THE LINE

June 20, 2012

(Richard Prince/Corvette Racing Photo)
After a monumental and relentless thrash, Corvette Racing had "one of those days" as the team struggled throughout the 24 Hours of Le Mans. What started out well ended not so well as the team came home fifth and sixth in the grueling event. The No. 73 Corvette Compuware C6.R driven by Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia, and Jordan Taylor completed 326 laps and finished fifth in the GTE Pro category. The No. 74 Corvette Compuware C6.R of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Richard Westbrook completed 215 laps and was sixth across the line, but was not classified because the car did not complete the minimum race distance. The No. 51 AF Corsa Ferrari driven by Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander won the GTE Pro class easily by a whopping three-lap margin with 336 laps completed. "Sometimes in motorsports, the greatest battles that are waged are not against a competitor, but rather against the challenges that one faces. Today was one of those days for both the No. 73 and No. 74 Corvettes. When we got to the 12-hour mark, it became clear that it would be difficult to leave Le Mans with a victory. At that point we engaged the enemy head on, which was adversity. I think by any measure, anyone who watched this event saw us emerge victorious against that enemy as we brought both cars home once again to a finish in one of the most brutal, hard-fought battles in our Le Mans history. I think we can all be proud of the passion, the dedication, and that never-say-die attitude of Corvette Racing. Hopefully, our fans enjoyed every minute of it." - Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing Program Manager.


24 Hours of Le Mans GTE Pro Results:
Pos./Car No./Drivers/Car/Laps
1. 51 Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander, Ferrari 458 Italia, 336
2. 59 Makowiecki/Melo/Farnbacher, Ferrari 458 Italia, 333
3. 97 Mucke/Turner/Fernandez, Aston Martin Vantage V8, 332
4. 71 Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci, Ferrari 458 Italia, 326
5. 73 Garcia/Magnussen/Taylor, Corvette C6.R, 326
6. 74 Gavin/Milner/Westbrook, Corvette C6.R, 215
7. 66 Cocker/Walker/Wills, Ferrari 458 Italia, 204
8. 77 Lietz/Lieb/Henzler, Porsche 911 RSR, 184
9. 80 Bergmeister/Long/Holzer, Porsche 911 RSR 114

(Richard Prince/Corvette Racing Photo)
The No. 74 Corvette C6.R in the team's pit garage. The No. 74 Corvette had taken the lead in the fifth hour, but after a routine pit stop and driver change, it lost its left-rear tire. Driver Richard Westbrook nursed the car back to the pits, and the crews from both cars descended on the damaged machine. Ten minutes later it was back on track, having fallen from first to sixth in the standings. But the misfortune continued when Westbrook had to take evasive action in the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight to avoid a car and eased into a tire barrier, damaging the nose and requiring another extended stay in the garage. "Driving around with the left-rear wheel missing damaged the diffuser, so that was the major repair," said team manager Gary Pratt. "We also changed the brakes, since that was scheduled to be done soon. We don't know why the wheel came off – obviously the nut wasn't tightened completely, but we don't yet understand why that happened. Then as Richard came up on a car in the first chicane, the other driver checked up and Richard had to swerve to miss him and ended up in the tire barrier," Pratt explained. "We changed the nose, and then saw that the previous incident had damaged the gearbox, so we changed that as well." That's what thrashing in racing is really like, folks.

(Richard Prince/Corvette Racing Photo)
"The car was fantastic, very fast and very consistent. My double stint in the morning was the best double I had in the entire race. It’s a shame we lost some time by changing the alternator. Other than that I’m feeling fine when I’m in the car as the adrenaline takes over and I then don’t suffer from my cold and fever." - Jan Magnussen, driver of the No. 73 Corvette Racing Compuware C6.R.

(Phillip G. Abbott - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 Andretti Autosport Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet) passed Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet) for the lead with 84 laps to go and held on to win the Milwaukee IndyFest at the famed Milwaukee Mile on Saturday afternoon. Needless to say, the race didn't go off without a hitch. There was a rain delay and then a brain freeze by IndyCar officials, which didn't sit well with Scott Dixon (see below).

(F. Peirce Williams - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Tony Kanaan (No. 11 GEICO/Mouser Electronics-KV Racing Technology Chevrolet) had a good run at Milwaukee, finishing 5.1029 seconds behind Hunter-Reay in second place. "I didn't have anything at the end for Ryan (Hunter-Reay), but great event, man," Kanaan said after. "I love to see the stands as full as I've ever seen here. Thanks to Michael (Andretti) and his people who put this event back together. I love this place, hopefully the fans like it and great result for us." (About working through the field): "It was a long day, but this is typical Milwaukee. That's why I love this place. You've got to drive it. If you don't drive it, you never get it, so I'm extremely happy."

(Dan R. Boyd - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
James Hinchcliffe (No. 27 Andretti Autosport Team GoDaddy.com Chevrolet) finished third. "It's Milwaukee, man," Hinch said post-race. "That's why we love coming here, it's always a good show. And you know the rain delay threw us for a bit of a loop. That first ten was a bit stale, there was no two grooves. We had to take some time to build that, but after that first stop it went good ol' fashioned Milwaukee. It was great short track racing, cars were falling off, guys were having to drive it. Great stops by the Go Daddy guys, and great car in clean air. A little bit rough in traffic, but when we needed to we could pick them off on some of those restarts, and I'm just super happy for the team. Obviously Ryan here in the winner's circle and another crop on the podium in a race that Michael took over and brought back to life, it means a lot for everybody. "

(Dan R. Boyd - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Ryan Hunter-Reay gets a champagne bath from Tony Kanaan and James Hinchcliffe in Victory Lane at the Milwaukee IndyFest. "It's amazing," Hunter-Reay said. "First of all, thank you to all of the fans for coming out, filling a great number of seats in here. What a race. I know we would all have liked to see a little more passing, but from the car it was so busy, just trying to hang on to it. But getting a win for DHL and Sun Drop, it's unreal. Hanging on to those last few restarts were too much. I don't need that. That was grey area, for sure... Milwaukee and IndyCar go hand-in-hand. This is the oldest racing facility in the country and we just won. It's awesome."

It wasn't so awesome for Target Chip Ganassi Racing and driver Scott Dixon, unfortunately. After the race, IndyCar officials admitted that they screwed-up when they assessed a drive-through penalty to Dixon, who had moved from 21^st position into the top-10 before the call. "Due to a glitch in technology, there was a discrepancy between the official race clock and the clock on the replay machine," IndyCar President of Competition and IZOD IndyCar Series race director Beaux Barfield said. "Therefore the review of the jumped start was one lap off, leading Race Control to make the call on the wrong lap. We have informed the Ganassi team of this error and Race Control is taking every step necessary to address it going forward. The Race Control team will be meeting first thing Monday morning to review the issue and explore remedies in advance of the race at Iowa." Ouch, baby.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out Gordon Kirby's excellent piece about new technology in racing here. It's worth the read. - PMD

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

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