Tight GTLM Points Battle Between Corvette, BMW Entering Continental Tire Road Race Showcase At Road

Living up to its reputation as the best GT racing on the planet, the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class features a close battle for the championship lead between Corvette and BMW teams, separated by only two points entering Sunday’s Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America.

Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen hold a slim advantage over BMW Team RLL’s Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner entering Round 9, which features all four TUDOR Championship classes in a two-hour, 40-minute race at the historic 14-turn, 4.048-mile venue. The race will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

Garcia and Magnussen opened the year with victories in the endurance classics at Daytona and Sebring in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R; they currently lead Auberlen and Werner – winners at Long Beach in addition to two runner-up finishes in the No. 25 IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 GTLM – by a 188-186 tally with four races remaining.

Both teams field competitive second entries. Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin return in the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R they drove to the GTE Pro class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June; John Edwards and Lucas Luhr co-drive the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca-winning No. 24 IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 GTLM.

Ferrari is the defending GTLM winner at Road America, with Giancarlo Fisichella and Pierre Kaffer returning in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia they piloted to consecutive victories in 2014.

“I have such a good memory of this race last year at Road America,” said Fisichella, who competed in 229 Formula One Grands Prix before transitioning into sports car racing. “We had a good car and we thought we could fight for a podium finish but we actually did not expect to win. We pitted in fifth place and came out in first and Pierre was able to keep that position right to the end of the race. We would all like to have a repeat and be back on the podium at Road America this year.”

Porsche teams won the two most recent GTLM races. Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet triumphed at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR. Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler won the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen in the No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR. Additionally, Earl Bamber joins Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 912 Porsche North America entry.

TRG-AMR Halves Paul Miller Racing’s GTD Lead To Five Points

An incident while leading the recent race at Lime Rock Park cut Paul Miller Racing’s lead from 10 to five points in GT Daytona (GTD), 171-166. Christopher Haase had taken over the No. 48 Castrol EDGE Audi R8 LMS from TOTAL Pole Award winner Dion von Moltke shortly before the car was sidelined from the event, resulting in a 10th-place finish.

That allowed Christina Nielsen to take over second place in the standings with a third-place finish at Lime Rock. It was her third podium of the season in the No. 007 TRG-AMR Royal Purple/Orion Energy/LaSalle Solutions/PassTime USA Aston Martin Vantage now co-driven by 2014 GTLM champion Kuno Wittmer.

Two other teams are also within 10 points of the lead.

Leh Keen and Cooper MacNeil have scored 164 points in Alex Job Racing’s No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche 911 GT America, three more than Scuderia Corsa No. 63 Robert Graham/Royal Purple Ferrari 458 Italia drivers Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell.

Turner Motorsport won the GTD class at Lime Rock with Michael Marsal joined by substitute driver Dane Cameron in the No. 97 Alvarez & Marsal/IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4. A year ago, Cameron and Markus Palttala took class honors at Road America. Palttala returns to the team this weekend.

Other Porsche contenders include the two-time winning No. 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Heart of Racing Porsche 911 GT America of Ian James and Mario Farnbacher; Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca winners Patrick Lindsey and Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche; and the No. 44 Magnus Racing Flex-Box Porsche of John Potter and Andy Lally.

The No. 33 Riley Motorsports ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Rolex 24 At Daytona class winner Ben Keating is coming off its best finish of the season, second at Lime Rock. Another contender is Compass360 Racing’s No. 76 AERO Advance Paint Technology/Children’s Tumor Foundation Audi R8 LMS, which finished eighth in its debut at Lime Rock Park, piloted by co-drivers Ray Mason and Pierre Kleinubing.

TUDOR Championship practice opens at 1 p.m. ET on Friday, with qualifying streamed live on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile app beginning at 4:35 p.m. ET.

Contact:

nsiebens@imsa.com

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