The Alley : Road America 2016

ROAD AMERICA

10 YEARS, 100 ISSUES OF MICHELIN ALLEY THE ULTIMATE TRACKSIDE GUIDE FOR THE FANS

CORVETTE CELEBRATING THE CENTURY Corvette Racing recorded its 100th race victory at Lime Rock Park with Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner leading a C7.R 1-2 finish.

ALMS GT1 70 The No. 4 Corvette crossed the line less than a second ahead of the No. 3 Corvette of Jan Magnussen and Antonio ALMS GT2/GT 12 Garcia to also record Corvette Racing’s 60th 1-2 result.

The victory also was the 75th scored with Michelin as the IMSA GT LM 9 team’s tire partner.

GRAND-AM 1 “This was a great day today for this team,” Milner said.

“I’m honored to be a part of it. I just feel fortunate to Le MANS 24 8 be in this program and be a part of the 100th win. There was some talk about it after Sebring, but it was pretty quiet about it around our camp.

TOTAL WINS 100 “But the monkey kept getting bigger and bigger, so I’m happy to get the monkey off our back.”

VICTORIES

2

100

EDITIONS OF MICHELIN ALLEY

2 0 0 7

The Alley I N G S E B R

NEWS

FROM

THE

AN AMERIC

MANS

LE

SERIES

ROAD AM ERICA

Y HItSh eTmOa R king in

It was 55 years ago, estimated in 1952, that an $2.00 each to 3,000 fans paid running of the witness the first , America’s 12 Hours of Sebring race. premier sports car when Back in the day won the Humphrey Bogart for the Academy Award Porsche African Queen and Hours of Le was making its 24 Mans debut.

Find out more the year 1952

about

on page 3.

#1

A

udi Sport North America made history

at Sebring in

owered 2006 as the diesel-p Allan McNish, Audi R10 TDI of and Rinaldo Tom Kristensen the won d) Capello (picture of Mobil 1 Twelve Hours Sebring making

the new

first diesel Audi prototype the world to powered-car in the car race. win a major sports victory The overall race a sen’s fourth, also

was Kristen

Sebring record.

first ever Sebring

its own Michelin also made the first tire

history, becoming

r history maker in the 54-yea to score an of the Sebring race overall win. eighth consecutive of the 12 The 2007 edition may again be Hours of Sebring truly historic: •

•

Will Acura score

its first

win in its debut

race?

an Will one of Americ teams: Motorsports’ iconic ti Penske, Dyson, Andret Risi or Green, Fernandez, claim a Rahal Letterman

12 Hours

victory? its own Will Michelin break its ninth record by scoring at Sebring consecutive win win to match its current Hours of streak at the 24

•

Le Mans race?

Will Audi score an

•

eighth

consecutive overall

race

win?

•

Will a LMP 2 class

car take

the overall win?

•

e’s Ron

Will this be Corvett

?

Fellows last Sebring

10 YEAR S OF MICH , 100 ISSUES ELIN AL LEY

#100

YOUR ULT IMATE

TRACKSID

E GUIDE FOR THE FANS

As the 2006 American Le Mans Series season drew to a close, Silvia Mammone, the newly named marketing manager for Michelin Motorsport North America had an idea. What if Michelin produced a newsletter for each event to help tell some of the stories and introduce teams and drivers to fans?

The publication must be allinclusive, recognizing both Michelin and non-Michelin teams and drivers.

Copies could be distributed at the race site. Thus, The Alley was born and first appeared at the 2007 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Now in its 10th season, The Alley graphics have changed, but the goal remains to help engage fans.

Now, we celebrate the 100th issue of The Alley with some of our favorite images here and more online at www.michelinalley.com.

Surprisingly, the core team of producers has remained entirely intact with photographer Rick Dole, creative director Paul Ryan, and EMCPR’s editor/writer John Love and managing editor Barry Cameron.

3

DETROIT

LIZARDS AT LAGUNA

2007

The Alley NEWS

FROM

THE

AMERICAN

LE

I

MANS

THE

MOMENTUM MATTERS FOR LE MANS

News From The American Le Mans Series - Circuit o

News From The American Le Mans Series - Laguna Seca 2010

SERIES

n 1961, the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine featured a talented young driver named Roger Penske, the SCCA Driver of the Year.

SI had the right idea, but despite his driving skills, Penske

Magic Man

was not to become a legendary driver. He parked himself shortly thereafter to buy his first car dealership. His leadership skills and passion for racing have made “RP” the most successful team owner in American motorsports history with 14 Indy 500 wins and more than 400 wins in Indy cars, Sports cars, NASCAR and Formula One. The most recent additions to the Penske Racing effort are a pair of Penske Porsche RS Spyders in the American Le Mans Series.

The team debuted with a victory in the final race of the 2005 season. After capturing the 2006 ALMS team and driver championships in the LMP2 class, the Penske Porsches have dominated much of the 2007 ALMS season, taking the outright, overall race wins at Long Beach; Houston; Salt Lake City; Lime Rock; Mid-Ohio and Road America.

After knocking everyone’s socks off with his tireless

News From The American Le Mans Series - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course 2012

leadership of the 2006 Super Bowl XL host committee,

LIME ROCK PARK • 2009 • NEWS FROM THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES

Penske is renewing his commitment to the community by

THE

Long Beach ‘08

Effort equals results

Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix featuring the ALMS and NEWS FROM THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES

the IRL IndyCar Series.

Adrian’s Acura Attack

And, yes, thank you for asking; the car dealership thing seems to be working out pretty well, too.

Penske Automotive Group now operates 311

dealerships. His mantra: “Effort Equals Results” can be found in every business, dealership and race transporter.

FAMILIAR TERRITORY FOR FERNANDEZ

GREEN STREET

VETTE FIRSTS

Duncan Dayton is

DEADLY SERIOUS Victories

Sebring 3/20/99 1 Mosport 6/27/99 2 Sears Point 7/25/99 3 Portland 8/1/99 4 Road Atlanta 9/18/99 5 Laguna Seca 10/10/99 6 Las Vegas 11/7/99 7 Sebring 3/18/00 8 Charlotte 4/1/00 9 Silverstone 5/13/00 10 Nurburgring 7/9/00 11 Sears Point 7/23/00 12 Mosport 8/6/00 Texas 13 9/2/00 14 Portland 9/10/00 15 Road Atlanta 9/30/00 16 Laguna Seca 10/15/00 17 Las Vegas 10/29/00 18 Adelaide 12/31/00 Texas 19 20 3/4/01 Sebring 3/17/01 21 Sears Point 7/22/01 22 Portland 8/5/01 23 Mosport 24 8/19/01 Mid-Ohio 8/25/01 25 Laguna Seca 9/9/01 26 Road Atlanta 10/6/01 27 Sebring 3/16/02 28 Sears Point 5/19/02 29 Mid-Ohio 30 6/30/02 Road America 7/7/02 31 Washington 7/21/02 32 Trois-Rivieres 8/3/02 33 Mosport 34 8/18/02 Laguna Seca 9/22/02 Miami 35 10/5/02 36 Road Atlanta 10/12/02 37 Sebring 3/15/03 38 Road Atlanta 6/29/03 39 Trois-Rivieres 40 8/3/03 Mosport 8/17/03 41 Road America 42 8/24/03 Laguna Seca Miami 43 9/7/03 44 9/27/03 Road Atlanta 45 10/18/03 Sebring 46 3/20/04 Mid-Ohio 47 6/27/04 Lime Rock 48 7/5/04 Infineon Raceway 49 7/18/04 Portland 50 7/25/04 Road America 8/22/04 51 Road Atlanta 9/25/04 52 Laguna Seca 10/16/04 53 Sebring 54 3/19/05 Road Atlanta 4/17/05 55 Mid-Ohio 4/22/05 56 Lime Rock 7/4/05 57 Raceway 7/17/05 Infineon Portland 58 7/30/05 59 Road America 60 8/21/05 Mosport 5/9/05 61 Road Atlanta 1/10/05 62 Laguna Seca 10/15/05 63 Sebring 64 3/18/06 Houston 12/5/06 65 Mid-Ohio 66 5/21/06 Lime Rock 2/7/06 67 Salt Lake City 68 7/15/06 Portland 69 7/22/06 Road America 70 8/21/06 Mosport 9/3/06 71 Road Atlanta 9/30/06 72 Laguna Seca 10/21/06 73 Sebring 74 3/17/07 St. Petersburg 3/31/07 75 Long Beach 4/14/07 76 Houston 4/21/07 77 Salt Lake City 5/19/07 78 Lime Rock 7/7/07 79 Mid-Ohio 80 7/21/07 Road America 8/11/07 81 Mosport 8/26/07 Detroit 82 9/1/07 83 Road Atlanta 84 10/6/07 Laguna Seca 10/20/07 85 Sebring 86 3/15/08 St. Petersburg 4/5/08 87 Long Beach 88 4/19/08 Salt Lake City 89 5/18/08 Lime Rock 90 7/12/08 Mid-Ohio 7/19/08 91 Road America 8/9/08 92 Mosport 8/24/08 Detroit 93 94 8/30/08 Road Atlanta 10/4/08 95 Laguna Seca 96 10/18/08 Sebring 3/21/09 97 St. Petersburg 98 4/4/09 Long Beach 99 4/18/09 Salt Lake City 100 5/17/09

News From The American Le Mans Series - Long Beach 2011

David Brabham Highcroft’s magician

bringing racing back to Belle Isle Park with this weekend’s

Greg Pickett.....

Making winning fun

Michelin 100 win poster inside!

DYSON AIMS 4 TOP SPOT

VIPERS THE

ARE HERE

Scot

www.michelina

MID-OHIO BATTLE

FERRARI v PORSCHE • PC HOT SHOTS www.michelinalley.com

2007

4

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

of The Americas 2013

12 HOURS OF SEBRING, 2016

tsman! michelinalley.com

alley.com

3

Life’s a beach for BMW Bill

AUBERLEN OUT TO REPEAT HOME TOWN VICTORY

2014

Corvette’s “closer”

michelinalley.com

News From the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship - Twelve Hours of Sebring 2015

The balancing act News From the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship - Long Beach 2014

Unleash the

CORVETTE DEFENDS SEBRING TITLE “WE ARE AN AMERICAN RACING TEAM”

Joey Hand’s return flight

SWITCHING FROM THE DTM TO CHARGING ON FOR FORD

2015

2016

Through the first 99 issues of The Alley we’ve tried to cover a lot of interesting people and cars.

Audi’s Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello were the first drivers to be featured on the cover of The Alley.

Along the road we’ve profiled stars like Adrian Fernandez, Patrick Long, Scott Sharp, Simon Pagenaud, Lucas Luhr, Scott Pruett, Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia, Joey Hand, Patrick Pilet, Tommy Milner, Oliver Gavin, Joerg Bergmeister and many others.

One of the most popular covers featured a seated Jordan Taylor with his mullet about to be chopped by his brother, Ricky.

BMW’s California beach boy Bill Auberlen was pictured with a surf board.

Viper’s Kuno Wittmer appeared with a hockey stick and jersey. David Brabham seemingly made his helmet levitate.

Porsche’s Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber appeared on opposite covers of an expanded issue. Giancarlo Fisichella sipped an espresso. Christian Fittipaldi posed with a movie clapperboard, while Mazda’s Jonathan (JBom) Bomarito reluctantly tossed a basketball photo shopped into a cartoon like bomb.

Cars are often the stars of The Alley covers with everything from Audis, to Acuras, Aston Martins, BMWs, Corvettes, Ferraris, Fords, Porsches, Hondas, Mazdas, Vipers, the DeltaWing, and even Peugeot featured.

The Alley takes a positive approach to the series and its key players, and even got IMSA’s Geoff Carter to explain the current world of Balance of Performance (BoP).

Guest writers along the way have included Marshall Pruett, John Dagys, Tony DiZinno, Steven Cole Smith, Brian Wagner and Rick Voegelin.

In earlier days we caught up with with principles, engineers and other motorsports personalities including Muscle Milk’s Greg Pickett, Highcroft’s Duncan Dayton, Flying Lizards’ Seth Neiman, Dyson Racing’s Chris Dyson and Gil de Ferran.

More recently, we’ve gone behind the scenes with Corvette Racing’s Doug Fehan, BMW Team RLL’s Bobby Rahal, CORE’s Jon Bennett, Mazda’s John Doonan and last week helped introduce Ford’s Mark Rushbrook.

5

FASTFACTS Watch us now on FOX Don’t miss the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as the series competes at the Road Race Showcase at Road America.

Saturday, August 6 (All times EDT) Qualifying 3:50 p.m. – 5:20 p.m. IMSA.com (Live) (IMSA App) Sunday, August 7 4:00 p.m. FOX Sports 1

Watch online on www.FOXSportsGo.com, or download the FOX Sports Go app.

2016 Schedule Jan. 30-31:

Daytona International Speedway – All classes

March 19:

Sebring International Raceway – All classes

April 16:

Long Beach Street Circuit – P/GTLM/PC

May 1:

Mazda Raceway – All classes

June 4:

The Raceway at Belle Isle Park – P/PC/GTD

July 3:

Watkins Glen International – All classes

July 10:

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – All classes

July 23:

Lime Rock Park – GTLM/PC/GTD

Aug. 7:

Road America – All classes

Aug. 28:

VIRginia International Raceway – GTLM/GTD

Sept. 17:

Circuit of The Americas – All classes

Oct. 1:

Road Atlanta – All classes

6

THE SPRAY ZONE Ford Chip Ganassi Racing’s Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe have been spraying a lot of champagne in recent weeks.

The pair has been on the podium in each of their last five races with WeatherTech Championship victories in Monterey, Watkins Glen and Canada, and third place finishes at Le Mans and Lime Rock.

BIG NEWS Fans, teams, drivers, sponsors, manufacturers and media are all invited to attend the big 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule announcement on Friday, August 5, here at Road America. Next year may seem a long way away, but testing is expected to begin in November and December for the new 2017 Prototypes and some projected 2017 GT entries are already testing as well.

SHOWER TIME

Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen wasted no time sprinting from the Lime Rock stage to blast Pratt & Miller boss, Gary Pratt, in celebration of the team’s 100th win. Cagey program manager, Doug Fehan, made a perfectly timed exit.

‘TIL NEXT YEAR

Lexus fans will look forward to the Rolex 24 At Daytona for the competition debut of the 2017 Lexus RC F GT3 as Lexus and the Paul Gentilozzi led F Performance Racing have decided to focus on development of the new 2017 GT Daytona entry. Scott Pruett and Sage Karam are slated to drive.

S

“Through the years, we’ve seen ups and downs, mergers, teams and events come and go, but The Alley has been a constant in the paddock and for the fans.”

Chris Baker, Motorsports Director, Michelin North America

Game on for Prototypes

The Prototype class returns to action here at Road America with Dane Cameron and Eric Curran looking to build on their win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Their Action Express teammates, Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa, and Wayne Taylor Racing’s Ricky and Jordan Taylor are all in the WeatherTech Championship mix with just the Circuit of The Americas and Road Atlanta on the Prototype class schedule after Road America.

GTLM FIVE FOR FIVE?

Road America always produces fantastic and competitive racing and that is especially evident in the GTLM class.

Over the past four years, four different manufacturers have taken the top spot of the GTLM podium at Road America. Porsche, Ferrari, Dodge SRT Viper and BMW have all had wins at Road America. Will Ford or Chevrolet Corvette join the group this weekend and make it five?

GT WONDERLAND GT fans will be in a happy place at VIRginia International Raceway for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. In addition to the WeatherTech Championship race featuring the GT Le Mans and GT Daytona class races, fans will have a wide range of car corrals, support events, displays and hot lap opportunities.

FRIDAY, AUgust 5, 2016 8:00 am - 8:45 am

Practice #1 - CTSCC

9:00 am - 9:30 am

Practice #1 - Porsche GT3 Cup

9:45 am - 10:25 am

Practice #1 - Lamborghini Trofeo

10:40 am - 11:25 am

Practice #2 - CTSCC

12:40 pm - 1:40 pm

Practice #1 - WeatherTech (All Classes)

1:55 pm - 2:35 pm

Practice #2 - Porsche GT3 Cup

2:50 pm - 3:30 pm

Practice #2 - Lamborghini Trofeo

3:45 pm - 4:00 pm

Qualifying - CTSCC ST

4:15 pm - 4:30 pm

Qualifying - CTSCC GS

4:45 pm - 5:45 pm

Practice #2 - WeatherTech (All Classes)

6:00 pm

Tour de Road America

SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016 8:00 am - 8:20 am

Qualifying - Porsche GT3 Cup

8:35 am - 9:05 am

Qualifying - Lamborghini Trofeo

9:25 am -10:25 am

Practice #3 - WeatherTech (All Classes)

11:35 am - 2:05 pm

Race - CTSCC

2:50 pm - 3:05 pm

Qualifying - WeatherTech (GTD)

3:15 pm - 3:30 pm

Qualifying - WeatherTech (GTLM)

3:40 pm - 3:55 pm

Qualifying - WeatherTech (PC)

4:05 pm - 4:20 pm

Qualifying - WeatherTech (P)

4:40 pm - 5:25 pm

Race #1 - Porsche GT3 Cup

5:50 pm - 6:40 pm

Race #1 - Lamborghini Trofeo

SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 2016 9:40 am -10:00 am

Warm Up - WeatherTech (All Classes)

11:15 am - 12:00 pm

Race #2 - Porsche GT3 Cup

12:00 pm -12:45 pm

WeatherTech Driver Autograph Session

12:25 pm - 1:15 pm

Race #2 - Lamborghini Trofeo

3:05 pm - 5:45 pm

Race - Road Race Showcase for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - 2 Hours and 40 Minutes

7

FAN FAVORITES Fisichella/Vilander Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE GT Le Mans Michelin

62 5

Fittipaldi/Barbosa Action Express Racing • Corvette DP Prototype Continental

10

R. Taylor/J. Taylor Wayne Taylor Racing • Corvette DP Prototype Continental

60

Pew/Negri Jr. Michael Shank Racing • Ligier Honda JS P2 Prototype Continental

70

Long/Miller Mazda Motorsports • Mazda Prototype Continental

90

Goossens/Hunter-Reay VisitFlorida Racing • Corvette DP Prototype Continental

4

Gavin/Milner Corvette Racing • Chevrolet Corvette C7.R GT Le Mans Michelin

Michelin North America, Inc • One Parkway South, • Greenville, SC 29615 • TEL: 1-800-458-5000 • www.michelin.com Copyright © 2016 Michelin North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved • Printed in USA, August 3, 2016 • Volume 10, Issue 8 (100th issue) No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior permission of the publisher.

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Briscoe/Westbrook Ford Chip Ganassi Racing • Ford GT GT Le Mans Michelin

100

Luhr/Edwards BMW Team RLL • BMW M6 GTLM GT Le Mans Michelin

912

Bamber/Makowiecki Porsche North America • Porsche 911 RSR GT Le Mans

Michelin

Printed on recycled paper • 10% Total Recovered Fiber • All Post-Consumed Fiber

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