JUNE 10, 2015
Sunday, June 7, 2015 at 09:00AM 
(Richard Prince/Corvette Racing)
For the 16th consecutive season, Corvette Racing will compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a two-car effort against the toughest competition in GT racing. Six drivers, two cars and seasoned crew members and engineers have their sights firmly set on delivering an eighth class victory in the 83rd running of the French endurance race. For the fifth season, Corvette Racing will compete in the GTE Pro class against Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin. Contested on an 8.5-mile circuit that is a mix of public roads and a purpose-built race course, Le Mans is the most prestigious sports car race in the world. Corvette Racing has already won the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring to open the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, but a victory at Le Mans would make for a most memorable season. Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Ryan Briscoe claimed victories at Daytona and Sebring and will drive the No. 63 Corvette C7.R. Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor will drive the No. 64 Corvette Racing C7.R. Gavin clocked the second-fastest GTE Pro time during the Test Day with a lap of 3:58.162 (128.003 mph). The 83rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is set for 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 13. The FOX Sports family of channels will air the race with live coverage of practice, qualifying and the race on radiolemans.com.
(Richard Prince/Corvette Racing)
Get an inside look at the Corvette Racing’s chase for an eighth class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. FOXSports.com will provide a live video stream featuring in-car cameras in both the No. 63 and No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R race cars and the Corvette Racing pit throughout Saturday and Sunday’s race. UPDATE: (6/11/15, 7:00 p.m.) Jan Magnussen crashed hard due to a mechanical issue during qualifying for Saturday's race. Even though he was checked out okay by medical personnel, the No. 63 Corvette C7.R had to be withdrawn from the event due to the severity of the damage, which couldn't be fixed at the track. It was the first time that a Corvette Racing entry had to be withdrawn before the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the modern era. -PMD
Le Mans 24 Hours (times in Central European and Eastern Daylight)
· Qualifying: 7-9 p.m., 10 p.m.-midnight CET, Thursday, June 11. (1-3 p.m., 4-6 p.m. ET)
· Warm-up: 9-9:45 a.m. CET, Saturday, June 13. (3-3:45 a.m. ET)
· Race: 3 p.m. Saturday-3 p.m. CET, Sunday, June 14. (9 a.m. Saturday-9 a.m. ET, Sunday)
Le Mans Viewing (Saturday, June 13-Sunday, June 14 – all times ET)
· 9 a.m. Saturday-9 a.m. Sunday (Live In-Car and Garage Cameras)
· 8:30 a.m. Saturday-9:30 a.m. Sunday (FOX Sports GO)
· 8:30 a.m.-noon, Saturday (FOX Sports 2)
· 7-8 p.m., Saturday (FOX Sports 1)
· 11 p.m., Saturday-12:30 a.m. Sunday (FOX Sports 2)
· 3:30-7:30 a.m., Sunday (FOX Sports 1)
· 7:30-9 a.m., Sunday (FOX Sports 2)
· 9-9:30 a.m., Sunday (FOX Sports 1)
(Audi Motorsport images)
Audi has dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans in recent years, winning thirteen out of fifteen races, including the last five races in a row. The efficiency technology Audi calls "ultra" is a major element of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro hybrid sports car. At Spa, the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro was seven seconds faster in qualifying and four seconds quicker in the race than last year, in spite of now having to consume 2.8 percent less fuel. With its updated V6 TDI engine, a hybrid system delivering twice its previous output and an overall concept that has been optimized with respect to aerodynamics, the R18s define the capabilities of the "ultra" principle. “This efficiency perfectly matches the ‘More from less’ formula which is Audi ultra’s take-home message,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "The ACO, FIA and WEC officials managed to create a set of regulations that enables a thrilling contest between various efficiency concepts.” The No. 8 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro will be driven by Loïc Duval, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis. The No. 9 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro (below) will be driven by Filipe Albuquerque, Marco Bonanomi and René Rast.
(Photo by Russell LaBounty/LAT for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Energizer EcoAdvanced Chevrolet Turbo V6) celebrates after winning the Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone 600 race on the 1.455-mile, high-banked Texas Motor Speedway oval Saturday night. Dixon led 97 of the 248 laps earning his second victory of the Verizon IndyCar Series season and his second at Texas Motor Speedway. Dixon averaged 191.940 mph - setting a track race record in a race slowed by just one caution. “We made some big changes after the first stint," Dixon commented. "We had a lot of understeer. TK was fast. I knew we had a good car, we just had to get it dialed in. I can’t thank the crew enough. This Energizer car... I told you... we had a run with this thing where we would constantly win. I am just over the moon with it, over the moon.” It was the 99th Indy car victory for team owner Chip Ganassi, and Dixon picked up his 37th Indy car win - fifth on the all-time list. Dixon has won multiple times in Indy car racing for ten straight seasons. Dixon is now third in the 2015 standings through nine of 16 races - 43 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya heading to the Honda Indy Toronto coming up on June 14th, where he swept a doubleheader on the street circuit in 2013.
(Photo by Russell LaBounty/LAT for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Tony Kanaan (No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing NTT Data Chevrolet Turbo V6) finished second Saturday night, 7.8000 seconds behind his teammate. Chevrolet-powered machines swept the first four positions at Texas Motor Speedway.
(Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar)
Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske AAA Insurance Chevrolet Turbo V6), who has won four times at TMS, finished third in Texas.
(Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar)
With a fourth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night, Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 2 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet Turbo V6) increased his points lead to 35 over teammate Will Power (No. 1 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet Turbo V6), who finished thirteenth. Marco Andretti (No. 27 Andretti Autosport Snapple Honda Turbo V6) started 11th in the No. 27 Snapple Honda and finished fifth for his third consecutive top five.
(Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar)
When you win in Texas, you get to do this.
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/HHP for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Martin Truex, Jr.(No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet SS) won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400, leading 97 of 160 laps, including the final 27 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, on Sunday. The victory ended Truex’s 69-race winless streak. The win was hugely popular in the garage – even among his fiercest rivals – for multiple reasons. "If you're going to lose to somebody today, that's a great person to lose to," Harvick said. "You look at everything, personally and professionally, Martin and Sherry have dealt with and you have to be super-happy for them. To see them have that bright spot is something I think the whole garage will support and be happy with." Harvick (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Budwieser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet SS) finished second and Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's/Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet SS) was third. Watch a NASCAR video here.
(Aston Martin The Americas)
Aston Martin Racing has unveiled a 24 Hours of Le Mans art car designed by artist Tobias Rehberger. The unique creation gives the No. 97 Gulf Vantage GTE the illusion of movement and speed, even when static. Rehberger is renowned for his abstract art and optical effects that distort perception and has received numerous international prizes and awards, including the Golden Lion for best artist at the 2009 Venice Biennale. Aston Martin Racing invited him to design a livery that would work with the Gulf Vantage GTE’s lines and colors in a way never attempted before. The German artist, who will attend Saturday’s race as a guest of Aston Martin Racing, explained: “My design for the Aston Martin art car is rooted in my interest in distorted perception and related phenomena like auto moving patterns, optical effects, camouflage and visual confusion, which I have addressed in many works before. In this case, the design is based on a geometric optical effect pattern. Comparable to a fast object, a steady fixation on a point of the pattern is impossible.” The 24 Hours of Le Mans starts on Saturday, June 13th, at 4:00 p.m. local time.
(Volkswagen)
Scott Speed (No. 41 Andretti Rallycroos SHARK WEEK Volkswagen Beetle GRC) won the Summer X Games gold medal (his third) in the RallyCar final last weekend, although the race did not count toward Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship points. Speed won the pole and his heat race before the final. “The final race was the most gratifying of my career from the fact that it took so much work, not just from myself, but from the entire Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team,” said Speed. “Ideally it would have been nice to just go through Turn 1 on the inside and just check away from the field, but that didn’t happen. I’d much rather win X Games gold that way. It was a fight and when you are able to close on the win after such competition it is an incredible feeling. I’m sure the show for the X Games fans was amazing. I know I can’t wait to get home and watch it.” Next up for the Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship is Daytona Beach, FL, for a double-header race weekend on June 19 – 21. NBC will air the race on Sunday, June 21, at 2:00 p.m. EST.
(Porsche images)
Porsche honored Vic Elford on June 10, his birthday. Known as “Quick Vic” to friends and competitors, Elford is one of the few drivers to excel in sports cars, rally cars, and Formula 1 at a championship level. Born in London on June 10, 1935, Elford was one of the fastest drivers in the glorious racing era encompassing the 60s and 70s. Elford’s lap records include Targa Florio, Nurburgring, Daytona, Sebring, Norisring, Monza, Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca, Riverside, and Le Mans - where he was the first driver to lap at over a 150mph average in the Porsche 917 long-tail in 1970. His memorable 1968 season began by winning the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally in a Porsche 911, followed by an overall win the next weekend in the Daytona 24 Hour race – Porsche’s first 24-Hour race victory. He finished second at the 12 Hours of Sebring a month later, then in May scored a sensational victory at the Targa Florio, considered the greatest win in Targa history. Despite beginning the second lap of the ten-lap, 450 mile race more than 18 minutes behind, Elford and co-driver Umberto Maglioli came back to win the 1968 Targa Florio with their Porsche 907 by over a minute. In recognition of his efforts, Porsche dedicated their traditional victory poster not to the car, but to the driver for the first and only time. Two weeks after his momentous victory in the Targa Florio, Elford won the Nürburgring 1000 Kilometers. Then in his first F1 race in July, Elford took an out-classed Cooper to a stunning fourth-place finish in the soaking-wet French Grand Prix. During the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans, when a Ferrari crashed in front of him, Elford stopped mid-race to try to extricate the driver from his burning car. Television cameras caught the action and Elford was named “Knight of the National Order of Merit” or Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite by French President Georges Pompidou for his act of courage and heroism. Elford has been a featured guest at all four previous Porsche Rennsport Reunions, and will attend the upcoming Rennsport Reunion V this September 25-27, 2015 at Laguna Seca (Mazda Raceway). Elford was elected to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001 and currently lives in South Florida, with his wife Anita.
(Aston Martin/newspress)
Aston Martin Racing and the Hotel de France reunited after more than 50 years on June 1st to relive some of the most iconic memories from the luxury sportscar manufacturer’s history at the world-famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the 1950s and 1960s, Aston Martin’s racing team used the Hotel de France as its base for the 24-hour race. This year, it returned with three of its 2015 V8 Vantage GTEs and works drivers Darren Turner (GB), Richie Stanaway (NZ) and Mathias Lauda (AT) to recreate the photos and footage that captured some of the greatest moments in the brand’s 102-year history. David Richards, Chairman of Aston Martin Racing, said: “The Hotel de France is an important part of Aston Martin’s motorsport heritage, having been the team’s Le Mans base for many years in the late 1950s, including 1959 when the team won the 24-hour race. This year, we wanted to recreate the nostalgia of those days, when the racing cars had their final preparations alongside the hotel before being driven some 40km to the circuit along public roads.” The Hotel de France’s association with motorsport and the Le Mans 24-hour race started when John Wyer, Aston Martin’s then team manager, discovered it in 1952 and then based his teams there.
(Porsche)
Porsche Cars North America has unveiled the official Rennsport Reunion V artwork for its gathering of historic and contemporary Porsche race cars, and their drivers, September 25 to 27, 2015. This year’s event will feature the decades-long success story of Porsche at Le Mans. The poster depicts the 356 of 1951, first Porsche entrant and first class winner at the famed 24 hour race; the 917, which garnered the first overall victory with Hans Herrmann and Dick Attwood in 1970; and the 919 hybrid prototype with which Porsche returned to the top category of sports car racing in 2014 after a 16-year absence. The painting is by automotive artist Dennis Simon, who created the posters for three of the previous four venues. Additional details about the Porsche Rennsport Reunion V along with images from the first four Rennsport Reunions will be published on the official Porsche Rennsport Reunion V website, www.porscherennsportreunion.com, and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s website (www.mazdaraceway.com), as they become available. Ticket information is available by contacting 831-242-8200 or www.mazdaraceway.com.
