APRIL 20, 2016

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Ricky Taylor (No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP) passed pole-sitter Christian Fittipaldi (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP, co-driven by Joao Barbosa) into Turn 1 on the opening lap and went on to win Saturday’s BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach, with his brother Jordan handling the co-driving duties. The Taylor brothers led all but three of the 75 laps in the 100-minute race, as they successfully defended their victory on the 1.968-mile temporary circuit, giving the Corvette DP its first triumph of the season. It was the fifth IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory for the Taylors and 12th career victory for both brothers in major North American sports car competition. Barbosa finished second, 2.958 seconds behind after taking over from Fittipaldi. Eric Curran/Dane Cameron (No. 31 Action Express Racing Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette DP) finished third, 4.159 seconds back at the finish. Check out John Thawley's tremendous images from Long Beach in our AE gallery here.
(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
In a completely Bush League Bullshit move at the very end of the race, Frederic Makowiecki (No. 912 Porsche North America 911 RSR) punted the leading No. 4 Corvette Racing C7.R driven by Tommy Milner going into the hairpin, handing the GTLM class win to the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR driven by Patrick Pilet/Nick Tandy at the BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach. For the first half of the race, it was a trio of white cars – the two Porsches and polesitter Bill Auberlen (No. 25 BMW Team RLL IHG Rewards Club BMW M6 GTLM, co-driven by Dirk Warner) - who dominated the race. Penalties for each of those cars (the No. 25 serving a drive-thru for an incident on-track with a PC car; the No. 911 and No. 912 factory Porsches receiving stop-and-go penalties for speeding on pit road), however, turned the lead over to the pair of Corvettes near the midway point of the 100-minute race. That all changed at the end. Milner and Oliver Gavin finished second, increasing their lead in the standings to 18 points over the four drivers in the No. 912 and No. 25, who are tied for second. The Giancarlo Fisichella/Toni Vilander No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE finished third, their first podium of the season. Corvette Racing continues on their quest for the team's 100th victory as the WeatherTech Championship heads to the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda at Laguna Seca (Mazda Raceway) on May 1. The weekend features a pair of two-hour sprints, one for the Prototype and GTLM classes followed by PC and GT Daytona together.

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Mikhail Goikhberg and Stephen Simpson (No. 85 JDC/Miller Motorsports Hi-Tide Boat Lifts/Red Line Oil ORECA FLM09) dominated the Prototype Challenge (PC) class at Long Beach. Goikhberg led the opening 36 laps before turning the car over to Simpson. Four laps later, Simpson passed Robert Alon (No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA FLM09) to regain the lead and held it for the remainder of the event. Renger van der Zande/Alex Popow (No. 8 Starworks Motorsport ORECA FLM09) finished second, 2.140 seconds behind at the finish. On the final lap, Kyle Marcelli (No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA FLM09) attempted to get around van der Zande in Turn 8 when he tagged a tire barrier. Marcelli managed to continue, but his car suddenly snapped to the right and hit another barrier, badly damaging his machine. Marcelli was uninjured in the incident and joined James French, who started the race in the car and led three laps before his pit stop, for the the final podium spot in the PC class.

(sky SPORTS)
Nico Rosberg (No. 6 AMG Petronas Mercedes) utterly dominated the Chinese GP in Shanghai, winning by over 30 seconds despite losing the lead at the start. Sebastian Vettel (No. 5 Scuderia Ferrari) finished second, a long 38 seconds behind Rosberg after being involved in the chaotic opening lap's most controversial moment when he crashed into Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen (No. 7 Scuderia Ferrari). Daniil Kvyat (No. 26 Red Bull) finished third, but a visibly angry Vettel blamed Kvyat for the opening lap contretemps after the race. Lewis Hamilton (No. 6 AMG Petronas Mercedes) finished seventh after starting from the back of the grid, but his chances of a stronger result were compromised by a broken front wing and five pit stops during the race. Rosberg now leads Hamilton by a whopping 36 points in the world championship after just three races.
(Audi)
Audi won last Sunday's six-hour race at Silverstone in England, the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (No. 7 Audi R18) captured the pole position on Saturday and battled Porsche to a 46-second margin of victory at the end of the race. Romain Dumas/Neel Jani/Marc Lieb (No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid) finished second, and Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Stéphane Sarrazin (No. 6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid) finished third overall. It was the eleventh WEC victory with Audi for the driver trio of Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer and they remain the most successful driver squad in the racing series’ brief history. Filipe Albquerque, Bruno Senna and Ricardo Gonzalez (No. 43 RGR Sport by Morand Ligier JS P2) won LMP2 and Davide Rigon and Sam Bird (No. 71 Ferrari 488) dominated the GTE Pro class. Next up for the FIA WEC is a six-hour race at Spa on May 7th, which is the last event before the 24 Hour of Le Mans in June. Editor-In-Chief's Note: The winning Audi was disqualified after a post-race inspection for a front skid block that was worn too much, thus Porsche inherits the win. Audi is appealing the decision.

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Team Penske PPG Automotive Refinish Chevrolet Turbo V6) navigates the Turn 2-3 Fountain complex on the way to winning the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday. The race was not without controversy, as Pagenaud crossed over a blend line too early exiting the pits on lap 56 of the 80 lap race distance, allowing him to get in front of second place finisher Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Target Chevrolet Turbo V6). Pagenaud received only a warning, even though it essentially handed him the race win. Dixon and his team were upset with race control’s non-decision, saying IndyCar officials specifically said such an act would be penalized. Read Curt Cavin's excellent piece in USA Today about the controversy here.

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Target Chevrolet Turbo V6) finished a close second at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, due to a highly questionable non-call on Lap 56. Pole-sitter Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Auto Club Chevrolet Turbo V6) finished third. The race ran caution-free, the first time that has happened in IndyCar since Mid-Ohio in 2013.

(Photo by Chris Jones/INDYCAR)
Yes, that's David Letterman at Long Beach on Sunday.

(FIA World Rallycross Championship)
Norway’s Petter Solberg (No. 1 Petter Solberg World RX Team) started his World Championship title defense off with a bang by winning Sunday's Bompiso Rallycross of Portugal, the opening round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy.  After a sensational drive privateer Robin Larsson (No. 4 Jernberg Larsson Racing Audi A1 Supercar) finished second and Topi Heikkinen (No. 57 EKS RX Audi S1 quattro) was third. Andreas Bakkerud (No. 13 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Focus RS Supercar) narrowly missed out on a podium spot, and nine-time WRC Champion Sebastien Loeb (No. 9 Team Peugeot-Hansen Peugeot 208 WRX Supercar) impressed on his World RX debut after he finished fifth. The Frenchman was knocked out of podium contention following a transmission issue. Round two of World RX will take place in three weeks’ time as the World Championship returns to Hockenheim in Germany to join DTM for a double header of motorsport action.

(Photo by Nigel Kinrade LAT Photo USA © 2016, courtesy of Toyota Racing)
Starting from the pole, Carl Edwards (No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry) dominated the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, leading 276 of the 500 laps. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Nationwide Chevrolet SS) finished second, Kurt Busch (No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevrolet SS) was third and Chase Elliott (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet SS) came in fourth. It was the seventh top-ten finish in eight races for Edwards and he now sits second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings behind Kevin Harvick. Watch a NASCAR video here.

(McLaren Automotive Inc. North America)
Factory Driver Alvaro Parente (No. 9 K-PAX Racing 650S GT3) started on the pole and won in his first appearance at Long Beach in the Pirelli World Challenge. Parente actually finished second to Johnny O'Connell (No. 3 Cadillac Racing ATS-V.R) in the race, but O'Connell was relegated to second place after the post-race inspection revealed two traction control-induced turbo boost spikes during the race that were out of specification.

(Cadillac)

(Photo by Bret Kelley/IMS for Chevrolet)
Roger Penske will drive a special 2017 Camaro SS 50th Anniversary Edition pace car to lead the field for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. Penske, who is celebrating 50 years in racing and is by far the most successful team owner in American racing history, has sixteen wins in the Indy 500, a record that may never be broken. “Chevrolet and the Indianapolis 500 have a long, storied history and it’s an honor to mark the respective milestones of the Indy 500 race and the Camaro simultaneously,” said Mark Reuss, executive vice president of Global Product Development and Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. “It’s also a privilege to have Roger Penske perform the driving duties, as his team has helped Chevrolet earn four consecutive IndyCar manufacturer titles since 2012.” Four identically prepared pace cars will support the race, all with exclusive Abalone White exteriors featuring “100th Running of the Indianapolis 500” graphics on the doors and the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway wing-and-wheel logo on the quarter panels. They also incorporate the exterior cues and graphics that are unique to the Camaro 50th Anniversary package that goes on sale this summer (although those production vehicles will only be available in Nightfall Gray Metallic). And with 455 horsepower on tap, the Camaro SS pace cars will require no performance modifications to lead the racing field. It will be the ninth time a Camaro has served as the pace car and the 27th time for Chevrolet, dating back to 1948.

(Laguna Seca/Mazda Raceway)
The Masters USA international Formula One field will return to the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion on Aug. 18-21 as part of the renowned Monterey Classic Car Week celebration. The Formula One group consists of legendary cars from Lotus, March, Tyrrell, Hill, Williams, Penske, Ferrari, Shadow and Brabham. Featured drivers and cars include Australian Chris Farrell (1982 March); Tommy Dreelan (March 761); Richard Dean (March 701); Zak Brown (1980 Williams FW07); Charles Nearburg (1980 Williams FW07B); Erich Joiner (1983 WIlliams FW08C); Duncan Dayton (Lotus 79); Greg Thornton (Lotus 77) and Chis Locke (Lotus 77)... and many more.

Editor's Note: Ford has just released “The Cutting Edge” - the second of five chapters in “The Return,” which is a long-form documentary that follows the development of both the street car and race car versions of the Ford GT from the decision to build the cars to the return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Watch chapter one, "The Decision," here. (FYI: The Autoextremist makes a cameo appearance in chapter one.) -WG