ALMS 2011 thread

[Shifty]

Qualifing will be very important at teh Lime Rock....

And I don't know what to expect with the track change. Lime Rock is one of your favorites, what do you think the effect of removing the chicane will be?

One less place to trade paint! Have you peeped teh weather forecast? It's always meesy if it rains...

[MOTV8]

Currently cloudy, 72°F, and 50% chance of rain TONIGHT, partly cloudy tomorrow, high of 85, 10% chance of rain. No Haboobs.

ALMS: BMW 1-2 In Opening Practice At Lime Rock

No. 56 BMW Team RLL BMW M3 GT leads highly competitive GT class, but sister car suffers session-ending accident...

BMW Team RLL topped the GT-class time charts in the opening practice for Saturday's Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. The No. 56 BMW M3 GT of Dirk Muller led the way with a 51.330-second lap time, edging out the sister machine of Bill Auberlen by 0.223 seconds.

However, Auberlen was involved in a session-ending crash with the third-quickest No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia of Toni Vilander. The Finn made contact with Auberlen in Turn 4, sending both cars off-course. While the BMW continued back to the pits under its own power, Vilander's Ferrari suffered more extensive damage, including a broken left-rear wheel.

The incident brought an early end to the session, which started 10 minutes late due to a technical glitch.

The No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche of Patrick Long slotted in fourth quickest, with Oliver Gavin's No. 4 Corvette C6.R completing the top-five in class, which represented four different manufacturers.

Lucas Luhr led the way overall in his Muscle Milk AMR Lola-Aston Martin, turning a 47.328-second lap time in his LMP1 contender. Dyson Racing's two Lola B09/86 Mazdas were second and third, with the No. 16 machine of Chris Dyson coming to within 0.097 seconds of the Long Beach-winning entry.

Intersport Racing's Jon Field posted the quickest time in the LMPC category, while the Spencer Pumeplly-driven TRG Porsche led the way in GTC.

Practice 2 is scheduled for 2:20 p.m. ET, or NOW!

Or check live timing since 2nd practice is underway, green flag so far, and our boy Tommy M just set fastest time....

[Shifty]

Teh longer Tommy drives for us, teh more I like 'im!

[MOTV8]

ALMS: Corvette Quickest In Practice 2 At Lime Rock

Tommy Milner tops time charts in final practice...

Corvette Racing led the way in the second and final practice prior to qualifying for Saturday's Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park.

Run under wet conditions, the No. 3 Corvette C6.R of Tommy Milner turned a 53.511-second lap time, which was good enough for second overall.

Klaus Graf in the No. 6 Muscle Milk AMR Lola-Aston was quickest overall and in LMP1, thanks to the German's 51.754-lap time.

GTC was paced by the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Butch Leitzinger, while Anthony Nicolosi was quickest in LMPC.

Qualifying is proceeding on a drying track, one of teh Jags bumped into a Vette (a-hole) and GT ended up with both Bimmers in 1st & 2nd, Long in teh Lizard Porch 3rd, and then both vettes in 4th and 5th. Blurb on the way.

[Shifty]

Gotta post high guys! :fingerscrossed:

[Shifty]

1 P 16 LMP1 Chris Dyson Lola B09 86/Mazda 14 1:09.673 45.708 --- --- 1 --- 4 Chris Dyson 2 P 20 LMP1 Steven Kane Lola B09/86 Mazda 15 1:14.584 45.881 -0.173 -0.173 2 -0.173 5 Steven Kane 3 P 6 LMP1 Klaus Graf AMR/ Lola Coupe B08 62 16 1:05.769 46.040 -0.332 -0.159 3 -0.332 11 Klaus Graf 4 P 63 LMPC Elton Julian Oreca FLM09 18 4:22.512 48.105 -2.397 -2.065 1 --- 17 Elton Julian 5 P 06 LMPC Gunnar Jeannette Oreca FLM09 16 1:06.015 48.498 -2.790 -0.393 2 -0.393 15 Gunnar Jeannette 6 P 89 LMPC Kyle Marcelli Oreca FLM09 19 6:40.656 48.534 -2.826 -0.036 3 -0.429 17 Kyle Marcelli 7 P 05 LMPC Jon Bennett Oreca FLM09 17 1:22.573 49.413 -3.705 -0.879 4 -1.308 16 Jon Bennett 8 P 37 LMPC Jon Field Oreca FLM09 17 8:59.478 49.466 -3.758 -0.053 5 -1.361 10 Jon Field 9 P 18 LMPC Anthony Nicolosi Oreca FLM09 17 5:41.668 49.833 -4.125 -0.367 6 -1.728 15 Anthony Nicolosi 10 P 56 GT Joey Hand BMW M3 GT 11 1:04.143 50.925 -5.217 -1.092 1 --- 10 Joey Hand 11 P 55 GT Dirk Werner BMW M3 GT 15 1:07.999 51.179 -5.471 -0.254 2 -0.254 14 Dirk Werner 12 P 45 GT Patrick Long Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 9 9:05.302 51.872 -6.164 -0.693 3 -0.947 8 Patrick Long 13 P 4 GT Oliver Gavin Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR 15 1:11.645 51.897 -6.189 -0.025 4 -0.972 5 Oliver Gavin 14 P 3 GT Tommy Milner Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR 13 1:05.358 51.954 -6.246 -0.057 5 -1.029 12 Tommy Milner 15 P 44 GT Marco Holzer Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 14 7:40.353 52.005 -6.297 -0.051 6 -1.080 13 Marco Holzer 16 P 04 GT Anthony Lazzaro Doran Ford GT 11 12:42.090 52.109 -6.401 -0.104 7 -1.184 7 Anthony Lazzaro 17 P 02 GT Guy Cosmo Ferrari F458 Italia 17 11:37.734 52.350 -6.642 -0.241 8 -1.425 16 Guy Cosmo 18 P 17 GT Bryan Sellers Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 12 30:07.394 52.388 -6.680 -0.038 9 -1.463 11 Bryan Sellers 19 P 01 GT Scott Sharp Ferrari F458 Italia 14 6:15.323 52.956 -7.248 -0.568 10 -2.031 9 Scott Sharp 20 P 99 GT Bruno Junqueira Jaguar XKR 10 9:47.088 52.958 -7.250 -0.002 11 -2.033 9 Bruno Junqueira 21 P 48 GT Bryce Miller Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 12 53.211 53.211 -7.503 -0.253 12 -2.286 12 Bryce Miller 22 P 34 GTC Jaap van Lagen Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 7 55.336 54.982 -9.274 -1.771 1 --- 4 Jaap van Lagen 23 P 54 GTC Damien Faulkner Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 14 55.828 55.133 -9.425 -0.151 2 -0.151 8 Damien Faulkner 24 P 11 GTC Ham/Thompson Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 8 56.069 55.225 -9.517 -0.092 3 -0.243 5 Nick Ham 25 P 68 GTC Dion von Moltke Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 16 15:29.638 55.334 -9.626 -0.109 4 -0.352 10 Dion von Moltke 26 P 23 GTC Butch Leitzinger Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 13 18:36.552 55.587 -9.879 -0.253 5 -0.605 6 Butch Leitzinger 27 P 66 GTC Spencer Pumpelly Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 11 16:30.190 55.587 -9.879 --- 6 -0.605 4 Spencer Pumpelly 28 P 40 GT Andrea Robertson Doran Ford GT/Elan 13 6:33.650 55.676 -9.968 -0.089 13 -4.751 10 Andrea Robertson 29 P 32 GTC James Sofronas Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 10 9:36.760 55.874 -10.166 -0.198 7 -0.892 8 James Sofronas 30 P 98 GT Jones/Moran Jaguar XKR 9 56.960 56.960 -11.252 -1.086 14 -6.035 9 PJ Jones

[Shifty]

Corvettes Qualify Fourth and Fifth in Lime Rock ALMS Changing Conditions Add to Challenge at Historic Connecticut Circuit 2011-07-08 Share | LAKEVILLE, Conn., July 8, 2011 - Intermittent rain and rapidly changing track conditions added to the complexity of qualifying at Lime Rock Park for Saturday's American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix, the third round of the American Le Mans Series. Oliver Gavin qualified the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R fourth in the GT class with a time of 51.897 seconds (102.298 mph) on the roller coaster 1.47-mile circuit. Tommy Milner was a heartbeat behind in fifth at 51.954 seconds (102.249 mph) in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R. Joey Hand put the No. 56 BMW M3 GT on the pole with a fast lap at 50.925 (104.200 mph). Rain before the start of the second one-hour practice session saw the field on grooved tires. As a dry line developed, the Corvettes switched to slick tires and finished the session on top in the GT class. When the GT qualifying session began 25 minutes later, the Corvette crew continued to make adjustments. "We made quite a lot of changes before the start of qualifying to extend our test session and to learn as much as we could during the limited track time," said Gavin, who turned his quickest time on his fifth lap. "We made good progress, and I think we understand the GT car much better this year at Lime Rock. "It was a shame that we couldn't find a couple of more tenths to get in front of the Porsche that's third on the grid," Gavin continued. "I did make a small mistake in the final corner, touched the curb on the inside, and that might have made the difference." Milner turned his fastest lap on his 12th circuit. "With very little dry practice time, qualifying ended up being a practice session at the start," Milner noted. "It was good for me to get a feel for the car on slick tires at the end of practice, but it was really hard to push in those damp and drying conditions. "My Corvette was good in qualifying, but I was buried in traffic and lost the laps when the tires were at their very best," he explained. "It wasn't a perfect qualifying session because I didn't get the most out of the car. Two tenths of a second doesn't sound like much, but on a short track like this, it's big. We're still in good shape. Corvette Racing does a great job on pit stops, which are very important here. Now our focus is on a clean race."

[MOTV8]

ALMS: BMW Sweeps GT Front Row At Lime Rock

Joey Hand gives BMW Team RLL back-to-back GT-class pole positions; Chris Dyson puts Lola-Mazda on overall pole...

BMW Team RLL scored its second consecutive American Le Mans Series pole Friday at Lime Rock Park, following a dominating performance by the pair of BMW M3 GTs.

Joey Hand jumped to the top of the time charts early in the 15-minute session. His 50.925-second lap time held as the quickest in qualifying, edging out teammate Dirk Werner by 0.254 seconds.

It resulted in a sweep of the GT front row for the class championship leaders. Hand and Dirk Muller scored top honors at the season-opening Twelve Hours of Sebring and the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

"Racing is a lot about momentum," said Hand who scored his third career ALMS pole. "You always have pressure when you're driving for such a great team and manufacturer. For me, this weekend is about continuing on with what we've got going. It's been a great start for me. For sure, in the American Le Mans Series, I've never had this kind of start. To come with two races, two wins and two poles already, it's big time."

Patrick Long put his No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in third, thanks to a 51.872-second lap time. The defending class champion outran both Corvette Racing C6.Rs, the quickest coming from the No. 4 machine of Oliver Gavin in fourth.

Corvette Racing teammate Tommy Milner, fresh off victory in last month's 24 Hours of Le Mans, completed the top-five in class, which was separated by 1.029 seconds.

Ferrari favorites Risi Competizione missed qualifying after Toni Vilander crashed in the closing stages of Practice 1. The No. 62 Ferrari F458 Italia suffered repairable chassis damage. The team will also replace the left-rear suspension, splitter, cooling ducts and floor. Vilander and Melo will roll off from the rear of the field tomorrow.

Dyson Racing scored a surprising 1-2 qualifying effort overall, as Muscle Milk AMR struggled in the 15-minute LMP1 session.

Chris Dyson scored a home pole, thanks to a blistering 45.708-second lap time in his Lola B09/86 Mazda. The second-generation driver was 0.173 seconds quicker than newcomer Steven Kane in the Dyson/Oryx Lola-Mazda which makes its ALMS debut this weekend.

"I'm so happy," Dyson said. "We've been working so hard at making this program solid through the second half [of the season]. We're so fortunate to add Humaid Al Masaood and Steven Kane to our lineup. I was impressed day one with both of them. Steven showed today how much talent he's got. I think it's a credit to the car that the guys on our side put under us out there."

The No. 6 Lola-Aston Martin of Klaus Graf, the favorite for the pole position, struggled on the 1.47-mile, 8-turn circuit, which was slightly damp following an early afternoon shower. The German ended the session 0.332 seconds back in third as the slowest of the LMP1 contenders.

"I just struggled a little bit with the Muscle Milk car today," Graf said. "We had a little bit too much understeer. We came in and tried to fix it, but it wasn't enough. You have to try it and give it all you got. But that was it, really. P3, but time-wise, we're not bad, so I think it will be good tomorrow."

Genoa Racing scored its second LMPC pole in three ALMS races, thanks to a series of flying laps by Elton Julian. The defending Lime Rock winner turned a best time of 48.105 seconds in his No. 62 Oreca FLM09, outpacing former co-driver Gunnar Jeannette by 0.393 seconds.

Julian, who scored pole in last weekend's Six Hours of Imola in Genoa's European-based FLM car, had a late-session spun but later made an improvement to his initial time.

"I was quite happy with that," said Julian, who scored his first career ALMS pole. "The car was balanced and comfortable, and that's what you need. It was a good job to the Genoa guys. We were on the pole last weekend but were unable to convert it into a victory for a few different reasons. But we're hopeful of doing it [this time].

The No. 89 Intersport Racing entry of Kyle Marcelli qualified third, fresh off class victory in Sunday's ILMC/LMS round in Italy.

Jaap van Lagen scored his first career GTC pole in his American Le Mans Series debut. The Dutch driver turned a 54.982-second lap time in his No. 34 Green Hornet Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car, edging out the No. 54 Black Swan Racing entry of Damien Faulkner by 0.151 seconds.

It marked a 1-2 qualifying effort for the newly unified Green Hornet/Black Swan program. Van Lagen will share the wheel of the pole-sitting No. 34 Porsche with Peter LeSaffre.

The Northeast Grand Prix, Round 3 of the American Le Man Series, gets underway Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.

[MOTV8]

Non-random Friday pictures from Lime Rock...

http://dlstatic.speedtv.com/imageserve/09Pjaj07X2fx0/575x459.jpg

http://dlstatic.speedtv.com/imageserve/04RFfvydRTdx7/575x459.jpg

http://dlstatic.speedtv.com/imageserve/0b6I6gegnz4PL/575x459.jpg

http://dlstatic.speedtv.com/imageserve/0f6e6PM707bZW/575x459.jpg

http://dlstatic.speedtv.com/imageserve/05UX4uN4fXezn/575x459.jpg

[MOTV8]

O....M.....G..... BOTH frikkin vettes, teh leading Bimmer and a 458 were collected in a wreck between the 458 and a LMP2 pos.

[Shifty]

:banghead :banghead

[MOTV8]

ALMS: BMW Dominates Lime Rock Park

Joey Hand, Dirk Muller cruise to third straight GT-class victory of season; Dyson Racing scores home victory in LMP1...

BMW Team RLL continued their stranglehold on the GT category with another dominating performance in Saturday’s Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. Joey Hand and Dirk Muller took the No. 56 BMW M3 GT to their third consecutive American Le Mans Series victory, extending the lead in the ultra-competitive title race.

Hand cruised to a 20.378-second victory over the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Jorg Bergmeister, which made a costly stop for a left-front puncture with six minutes remaining. Despite Bergmeister and co-driver Patrick Long putting up a strong fight, there was no stopping BMW today.

“I switched to ‘bring it home mode’. There was definitely no reason to push,” said Hand, who racked up his fifth career victory. “When [the 45 car] was gone, we had 30 seconds. Obviously, that’s not a place where you push.

“Scott Roembke, our principal strategist wasn’t here. He’s ill, and a lot of us are thinking about him. In those last ten or 15 laps, I was just thinking about not doing anything dumb. That’s what he would have said.”

Muller, who completed the middle stint of the two-hour and 45-minute race, enjoyed a spirited battle with Bergmeister before handing back over to Hand for the final run to the finish.

“Winning three times in a row looks totally easy but it was quite a big job,” Muller said. “We had to fight for each of them, even today. I think my rear bumper was filled with silver and red paint during my stint. I had a nice and clean battle there [with the 45 car]. It was absolutely fantastic and truly professional high-performance GT racing.”

The No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche of Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers crossed the line in third but was later demoted to fifth after Henzler made avoidable contact with the No. 04 Robertson Ford GT on the final lap.

It promoted Robertson’s David Murry and Anthony Lazzaro to an unlikely third-place finish, just one month after the privately run Ford GT scored its first podium result in the team’s 24 Hours of Le Mans debut.

Robertson’s podium result was aided by an early race incident that eliminated both Corvette Racing C6.Rs and the No. 55 BMW M3 GT from contention. A spin by the No. 02 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari F458 Italia collected the Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen-driven Corvettes as well as Bill Auberlen’s BMW just 20 minutes into the race. (Vettes got repaired, re-entered to finish 9th & 10th. - Dean)

While all cars returned to action after lengthy repairs, it opened the door for others, including the No. 01 ESM Ferrari of Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek, which finished fourth in class. Henzler's penalty dropped the Falken Porsche to fifth, which reported to have fuel pressure problems on the final lap.

Dyson Racing scored its first win of the year in LMP1, following an equally dominating performance by Chris Dyson and Guy Smith, who took the No. 16 Lola B09/86 Mazda to a 19.969-second victory over the No. 6 Muscle Milk AMR Lola-Aston of Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr.

“It was terrific fun,” said Dyson, who started the Mazda-powered Lola from pole. “Lucas and I were going back and forth pretty much from the word go. It was basically about where you could position the car in traffic. It was a bit like being in a video game, really. It was a good fight and our Mazda was fantastic from the start.”

Saturday’s win at the 1.5-mile Connecticut circuit was the first overall victory for the nearby Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-based team and helped extend Dyson and Smith’s lead in the LMP1 drivers’ championship to 30 points over the Muscle Milk AMR duo.

“This weekend is huge for us,” said Smith. “We’ve got to treat every race like we want to go out and win it. We can’t say we have a championship lead and [play low-key]. We’ve only done three races. We could have a DNF and they can be straight back in the fight. We have to keep pushing and maintain the lead.”

The No. 20 Oryx-backed Dyson Racing entry of Humaid Al Masaood and Steven Kane, which made its debut this weekend, came home in a solid third, five laps back from the overall winners.

Elton Julian and Eric Lux gave Genoa Racing its second LMPC class victory in three races following a spirited battle for the win.

The duo aboard the No. 63 Oreca FLM09 edged out the Long Beach-winning CORE autosport machine of Gunnar Jeannette and Ricardo Gonzalez by less than two seconds following a late-race caution for the No. 99 Jaguar XKR, which stopped on track.

It set up a 13-minute sprint to the finish and eliminated Julian’s 35-plus second lead over his former teammate Jeannette, who combined to win last year’s race here. The Thomas Knapp-led Genoa crew double-stinted its tires, with Jeannette having fresh Michelins at the end.

“We started with a 40-second lead and I was cruising,” Julian said. “I knew Gunnar had fresher rubber and I was matching his lap times at that point. Then I saw the Jag was slowing and then pulled over. I was like, ‘Oh crap.’... Fortunately there was enough cars between us [at the restart] and we were able to open up a gap.”

Lux, who scored his first career ALMS victory, leapfrogged to second in the LMPC drivers’ championship, trailing Jeannette and Gonzalez by six points. Additionally, Genoa Racing has taken control of the teams’ title race, one point ahead of CORE autosport.

TRG scored its first 1-2 result in GTC competition following a wild final few laps which saw the No. 68 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Dion von Moltke leapfrog from third to first in the closing minutes.

The No. 66 Porsche of Spencer Pumpelly took over the lead after the Black Swan Racing entry pitted with under 30 minutes to go. While Pumpelly appeared to be en route to the class victory, he got held up by Henzler’s fuel-starved GT-class Porsche on the final lap through West Bend, opening the door for the 21-year-old to score a thrilling first victory.

“That was the craziest race I’ve ever done,” said von Moltke, who shared the wheel of the No. 68 car of Mike Piera. “Going out with close to two hours left in the race one lap down and fighting my way back to the lead lap and then pitting. The call that really won us the race was [taking left side tires only]. I went back out and was again one lap down but I just pushed as much as I could.

“[On the final lap, Wolf Henzler] got by Spencer and then he tried to go to the outside of West Bend to overtake him. Wolf just kept it there. They went two wide and I had a good run. The [fresh] left-side tires really helped through West Bend. I kind of shoved it in there into the downhill... I’m glad we were able to bring it home.”

Pumpelly and Duncan Ende had to settle for second, ahead of the No. 23 Alex Job Racing machine of Butch Leitzinger and Bill Sweedler, who completed the podium in third.

Next up for the American Le Mans Series is the Grand Prix of Mosport on July 22-24.

CR blurb usually waits for the replay to air on tv, tomorrow. Enjoy pix from today, now.

http://dlstatic.speedtv.com/imageserve/09escnO2tL3L5/575x459.jpg

http://dlstatic.speedtv.com/imageserve/07LJ3SR6RdgdI/575x459.jpg

This Joey Hand kid can write his own ticket after the year he's having. I would like CR to go after him like they poached Milner, but I think Hand will be looking beyond GT racing next year.

[Desertdawg]

Pics of the carnage coming soon ???

[MOTV8]

Pics of the carnage coming soon ???

If I find any....you sick bastard.

CORVETTE RACING ENCOUNTERS TRAFFIC AND TROUBLE IN LIME ROCK

Corvettes Damaged in Chain Reaction Accident, Team Battles Back to Finish Ninth and 10th

Corvette Racing heeded the advice of company co-founder Louis Chevrolet today at the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. "Never give up!" was Chevrolet's motto, and the team was true to that credo after a chain reaction accident damaged both Compuware Corvette C6.Rs at just 20 minutes into the two-hour, 45-minute race. After the Corvette crew repaired their battered race cars, Olivier Beretta and Tommy Milner battled back to bring the No. 3 Corvette C6.R home in ninth place while Jan Magnussen and Oliver Gavin finished 10th in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R. Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller won in the No. 55 BMW M3 GT by a 20-second margin over the Long/Bergmeister Porsche.

Magnussen and Beretta were running fourth and fifth respectively in the GT class when the melee occurred near the exit of the West Bend turn leading to the fast downhill Diving Turn. An LMPC prototype had contact with a Ferrari, and the pursuing pack of GT cars had nowhere to go. The No. 4 Corvette collided with the third-place BMW, and was in turn collected by the No. 3 Corvette. Both Corvettes sustained damage to their left front corners and went to the pits for repairs. The No. 18 LMPC was subsequently penalized for avoidable contact, but the Corvettes had already paid a high price.

Led by crew chief Dan Binks, the No. 3 crew replaced a damaged upright and installed a new nose in the pit lane. Brian Hoye and the No. 4 Corvette crew took their car behind the wall and installed a new nose assembly. Beretta rejoined the fray 17 laps behind the leader, and Magnussen was back in the race with a 22-lap deficit.

"That's part of racing at Lime Rock when you have cars running that close," said team manager Gary Pratt. "Somebody spins, somebody checks up, and four or five cars get into each other. We had a lot of pieces and parts to change."

"I'm not sure who hit who, but somebody got together," Magnussen said. "The BMW ran into them, I ran into the BMW, and Olivier ran into me. When I won here in May, Lime Rock was pretty good; today it was back to just being Lime Rock."

"It was like a bicycle race in a living room," Beretta said. "I could not see through all the smoke; suddenly I saw Jan's brake lights and it was too late to stop. The crew did a fantastic job to get me back in the race. I'm not worried about the car after a crash because I know these guys will make the car as good as new. I don't even think about it, I just get on with it because I trust them 100 percent."

The Corvettes racked up the laps, pitting for fuel, tires, and driver changes with 63 minutes to go. Milner replaced Beretta in the No. 3 Corvette C6.R and Gavin replaced Magnussen in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R. The two steadily gained positions throughout the final hour as others in the GT class also encountered misfortune and mechanical problems. At the end of the race, the Corvettes had clawed their way up to points-paying positions.

"It was an uneventful stint for me, just trying to stay out of traffic and stay out of trouble," Gavin said. "Our race was really turned on its head when Jan was caught up in that accident. We tested a few things later in the race, but the car was pretty badly beaten up so it wasn't a straightforward test session. We did finish 10th and got a point, so that's better than nothing. We’ll move on to Mosport and see what we can get there."

[MOTV8]

Okay, best I got:

The 458 is about to spin after the LMP2 car gets into him, and the Bimmer and Vettes have nowhere to go...

[Desertdawg]

crap, why did I look

[Shifty]

Man, that ruined my day....

[MOTV8]

Olly Suffers The Wrong Kind Of Chain Reaction At Lime Rock

It was a bad day at the office for Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin today as a potential Lime Rock podium finish was snatched from the grasp of he and his team mate Jan Magnussen through no fault of their own. The duo managed to claw the No. 4 Corvette C6R back into a points-paying position, but the Briton’s disappointment at the final result was deeply felt.

Magnussen and Olivier Beretta in the No. 3 Corvette were running fourth and fifth respectively in the GT class when a melee occurred near the exit of the West Bend turn leading to the fast downhill Diving Turn. An LMPC prototype had contact with a Ferrari, and the pursuing pack of GT cars had nowhere to go. The No. 4 Corvette collided with the third-place BMW, and was in turn collected by the No. 3 Corvette. Both Corvettes sustained damage to their left front corners and went to the pits for repairs. The No. 18 LMPC was subsequently penalized for avoidable contact, but the Corvettes had already paid a high price.

“It was very frustrating and disappointing,” said Olly, “and I’m getting a bit bored of saying that after having had a number of events like that one after another. Sometimes it just goes like that.

“Today I think we were in with a shout for a podium result. I don’t think anybody can race the BMW equally and evenly as it’s so fast, but Jan’s misfortune after 20 laps in the race was just that – misfortune. An LMPC car turned Ed Brown around in the Patron Ferrari, the BMW No. 55 was the next on the scene, checked up and hit Ed Brown, and Jan was right behind the BMW and hit him while Olivier ran into the back of him. It was a chain reaction, a racing incident, and there was nothing that anyone could have done differently. When everyone’s that close together on a circuit like Lime Rock – where you’re all arriving on the scene pretty quickly – there’s not much space and you can’t take avoiding action.”

Both Corvettes were pretty badly damaged, as Olly explains. “We had to take ours back to the tent to get it fixed and have a new nose on it, and the No. 3 car had a front suspension change. After that we were 15-20 laps down and just running around to try and see if we could get some points in the end. We used the second part of the race to test a couple of things but our car was pretty badly beaten up at the rear so you never really know how much that’s affecting you.

“It was an uneventful stint for me, just trying to stay out of traffic and stay out of trouble. We did finish 10th and got a point, so that's better than nothing. I just want to get out of here now and erase the memory of Lime Rock 2011 and move onto Mosport.”

By: olivergavin.com

We need for teh Bimmers to suck ass at Mosport, eh?

[Shifty]

With any luck, we'll see a difference at Mosport: http://www.imsaracing.net/2011/ALMS/bulletins/imsa%20competitor%20bulletin%20ALMS%2011-14.pdf

[MOTV8]

Ron Fellows is gonna send some Canadian hookers to the RLL team's hotel the night before the race, then he's gonna put Visine in BMW's pit water supply. Teh hosers.

[Shifty]

And CR gets Elsinor beers, backbacon and donuts, eh? BTW: Teh donuts will be jellies too! Beauty, eh?

[MOTV8]

Next in teh video series posted today.

Follow the Corvette Racing mechanics as they work behind the scenes and under the radar to keep the cars out on the track:

S2 Track to Street - A (Race) Day in the Life

[MOTV8]

Corvette Racing at Mosport

High-Speed Canadian Circuit Suits Corvette Racing's Strengths

America is the home of the brave, but that description also applies to a twisting ribbon of asphalt in the Canadian countryside. Mosport International Raceway, a legendary circuit that will host Sunday's Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport, separates the brave from the meek with its sweeping turns and soaring speeds.

Mosport demands commitment, courage, and unflinching self-confidence. Not surprisingly, this daunting 2.5-mile road course ranks among the favorites of the Corvette Racing squad.

"I like fast, fast race tracks, and Mosport is definitely fast," said Tommy Milner, who will share the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R with teammate Olivier Beretta in the fourth round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series. "Even Turn 5, the slowest corner on the circuit, has an approach that's quick. It's a flowing race track, and once you get your rhythm, it's a blast."

Mosport has been the stage for many of Corvette Racing's winning performances. The team has tallied eight victories there, including its first win in the GT2 category (since renamed GT) in 2009. That race featured a spectacular wheel-to-wheel duel between Jan Magnussen and Ferrari rival Pierre Kaffer in the final 30 minutes. Magnussen prevailed by .331 seconds at the finish.

"The whole circuit is a huge challenge, one that I relish," said Magnussen's teammate, Oliver Gavin. "We always go into that race with a strong car and the track seems to suit the Corvette's strengths.

"Our car's balance and braking is very good, and we seem to be quick in the tight Turn 5 area and coming into Turn 8 at the end of the back straight," Gavin explained. "One of the most daunting parts is Turn 2, and it's also the most fun when you get it right. The corner entry is blind, you turn in and the track starts to fall away almost immediately. You need absolute trust in the marshals to tell you if there's a problem ahead."

Corvette Racing has unfinished business at Mosport. Last year's event was red-flagged with 30 minutes remaining when the guardrail lining the high-speed Andretti Straightaway was severely damaged in an accident. The twin Corvettes had completed their final pit stops and were in position to race for the win when officials cancelled the remainder of the race.

"If the race had restarted we would have been in a good position," said Magnussen. "We had a strong car, things were shaping up, and we would have had a shot at it. I'm looking forward to going back there and setting the record straight."

[Shifty]

Still pisses me off that BMW won't have to run teh smaller restrictors until Mid-Ohio. If it was CR, they would have to put them on right away...fargin bastiges....

[MOTV8]

Still pisses me off that BMW won't have to run teh smaller restrictors until Mid-Ohio. If it was CR, they would have to put them on right away...fargin bastiges....

EXACTLY! What was the point of releasing teh "bulletin" then? IMSA is a buncha mental ijits and whores and they've been bending over for BMW from teh minute they decided to come out and race. Today's fake practice times led by...both BMWs! Surprise! Time to send teh hookers to Joey Hand's hotel...

It's back to Canada for the best sports car championship in the world! Eh!

The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is north of the border this weekend at Mosport International Raceway. It’s time for Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport, the Series’ 13th consecutive visit to the historic Canadian facility. This year, more fans than ever can catch the action as the world’s hottest sports cars tackle one of North America’s fastest circuits.

There are a number of ways to catch all the action on television and the Web! Here’s a rundown:

Television: ESPN2 will air the race starting at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday. For fans in Canada, you can catch all the action live on Rogers Sportsnet! Eh?

The Web: Fans in the U.S. can watch all the action from Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race at ESPN3.com, while international viewers may access the live stream at americanlemans.com/live. The qualifying show begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday with race coverage getting under way at 2:50 p.m. ET on Sunday.

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AmericanLeMans.com has posted a vid of Mags taking you on a race lap around Mosport: HERE

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ALMS: BMW Paces Friday At Mosport

BMW Team RLL 1-2 in Friday's "Promoter" Test Session at Mosport...

BMW Team RLL picked up where it last left off in American Le Mans Series competition, topping the time charts Friday at Mosport International Raceway. The pair of factory BMW M3 GTs led the way in GT during the two-hour promoter test session at the famed Canadian circuit.

Bill Auberlen was quickest, turning a best lap of 1:17.993 in his No. 55 machine. He edged out the sister No. 56 car of Dirk Muller, who along with co-driver Joey Hand will be searching for their fourth consecutive ALMS class victory on Sunday.

The No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche of Patrick Long was third quickest in class, ahead of the Toni Vilander-driven Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia in fourth. Jan Magnussen completed the top-five in his No. 4 Corvette C6.R.

In LMP1 and overall, Muscle Milk AMR led the way, thanks to Klaus Graf's 1:09.172 lap time. It was some 2.251 seconds quicker than the best of the Dyson Racing entries, the No. 20 machine of Steven Kane. Dyson's Lime Rock-winning Lola B09/86 Mazda of Guy Smith and Chris Dyson completed only 12 laps after battling oil pressure problems.

The No. 12 AutoCon Motorsports Lola B06/10 AER, which returns to competition for the first time this year, could only muster the eighth quickest time overall, over five seconds down from Muscle Milk's Lola-Aston Martin.

Hometown hero Kyle Marcelli led the way in LMPC aboard his No. 89 Intersport Racing Oreca FLM09, while Spencer Pumpelly paced GTC in the No. 66 TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

Official "practice" kicks off Saturday morning.