THE LINE

April 21, 2010

(Patron Highcroft Racing)

Wins don't come any sweeter than when Patrón Highcroft Racing's Simon Pagenaud pulled off that dramatic last lap pass and victory on the streets of Long Beach last weekend in the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series race. It was also co-driver David Brabham's 20th American Le Mans Series victory and his fifth overall victory for Patrón Highcroft Racing. Pagenaud scored his first victory in Patron Highcroft colors and his sixth ALMS win. It is also his second consecutive win on the streets of Long Beach. Congratulations to Pagenaud, Brabham and the entire Highcroft Racing organization for one of those wins that will remain magical in team lore for life.

John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110 

Publisher's Note: Check out John Thawley's superb images of the American Le Mans Series from the Long Beach Grand Prix weekend by clicking here, or click here to see the slide show. Great stuff! - PMD

(ALMS)
It was this close for much of the race in GT at Long Beach, with the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long coming through for the win over the No. 3 Corvette Racing C6R of Jan Magnussen and Johnny O’Connell. Four different teams and three manufacturers led at least one lap in the GT class. The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team’s BMW M3 GT driven by Bill Auberlen/Tommy Milner faded to third at the finish after running the whole race on one set of tires. The Long/Bergmeister duo also won the GT portion of the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge. “I think everyone out there in the second stint with fresh tires was going really, really hard, " Long commented. "It really came down to the battle of pit stops with just about 45 minutes to go. We have some new crewmembers and they hit all their marks, thanks to them tonight. They need to celebrate.”

(ALMS)
Gunnar Jeannette and Elton Julian won the LMPC class at Long Beach in G-Oil’s Green Earth Team Gunnar ORECA FLM09. It was the first victory for the drivers and the team after they finished second in class at the season-opener at Sebring. Jeannette crossed the finish line by a lap over Sebring class winners Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker in the Level 5 Motorsports entry. The top three cars – the G-Oil/GETG, Level 5 and Genoa Racing entries – all led during the race. “It’s a pleasure to work with a team like this, and it’s great to be back racing again,” Julian said. “We were a bit unlucky at Sebring but today things worked out like they should. Here we are, and I think we deserve it.”

(ALMS)
Butch Leitzinger and Juan Gonzalez (No. 81 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) won in GTC at Long Beach, just as they did at Sebring. Leitzinger won by 1.753 seconds over the GMG Racing 911 GT3 Cup of James Sofronas and Bret Curtis. Leitzinger made the winning pass late when Romeo Kapudija – driving another AJR Porsche – slid off track in some loose debris. He and Bill Sweedler finished third.

(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport No. 37 Team IZOD Dallara/Honda/Firestone) won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach - a race slowed by a lone full-course caution (tying an IZOD IndyCar Series road/street course record) - holding off Justin Wilson (No. 22 Team Z-Line Designs/DRR D/H/F) by 5.6031 seconds to give Andretti Autosport its first victory since 2008 at Richmond (Tony Kanaan). Hunter-Reay became the first American driver to win an IZOD IndyCar Series race since he won in July, 2008 at Watkins Glen, which was his first career victory. Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske D/H/F) - the championship points leader and pole sitter - finished third in the 85-lap race on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit. Power heads to IndyCar's next race - the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway on May 1 - having extended his lead to 42 points over teammate Helio Castroneves (130). Hunter-Reay is third (129) and Wilson is fourth (125).

(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
"It was the most fun I had in a race car because it was handling so well," said Hunter-Reay, who is the first American to win at Long Beach since Andretti in 2002. "My mom is out there today. She passed along recently and this race is for her. Over the last couple of laps I said 'This is for you, Mom.'"

(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
James Hinchcliffe (No. 2 TMR-Xtreme Coil Drilling) led all 45 laps in the Grand Prix of Long Beach to score his first career victory in the Firestone Indy Lights series. Hinchcliffe held off Charlie Kimball by .8370 of a second. Series points leader J.K. Vernay (No.7 Lucas/CJ/Sam Schmidt Motorsports) finished third. Next up for the Firestone Indy Lights series is the Firestone Freedom 100 on Friday, May 28 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It will be the first oval event of the season for the series.

(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Kuno Wittmer (No. 13 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Viper), of Montreal, captured the pole with a new track record and then led flag-to-flag to win the Toyo Tires World Challenge at Long Beach Presented by Bondurant, the final race of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend. Wittmer averaged a record 80.787 mph over the 29-lap, 57.072-mile race that ran without a full-course caution period. It was the 26-year-old’s fifth career World Challenge victory, but his first in the GT class. He also turned the fastest lap of the race at 1:25.797 (82.576 mph), a new Long Beach race record. Dino Crescentini (No. 4 Centric Parts/Stoptech/GMG Porsche 911 GT3), of Manhattan Beach, Calif., finished second, 8.475-seconds behind Wittmer and Brandon Davis (No. 1 Applied Comp Solutions Ford Mustang GT), of Huntington Beach, Calif., finished third in his first GT race of the season.

(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Tyler McQuarrie, of Walnut Creek, Calif., making his World Challenge debut, cruised to a 49.535-second flag-to-flag victory in his No. 19 LPL/DRS/Switcars/LCS/Dayco/M&T Lotus Exige S. Nick Esayian (No. 34 Acura/RealTime Racing TSX), of San Diego, Calif., finished a distant second to McQuarrie and Michael Pettiford (No. 41 Go4It Racing Schools/Hawk Chevrolet Corvette), of Louisville, Colo., finished third.

(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Robert Stout (No. 18 DG-Spec/Scion/TRD/Lucas Oil/Scion tC), of Brownsburg, Ind., won the Touring Car class making him, at 18 years old, one month and 16 days, the youngest winner in World Challenge history. Eric Meyer (No. 32 XOWii/Samaritan’s Feet/Delvira Mazda RX-8), of Indianapolis, Ind., finished second and Montreal’s Nick Wittmer, the younger brother of GT race-winner Kuno, recovered from an early flat tire after contact with another car to finish third.

(BRE Collection, www.bre2.net)
Peter Brock (left) and guest driver Bobby Allison (right) stand with the No. 85 BRE Datsun 510 from Peter Brock's BRE Trans-Am Racing Team stable in 1972. The duo will be featured at the 34th annual Classic Motorsports Mitty, presented by Mazda, at Road Atlanta April 29-May 2. Peter Brock is grand marshal of this year’s event and will be honored along with several members of his BRE race team Thursday evening at the BRE Memorial Dinner. Brock, designer of the World Championship Shelby Daytona Cobra and a former racer himself, will greet fans and sign autographs in the Cobra Corral Friday afternoon during the event. Cobra Corral members also will be able to participate in a parade lap at Road Atlanta. Hall of Fame NASCAR driver Bobby Allison will also be on hand as his No. 85 BRE Datsun will be among the cars on display. The Mitty is the oldest and largest historic car race on the East Coast and the second of eight races on the 2010 HSR calendar. For more information, go to www.themitty.com or www.hsrrace.com.

(Mazda)
Racing legends Peter Brock and John Morton will fly their famous No. 46 red, white, and blue racing livery on a classic Japanese roadster at Road Atlanta later this month.  The difference being that it will be a current brand of car and the most popular roadster ever sold or raced, the Mazda MX-5 Miata. For many years, the annual Walter Mitty Challenge has been a favorite vintage race weekend on the East Coast.  Mazda teamed up to sponsor the event with Classic Motorsports/Grassroots Motorsports and HSR in 2006.  To add a dash of the new and modern, Mazda brought its popular SCCA Pro Racing Playboy MX-5 Cup series to the vintage race weekend. 

Each year, a racing legend is honored at the Mitty and for 2010, that honored legend is Peter Brock of Brock Racing Enterprises, aka BRE, fame.  At this point, it’s not clear if the idea came from Mazda, from Classic Motorsports, HSR, a BRE fan, or elsewhere, but someone simply said, “Wouldn’t it be cool to have a BRE MX-5 in the Playboy race to honor Pete?” With Mazda, good ideas can turn into reality with a few quick phone calls.  The Mazda design team sketched up a proper BRE graphics job for the MX-5.  The MAZDASPEED team called John Morton to verify his interest.  Since John had also scored more than a few race wins with Mazda during his career, that connection was strong, and his desire to race remains strong.  Finally, Pete and Gayle Brock were shown the sketch and pitched the idea.  Everyone said yes. "It’s been some 37 years since a factory supported car in BRE livery sat on a racing grid," Brock said. "Seeing the new MX-5 in our traditional colors almost brings tears to my eyes. It’s wonderful that Mazda, a company that really loves, understands and supports racing of all kinds, has seen fit to honor our team’s great racing history with this new spirit of competition.” Mazda unveiled the car at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in the Mothers Polish display within the fan expo. (Thanks to Dean Case from MAZDASPEED for this item).

(Shell)
Ferrari has named its new Pennzoil Ultra motor oil with Hyper Cleansing Technology as the only motor oil approved and recommended for use in all Ferrari engines in the United States.  The Shell Oil Company also announced that Pennzoil Ultra will be the brand sponsor for the Risi Competizione American Le Mans Series team for the 2010 season and that Pennzoil Ultra 5W-40 will be the exclusive motor oil used in the team’s two Ferrari 430GT racers. Ferrari's relationship with Shell dates back to the 1930s, when Shell began supporting Enzo Ferrari’s motor racing activities. When the very first Ferrari drove out of the factory gates in Maranello, Italy in 1947, it was equipped with Shell products.

(Ford)
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) (with Jarmo Lehtinen) at speed in their BP Abu Dhabi Ford Focus RS WRC on day two of the 2010 Rally of Turkey. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC) won the event (his third straight WRC victory), while Petter Solberg (PSWRT Citroen C4 WRC) finished second, with Hirvonen coming in third.

(Ford)
Ken Block will drive a custom-built Ford Fiesta for the next chapter in his series of Gymkhana videos that have become an Internet phenomenon with more than 30 million views. For Monster World Rally Team driver and DC co-founder Block, the opportunity to push the limits of his car control while maneuvering around a series of cones, slaloms, 180-degree and 360-degree and figure-eight turns and other obstacles all while utilizing extreme acceleration, braking and drifting is pretty much the definition of fun. For that reason, Block chose the Ford Fiesta as the car that will be purpose-built for his highly anticipated Gymkhana THREE project, produced by DC. “The great thing about Gymkhana for me is that it is amazingly fun to do,” said Block. “It’s taking some of the best parts of rally racing and removing a bit of the stress that is involved with competing, allowing me to just go out and play in an amazing car. I can’t wait to start filming in the Gymkhana THREE 2011 Ford Fiesta. I just did one day of testing in the U.K. with it and it is extremely fun to drive. It has amazing power and control." The Gymkhana THREE Fiesta started as a production 2011 Fiesta before going through a conversion by Olsbergs MSE, the same group that runs Block’s Rally America program and that won gold at the X Games 15 Rally Competition in a Fiesta last August. The 2,425-pound Gymkhana THREE Fiesta sports a purpose-built Olsbergs engine capable of up to 850 brake horsepower, but is restricted to 650 horsepower in order to give Block the torque band he needs to control the car. Equipped with an Olsbergs MSE Maktrak (magnesium) six-speed paddle-shift sequential transmission, it is capable of 660 lb.-ft. of torque at 4000 rpm and needs a mere two seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph. The production Fiesta goes on sale this summer, but it has already been designated as Ford’s worldwide rally car in both WRC and Rally America starting in 2011. Details of the location and stunts of DC’s Gymkhana THREE project remain a closely guarded secret. The multi-day shoot and the tentative release of the Gymkhana THREE video is slated for this summer.

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(Photos courtesy of Audi)
(From Audi): For the first time since 1937, the sound of two Auto Union Silver Arrows will echo through the narrow streets of Monte Carlo at the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique on May 1 and 2. Behind the wheel of these giants of a past era will be former Formula One stars Jacky Ickx and Hans-Joachim Stuck. Ickx will take the wheel of the Auto Union Type D. This car was the final stage in the development work undertaken by the Auto Union racing department. At the end of the 1938 season a change in the rules was announced; engines had to be limited to a displacement of three litres. This meant a new Auto Union racing car with a  twin-supercharged, 485HP,12-cylinder engine that rocketed the latest Silver Arrow up to 330 km/h. Ickx drove the Type C at the Monte Carlo event in 2008, and is looking forward to this year’s Grand Prix de Monaco Historique: “To drive such a car here is a privilege!” Stuck will drive Audi Tradition's authentic 520HP, 16 cylinder Audi Tradition’s replica of the original Type C, a racing machine that recorded a top speed of 340 kilometres an hour in 1936.  Hans-Joachim Stuck explains how much this guest appearance means to him: “It will be a very emotional moment for me when I sit in the car that my father also drove in Monte Carlo. When I think of the sound the 16-cylinder engine will make in those built-up streets, it already sends a shiver down my spine!” It was Hans Stuck who brought home the first major successes for the newly established Auto Union racing department back in 1934 in the 16-cylinder mid-engined racing car designed by Ferdinand Porsche. The “Hillclimb King”, as they called him in those days, broke several world records on the Avus circuit in Berlin. And that was only the start because he triumphed in most of the season’s races and became the unofficial European Champion, a title that was only acknowledged by the sport authorities in the following season. The Monaco Grand Prix was held twice in the 1930s, in 1936 und 1937. It was not one of the venues at which Auto Union scored a victory. The best placings were achieved by Hans Stuck: third in 1936 and fourth in 1937 at the wheel of the Auto Union Type C. This is the seventh time that the Automobile Club de Monaco has staged this competition for historic racing cars on the Formula One circuit in Monte Carlo. This year, historic Formula One cars from 1947 to 1978 and Formula Three cars built in 1984 or earlier will contend with each other in genuine race conditions. The Auto Union racing cars will start together in two special events, and complete a number of laps at about midday on Saturday May 1 and again on the afternoon of Sunday May 2.

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