July 14, 2010
(Copyright 2010 John Thawley)
Simon Pagenaud, David Brabham, Patron Highcroft HPD, Michelin. Pole winner Simon Pagenaud and co-driver David Brabham (No. 1 HPD ARX-01c) took their third consecutive victory in the 2010 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón as they won last weekend's Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park. Pagenaud drove the final 1:45 and the Patrón Highcroft crew took advantage of a quick final pit stop to beat Drayson Racing’s Emanuele Pirro (Lola B09 60/Judd) to the line by 19.116 seconds. The high altitude and long front-straight favored the bigger cars like the Drayson Lola-Judd and the turbocharged prototypes in the field, which made Highcroft Racing's win that much more special. Muscle Milk Team CytoSport’s Klaus Graf and Greg Pickett finished third, 90 seconds behind the winning car. Drayson Racing was the prototype winner in the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge. Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker (Level 5 Motorsports ORECA FLM09) won for the third time in LMP Challenge. Jaime Melo and Gianmaria Bruni (No. 62 Risi Competizione F430GT) won their second race of the season in GT. Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner (No. 92 BMW Rahal Letterman Racing BMW M3 GTR) finished second, 21 seconds back. Melo and Bruni are now in the class championship lead by two points over Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, who finished fifth in their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Jan Magnussen and Johnny O’Connell (No. 63 Corvette Racing Compuware C6.R) finished third in class. Four manufacturers – Ferrari, BMW, Chevrolet and Porsche – made up the GT top-five. The Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari of Ed Brown and Guy Cosmo won the GT portion of the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge. Jeroen Bleekemolen and Tim Pappas (Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) won their second straight GT Challenge race. Check out more scintillating images from photographer extraordinaire John Thawley here.
Road America. "America's National Park of Speed" will host its annual vintage racing love-fest, the famed Kohler International Challenge with Brian Redman - presented by Ford - this weekend, July 15-18. A mid-summer favorite, the event has grown to be the second-largest vintage racing gathering in the United States, featuring over 50 classes of cars racing in 10 groups. The four-day weekend will showcase a delicious array of Can-Am racing machines, a Mark Donohue Reunion and a celebration of the Ford Mustang in competition. An extraordinary collection of Mark Donohue's winning cars from Indy, Can-Am, Formula One, IROC and Trans-Am will be on display and special guests over the weekend will include many of Donohue’s teammates from Penske Racing. As presenting sponsor, Ford will recognize its iconic Mustang with a feature race, special parade laps and exclusive Mustang Alley parking. On Saturday, drivers of Mustangs will be admitted to the event free of charge. The two-night Concours d’Elegance is again sponsored by Road & Track magazine and features over 100 cars each night. At 6:00 p.m. Friday evening, race cars make their way from the track to downtown Elkhart Lake for judging and spectator viewing until 8:00 p.m. Sports cars gather on Saturday, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Final judging and awards are presented on Sunday at Road America. Other fan attractions at Road America this weekend include autograph sessions, an automotive art and vendor fair, on-track touring and public go-karting. Kids 12 and under are admitted free with an adult. Parking, grandstand seating and paddock access are always free at Road America. Tickets and camping arrangements may be ordered by calling 800-365-7223.
Our favorite shot from downtown Elkhard Lake during vintage weekend.
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out Michelin's racing website - "Michelin Alley" - and get in on all of the behind-the-scenes buzz. Go here. - PMD
WE'RE OPENING THE VAULT!
The AE wearables are back - and only in extremely limited quantities and sizes, we might add - and once they're gone, they're gone! We're starting with our most popular items, the classic AE Sweatshirt and AE Hat. Click on a PayPal button below to order yours now! (If you prefer to pay by check, please send us an email with AE STORE in the subject line, and we'll reserve your item.)
AE Sweatshirt - Crewneck, sturdy 80/20 cotton/poly, in black with throwback lettering - the original AE logo in our Chiller typeface shown above. Size XL only. 40 bucks, including shipping. US orders only.
AE Hat - Black with throwback lettering - the original AE logo in our Chiller typeface shown above. 25 bucks, including shipping. US orders only.
See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and friends this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv. By the way, if you'd like to subscribe to the Autoline After Hours podcasts, click on the following links: Subscribe via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311421319 http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/podcasts/feeds/afterhours-audio.xml
Subscribe via RSS: