2013 ALMS Race News, Results, and Insults

[Shifty]

Laguna has always been a tough track for CR, even more so now that we have to go in with a tubalard package.

[MOTV8]

I like teh word 'tubalard'....it sounds very technical. Mebbe teh Tommy lost some more weight. I really don't even care how they finish, as long as they're ahead of Patsy Long...

Teh Jan blurb has the TV details...

Magnussen Hoping For One Better In Monterey

Danish Corvette Racing star Jan Magnussen starred in last year's Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca event in 2012 and has his sights set on an even better performance in 2012.

Magnussen and Antonio Garcia finished second last year in a Corvette 1-2 at the Monterey circuit - the Dane pulling off a stunning move at the Andretti hairpin where he passed a BMW (and a P2 prototype!) with a brakes locked, tire smoking move to grab second place.

The Danish/Spanish duo showed impressive pace at the last round of the championship with fifth place - the result for Corvette Racing not indicative of their overall pace. A number of teams which stopped early ended up at the front of the pack after mid-race yellow flag / pit stop shuffle.

Magnussen enters this weekend's race on a high after winning in the Danish Thundersports Championship last weekend - making his debut as a team owner for the first time.

It has been a highly successful few weeks for the Magnussen family - Jan's son Kevin recently earned his first 2013 victory in the Formula Renault 3.5 World Series by Renault Championship. The McLaren F1 junior driver currently leads the championship after two rounds.

Saturday's four-hour Monterey event kicks off at 3:30pm local time.

TV SCHEDULE

Qualifying: Friday, May 10 @ 7:45 p.m. ET on ESPN3*

Live Race: Saturday, May 11 @ 6:15 p.m. ET* on ESPN3*

TV Race US: Sunday, May 12 @ 4 p.m. ET ESPN2

TV Race Global: Sunday, May 12 on MotorsTV, Sport 1, ESPN Americas; check listings

* available on ALMS.com for viewers outside U.S.

JAN MAGNUSSEN Q&A

Q: THE CORVETTES WERE REALLY STRONG AT LAGUNA LAST YEAR. WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE A SIMILAR RESULT THIS YEAR?

A: "I'm hoping for one better than last year! Usually we're quite strong here and the length of the race seems to be good for us. The longer races suit Corvette Racing.

"Laguna Seca is a fantastic place. It's one of my favorite tracks in the world. I love the layout and the flow of it. It's not a high speed or even high grip track. I don't know what it is about it, but I really enjoy driving it."

Q: HOW TRICKY IS IT WHEN THE CHANGING CONDITIONS AND THE DRIFTS OF SAND?

A: "You can get caught out a little bit by the sand when it drifts across the track. It's not too bad but it doesn't help with the overall grip of the track. The sand is probably the biggest reason why this is a low grip track.

"It makes you work a lot harder with the car, the setup and working closely with our engineers from Michelin. You have to be very precise to get it right."

Q: IS IT IMPORTANT TO KEEP YOUR RYTHUM AROUND LAGUNA?

A: "Yes, especially around Turns 3 through 6. You drop a wheel off and you will know it when you get to the next corner and try to turn in. It's just one of those places where you have to be precise and use all of the available space. But there's not much room for error."

Q DOES IT TAKE LONG TO CLEAN THE TIRES WHEN GOING OFF-LINE THROUGH TRAFFIC?

A: "Usually that depends on what compound you're running. Just like any other place, you need to try to stay on line. If somebody is trying to pass you, they usually don't like moving too much off lime to do it.

"Even if the track is quite clean, you could catch something. In the past, there hasn't been much rubber and stuff off line. It's just a dirty part of the track. You can manage to drive around there but it is more slipperier there."

Q: BEING A FOUR HOUR RACE, IS THIS A RACE WHERE YOUR OVERALL SPEED WILL PLAY A LARGER FACTOR.

A: "The four-hour format can produce similar results as it did at Long Beach, where whoever got in trouble at the beginning of the race and made an early pit stop, could end up on the podium. At Long Beach, that came down to the last pit stop.

"The four-hour format in the past at places like Road America has had a similar effect, where the guys that pitted early and the final safety car comes out at the right moment, they come out on top.

"It makes it really difficult to choose the right strategy. As a two-car team, maybe we can split our strategy to make sure we cover all bases. But we're going to see how long we can make the tires last and where we are at the end of the stints.

"That will pretty much tell us what strategy to run."

Q: HOW MUCH TIME DOES PRATT & MILLER PUT INTO ANALYZING PAST DATA IN ORDER TO PREDICT DIFFERENT OPTIONS?

A: "They spend a lot of time doing that, to make sure they hit the right strategy. It's rare that anything comes as a surprise because we usually look at every option. But you also have to go with something safe and something that not too risky.

"If you're fast and you're up front, sometimes that really limits your choices for what to do with the strategy, whereas sometimes when you get yourself in trouble, you have nothing to lose. You can stop early and have a wider window to do your last stop."

Q: HOW DID THE FIRST ROUND OF THE DANISH THUNDERSPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP GO FOR YOU?

A: "It was the first race for my team in the DTC and it went very well. We were a little bit late getting the cars ready. Some of the last important bits didn't fall into place until the week before the race.

"Thursday morning we did a shakedown and we raced it on the weekend. We came away leading the championship thanks to a win and a fourth place finish.

"I have to say I'm very, very proud with the result. All of the guys worked really hard to make it happen.

"There's a lot of work to be done and unfortunately I won't be able to compete in the entire championship. I'll be missing two rounds. There won't be a championship for me to win but we can still go there and focus on race wins.

Q: DID IT FEEL DIFFERENT BEING THERE AS A TEAM OWNER?

A: "It was different. It was more stressful with the whole weekend being my team and everything. But it is super gratifying when you do well.

"That was the best win I've ever had in DTC. The first race was a bit strange becuase I was driving around worrying about looking after my own car - I got that idea out of my head in the second race and just got stuck into it.

"Now I know the huge amount of work that goes into building a team and getting them to the race and all of the people together and making sure everything works.

"It's a lot more work than I thought but it's excellent."

Q: HOW PLEASED ARE YOU WITH YOUR SON KEVIN'S PROGRESS IN WORLD SERIES BY RENAULT THIS YEAR?

A: "It is great for him to be leading the championship and winning his first race at the last round in Spain.

"He had trouble in qualifying in the second race and came through the field strongly in the wet to still grab some points.

"Next up for him is the Monaco weekend - he's really looking forward to that.."

[Shifty]

I wonder if teh CR can take teh weight penalty in teh form of pushbars....

[Desertdawg]

Tubalard..... Nice! I'd like to see CR on the podium just to show them IMSA terds that they can stick their BoP up there..... Well you get the picture. Now if teh Bravrian Motor Wrecks get a BoP them disregard teh above statement.

[MOTV8]

Did you call them yet?

Dawg: "Halo, dis teh Grran Poohbah atz ze Bavarian Moter Werks."

Scot Elkins: "Hans, boobey....what can I do for you? Did you get those midget asian hookers?"

[/snort]

Hey, teh forum won't let me post teh blurbs again. Get crackalackin.

Test session today, a Ferrari was quickest, then two Porsches, then teh #3 C6.R in fourth, a Bimmer, then teh #4 way down in eighth, one spot ahead of teh CORE Porsche.

[Shifty]

It's going to be a rough race to watch for Corvette Racing fans, I predict...

[MOTV8]

Laguna Seca photo vaderism, ...why teh hell not?

[MOTV8]

[Shifty]

Jan looks to be hungry! Probably always is now that we're running so rotund....

Come to think of it, CR is sporting teh Catapillar colors, maybe we can just race earthmovers....

[MOTV8]

Freaking Patrick Long was quickest in Practice 1.

Jan was second, Martin in a BMW was third.

Flash forward to Practice 2, which is just ending now.

Malucelli's 458 finally nipped both the Bimmers towards the end. Gavin was 4th,Long was fifth, Sellers was sixth, and Garcia was 7th.

Both Vipers have been lagging the field, what's up?

[MOTV8]

ESPN3 is the suck.

That is all.

[MOTV8]

Wow. Even without the stream, you can see the vettes can't match the speed of the 458s or Porsches. It's a long race though.

Qualifying:

1) Malucelli - 458

2) Long - 911 GT3 RSR

3) Sellers - 911 GT3 RSR

4) Gavin - C6.R

5) Martin - Z4 GTE

6) Garcia - C6.R

7) Bell - 458

8) Muller - Z4 GTE

9) Goossens - Viper

10) Miller - 911 GT3 RSR

11) Wittmer - Viper

[Shifty]

ESPN3 is the suck.

That is all.

If they are still down tomorrow race time, I'm paying them a visit...

[Desertdawg]

And my ISP still isn't one the ESPN3 approved list so teh DVR is set for Sundays broadcast..... Now I just need to avoid reading teh emails from this thread so I can watch it without knowing the outcome. You know that isn't going to happen

[Shifty]

Here Dawg, I'll sum it up for ye: BMW 1-2, Vipers 3-4, teh Corvettes left mid race to go to a buffet...

[MOTV8]

I will try to maintain radio silence then.

Ya, right....

Corvette Racing Qualifies 4th And 6th At Laguna Seca

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.

[MOTV8]

Spoiler alert!

The race has started.

Oh yeah, Patsy Long, qualified 2nd mind you, whined to his team to move the rear wing....which promptly brought an infraction...so Patsy is starting from the rear of the entire field.

Silent running from here on. I swear. On my wife's .

[Shifty]

Now my post don't even post....

[Desertdawg]

Here Dawg, I'll sum it up for ye: BMW 1-2, Vipers 3-4, teh Corvettes left mid race to go to a buffet...

when I read that I thought it was real.....azzholes... Come on post teh news dammit, you know I'll read it because it may be mid week before I get to watch teh DVR... I'll forget all this by then.

[Shifty]

I can't hardly get a post to post....

[Desertdawg]

Since I don't know what your doing, email me the entire quote just like your trying to post so I can see myself.

[MOTV8]

I get the same issue from the laptop, but not the desktop....weirdness.

No 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R Wins At Laguna Seca With Flawless Race

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.

[Shifty]

Since I don't know what your doing, email me the entire quote just like your trying to post so I can see myself.

Well it's gone now, and Dean summed it up anywho, it just chaps ma hyde....

I'm glad teh Falken came in 2nd if teh 4 car couldn't, those guys fought a helluva race, and they are about teh cleanest racing bunch I've seen. However, they have been on teh podium at every race now, where are they in teh points?

[Shifty]

BTW: Here's a fun fact: Teh #3 Corvette spent a total of 4 seconds less in teh pits than teh Falken Tire Porsche....margin of victory? Less than 4 seconds...

[MOTV8]

BTW: Here's a fun fact: Teh #3 Corvette spent a total of 4 seconds less in teh pits than teh Falken Tire Porsche....margin of victory? Less than 4 seconds...

So fun I see it mentioned in paragraph six of my summary.

Teh ALMS is slow to update the points, but check here: http://www.alms.com/standings