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Stevenson Motorsports just became the first team to win both an IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at the same racetrack on the same event weekend.

The feat was accomplished on July 8-9 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, when the team’s new No. 57 Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R in the hands of co-drivers Robin Liddell and Matt Bell took the overall and Grand Sport (GS) class victory in Saturday’s Continental Tire Challenge race, followed by Andrew Davis and Lawson Aschenbach winning the GT Daytona (GTD) class in Sunday’s WeatherTech Championship race aboard the No. 57 Audi R8 LMS GT3.

Another fun fact: Stevenson also was the last team to accomplish a similar feat, winning both the Continental Tire Challenge and GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series races at Road Atlanta in 2013. Turner Motorsport also has the Continental Tire Challenge-Rolex Series double on its racing résumé.

“Obviously, you’ve got to run two cars to win one in each class, which we haven’t done in a while,” states Stevenson Motorsports Team Manager Mike Johnson. “With the Audi, it’s amazing how many times we’ve just been so close.

“[With the Camaro] it was absolutely great. We always joked, saying, ‘As soon as we win one with the Camaro, the Audi’s going to win one right afterwards.’ We just didn’t know it was going to be 24 hours later.”

Both teams have a chance to repeat their victory this Saturday at Lime Rock Park. The Continental Tire Challenge kicks off a busy race day with a two-hour race beginning at 10:25 a.m. ET, followed by the two-hour, 40-minute WeatherTech Championship Northeast Grand Prix at 3 p.m. ET. There’s also a 45-minute IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda race sandwiched in between, starting at 12:50 p.m. ET

The WeatherTech Championship race will be televised live on FS2, along with IMSA Radio audio and in-car cameras on IMSA.com and as well as live IMSA Radio coverage on RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio. The Continental Tire Challenge race will be streamed live on IMSA.com and will be televised on FS1 at 11:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, July 30.

Johnson and the Stevenson team feel like they’ve got a strong opportunity to play a starring role in both races and have another great weekend at Lime Rock.

“From a GS standpoint, Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet have always built a great car for Lime Rock,” Johnson said. ”It makes a lot of downforce, it’s got good power coming off (turns) and excellent braking.

“Then, an Audi won (the Lime Rock GTD race) last year and we had a very fast Audi last year. In GTD, I think we feel really strong with the car. It can make a lot of downforce.”

“It has all the potential to happen again. But just like anybody that does this, there’s a hundred things you’ve got to do on a weekend and you’ve got to do all hundred of them right if you want a chance at winning any of these races.”

Johnson pointed out a few occasions recently – and over the past couple of years since the team’s 2015 Continental Tire Challenge GS-championship winning season and subsequent hiatus from the series until the introduction of the new Camaro GT4.R in May at Circuit of The Americas – where one or more of those hundred things didn’t go exactly right.

“You’ve got to remember that Mosport came a week after we had a double DNF (at Watkins Glen International),” he said. “We had the motor fail with 20 minutes to go in one car and we had a tire problem with three minutes to go in the Audi.

“When you keep having these weekends just fall apart at the last minute on you, it’s just so devastating. At Detroit, again we were leading, got a 20-second lead, full-course yellow, come out of the pits in fourth and have an axle fail with 20 to go.

“It’s amazing how strong our team is and how (owners) John and Susan Stevenson, they don’t ever lose faith. When you have those double DNFs, you’re like, ‘What else can we do? We just can’t get anything to work.’ Then, bam-bam, right out of nowhere, two wins. It brings you right back to, ‘OK, we knew we could still do this.’”

McAleer Hoping History Repeats Itself at Lime Rock for 50th Continental Tire Challenge Start

There might be no better track for Stevan McAleer to make his 50th IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge start than Lime Rock Park.

Over the last few years, the 1.5-mile circuit has been gracious to McAleer, co-driver Chad McCumbee and the rest of the No. 25 Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 team. After finishing second in 2014, the team has swept the Street Tuner (ST) class at Lime Rock Park the last two years and is looking to continue the streak in 2017.

“The biggest thing with the Mazda is that we really have a great handling car and it’s a mixture of a bunch of things,” McAleer said. “One, the team works really hard to get the setup. Two, Lime Rock is a track that Chad and myself really enjoy and three, probably the main one, is that for the Mazda MX-5, Lime Rock is a track that has all these long sweeping corners that really suit the platform of that car. So yeah, we’ve been strong there every single year and I’d like to add another win for my 50th, that’d be great.”

It hasn’t been an easy go-around, however, for the No. 25 so far in 2017. Solid finishes at Daytona and Circuit of The Americas have been overshadowed by three finishes outside of the top 10. With five races remaining on the schedule, McAleer and McCumbee sit 10th in the ST championship standings.

“I thought we got off to a great start,” McAleer said. “We had a strong performance at Daytona and that kind of set the level for what we expected of the year. Looking back at it, I really thought we were going to be in a championship lead or certainly fighting for the championship at this point in the season with a couple of stronger tracks coming to us like Watkins Glen and Lime Rock. But unfortunately, racing is great on its high times and its rough on its low times.”

The Scotland native did point out one advantage that the team has heading into the second half of the season.

“It gets to the point in the season where there’s a lot of teams that are in that championship fight and one car in particular who’s going to be strong as well will be looking to protect their lead,” McAleer explained. “I know we’re drivers and it’s spur of the moment and the adrenaline rush and everything else, but this time last year when we were in that similar position, Lime Rock was a good race for us. But in the races that we were not as competitive, I certainly played a safer game than I’m usually used to just to protect the points that we got.

“We have been strong every year and there’s really no stopping it this weekend. I told Chad I’m truly committed to the win and if I get a shot at it or get an opportunity at it, to me there’s no risk factor and I’m going to take it.”

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For the first two days of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 7-9, the Porsche GT Team established itself as the team to beat in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class.

The team’s pair of Porsche 911 RSR race cars – which were brand new at the start of the season and now feature a configuration that puts the engine in front of the rear axle – went 1-2 in both practice sessions that Friday and Dirk Werner led the third practice and qualified on pole in the team’s No. 911 entry on Saturday.

Werner’s pole was the team’s first with the new car and the first overall since Nick Tandy qualified on pole for the 2016 Rolex 24 At Daytona. With Laurens Vanthoor qualifying the identical No. 912 RSR third, the stage was set for a banner weekend for the Porsche GT Team. All it had to do was hold off the rest of the GTLM field for two hours and 40 minutes on Sunday afternoon to put a bow on a fantastic weekend.

Unfortunately, that plan went out the window on Sunday. While both cars ran inside the top four during the first 40 minutes, Gianmaria Bruni – competing in just his second race since joining the team – had to make an unscheduled pit stop for a new tire shortly after taking over the No. 912 from Vanthoor, effectively ending that car’s hopes for victory.

Patrick Pilet, meanwhile, led for 10 laps in the No. 911 he shares with Werner and was poised for at least a podium result when a mechanical failure took him out with only nine minutes left in the race.

This Saturday represents the team’s first shot at redemption, as the WeatherTech Championship heads for the 1.5-mile New England bullring known as Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut for the two-hour, 40-minute Northeast Grand Prix. The race will be televised live at 3 p.m. ETon FS2 and FOX Sports GO with FS2 authentication, with live coverage also available via IMSA Radio on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio.

It's also the first of two 2017 WeatherTech Championship races in which the GTLM class headlines a two-class race with the GT Daytona (GTD) class, meaning the GTLM cars will race for an overall win.

Porsche definitely knows what it takes to win overall, having done so in a rain-shortened Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta and also at VIRginia International Raceway in 2015. That history, coupled with their recent strong performance in Canada, has Porsche leadership thinking big heading into the weekend.

“This is the third race this month after Watkins Glen and Bowmanville (CTMP),” said Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, vice president of Motorsport and GT cars for Porsche. “With such a schedule, there’s not a lot of time to catch our breath, but after our strong performance in Canada, which unfortunately went unrewarded despite setting pole and the fastest race lap, the drivers and teams can hardly wait to continue.

“In Bowmanville, the maiden victory for our new 911 RSR was within reach. Now, we’ll do everything at Lime Rock Park to bring it home.”

Pilet, who is the only one of the team’s four drivers that raced the previous generation 911 RSR at Lime Rock, is optimistic heading into the Northeast Grand Prix.

“It’s short and tight and that makes it special,” said Pilet of the track layout. “This is the only track where we turn 70 laps in one stint. That’s unusual.

“Most of the time, the cars are bunched up very close together and this treats fans to some gripping duels in every lap. I’m sure that this racetrack will suit our new 911 RSR very well.”

Among the other three drivers in the lineup, Werner raced a BMW at Lime Rock last year, Vanthoor never has raced there, and Bruni’s Lime Rock experience is limited and came a long time ago.

“The last time I raced here was in 2010,” Bruni said. “I drove one of the practices and that was all. My teammate drove the second practice and the qualifying – and destroyed our car in the first race lap.

“Apart from that, I like the New England states. I’m very much looking forward to the race and the special atmosphere of this racetrack in the middle of the countryside. Of course, I’m hoping that I’ll have more luck this time than I did in 2010.”

Practice and qualifying for the Northeast Grand Prix are on tap for Friday, July 21, with the race slated for 3 p.m. ET Saturday, July 22. Also on this weekend’s card are the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, which will feature a two-hour race Saturday morning, and the IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda, which will have a single, 45-minute race on Saturday afternoon.

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One of the most successful teams in endurance sports car racing is returning to IMSA competition in a big way next season.

In a surprise announcement this morning, Mazda Motorsports announced the creation of “Mazda Team Joest” to become its new factory Mazda Prototype team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship beginning with the 2018 Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The announcement brings Joest Racing – which has amassed 16 victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 10 victories in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida, six Motul Petit Le Mans victories and two Rolex 24 At Daytona wins – back to top-level endurance sports car racing. The team created in 1978 by Reinhold Joest most recently operated the Audi factory prototype team from 1999 through 2016.

“If ever there were a benchmark example of a top-level prototype endurance sports car racing team, on a global scale, Joest Racing is it,” said IMSA President Scott Atherton. “We are thrilled to welcome what now will be known as, ‘Mazda Team Joest’ back to North American sports car competition.

“The Joest organization has had considerable success in North America in the past and we have every reason to expect that to continue with this new alliance with the Mazda DPi program. On behalf of IMSA, we offer our congratulations to all involved.”

Mazda Team Joest will begin an aggressive testing program in August on racetracks in Europe and North America, utilizing the four current Mazda Prototype drivers:  Jonathan Bomarito, Tristan Nunez, Joel Miller and Tom Long. The driver lineup for 2018 is expected to be confirmed before the end of the 2017 WeatherTech Championship season.

“This is an important moment in Mazda Motorsports history as we align our brand’s top-level sports car racing program with one of the best sports car teams of all time,” said John Doonan, director of motorsports for Mazda North American Operations. “What Mr. Joest, Ralf Jüttner (Joest Racing managing director) and the entire Joest Racing organization has accomplished is not likely to ever be matched.

“We are very excited to work with them to put Mazda in victory lane and to strive for more championship trophies, adding to the substantial Mazda and Joest Racing legacies in the years ahead.

The team will work closely with Multimatic Motorsports to refine and improve the Mazda RT24-P Daytona Prototype international (DPi) chassis, which will continue to be powered by the 600-horsepower, turbocharged four-cylinder, 2.0-liter inline Mazda MZ-2.0T engine developed by Advanced Engine Research (AER). Joest Racing is based in Wald-Michelbach, Germany, but plans to establish North American headquarters in the Atlanta area later this fall.

“We are excited and proud about this new opportunity with Mazda,” said Jüttner. “Mazda has such a long tradition in motorsport and, especially in America, has created a huge platform for racing enthusiasts. For us, this is not only a return to American racing, which we have always enjoyed, but also great news to the big group of our Japanese fans, who have always warmly embraced us.”

The aggressive testing and development program means that Mazda will forego the remaining three rounds of the 2017 WeatherTech Championship to prepare for the 2018 season.

“I want to thank our long-time partners at SpeedSource Race Engineering and owner, Sylvain Tremblay,” said Doonan. “We accomplished a great deal with their organization at all levels of the sport for more than two decades.

“They are a perfect example of a team that has grown through our Mazda system: from grassroots club racing, to Rolex 24 race-winning efforts in GT and then on to the Prototype program. Friendships in our sport run deep and we certainly don’t see that changing.”

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International race teams and Pro-Am driver lineups have been part of the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida throughout each event’s long and storied history.

Through a new incentive program today confirmed by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), the “36 Hours of Florida” may see an uptick in both categories in 2018.

Teams with Pro-Am driver lineups in the Prototype class at Daytona and Sebring will be eligible for the Trueman Pro-Am Team Endurance Award, recognizing the highest-finishing LM P2 Pro-Am lineup in each race.

The Trueman Pro-Am Team Endurance Award winners will receive Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watches at the Rolex 24 to commemorate their achievement, and will receive specifically designed trophies for the Trueman Pro-Am Team Endurance Award at Sebring.

These teams also will compete head-to-head for overall race victories in the Prototype class against world class Daytona Prototype international (DPi) and LM P2 race teams*.

The season-long Jim Trueman Award, which recognizes the top-finishing Pro-Am team entrant in the Prototype class with an automatic invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, still applies.  

The International Team Incentive Program is open to all new IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship entrants in the Prototype and GT Daytona (GTD) classes competing in the Rolex 24 and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

The program offers each eligible team the following:

  • Discounted premium entry fees
  • Fuel credit of $1,000 per event
  • Continental Tire credit of two free sets for Daytona and one for Sebring
  • Two free hospitality passes for each event (WeatherTech Paddock Club or equivalent)
  • Travel benefits from IMSA partners and Chateau Elan Hotel Sebring discounted room rates

Eligible teams for the International Team Incentive Program include any internationally based team that did not enter and compete in 2016 or 2017 events at Daytona or Sebring.

“If you’re an international team or driver who regularly races an LM P2 or GT3 car, this program is tailor made for you.” said IMSA President Scott Atherton. “For those already considering the possibility of competing in the 36 Hours of Florida, which represents two of the world’s most prestigious endurance races, these new incentives could provide the additional boost needed to make that commitment.”

 

         

 

 

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