Tommy Milner TOMMY MILNER STANDING TALL for Tommy Milner, the Only American Driver on the at Last, the Checkered #Ag Fell
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THE News From The American Le Mans Series - Mid-Ohio 2011 www.michelinalley.com Risi Competizione THE VICTORY CYCLE ne of the most car testing, development and teething Le Mans and was followed by victories successful teams in issues that lead to consistent speed and at 2008 Petit Le Mans; 2009 Sebring, Le the American Le Mans reliability. Mans; and Petit Le Mans and another Series history, Risi For the Houston-based Risi squad, win at 2010 Sebring. Competizione, !nds the path is familiar ground. In 2011 the cycle has begun anew Oitself in a familiar cycle--and may reach When Risi introduced the Ferrari with the stunning 458 Italia against a key milepost here at Mid-Ohio. 430 GT in ALMS competition in March exceptionally strong competition. Top international racing cars 2006 at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, it BMW reeled o$ victories at Sebring, typically see a three-to seven-year showed #ashes of speed. Sure enough, Long Beach and Lime Rock to open the lifecycle. Risi took the pole at two subsequent season. It starts as the manufacturer races. Corvette Racing has wins at last designs and produces new cars. "e At Salt Lake City, the !fth race of the season’s Petit Le Mans, the 2011 24 cars are tested, developed and re!ned 2006 season, the Risi’s 430 GT started Hours of Le Mans and the recent in competition, until a peak level of from the rear of the !eld, took the lead Mosport ALMS. competitive performance is achieved. midway through the !rst hour and Still, progress in the development In later years, updates keep the car claimed the victory. of the new Ferrari is unmistakable. competitive. "ey did it again at Portland, Drivers Jaime Melo and Toni Vilander "e manufacturer then designs and followed by wins at Mosport and Laguna have already scored the !rst major produces a new car and repeats the Seca. international win for the new 458 cycle. In 2007, the Risi team claimed Italia, taking the Imola round of the In 2011, Ferrari and its Risi nine poles and six race wins in 12 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Competizione and Extreme Speed races to capture the ALMS team and "ey !nished second in ALMS at Motorsports teams are in the early manufacturer championships. It Mosport after closing down a ten- stages of the cycle with the exciting new was the !rst major American series second gap. Ferrari 458 Italia. championship for Ferrari. Historians may note that Mid- Top rivals Porsche, Corvette and "at set the stage for “"e Red Ohio is the !fth race of the 2011 ALMS BMW are racing fully developed cars, Streak,” in which Risi claimed victory season. each introduced in the past three years at six straight major endurance races. It A win here would match the Ferrari and having worked through the new- began with a victory at 2008 24 Hours of 430 GT cycle. 2 Tommy Milner TOMMY MILNER STANDING TALL For Tommy Milner, the only American driver on the At last, the checkered #ag fell. "e young driver was Corvette Racing factory squad, the 2011 running of the 24 swept along to the GT podium as the celebration began. Hours of Le Mans produced a career-de!ning, stand-and- "e American #ag was raised and the Star Spangled Banner deliver moment. played for Corvette Racing. Tommy Milner stood a bit taller. Sixteen hours in, the race was going well for Michigan- In the biggest race of his life, he delivered. based Corvette Racing. "e #74 car of Oliver Gavin, Jan Scan below to !nd out more about Corvette’s history at Magnussen and Richard Westbrook was leading the GT class Le Mans. while the #73 car of Olivier Beretta, Milner and Antonio Garcia was placed third, one lap down. A key part of the Corvette strategy was to gain time in the pits by triple-stinting its MICHELIN® tires, saving nearly 20 seconds on each tire change skipped. Triple-stinting GT tires was virtually unprecedented. "e plan meant running nearly 350 miles on a single set of tires while delivering consistently aggressive lap times. Milner, three races into his !rst year with a Michelin technical partner team, had never driven a triple-stint. First, Oliver Gavin in the #74 Corvette knocked o$ 41 laps of the 8.462-mile circuit, posting his fastest lap on the !nal circuit of his triple-stint to extend his race lead. Minutes later, disaster hit as co-driver Jan Magnussen clipped the kerbs and crashed, ending the race for the GT class-leading car. "e #73 Corvette was now in second place. "ere were, however, two serious problems; veteran lead driver Beretta was ill, and they were a full lap down to the GT class-leading Ferrari. Garcia and Milner needed to close the gap and pick up extra hours of seat time in Beretta’s absence. As Milner prepared for his critical triple, Garcia headed into the !nal laps of his triple-stint by reeling o$ new fastest laps on each of his three !nal laps. Veteran team leader Gary Pratt put a hand on his young driver’s shoulder and said, “You’ll be !ne, Tommy. You are going to be just !ne.” Milner steadily gained ground and all seemed on schedule. "en it started to rain. Not just any rain, but spotty rain that makes every corner di$erent on every lap. With the hours winding down and Milner closing on the lead Ferrari, he was going to need to deliver in the wet. After putting the Corvette in the lead, Milner handed o$ to Garcia for the !nal 90 minutes. Milner looked around the team garage area, a bit overwhelmed by the scene. Milner’s father, Tom, a veteran sports car team owner, Smartphone manager and campaigner whose career included many wins, scan but none at Le Mans, was there. So was GM North America code President Mark Reuss. "e #74 crew and drivers joined the here #73 crew as the anticipation grew. 3 The Field Marshals hey win major races and "e head-set !tted leaders of the honed at hundreds of races in scores of championships from American Le Mans Series (ALMS) teams places. Indianapolis to Le Mans. oversee a multi-tiered battle at speed. It is their responsibility to provide the "ey work with top car In most sports, two teams compete steadying hand, word of encouragement manufacturers, sponsors, head-to-head. or timely kick in the seat to drivers, Tand premier drivers. In the ALMS, you enter one of four engineers, crew members, and support "eir mobile phones carry the names classes but your cars race all at once. sta$. and private numbers of billionaires, Keeping track of all that activity Corvette Racing’s Doug Fehan, Risi corporate heads, and owners of top for each team, the cars, the track, the Competizione Ferrari’s Giuseppe Risi restaurants. competition, and race o%cials, is the (pictured together), Falken Porsche’s Decked out in uniforms of !re- virtual !eld marshal, the chief, the master Derrick Walker (pictured far left), and retardant armor re#ecting current of all he or she surveys. BMW Team RLL’s Bobby Rahal are well sponsors, not past campaigns, they perch "eir !ercest rivals take similar known to race fans. atop their pit stands like so many tribal vantage points along the pit ribbon. Each Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari’s warlords. is a thinker and a planner, with instincts Derek Granison (pictured far right) and 4 The Field Marshals Jaguar RSR’s Paul Gentilozzi (pictured to air conditioning and lights that draw a team, to double its resolve and to above) are perhaps better known by their less energy, longer wearing tires or zero prepare for the next step. No !ngers are team’s cars and the drivers they seek to viscosity oil developed and assessed in pointed. Voices are rarely raised. place atop the podium. competition. Still, racing is a tough business and Some are team principals, while Racing is a team sport with crews and teams must constantly make di%cult others are the hired guns entrusted with engineers playing a vital role. However, decisions. the multimillion-dollar investments of on the team radio there is a single voice Reprimands take place in private, and their manufacturer or team owner. calling the strategy, and woe unto the low-performers simply disappear. Racing And they are no longer all men. Leena driver or crew chief who ignores that is about winning. Gade, a 35- year-old British woman, was voice. Yet amidst the fury of the race, the technical and tactical leader for the "ey celebrate victories great and winning is not the only goal. Asked his top winning Audi at the 2011 24 Hours of Le small, share success, and use it as a objective during the race, Extreme Speed Mans. Each is armed with whatever bits of springboard to encourage, teach, and raise Motorsports’ Derek Granison says simply, the latest !repower that the rules permit the bar ever higher. Mistakes, defeat or “I’m trying to keep our guys safe and out - everything from computer simulations challenges are used to rally and strengthen of harm’s way.” 5 Dijyano I was hoping one day that our team would !nish 1-2 but for it to happen in only our fourth race is really spectacular. Jon Bennett, Owner/Driver, CORE autosport reflects on the team’s first 1-2 American Le Mans Series finish at Mosport in the LMPC class DID YOU KNOW? Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin Farewell to knows the only thing worse the Space than having two bottles of champagne poured over your Shuttle head and one down your !resuit would be not winning races and When space shuttle Atlantis wearing champagne.