The Alley :: Road America 2014

News From the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship - Road America 2014

michelinalley.com

The Corvette driver’s secret

Are you ready for Action?

FITTIPALDI READY FOR CHAMPIONSHIP RUN

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Fittipaldi & Action Express ready for

MPIONSHIP RUN

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oung Christian Fittipaldi was on his mobile phone when the door to his motorhome was flung open and his uncle, Emerson Fittipaldi, still clad in his red Marlboro Penske fire suit stormed in.

Forced to pit out of sequence, the former CART and F1 World Champion’s run back through the field became stalled when he was unable to find a way around Christian’s Walker Racing car in the closing stages of the IndyCar race on the tight Toronto circuit.

“I am so angry with you that I am going to speak to your father!” said Emerson.

“Dad, Uncle Emerson wants to talk to you,” said Christian handing over his phone.

Five thousand miles away in Brazil, Wilson Fittipaldi could only laugh. Now, nearly 20 years later, Christian Fittipaldi remains a special blend of race driver, hard to beat and easy to like.

Having made his career in IndyCars, F1 and NASCAR, Fittipaldi now, age 43, has found a home at Action Express Racing in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship where he and Portugal’s Joao Barbosa have combined to form a powerful driver combination.

The pair, joined by Sebastien Bourdais, opened the season with a victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and added a big win in the recent Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis to vault back into the TUDOR Championship Prototype lead.

“The Action Express combination is based on really hard work, continuity, keeping the same people together and then concentrating on the really important things,” said Fittipaldi.

“That has helped us pick up good results.”

Barbosa certainly agrees, adding, “The whole Action Express team is really stepping up this year. The competition is very tight. You need everything to be perfect to win.”

The Denver, NC based Corvette DP (prototype) team owned

by Bob Johnson and led by technical director Gary Nelson has had speed, if not the racing luck, in every event.

As the scene shifts to the four-mile long circuit in Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine region, don’t expect the Action Express team to change their script.

“We’ve had speed all season long,” said Fittipaldi. “We need to keep doing what we’ve been doing. We are back leading the championship, but only by a couple of points. The championship is up for grabs. There are four or five cars capable of winning it so I think it will all come down to the last race.”

“We are really looking forward to Road America. It’s an awesome track,” said Fittipaldi.

“We will probably be 5 or 6 seconds a lap quicker than we were last year. The car is completely different” The prototypes have just three races remaining, including Road America, Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas and the 10 Hour Petit Le Mans season finale at Road Atlanta.

The first season of the new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship has produced six different winners in the first eight races as the Daytona Prototypes from the former GRANDAM Series and the P2 cars from the former American Le Mans Series trade wins.

Heading to Road America, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda and Nissan have all topped the podium at various times as the Action Express (Daytona and Indianapolis), Wayne Taylor Racing (Detroit) and Spirit of Daytona (Watkins Glen) teams have combined to give Chevrolet four wins.

Meanwhile, Chip Ganassi Racing has taken wins for Ford EcoBoost at Sebring and Long Beach.

Extreme Speed Motorsports and Honda celebrated an impressive victory in Monterey while Oak Racing and Nissan dominated in Canada.

In addition, the Chevrolet Corvette DPs from Marsh Racing, Michael Shank Racing’s Ford, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway pole winning second Extreme Speed Motorsports Honda, the SpeedSource Mazdas and the radical DeltaWing are all prepared to play championship spoilers.

“The championship may be starting right now,” said Fittipaldi.

And Christian Fittipaldi, Joao Barbosa and the Action Express team are ready for action.

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ith 13 GT class victories in the last 27 races, and a record that includes seven GT victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and ten series manufacturer and team titles and nine driver titles, Corvette Racing is the team to beat in American GT sports car racing.

But, if you think you are fast and want to be a Corvette Racing team driver, you better bring much more than lap times to the table.

That is the message delivered by everyone involved at Corvette Racing, from program manager Doug Fehan, to team boss Gary Pratt, Chevrolet motorsports manager Mark Kent, and technical director Doug Louth.

And, surprisingly, it is also the clear message from the current team drivers, 2012 champions Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner and 2013 champions and current 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship point leaders Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia.

“We look far deeper than just driving talent,” said Fehan. “Drivers need a personality and they need to be prepared to check their egos at the door. They need to understand the responsibility to Corvette Nation, the company and our team, and they need to be prepared to make that commitment to be part of Corvette Racing,” said Fehan, the undisputed paddock maestro of driver pairings.

That approach to new drivers is not a recent development. Current drivers Oliver Gavin of the U.K., Jan Magnussen of Denmark, American Tommy Milner and Antonio Garcia of Spain have all cleared the Corvette team high bar.

“When I first joined the team I was the young, new boy,” said Gavin, now in his 13th season with the Corvette Racing factory team.

“Ron (Fellows) and Johnny (O’Connell) were here and they had huge success. I learned a lot just watching them and by the next year, I was a full-time driver on the team and racing against them.”

“Eventually, Olivier (Beretta) and I had a lot of success and then Jan Magnussen and I did well,” said Gavin. “Then a couple years ago Doug, Gary and Mark said ‘we want you to help develop Tommy Milner.”

“We knew that he (Milner) was quick and could see he was a good fit with the team,” said Gavin, “but now he was a young American driver working for a big American manufacturer.”

One year later, the move paid off as Gavin and Milner combined for four wins and the 2012 American Le Mans Series GT championship. And, while obviously pleased by the success of the pairing with Milner, there is another reward for Gavin.

“It has been great to see Tommy really grow with experience into a driver with incredible depth, who can

handle all kind of situations and withstand incredible pressure and represent the company and the team,” said Gavin.

It was Magnussen and Garcia taking the title roles in 2013 and they have continued their momentum, posting four wins to lead the TUDOR Championship GT battle in 2014.

While fast and reliable cars and stout crew work are obviously integral to the team’s success, former driver Ron Fellows credits some of the success to the Corvette Racing team culture and creating a healthy, collaborative environment for drivers.

Part of that culture, which Fellows helped to establish in the early days of the program, is tied to the chemistry drivers have with their co-drivers and their teammates.

“In some teams and some series the heat is on the driver not just race to race, but even session to session,” said Fellows. “Not here. The pressure isn’t to try to be the fastest every session or even to be faster than your teammates,” said Fellows. “The goal is to help to see the big picture.”

Pratt agrees. “You can tear up a lot of equipment and burn out the crew before you even get to the race,” said Pratt. “The goal is to win the race.”

And unlike many factory teams, Corvette Racing gives the current drivers a say when it comes to evaluating prospective newcomers.

“We’ve tested a lot of drivers through the years,” said Fellows. “A lot of them are quick, but Corvette Racing wants drivers who are quick and work well with the other drivers, with the engineers and with the whole team.”

“We have tested a lot of people through the years.

It’s hard to find the right fit for the team,” said Gavin “but Doug and Corvette Racing have found Antonio and Tommy and (third co-drivers) Jordan (Taylor) and Richard (Westbrook). Our current group works together really well.”

For drivers who have all won races, championships and Le Mans with Corvette Racing that would be a typical understatement.

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FAST FACT Watch us now on Fox All the action of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship races from the classic Road America circuit can be seen flag to flag on the Fox Sports 1 network. International fans will also be able to see the race live on IMSA.com.

August 10 Road America 6:30 – 9:30 pm (EDT) on FOXSports1 (Same Day Delayed)

Getting hungry While drivers love the speeds and challenges of the four-mile long Road America circuit, the IMSA teams and friends look forward to the atmosphere, and good food. “You can’t start a diet at Road America” admitted one veteran PR rep. “You just get some corn, and some brats, and some cheese and an ice cream sandwich and everything else and promise yourself that maybe you will start when you get home.”

2014 Schedule January 25-26

Rolex 24 at Daytona

March 15

Twelve Hours of Sebring

April 12

Long Beach (P and GTLM only)

May 4

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

May 31

Raceway At Belle Isle Park (P, PC & GTD only)

June 7

Kansas Speedway (PC only)

June 29

Six Hours of The Glen

July 13

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

July 25

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

August 10

Road America

August 24

VIR (GTLM/GTD race; PC race)

September 20

Circuit of The Americas

October 4

Petit Le Mans

Who is next?

With Viper’s Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer scoring their first GT wins at Indianapolis, the only drivers entered in the brutal GTLM field not to have taken a victory in the TUDOR Championship or former ALMS GT competition are Risi’s Giancarlo Fisichella and BMW Team RLL’s Andy Priaulx.

Former F1 star, Fisichella won the pole at Indianapolis and was aboard the 2014 Le Mans winning Ferrari. Priaulx is a threetime World Touring Car Champion and 2014 Watkins Glen pole winner. Each has two podium finishes already in their first full season of stateside competition.

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“On a personal note, I’d like to dedicate this win to my unborn son who will be coming home in about two more weeks.”

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WHAT IS BETTER? KISSING THE BRICKS AT INDY OR BECOMING A DAD FOR THE FIRST TIME, KUNO WITTMER IS ABOUT TO FIND OUT

Baby faced rival

Friday, August 8, 2014

When the IMS post-race press conference moderator noted that Christian Fittipaldi had won Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year honors in 1995, Fiitipaldi leaned over to second place TUDOR Championship finisher Sage Karam and asked, “How old were you in May 1995?” Karam replied that he was two months old at the time as Christian just shook his head and burst into laughter.

4:40 pm - 5:40 pm

Practice #1 - TUDOR (All Classes)

6:00 pm

Tour de Road America

Three-two-won!

Saturday, August 9, 2014 8:00 am - 8:20 am

Qualifying - GT3 Cup

8:30 am - 9:00 am

Qualifying - MX-5

9:15 am -10:15 am

Practice #2 - TUDOR (All Classes)

10:40 am - 11:10 am

Race #1 - Lites

12:15 pm - 2:45 pm

Race - CTSC - 150 MINUTES

3:10 pm - 4:10 pm

Practice #3 - TUDOR (All Classes)

4:20 pm - 4:35 pm

Qualifying - TUDOR (GTD)

4:40 pm - 4:55 pm

Qualifying - TUDOR (GTLM)

5:05 pm - 5:20 pm

Qualifying - TUDOR (PC)

5:25 pm - 5:40 pm

Qualifying - TUDOR (P)

6:05 pm - 6:50 pm

Race #1 - GT3 Cup

7:00 pm - 7:45 pm

Race #1 - MX-5

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Dodge Viper SRT drivers Kuno Wittmer of Montréal and California’s Jonathan Bomarito have been on a perfect countdown in recent weeks. They followed a third place finish in GTLM at Watkins Glen with a pole and second at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and then a big win at Indianapolis. So how can they top that here?

8:05 am - 8:50 am

Race #2 - Lites

9:05 am - 9:25 am

Warm Up - TUDOR (All Classes)

9:50 am - 10:35 am

Race #2 - GT3 Cup

10:15 am - 11:00 am

TUDOR Autograph Session

10:50 am - 11:35 am

Race #2 - MX-5

1:15 pm - 4:00 pm

Race - Continental Tire Road Race Showcase for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship - 2 Hours & 45 Min.

4:45 pm - 5:30 pm

Race #3 - GT3 Cup

PORSCHE

FAN FAVORITES

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Dempsey/Davis Dempsey Racing • Porsche 911 GT America GT Daytona Continental

Smartphone scan code here What drives Patrick Dempsey? Check out this great video from Porsche from the lead up to Le Mans

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HONDA – HPD

Sharp/Dalziel Extreme Speed Motorsports • HPD ARX-03b Prototype Continental

NISSAN – MORGAN

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Pla/Yacaman Oak Racing • Nissan - Morgan Prototype Continental

CORVETTE DP

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Westbrook/Valiante Spirit of Daytona Racing • Corvette DP Prototype Continental

FORD RILEY DP

Pruett/Rojas Chip Ganassi Racing • Ford Riley DP Prototype

CORVETTE

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Continental

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Magnussen/Garcia Corvette Racing • Chevrolet Corvette C7.R GT Le Mans Michelin

BMW

Müller/Edwards BMW Team RLL • BMW Z4 GTE GT Le Mans

56 06 Michelin

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FERRARI

Fisichella/Kaffer Risi Competizione • Ferrari F458 Italia GT Le Mans

DODGE VIPER

Michelin

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Wittmer/Bomarito SRT Motorsports • Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R GT Le Mans Michelin

PORSCHE

912

Long/Christensen

Porsche North America • Porsche 911 RSR GT Le Mans Michelin

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