MAY 6, 2015

(Photo by John Cote/IndyCar)
Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 2 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) enters Turn 1 during the Oval Open Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, beginning the "month of May" at the most famous Speedway in the world. Opening Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was highlighted by a significant jump in speed as the superspeedway aero body kits from Chevrolet and Honda made their debut. Twenty-one drivers surpassed last year's fastest lap of Opening Day as drivers turned more than 1,800 laps in preparation for the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race later this month. Montoya, who won the Indy 500 fifteen years ago in dominant fashion, recorded the fastest lap of the day at 226.772 mph (39.6874 seconds) on the 2.5-mile oval, more than three mph faster than last year's fastest opening day speed set by Will Power (223.057 mph). 28 driver/car combinations became acclimated to the aero kits and developed a baseline for practice that officially begins on May 11. "(Having the fastest lap) is good for Verizon and for Chevy and for everybody that is paying attention. But I think the time sheet, as always, is irrelevant until you get to the race or until you get to qualifying," Montoya said. Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) was next quick, 0.0533 of a second behind Montoya, Marco Andretti (No. 27 Andretti Autosport Snapple Honda) was third on the speed chart at 226.268 mph and the fastest of the Honda-powered entries. Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Target Chevrolet) was fourth-quick at 225.881 mph and Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Team Penske AVAYA Chevrolet) was fifth at 225.641 mph.

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
BMW Team RLL made it two in a row in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, following up its victory at Long Beach last week with a 1-2 finish on Sunday in the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda at Laguna Seca (Mazda Raceway). Lucas Luhr and John Edwards (No. 24 BMW TEAM RLL IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 GTLM) claimed their first TUDOR Championship victory, while Long Beach winners Dirk Werner and Bill Auberlen (No. 25 BMW TEAM RLL IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4) finished second, with Edwards leading Auberlen to the checkered by 22.572 seconds. It was Luhr’s ninth class victory at the circuit – including three overall triumphs in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón – and 52nd in all-time North American endurance racing, two behind Auberlen and seven behind leader Scott Pruett. Michael Christensen (No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR) finished third in the machine started by Patrick Pilet. Check out all of John Thawley's scintillating images from Laguna Seca here.
(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Michael Valiante and Richard Westbrook (No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP) won overall in the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda at Laguna Seca (Mazda Raceway) for the TUDOR United Sports Car Championship. It was the first win for the team since last June’s race at Watkins Glen International, a span of nine races. Valiante took the lead on the first lap of the race on the 11-turn, 2.238-mile long circuit and held it for the first 15 laps, while his co-driver Richard Westbrook led the final 29 laps of the race, with the duo leading 44 out of 112 laps in the two hour, 40 minute race on the way to victory. With the win, Valiante and Westbrook have taken over the Prototype championship lead. Jordan and Ricky Taylor (No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP) finished second and led a combined 60 laps of the race, with Ricky Taylor finishing 1.351 seconds behind Westbrook at the end. Third place went to Oswaldo Negri Jr. and John Pew (No. 60 Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian Ligier JS P2/Honda HPD).
(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Spencer Pumpelly won the GT Daytona (GTD) class in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT America. It was the first victory for the team and starting driver Patrick Lindsey, who captured his first career TOTAL Pole Award on Saturday. Pumpelly finished 3.677 seconds ahead of Christopher Haase (No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Castrol Edge Audi R8 LMS, started by Dion von Moltke). Haase’s chances of victory went away in the closing laps after contact with the overall race-winning Prototype of Richard Westbrook. Ian James and Mario Farnbacher (No. 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America) who won last time out at Sebring, finished third.

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Chris Cumming started the No. 11 RSR Racing ORECA FLM09 from the Prototype Challenge (PC) pole, and along with co-driver Bruno Junqueira, never looked back. The duo overcame a drive-through penalty for a crew member over the wall too soon to lead 80 of 112 laps in the Prototype Challenge class and claimed its first win of the year. The win was the second in TUDOR Championship competition for Cumming and the first for Junqueira. Colin Braun and Jon Bennett (No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09) finished second. Mike Hedlund and James French (No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ric Man Construction/GO-PUCK/Braille Batteries ORECA FLM09) finished third in PC. The next event for the TUDOR Championship will be the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic presented by Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers, featuring the Prototype, Prototype Challenge and GTD classes at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park on Saturday, May 30. The GTLM class heads to Le Mans for the French endurance classic.

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

(Chevrolet)
Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis (No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro Z/28.R) won the Grand Sport (GS) class in the third round of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Laguna Seca (Mazda Raceway) for the third time in five years. Liddell won by 0.552 seconds over Billy Johnson (No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302R) for the duo’s second straight win in the series. BJ Zacharias (No. 14 Doran Racing Nissan 370Z) finished third. Stevenson Motorsports’ two Camaros led all but one of the race’s 84 laps. Matt Bell, the race’s pole winner, and co-driver Lawson Aschenbach (No. 9 Camaro Z/28.R) led the first 69 laps before having to make a late fuel stop, dropping them to 11th in class at the end. The fourth round of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge is scheduled for Saturday, June 26, from Watkins Glen International.

(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/HHP for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Nationwide Chevrolet SS) celebrates his NASCAR Sprint Cup series race win in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. It was Earnhardt, Jr.'s sixth - and most emotional - victory at Talladega. Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's Chevrolet SS) finished second, 0.159-seconds behind Earnhardt, and Paul Menard (No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet SS) finished third. Ryan Blaney had an excellent race in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford Fusion, finishing fourth. Watch a NASCAR video here.

(Image courtesy of MotoGP) Jorge Lorenzo (No. 99 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) dominated the Gran Premio bwin de Espana MotoGP weekend in Jerez, starting from pole to set a new Circuit Record on his way to victory. The Spaniard also set the fastest ever lap on a motorcycle around the 4.4 km Circuito de Jerez in Qualifying, recording a 1’37.910. Marc Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda team) finished second, and Valentino Rossi (No. 46 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) finished third, becoming the first person in the history of the sport to achieve 200 Grand Prix podiums.

(FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy)
Norway’s Petter Solberg (No. 1 SDRX Citroen DS3) took a lights-to-flag victory at the first ever World RX of Hockenheim, round two of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy. Conducted over the same weekend with the DTM series, World RX made its debut at the iconic F1 venue on a purpose-built rallycross circuit constructed inside the famous Sachs Arena. The event was attended by more than 75,000 people. Reinis Nitiss (No. 15 Ford Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta Supercar) took the runner-up spot and Timmy Hansen (No. 21 Team Peugeot-Hansen Peugeot 208 WRX) finished third.

(Chevrolet images)
Chevrolet has introduced its speedway aero kit to be used on high-speed ovals in the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series, with specific features developed exclusively for running at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. “With the speedway configuration, the emphasis is on reducing aerodynamic drag, for greater speed, while maintaining sufficient downforce,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet IndyCar program manager. “Innovative designs were used to develop the right combination of downforce and drag, along with engine performance.” Among the various aero tweaks is a high-efficiency upper rear wing - unique for the Indy 500 - which features low-mass rear wing pillars and a low-mass rear mainplane. Chevrolet race teams will compete with the road course aero kit on May 9 for the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, on Indy’s infield road course, before converting their cars to the speedway aero kit for the Indianapolis 500 on May 24.

(Honda Racing images)
Honda also debuted its “Super Speedway” aero kit of aerodynamic upgrades and components that its Honda-powered teams will use at this year’s 99th running of the Indianapolis 500. The Honda Super Speedway Aero Kit, produced by Honda Performance Development - Honda’s racing arm in North America - includes a variety of individual aerodynamic components fitted to the existing Honda-powered Dallara Indy car chassis.