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Home , 2014 12 Hours of Sebring, Action Express Racing, Andy Priaulx, Bill Auberlen, BMW Z4 GTE, Bobby Rahal

The balancing act

michelinalley.com News From the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship - Long Beach 2014 the News From

Life’s a beach for BMW OUT TO REPEAT HOME TOWN VICTORY Long Beach GT Set-up 2 The 100-minute race on the 1.968-mile Long Beach Grand Prix should see a great GT fight. Literally every GT car here is a legitimate threat to win. The field is closely matched and qualifying in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class is always exceptionally tight. At Sebring, the top eight spots were within 3/10ths of a second on a two-minute lap. Track position and pit strategies are keys to success. Here is the GT breakdown by the staff of www.michelinalley.com.

The Factory Teams

Porsche : The new North America factory team has already claimed GTLM victories in the first two events of the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The rear engine RSR should be especially strong on turn-in and power- down out of the slow corners and hairpin with drivers and aboard the #911 and and Michael Christensen driving the #912.

BMW Team RLL: The defending Long Beach GT champions scored the new BMW Z4 GTE’s first win here last year with a big 1-2 finish. The Z4 pays a price on the high- circuits for all its down force, but that is a driver’s friend here. As an added bonus, the team can draw upon boss man ’s IndyCar squad for the latest info on track conditions, car set-ups and always sharp race strategies.

Corvette Racing: The factory team’s sleek new Corvette C7.Rs have led impressively at both Daytona and Sebring before falling late to new car mechanical blues. Winners here at Long Beach in 2009 and 2012, expect the Corvette Nation to be strong with 2012 Long Beach winners and Series champions and aboard the #4 and the 2013 ALMS champs and Antonio Garcia in the #3. Corvette Racing has won 9 of the last 19 races. A victory here would raise the batting average to .500.

SRT Viper: The Bill Riley led factory SRT Motorsports team surprised fans with a pole performance and podium finish in the big iron’s first appearance here last year. Former Long Beach GT winner (2008) is teamed with Marc “The Goose” Goossens aboard the #91 while Californian Jonathan “JBom” Bomarito and ’s have rapidly blossomed into front runners in the #93 SRT Viper GTS-R.

The Independents

Risi Competizione : Despite showing plenty of speed, the most successful independent GT team in recent years has been the hard luck entry in the first two races of 2014. With Ferrari factory drivers and world class prep and pit work, the Risi Italia is a major threat to upend the factories.

Falken: After skipping Daytona, the independent squad is quickly getting up to speed with its new Porsche 911 RSR. Porsche factory ace and rising star have enjoyed success on the streets in Baltimore and with IndyCar ace Derrick Walker’s veteran crew and pit calls, they will certainly be a factor here. 3 BMW’sBEACH BOY

aving driven BMW cars in restaurant came over to take a picture.” was crucial to make our strategies work. more races than any driver Few had expected the new BMW Z4 There is nothing like winning at Long and raced and won all GTE, appearing in just its second race Beach. Sebring is the big one, but Long over the world as a senior in North America, to enjoy success so Beach is not far behind in my book.” factory driver for BMW, soon. But the start of the 2014 TUDOR Hyou may think that a race less than 20 In fact, Auberlen’s hopes for victory United SportsCar Championship minutes from his Redondo Beach home seemed to evaporate early when co- season makes clear that Auberlen would not be all that important to Bill driver required a pit and his new co-driver, former DTM Auberlen. You would be very wrong. stop and change just 25 minutes star , are already in Winning the GT class at the 2013 into the 120 minute event. championship form. with Maxime Auberlen hopped aboard and began They arrive in Long Beach leading the Martin aboard his BMW Team RLL his inspired climb back through the TUDOR Championship GTLM driver BMW Z4 GTE was especially satisfying field, skipping a fresh set of ® standings on the strength of podium for Auberlen precisely for that reason. on his final stop to emerge with the finishes in the first two races. Long Beach is his hometown race. victory. Now, with the longest events of the Where else could he indulge his other BMW Team RLL backed up the season, the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the interests, including motorcycles, deep first win for the new Michelin-BMW Twelve Hours of Sebring behind them, sea fishing and building record setting technical partnership with teammates the two have already had several long off-shore powerboats? and Dirk Müller finishing discussions regarding their approach Having so many fans, friends and second. for the season’s shortest race, 100 family nearby to help celebrate made “We followed a different tact and at minutes at Long Beach. the race, and the entire victory party, the end we put both cars at the front of But having finally taken the top step especially memorable. the field and the Z4 GTE into the history at Long Beach, Auberlen now knows “I brought the trophy with us books with a 1-2 finish in only our how to find his way home to the top of to celebrate,” said Auberlen. “It second race,” said team leader Bobby the podium here. sat right in the middle of the Rahal. And the only thing better than a table and I believe “We were able to run more than one home race party is one that comes after everyone in the stint on the MICHELIN tires and that having won that day’s race. 4

We may all be winners

he biggest winners at the Tequila Patrón Sports Car at last year’s data grab at a special Showcase at Long Beach may not be the winning car doubleheader event, series organizers have helped the and drivers, but rather the fans and the series itself. former GRAND-AM teams up their pace Officials of the new TUDOR United SportsCar while pulling the reins on the ALMS based P2 cars. Championship, created by the merger of the rival There is no question that the DP teams have borne the brunt TAmerican Le Mans Series (ALMS) and the GRAND-AM Rolex of increased costs. New bodywork, aerodynamic bits and the Sports Car Series, have methodically addressed scores of addition of paddle shifters and ceramic brakes have reportedly challenges, none more difficult than finding a way to produce added approximately $400,000 to their budgets. equivalent performance from the disparate Prototype cars from The season opener at the Rolex 24 at Daytona saw the DP cars, each series into a single Prototype class. led by the Action Express team, holding the edge in qualifying and Finding the precise “balance of performance” is like “comparing sweeping the top four spots in the race on a circuit for which they an apple and a banana,” International Motor Sports Association were specifically designed. (IMSA) technical director Scot Elkins recently told www.Racer. The lap times were much closer at the recent Twelve Hours of com. Sebring and some of the P2 cars actually led the race at various IMSA and Elkins are credited with success in establishing such stages, with the DP based cars still appearing to enjoy a slight a balance for the GT category, but the delicate balance can only be advantage on restarts and in traffic as Racing took determined by acquiring and analyzing copious amounts of data the win with P2 cars finishing second, fourth and fifth. from track, wind tunnel and dyno testing. Arriving in Long Beach for Round 3 of the TUDOR That process takes time and patience, the latter being an Championship, the tight street circuit may well see a slight shift in exceedingly rare commodity in a sports business filled favor of the former P2 cars. with Type A personalities. It is a thankless and The former ALMS entrants should also enjoy a bit seemingly endless task. of a home court advantage. Revenge, like the race Yet, the day may have arrived here in the sponsor’s favorite beverage, is best served cold, form of the 1.968-mile Long Beach circuit. so after the first two races of the 2014 TUDOR Attempting to address a deficit of 6.2 seconds Championship, the led P2 based 5

We may all be winners

Extreme Speed Motorsports entries are anxious to driver in the GRAND-AM Rolex Series history, would like nothing put a win on the board for their sponsor as a follow up to better than to add a Long Beach win to his exhaustive resume. their class victory here in 2013. Sharp will co-drive the #1 with has speed and the numbers in its favor with five . Teammates of Oakland and Corvette DP entries, including the Rolex 24 at Daytona winning sponsor boss wheel the #2 car. . Former NASCAR tech ace Gary While the Muscle Milk / squad are Nelson is the team tech boss. Co-drivers Joao Barbosa sitting out the next two races preferring to test and and have become a major develop their new package, the Nissan camp will force in the series. They are teamed at Action be represented by the potent European-based Express with Brian and Burt Frisselle. Oak Racing with and Columbia’s Youth is the name of the game at Wayne . Taylor Racing where young Jordan and counters with a promising new are ultra-competitive as proven SkyActive Diesel package for Sylvain Tremblay by their runners-up finish at Daytona. and with a sister car for Tristan The Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP features Nunez and Joel Miller. After concentrating Corvette factory driver with on systems and reliability at the two long races Vancouver’s . that opened the season, expect Mazda to begin the Making the big step up to Prototypes for 2014 is the Marsh transition to the speed game as the series turns west for the Racing Corvette DP of Escondido’s co-driving with Eric two shorter California rounds. Curran. From the DP side of the house Ford joins the fray with its Balancing six different chassis and five different manufacturers EcoBoost power for Racing with co-drivers John as the new TUDOR Championship takes to the streets for the first Pew and Oswaldo Negri. time is a difficult and thankless task. But, if the GT balance is any Fresh from its milestone Ford victory at Sebring, Chip Ganassi indication, the streets of Long Beach will show just how well the Racing is always a pre-race favorite with California’s series and the teams have done their homework and that means teamed with ’s . Pruett, the most successful the fans will win. 6 FAST FACTS Watch us now Where’s my car? You can understand if Risi on Fox Competizione Ferrari star, The Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase at Long , has been Beach can be seen from on the 1 asking the Italian version of network. International fans will also be “dude, where’s my car?” after able to see the race live on IMSA.com. being left without a single race lap when his #62 Ferrari 458 Saturday, April 12 Italia was taken out in crashes before his first stint at both Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach 6pm-8pm (EDT): the Rolex 24 at Daytona and FOX Sports 1 the Twelve Hours of Sebring. Ferrari fans are hoping Fisi finally gets in the race here at Long Beach.

2014 Schedule

January 25-26 Rolex 24 at Daytona March 15 Twelve Hours of Sebring April 12 Long Beach (P and GTLM only) May 4 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Cali Homeboys May 31 The Raceway At Belle Isle Park (P, PC & GTD only) June 7 (PC only) Californians will have plenty of drivers to cheer on in June 29 Six Hours of The Glen the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race here at Long Beach. Sebring winner Scott Pruett of Auburn will be July 13 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park aboard the Ganassi Ford EcoBoost Prototype while defending July 25 Motor Speedway Long Beach GT champ Bill Auberlen hails from Redondo August 10 Road America Beach. SRT Viper’s calls Monterey home, August 24 VIR (GTLM/GTD race; PC race) while Extreme Speed Motorsports’ Johannes van Overbeek is from Oakland, Porsche North America’s Patrick Long is September 20 from Thousand Oaks and ’s Boris Said is from October 4 Escondido. “Now I’d like to introduce Corvette Racing’s 2013 GT champion Jan Magnussen, the second fastest 7 FAST Magnussen in the world” FACTS‘VETTE BOSS DOUG FEHAN INTRODUCES HIS DRIVER AT SEBRING WHILE JAN’s SON KEVIN MADE HIS F1 DEBUT IN Doin the double Friday, April 11, 2014 Chip Ganassi and BMW Team RLL’s Bobby Rahal 7:40 am - 9:40 am Practice #1 - TUDOR (All Classes) will pull this 10:00 am - 10:45 am Practice #1 - IndyCar weekend racing in both the 11:30 am - 12:00 pm Practice - Pro/Celebrity TUDOR United SportsCar 12:15 pm - 1:00 pm Practice #1 – Championship and with their 2:00 pm - 2:45 pm Practice #2 - IndyCar IndyCar teams in Sunday’s Grand Prix 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm Qualifying - Pro/Celebrity of Long 4:00 pm - 4:45 pm Practice #1 – World Challenge Beach. 5:05 pm - 5:35 pm Practice #2 - TUDOR (All Classes) 5:45 pm - 6:00 pm Qualifying - TUDOR (GTLM) 6:05 pm - 6:20 pm Qualifying - TUDOR Championship (P) 7:00 pm - 7:45 pm Practice - Super Drift 7:45 pm - 9:00 pm Qualifying - Super Drift Racer explodes Saturday, April 12, 2014 If you didn’t snag an invite to their hottest party 7:45 am - 8:15 am Practice #2 – Indy Lights in town, you can still catch RACER magazine and 10:00 am - 10:45 am Practice #3 - IndyCar www.racer.com where the traffic is exploding. 11:00 am - 11:40 am Qualifying – Indy Lights Marshall Pruett sees the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship manufacturers, teams, 11:05 am -11:50 am TUDOR Autograph Session drivers and technology as a year-long all you 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Race - Pro/Celebrity can eat content buffet. 1:15 pm - 2:25 pm Qualifying - IndyCar (& Fast 6) 3:10 pm - 4:50 pm Race - TUDOR United SportsCar Championship at Long Beach – 100 Minutes (Round 3) Time to tweet away 5:15 pm - 5:45 pm Qualifying – World Challenge Keep up with the latest news - here 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Competition - Super Drift are some of the most popular Sunday, April 13, 2014 accounts to follow: 7:20 am - 7:40 am Practice & Qualifying – @michelinalley @RLLracing 8:00 am - 8:15 am Warm Up – World Challenge @michelin_sport @BMWUSARacing @UnitedSportsCar @DriveSRT 9:00 am - 9:30 am Warm Up - IndyCar @IMSA @TeamSRT 10:15 am - 11:15 am Race – Indy Lights @IMSAlive @FerrariUSA 12:00 pm - 12:20 pm Race – Stadium Super Trucks @CorvetteRacing @Risicomp 1:50 pm - 3:30 pm IndyCar Race - GP of Long Beach @TeamChevy @KrohnRacing 3:55 pm - 4:05 pm Demonstration - Super Drift @Porsche @FIAWEC @PorscheNARacing @24hoursoflemans 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm Race – World Challenge FAN

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912PORSCHE Long/Christensen Porsche North America • Porsche 911 RSR GT Le Mans Michelin Smartphone scan code here Take a look back at the Sebring victory by the No.912 Porsche North America entry. FAVORITES HPD - HONDA 1 RILEY - FORD 01 BMW 55

Sharp/Dalziel Pruett/Rojas Auberlen/Priaulx Extreme Speed Motorsports • HPD ARX-03b • Riley Ford BMW Team RLL • BMW Z4 GTE Prototype Continental Prototype Continental GT Le Mans Michelin

MORGAN - NISSAN CORVETTE FERRARI 42 063 62

Pla/Yacaman Magnussen/Garcia Fisichella/TBA Oak Racing • Morgan - Nissan Corvette Racing • C7.R • Ferrari F458 Italia Prototype Continental GT Le Mans Michelin GT Le Mans Michelin RILEY - FORD 60 PORSCHE 17 SRT - VIPER 93

Pew/Negri Henzler/Sellers Wittmer/Bomarito Michael Shank Racing w/ Curb/Agajanian • Riley Ford Team Falken • Porsche 911 RSR SRT Motorsports • SRT Viper GTS-R Prototype Continental GT Le Mans Falken GT Le Mans Michelin

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