St. Pete will be televised on NBC Sports, Sunday, April 7 at 12:30 p.m., EDT. Live streaming can be viewed on race day at world-challengeTV.com.

Written by: John Dagys

Location: Northampton (UK)

Following in the footsteps of his father and brother, Ricky Taylor will get his chance to tackle the world’s greatest endurance race this year, having secured a ride with one of the most successful privateer endurance teams in the business.

The 23-year-old second-generation driver has signed with Larbre Competition for the 90th Le Mans 24 Hours, joining team regulars Julien Canal and Patrick Bornhauser in the French squad’s No. 50 Corvette C6.R, which will be seeking its third consecutive GTE-Am class victory and fourth in a row in the twice-around-the-clock classic.

“If I ever have a situation where I could be comfortable and have a good chance to win [Le Mans], this is it. I don’t think the opportunity could be better,” Taylor told SPEED.com in an exclusive interview.

“It’s a great opportunity for me because it’s a strong team, good car and not a huge factory effort, so there’s not too much pressure. But at the same time, they have won it three times in a row. I think it’s a good chance for me to go to Le Mans for my first time.”

The deal to jump aboard the two-time and defending class-winning Corvette came when Pedro Lamy, the team’s original designated professional driver, moved to one of Aston Martin Racing’s GTE-Pro entries, leaving a void for a Platinum or Gold-rated driver in the squad.

“Originally we were talking about the 70 car,” Taylor explained. “Then Cooper MacNeil ended up over there. I’d just gotten my [FIA/ACO] license all finalized and turned out that I was a Gold. A lot of the options went away at that point and I was kind of discouraged. Then, a seat opened up in the 50 car and Larbre called and said they’d like someone with a history of endurance racing.”

While it will mark Taylor’s debut at Le Mans, the GM driver holds an impressive resume in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, which includes seven victories, a string of poles and two runner-up finishes in the DP championship, all with his father’s Wayne Taylor Racing operation. He’s since moved over to Spirit of Daytona Racing for 2013.

But outside of a one-off run in a V8 Supercar at last year’s Gold Coast 600, Le Mans will be Ricky’s first experience of a GT-style car but will have plenty of people to lean on for advise. That includes younger brother Jordan, who made his Le Mans debut in 2012 with Corvette Racing and returns to the factory GTE-Pro squad this year, with a similar spec Corvette C6.R.

“I’ve got the excuse and can say my car is a little bit older!” Ricky joked, in reference to the one-year old car mandate for cars competing in GTE-Am. “At the end of the day, it’s going to be good. I’m actually going to be sleeping in [Jordan’s] room at the track. We’re both going to be able to compare notes without being competitive, which is going to be cool.

“There’s going to be absolutely no competitive aspect to it, which is going to be weird, especially this year in DP. It’s going to be pretty cool.”

Ricky will get his first taste of the Corvette C6.R in a private test in France, prior to the official Le Mans Test day on June 9 and the race itself on June 22-23.

Pratt Miller presenting at RTC’s 2013 Robotics Day

New Hudson, MI – Pratt Miller’s Director of Government Markets, Sara Blackmer, will speak at the 2013 Michigan Robotics Day, hosted by the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences on Monday April 15, 2013. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to hear about PME’s system integration capabilities and autonomous platform development. This is also a great time to learn about the value of becoming a Robotics Technology Consortium Member!

For more info, please visit www.microbotics.org.

St. PETERSBURG, Fla., (March 22, 2013) – Team Cadillac’s Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim will start round one of the Pirelli World Challenge Series Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg from the fifth and sixth grid positions for tomorrow’s GT race.

Team Cadillac, the reigning World Challenge GT driver and manufacturer champions, started the weekend with two practice sessions today around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn concrete lined streets of downtown St. Petersburg. In session one, O’Connell posted a fastest lap of 1:16.181, good for third, followed by Pilgrim who drove to a 1:16.254 placing him fifth. In the second practice O’Connell, once again third, with a time of 1:15.852 and Pilgrim sixth with a 1:16.209. The opening weekend of the World Challenge Series has attracted a strong group of 15 GT cars representing brands like Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, and Volvo.

In qualifying O’Connell, last year’s race one winner, put up a time of 1:15.237 good for fifth place on the grid. Pilgrim ran a 1:15.473 that will have him start next to his teammate on the third row in sixth.

“Practice went alright,” O’Connell said. “It is always difficult on a street circuit. Guys are making mistakes, so if you have a half-hour session it ends up being 15 or 20 minutes. That happened both times today. Since we ran here the last two years, we have good data. The Pratt & Miller guys always unload a car that is ready to go with a good set up. The circuit changed for the second session and we improved. I was P3 and happy with that run.”

“In qualifying your disappointed if you’re not on the pole. We qualified fifth and sixth. We’ll see how it shakes out tomorrow.”

“If it rains, everyone has to run out there. Here it is very difficult and challenging with all the paint on the runway. Rain and paint don’t go together. Paint is very slippery when it gets wet. It will be important to be aggressive early in the race, because we will see full course cautions. The Cadillac in the wet is a very good car.”

Pilgrim is satisfied with his day behind the wheel of the Cadillac CTS-V Coupe.

“We went out a little later in the morning than we usual do for the first practice,” Pilgrim said. “We are usually the first ones out. The track was good. It was cool, so when the tires came in it was really nice. In the second practice I had a lot of traffic. We were working pretty hard on the set up that second practice and we made some nice changes for the race.”

“Qualifying was a little more humid than practice. The times weren’t much faster in qualifying until we got a lot of heat in the tires and the cars. I almost went as fast as last year. I made a few changes in the car. That seemed to help. I am happy we are in the top six.”

“Rain is a possibility for the weekend. It is going to be a gamble with the rain. All of the cars on the track – throw in the paint that is on the runway portion of the track, it will be a real crap shoot. If it is raining Saturday, hopefully cool heads will prevail as we also have to race on Sunday. I hope we can stay dry.”

The Pirelli World Challenge schedule will kick-off at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The race is run through the streets of downtown surrounding the marina and the Albert Whitted Airport. The World Challenge Series, race one, will be at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 23 with the second round on Sunday at 10:25 a.m. The races from St. Pete will be televised on NBC Sports, Sunday, April 7 at 12:30 p.m., EDT. Live streaming can be viewed on race day at world-challengeTV.com.

DETROIT, Mich., (Mar. 20, 2013) -Team Cadillac’s Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim are looking for a fast start to the Pirelli World Challenge Series at the season opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg running this weekend March 22-24.

The reigning World Challenge GT driver and manufacturer champions were able to get a strong start in 2012 at St. Pete with a race win and a podium by O’Connell, complimented by a third-place finish by Andy Pilgrim.

“I think we are ready to do well in qualifying again as a team at St. Peter,” Pilgrim said. “We have been slowed down over the winter by the SCCA so we need to see how we stack up now. The restrictor change is really the only variable, but we are ready to go.”

Andy PilgrimPilgrim has a fondness for street racing and likes the St. Pete layout.

“I love street racing and St. Pete is a great track for it. I am a huge fan of fast sweepers and St. Pete has a few really good ones, so even if you’re not in heavy traffic this place will get your attention three or four times a lap. I especially like the fast chicane back onto the airport runway area, it’s a great transition.”

A strong start to the season is essential as every race is a valuable points paying event.

“Every race is critical in this series. One bad race can effectively end your season as far as the Championship. Every year the driver who wins it had the most consistent high place finishes. A DNF or bad finish is not what any of us want. We have to finish towards the front in every race, starting at St. Pete.”

Reigning World Challenge GT driver champion, O’Connell knows a fast start is crucial, but the competition has improved for 2013.

“Last year the team came out of the box fast with top qualifying positions and a win at St. Pete,” O’Connell said. “It’s going to be very hard to repeat that effort. We really don’t know the strengths of our competition and we weren’t the fastest there last year. We got a bit lucky with traffic and I can only hope the same happens this year.”

Johnny O’ConnellLike Pilgrim, O’Connell, 2012 drivers champion, is a big fan of racing through the city streets.

“I’ve always loved street racing and the precision needed to excel on them. Having won at St. Pete before allows me to go into the event knowing what I need to do. I like the entire circuit, but if there is a place that is challenging – it’s braking for Turn One. There is a lot of paint on the surface, and the car doesn’t like that.”

Last year’s race one winner wants to get out of the box again fast in 2013.

“It’s very important to get a good first double race weekend start to the season,” he said. “The most important thing is for us to get good finishes, and then we will see what weaknesses we need to address before Long Beach. We’re entering St. Pete with no preseason testing, so I expect it to be a challenge.”

John Kraemer, V-Series Racing marketing manager, is ready to get the Cadillac CTS-V Coupes back on the track this weekend.

“It has been a long off season,” Kraemer said. “We are ready to hit the track and start the 2013 Pirelli World Challenge season. We had a dream start to the year in St. Pete in 2012, which will be hard to duplicate. Johnny and Andy are ready to go and the team at Pratt Miller has the rig pointed toward Florida. We have a full complement of V-Series fans coming to be a part of the action and kick off the season.”

The Pirelli World Challenge schedule will kick-off at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The race is run through the streets of downtown surrounding the marina and the Albert Whitted Airport. The World Challenge Series, race one, will be at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 23 with the second round on Sunday at 10:25 a.m. The races from St. Pete will be televised on NBC Sports, Sunday, April 7 at 12:30 p.m., EDT. Live streaming can be viewed on race day at world-challengeTV.com.