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Camo:
Corvette Racing New Guy's Guide to the First Street Race of the Season

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Sebring and Long Beach are the yin and yang of the American Le Mans Series. Last month's season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is the longest event on the ALMS schedule; the upcoming two-hour American Le Mans Series at Long Beach on April 16 is the shortest. The distance between the former bomber base in central Florida that hosts the Sebring enduro and the glittering bayside circuit in Southern California is measured not only in miles but also in culture and style. Long Beach is a street race, a beach party, and a celebration of spring.

With only a single two-hour practice session before qualifying and the race, the Long Beach schedule is as compressed as a beachfront condo. The ALMS drivers will be first out on the green track on Friday morning, and will end the day with qualifying. They won't see the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary course again until they take the green flag at 4:30 p.m. PT on Saturday.

So does Corvette Racing new guy Tommy Milner feel any pressure going into his second race with the series' most successful sports car team? Hardly.

"I'm excited about going to Long Beach and getting back in the Corvette," said Milner, who will share the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R with co-driver Olivier Beretta, a two-time winner in the GT1 class at Long Beach. "Sure it's a short weekend, but Corvette Racing was strong there last year and I'm looking forward to seeing how the C6.R works for me."

Milner had an up-close view of the Corvette C6.R's performance last year on the Long Beach circuit. His former team elected not to change tires during his pit stop, a move that vaulted Milner from fifth to first. But as his used tires lost their grip, Milner lost his grasp on victory. First he was passed by eventual race winner Patrick Long, and then by Corvette driver Jan Magnussen, who was on fresh rubber. Magnussen was also on a mission as he moved up from sixth to second in the closing laps, and Milner had to settle for his second consecutive third-place finish in Long Beach.

"Long Beach is all about track position," Milner explained. "Obviously pace is important, but track position is crucial because it's so difficult to pass there. By not changing tires, I ended up in front for quite a few laps. Pat Long gave me a little push and moved me out of the way, and by the time Jan got to me, I was done. Jan still had a hard time getting by me in a car that was a lot faster than mine. This time I think I'll have the faster car and I won't have to be defending!"

Although Milner professes his love for high-speed tracks, he appreciates the charms of America's most celebrated street course. "There is something about really hustling a car in the narrow confines of a street track and pushing the envelope right up to the wall that is a lot of fun," said the 25-year-old racer from Lake Mary, Fla. "One of my favorite corners in Long Beach is the Fountain Turn because you can almost trim the hedge around the fountain with the right fender."

The scarcity of track time in Long Beach doesn't daunt the determined young driver. "At Sebring you have all the time in the world to practice, and when you get to the race you still wish you had one more practice session," he laughed. "It's the same at Long Beach – I always wish I had another session, but I'll go into the race feeling confident that I have a good car. That comes down to working with your team and engineers to get exactly what you want out of the car."

"Since I joined Corvette Racing, we've always been able to get a car that's comfortable to drive and quick early on, so I don't have any concerns about the short schedule in Long Beach," Milner noted. "The first hour is almost a throwaway because there's not much grip and the way the car behaves changes dramatically throughout the session. We have to be methodical about how we make changes, and not get too carried away with how the car is handling initially. The track will come to us."

While many of his contemporaries will be partying in Long Beach, Milner is going to be all business in his first street race with Corvette Racing.

The two-hour American Le Mans Series at Long Beach will be shown live on ESPN3.com starting at 7:15 p.m. ET/4:15 p.m. local time on Saturday, April 16. ESPN2 will provide television coverage from 5 to 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 17.

Camo:
Corvette Racing driver Jan Magnussen finished second in last year's American Le Mans Series race on the Long Beach street circuit, and that is where he will start Saturday's two-hour race on the bayside circuit. Magnussen posted the second quickest time in the GT class at 1:19.137 (89.526 mph) in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R, just .047 seconds behind the pole-winning BMW of Joey Hand. Tommy Milner qualified the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R ninth in the 14-car GT field at 1:20.724 (87.766 mph).

Corvette Racing rebounded from a troubled practice this morning that saw the No. 4 Corvette lose nearly half of the two-hour session to a drivetrain problem and the No. 3 Corvette have a close encounter with the tire barrier in Turn 8. With minimal track time, the Corvettes went into qualifying on a split strategy.
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American Le Mans Series at Long Beach GT Qualifying (Top 10): Pos./Drivers/Car/Time
1. Mueller/Hand, BMW M3 GT, 1:19.090
2. Gavin/Magnussen, Corvette C6.R, 1:19.137
3. Auberlen/Werner, BMW M3 GT, 1:19.447
4. Bergmeister/Long, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 1:19.463
5. Henzler/Sellers, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 1:20.065
6. Sharp/van Overbeek, Ferrari F458 Italia, 1:20.167
7. Brown/Cosmo, Ferrari F458 Italia, 1:20.176
8. Miller/Maasen, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 1:20.646
9. Beretta/Milner, Corvette C6.R, 1:20.724
10. Junqueira/Da Matta, Jaguar RSR, 1:20.924





There is no better place for the world`s most exotic racers than the streets of Long Beach in southern California. It has been standing-room only since the Series` first trip in 2007 and this year will be no different. Corvette Racing finished 2nd in GT in 2010. Will this be the race where they earn their first win of 2011?


Event:   Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach
Location:   Long Beach, CA
Race Length:   120 Minutes
Track Length:   1.986 Miles
Turns:   11

For ALMS Long Beach Links: Click Me

Camo:
Gavin and Magnussen Finish on GT Podium, Milner and Beretta Charge from Back of the Grid

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Corvette Racing survived two hours of close combat to finish second and fifth in the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach. Jan Magnussen and Oliver Gavin took the second spot on the GT podium in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R when the race finished under caution. Tommy Milner and Olivier Beretta fought their way from the back of the grid at the start to fifth at the finish in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R. The BMW of Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand was first across the stripe under the yellow flag.

Not even Los Angeles' notorious rush hour could rival the traffic on the historic 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary course. With 29 starters on the concrete-lined circuit, close calls and contact were commonplace, although only two full-course cautions slowed the race. Gavin started the No. 4 Corvette second on the GT grid and held that position through the opening segment, which was interrupted by a lengthy full-course caution. When racing resumed he took the lead with an opportunistic move.

"I had a very eventful stint with lots of bumping and banging and cars spinning in strange places," Gavin said. "The start was pretty standard, everyone got a bit strung out, and then the LMPC cars were getting in the way. It all started when the BMW behind me disappeared. On the next lap he was turned around at the fountain turn! The race leader went the wrong way, I went the right way, and I got myself into the lead."

Hand's BMW and Patrick Long's Porsche subsequently got around the Corvette, but Long soon encountered the wall and the Porsche eventually retired. As green-flag pit stops began shortly after the one-hour mark, Gavin handed off the No. 4 Corvette to Magnussen.

"I was pushing absolutely as hard as I could, and I was cutting the margin," said Magnussen, who ran the fastest lap of the race in GT and trimmed the BMW's lead to six seconds before the race-ending caution period. "There was a lot of traffic, and in a race like this you have to take so many chances. After the race I had a walk around the car and looked at all the places where I'd tapped the walls. It's a shame we weren't closer at the finish, we could have had a good fight."


Milner was on a mission when the race began, moving from 14th in class to fourth before the pit stop sequence put Beretta behind the wheel of the No. 3 Corvette. The car was moved to the back of the grid at the start after a post-qualifying change of tires.

"I got lucky with the first yellow flag because we'd just cleared all of the Challenge cars and LMPC cars," Milner said. "The car was great, and although it was a little banged up, it was still quick. That's just street racing - everyone gets bunched up."

Beretta brought the No. 3 home in fifth after a relatively uneventful run. "I'm happy for the team - we got our second podium in two races which is really important, " Beretta said. "Tommy did a good stint, he was very clever, and the car was quite fast. Then it was just using my brain to keep the position and put the points in the pocket."

Gavin and Magnussen are now second in the unofficial GT class points standings with 36 markers, and Beretta and Milner are third with 31. Mueller and Hand lead with 50 points.

"When you can leave Long Beach with two cars intact, you've accomplished something," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "The fact that we were able to finish second and fifth make this a very satisfying day. Now it's on to Le Mans!"

ESPN2 will televise coverage of the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach from 5 to 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 17.Corvette Racing's next event is the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France, on June 11-12, 2011.

American Le Mans Series at Long Beach GT Results (Top 10):


Pos./Drivers/Car/Laps

1. Mueller/Hand, BMW M3 GT, 81
2. Gavin/Magnussen, Corvette C6.R, 81
3. Melo/Vilander, Ferrari F458 Italia, 81
4. Henzler/Sellers, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 80
5. Beretta/Milner, Corvette C6.R, 80
6. Junqueira/Da Matta, Jaguar RSR, 79
7. Auberlen/Werner, BMW M3 GT, 79
8. Law/Neiman, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 78
9. Brown/Cosmo, Ferrari F458 Italia, 77
10. Pastorelli/Schwager, Lamborghini Gallardo LP, 75

Camo:
Le Mans Test Day Sets the Stage for Sports Car Racing's Main Event

LE MANS, France - This is only a test - but it's an important one. Corvette Racing will participate in the Le Mans Test Day on Easter Sunday, April 24. This one-day outing on the legendary French circuit will play a key role in the team's preparations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 11-12, 2011.

"Every lap at Le Mans is valuable," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "It's impossible to test there outside of the race environment because the course uses several miles of public highway. When you have even one day to gather information it's extremely beneficial, especially when your competition is going to be there. Corvette Racing's objective is to maximize the value of our time on the Le Mans track and then apply that when we return for the race in June."

Once a fixture in the run-up to the 24-hour race, the stand-alone test day had been suspended for several years. Its return to the calendar in 2011 posed a logistical problem for teams competing in the American Le Mans Series, which hosted its second round in Long Beach, Calif., last Saturday.

"The schedule makes it difficult, expensive, and risky to get the cars and equipment from Long Beach to Le Mans in time for the test," said Corvette Racing team manager Gary Pratt. "Everything would have to be crated up and flown from LAX on Sunday morning after the ALMS race. Even a short delay in customs or air transport could mean that the shipment wouldn't arrive in time for the test."

"Fortunately one of our customers, Larbre Competition, has a Corvette C6.R that is available for the Le Mans test," Pratt explained. "This is a chassis that we ran last year in Le Mans, and that Larbre raced at Sebring last month. It's the same spec as our current cars and the Larbre team will compete with it in the GTE-Am class at Le Mans. Combining our resources for the test day and sharing the information that we gather will be a win-win for both organizations."

Corvette Racing's four full-season drivers - Tommy Milner, Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin, and Jan Magnussen - will attend the Le Mans test, along with key Corvette Racing personnel. At the top of the to-do list is the requirement to qualify Milner to race at Le Mans after a three-year absence. He went to the 24-hour classic in 2006 and 2007 with the Panoz team.

"I'm 25 years old, I've been to Le Mans twice, and yet it's been so long since I've raced there that I have to do 10 laps to qualify again to drive," Milner said with a laugh. "I'm looking at the test as a briefing on what it's like to drive at Le Mans in a Corvette C6.R. It will be a great opportunity to get comfortable in the car and to get seat time without the pressure of the race week."

Olivier Beretta, Milner's full-season teammate, agreed: "It is very important to go to Le Mans when you have the rare opportunity to drive on the same track that you will race on," he said. "The only difference will be the weather, but Europe has been very warm recently and I hope the good weather will stay for another week. Then after the test we will have more time to think about and get ready for race week."

Driver Jan Magnussen will be reunited with an old friend at the Le Mans test day. "We'll be using my car from last year, so I should know it well," said the Dane. "The weather during April may not be representative of the conditions during the race, but the test is a opportunity for the drivers to get back into the rhythm of Le Mans. It is a different track to drive because you have to attack in certain places and not in other places, so it's helpful to get a few laps and work on the setup. Corvette Racing has always done a very good job of looking at all of the data and being right on when the race is there."

Oliver Gavin will be teamed with Magnussen at Le Mans this year, a combination that scored three consecutive GT1 class wins in 2004-06. "It's fantastic to be going to Le Mans because any time running on that track is precious," Gavin noted. "You've got to make the most of it because it's such a unique circuit and such a unique environment. It's great for Larbre Competition to work together with Corvette Racing. You think you've got loads of time with a full day to test, but it whizzes by so quickly. Each driver is keen to get as many laps as possible, and you've got to make the most of it. I'm sure the engineers will have a very detailed plan for every second of the test day."

Camo:
Tommy Milner Sets the Pace in Preparation for Legendary Endurance Race

LE MANS, France - Corvette Racing completed a successful test day at Le Mans on Easter Sunday. Corvette Racing's four full-season American Le Mans Series drivers - Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Olivier Beretta and Tommy Milner - used one of the team's European customer cars to collect valuable data for the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 11-12.

The immense 8.468-mile circuit includes sections of public roads in the Sarthe region of western France, so the reinstatement of the traditional test day after a two-year hiatus was welcomed by the team and drivers alike. Although Corvette Racing will compete in the 24-hour race in the GTE-Pro class - reserved for professional teams - today the team used Larbre Competition's No. 50 Corvette C6.R that is entered in the GTE-Am class - for one-year-old cars with at least one gentleman-driver - and came away fastest in the category.

"Everything worked according to plan," said Corvette Racing team manager Gary Pratt. "Tommy Milner completed his mandatory 10 laps at the beginning of the morning session to qualify for the race, and then the other three drivers cycled through the Corvette C6.R to cover all the areas we had planned to work on. Only a rain shower in the morning and an incident between Olly Gavin and a competitor kept the car in the garage on two occasions. Despite those interruptions, we got the data we needed and tested all of the items we had on our list."

With exceptionally warm weather reigning over the western part of Europe for over a week, thunderstorms and isolated showers had been predicted for Sunday's eight-hour test. However, the track remained dry for most of the day.

Drivers who haven't raced at Le Mans in the past three years are required to complete 10 laps to be eligible for the practice sessions in June. Milner, who last drove at Le Mans in 2007, quickly dispatched that obligation.

"I got out on the track at 9 a.m. sharp to get in my mandatory 10 laps," Milner said. "It was easy enough, even if the track was still quite dirty at that time. Le Mans is not too difficult a track to get used to again. Tertre Rouge can be a bit hairy, the run up to Indianapolis corner is daunting, and the Porsche Curves will grab your attention for sure, but the rest of the track is pretty straightforward."

Milner confirmed his confidence by setting the car's fastest lap of the day near the end of the afternoon session at 4:04.222. "That was fun," he beamed, "especially after not having been here for so long. The car has been really easy to drive all day and will be even more so by June."

Oliver Gavin made the trip to Le Mans from his home in the UK in a production Corvette ZR1 and was impressed by the power of the road car. Gavin worked his way through different setups in the racing version until his shift was cut short.

"I was coming up to Mulsanne Corner at the end of the straight behind one of the Ford GTs, when the driver suddenly braked earlier and a lot harder than expected," Gavin explained. "I moved to pass him on the inside, but when I was right alongside him, he turned in, too. We hit each other wheel-to-wheel, which damaged the steering rack on our car and lost us half an hour for repairs."

"We completed our entire test day schedule," Olivier Beretta said, "and we had a great day in almost ideal circumstances. We didn't look for performance per se, but instead worked on the suspension, the aero, the tires, and the chassis. We checked all the boxes and will continue to work hard until we're back here in June."

Jan Magnussen concurred with his colleagues: "It was a bit of a special day today because we didn't use our own car and had to share this one between the four of us. But we learned a lot and the engineers will analyze the data back in the factory. When we come back in June we will have a much faster car, I'm sure."

The 79th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours will begin with technical scrutineering on Sunday, June 5, and Monday, June 6, followed by practice and qualifying on Wednesday, June 8, and Thursday, June 9. The race will start at 3:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, June 11.

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