Milner/Tandy pairing comes out on top against Taylor/Garcia in Corvette street fight

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Sept. 25, 2021) – Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy won their second straight race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday – a GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach with the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

Milner passed No. 3 Corvette Racing teammate Jordan Taylor near the 50-minute mark, and Tandy drove a traffic-filled final stint as the Corvette Racing program won for the eighth time at the southern California street event. It’s the second street circuit win of the year for the Milner/Tandy duo, which also won a non-points race in June at Detroit’s Belle Isle circuit.

Milner won for the fourth time his career at Long Beach while Tandy took his second victory there.

Tandy took a 0.75-second victory over Antonio Garcia, Taylor’s teammate in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R. The runner-up result did move Garcia and Taylor closer to their second straight GTLM Drivers Championship and a repeat Manufacturers crowd for Chevrolet.

As is typically the case at Long Beach, traffic played a huge role throughout the 100-minute sprint. Taylor began on pole position with Milner never more than two seconds behind. The ebb and flow of being passed by faster prototypes but passing slower GT Daytona (GTD) cars caused the gap between the two C8.Rs to fluctuate throughout.

The winning move came at the race’s halfway point as Taylor was balked by a GTD car, which allowed Milner to find some extra momentum and get alongside his teammate just before the short backstretch. The two Corvettes ran in that order before Taylor made the No. 3 Corvette’s only stop of the race with 41 minutes to go. Milner came in a lap later for the switch-over to Tandy, who rejoined the race in the lead and clear of Garcia by about two seconds.

As was the case in the first part of the race, traffic made Tandy’s lead grow and shrink over the course of a lap. But neither Corvette driver put a foot wrong for the final stint.

Corvette Racing’s next event is the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway on Oct. 8-9.

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM WINNER:
WE DIDN’T GET A GOOD LOOK AT THE PASS. TELL US WHAT HAPPENED. “The pass was done in Turn Six. I did a 360 and then a kick-flip afterward… Nah, lap traffic is always such a huge part of this race. When you have two cars that are so close and so competitive here together, trying to find an opportunity to pass on the racetrack is difficult. My plan was to stick with Jordan as best I could and take any opportunity that arose in traffic. That’s what happened at Turn Six. Because the GTD cars have ABS, they can brake later than we can. Jordan went for a move on the inside of that corner and it didn’t quite stick. His exit was compromised and I was able to get outside of him on the entry and that’s the preferred line there. At times it’s frustrating being stuck behind somebody. I’ve raced here for a long time and it’s happened to me. Just using that experience worked out for us. The pit stop was massively important here. It’s always limited by the driver change and four tires. That was the case again here, and everything lined up right. Nick did a great job. You have to make good decisions in traffic always. One bad decision can mean seconds of lap time and it can mean losing a position. He did an awesome job of managing traffic well and bringing our Corvette home.”

RACING HARD AGAINST TEAMMATES: “It’s the age-old rule in racing: you can’t hit your teammate. That’s kind of the rule we live by at Corvette Racing, but we are allowed to race. We can try to pass each other on the racetrack – even without traffic – if the opportunity arises. Because the cars are so close and it’s the same equipment, we know exactly where they are strong and where we are strong. We can look at the same video and data. To find a big difference on the track in pure pace is pretty hard to do. In those situations, the traffic usually affords you the opportunity to make a pass that can be clean. I really only had the one opportunity and thankfully I was close enough to take advantage of that.”

WINNING AT LONG BEACH: “The atmosphere here at Long Beach is fantastic with the crowd and energy that they bring. Not that we haven’t had fans for a year-and-a-half now, but this was the first time I really felt the energy of the fans. You miss it in some ways. Before the start of the race, there was so many fans in the stands. It’s one of the things that you get accustomed to after a long time. Now that we haven’t had it for a long time, to feel it again here at Long Beach is fantastic. I’m not sure that has any impact when you’re in the car, but it makes for a fun event for them and us as drivers and as a team.”

RACING AGAINST GTD CARS: “That class has gotten super competitive the last couple of years. They’re doing the same job we are. For us at Corvette Racing, we don’t look at that class as something easy in any way. If anything it’s more difficult. For those guys to get wins in that class is very difficult. Whoever races in that class next year is going to have a hard time.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I’m really happy to win again at Long Beach and with Tommy. My job was pretty simple in the end. The stint Tommy did running up to the pitstop was crucial. Getting past the 3 car enabled us to deny them track position before the stop was a good call. Once we came back out in front, we knew the car coming out in front after the stop cycle would be difficult to beat. It worked out perfectly. The team did a flawless stop, and that’s one of the key things at Long Beach. It’s often that we are fuel-defined by the pitstop time. Here we don’t need to take a full tank, so often it’s down to the driver change time and tire change. Pretty much everything synced together. I got my belts tight and off we went.”

WINNING AT LONG BEACH: “I’d reiterate what Tommy said. It’s awesome to be back at this event. I think I’ve seen more people here this weekend than ever. Anytime you get to come race at Long Beach, it’s a classic event. It’s always a favorite to come to. The races are frenetic. Getting a trophy from the Long Beach Grand Prix is always a big one.”

LONG BEACH NEXT YEAR: “If Corvette Racing goes into GTD next year, we’ve been in the paddock with these teams and drivers. You can see the level that the category is top professional racing. We always look to have great racing. We always know that the best wins are when you face the toughest competition. This is what Corvette Racing wants to do. We want to race the best competition possible no matter where that may be. It’s great that we have all these different types of cars and classes within sports car racing that these teams and manufacturers can go racing in.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTLM: “Obviously you always want to win. The pit cycle didn’t go our way and we lost track position right before the stop. From that point on, we didn’t have the advantage of over-cutting so we had to pit early. The car was really good. Even if I had a two- or three-second deficit initially, I was able to catch back up again to Nick. As we saw, it’s almost impossible to pass unless you hit traffic the right way. That’s the main thing. I stayed where I was and wait for a mistake and a little traffic. On a street circuit, you can’t risk it like if we were fighting another manufacturer. You want to win but you always know that is your teammate, too. It was fun to go flat-out around this track, and I could tell Nick was trying hard, too.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTLM: “It wasn’t a bad race and to finish second. It definitely was tricky with traffic. Some guys did not want to lift or let anyone go, which was frustrating but it’s part of the race. Everyone has to deal with it. So another good day for Corvette Racing with a 1-2 finish. For us in the 3 car, I think we’re pretty close to the championship. It opens things up to take more risks the next races, which will be fun.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Rob Ferriol Improved Four Positions in His Opening Stint; Katherine Legge Turned Second Quickest Lap of the Race in the
No. 88 Richard Mille/GridRival Porsche 911 GT3 R

LONG BEACH, California (September 25, 2021) – Team Hardpoint co-drivers Rob Ferriol and Katherine Legge scored a ninth-place in Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) at the Long Beach Grand Prix with the team’s No. 88 Richard Mille/GridRival Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The top-10 finish was a strong effort for the team, making their debut on the Long Beach temporary circuit and competing in just the second street race in Team Hardpoint’s short history.

The Saturday race meant that the IMSA Championship had two practice sessions and qualifying on Friday, leaving minimal time for Team Hardpoint and Ferriol, making his Long Beach debut, to learn the track prior to qualifying. Ferriol qualified just 15th of the 17 GTD cars entered to the event, but had a car ready for the longer run in the race.

Ferriol was ready for the start of the 100-minute race, a full hour shorter than a traditional IMSA sprint race. He had moved forward two positions just eight minutes in, and picked up an additional position prior to the lone full course caution of the race that came just 12 minutes into the race.

When Ferriol came to pit lane with one hour and four minutes to go after completing his required 35 minutes of drive time, he was running 11th and passed the Porsche GT3 R to Legge.

“We feel really good,” Ferriol, also the Team Hardpoint owner, said. “We felt like we left a lot undone at Detroit with our rather early end to the race. We knew we had a good car for a street race based on what we had done at Detroit, and we felt coming into the weekend we were going to be strong. It’s a Porsche track, and we as a Porsche team are getting smarter. We showed that through practice, and had a bit of a bobble in qualifying. But for the race, if we had an opportunity to qualify better we would certainly have had a better finish because Katherine was the class of the field working her way through. I managed to pick up a couple of positions in my stint, so I’m happy. We moved up six spots over the course of a 100-minute race at probably one of the hardest tracks to pass at.”

Legge had a delay in pit lane, with the pitting car in the box in front of Team Hardpoint leaving a wheel in the way as she tried to leave. Legge spent the first half of her stint closing the gap to her fellow competitors. She moved by three in quick succession and was 10th with 27 minutes to go.

With the 1.968-mile track clear in front of her, Legge and the No. 88 Richard Mille/GridRival Porsche 911 GT3 R was the quickest car on track in the final 25 minutes of the race. Her best lap of 1:20.180 (88.361 mph) was the second-fastest of the race, just 0.042-second behind the GTD class best.

“The team did a really good job and gave me a really good car,” Legge said. “We were just unfortunate, honestly. We were hoping for a yellow, we were praying for a yellow. We wanted to catch the pack and go fight them because we had a good car and we could have done it. Both Rob and I made a couple of strong passes and the car was strong so on pace we should have finished a lot further up. It just wasn’t to be today. Having said that, look how far we’ve come since the beginning of the year. We’ve worked really hard on the setup and the tire side, where we haven’t been so strong on qualifying and at the start of the runs. We’ve always been stronger toward the end of the runs. We’ve been working really hard at putting together a better all-around package, and the team knocked it out of the park on this one.”

The team turns its attention to its home race in just two weeks, back on the east coast at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR). The Michelin GT Challenge, a two-hour, 40-minute sprint race featuring only IMSA’s GT classes, comes at the home of Team Hardpoint. The team’s 10,000 square foot race shop is located at VIR’s Virginia Motorsport Technology Park on the grounds at VIR.

“Seeing Katherine out there running fast lap after fast lap was a great moment for us on the timing stand, knowing how hard we continue to work week in and week out,” Ferriol said. “Despite what position we were in at the time, to see her being the fastest car on track was really good for us and we’re looking forward to coming back to VIR to get that result.”

The team moves to its home race running eighth in the GTD team championship with the No. 88 Porsche. The VIR round is another condensed two-day event for the WeatherTech Championship, with a two-hour, 40-minute race at noon EDT on Saturday, October 9. That race will air live over the air on NBC.

About Team Hardpoint:
Hardpoint Motorsports was founded by Rob Ferriol in 2018 with the vision of combining his experience as a successful entrepreneur with his passion for racing. Team Hardpoint EBM is a joint venture between Team Hardpoint and Earl Bamber Motorsport formed in late 2020 for Team Hardpoint’s Porsche Carrera Cup North America program to utilize the resources of EBM and co-owners Earl Bamber and Will Bamber and the early success of Team Hardpoint. Headquartered at VIRginia International Raceway, the team’s 2021 plans include a full-season effort in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship in a Porsche 911 GT3 R and a multi-car effort in the IMSA Porsche Carrera Cup North America. More information on Hardpoint Motorsports can be found at www.hardpoint.com or through its strong social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

LONG BEACH, Calif., (September 25, 2021) – Wright Motorsports secured a third-place finish on Saturday afternoon at the Long Beach Grand Prix, keeping the points battle tight for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD team title. Patrick Long, Trent Hindman, and the crew on the No. 16 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R excelled under pressure on the downtown streets of Long Beach, earning their third-straight podium finish.

As is the usual for street courses, the three pre-race practice and qualifying sessions were hampered by red flags, eliminating the amount of time the competitors had to run on track and dial in on their optimal setups for the race. Following a tight qualifying session, Trent Hindman set the team to start sixth on the 17-car GTD grid.

The field took the green flag under perfectly sunny conditions, and Hindman held sixth behind the No. 63 Ferrari of Daniel Mancinelli. Hindman stayed close with consistent lap times, moving to fifth place by the first full-course caution. He restarted behind the No. 9 of Zacharie Robichon, and the battles immediately commenced at the drop of the green flag. After a side-by-side fight between the points-leading No. 96 BMW of Robby Foley and the No. 39 Audi of Richard Heistand, the BMW went nose-first into the tires, advancing the Wright Motorsports Porsche to the fourth position.

With 60-minutes remaining, the team called Hindman in for the one and only pit stop of the day. The No. 16 Porsche took on fresh tires and fuel, trading out Hindman for Patrick Long as well. The team executed a flawless and speedy stop, gaining a position in pit lane as Long rejoined the race. The Lamborghini of Bryan Sellers led the GTD field with the No. 14 Lexus of Jack Hawksworth and Patrick Long charging behind in second and third. The No. 39 Audi tagged another car, this time the Wright Porsche, while exiting the hairpin. The Audi made contact with the Porsche’s right rear corner, but Long expertly saved the car from hitting the wall and was able to continue without losing position. While Long charged forward and closed in on the Lexus again, the No. 9 Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor joined the fight, eventually taking third place from Long.

It was a four-car battle for the final two podium spots in the final 13 minutes. Vanthoor passed Hawksworth and pulled away, lighting a fire on Long’s competitive spirit as well. The strategists in pit lane gave Long the “all-clear” to push with all effort, and after an excruciating several laps of navigating through traffic and the tight turns of the Long Beach street circuit, Long dove on the inside of turn eight, overtaking the Lexus and securing third-place.

He wasted no time putting distance between the 1st Phorm Porsche and the Lexus, pulling away and closing the several-second gap to the Pfaff Porsche in the span of one lap. In the end, the tight circuit allowed little area to pass in the final lap, and the Wright Motorsport Porsche earned a third-straight podium finish, keeping the championship battle incredibly tight at the conclusion of the weekend.

Unofficially, Wright Motorsports is fifth in the 2021 team championship standings, just 207 points away from the leaders. With 350 points awarded for a race win and 35 for pole position, the pressure will only increase for the two remaining events.

VIRginia International Raceway will host the GTLM and GTD classes in the Michelin GT Challenge, October 8-9, and the season will close out at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for Petit Le Mans, November 11-13. For more information, visit imsa.com.

Driver Quotes | No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R

Patrick Long
It was typical street racing: hard-nosed. We had a well-balanced car. I was fighting with the 14-car and I tried to square him up and get a run onto the back straightaway and unfortunately clipped the inside wall and lost a position. I gathered it back up and fought back to a podium position. I am happy to salvage that to go three in a row with podium finishes but we wanted to be a little further up the box. I am so proud of these Wright Motorsports guys. The pit stop was unbelievable. I am pretty confident that we had one of, if not the best, pit stop of the race. That is what got us into clean air and gave us a shot at the end. We will fight all the way to the final race.

Trent Hindman
Everyone on the 1st Phorm Wright Motorsports team should be proud today. Qualifying was rough, rough to say the least. For the guys to be able to pull through with the job they did on pit lane and the speed of the car they put underneath us, they should be really proud. We are really pleased we were able to bring home a podium today and salvage a good result of what was, otherwise, looking like a tough weekend.

1st Phorm
1st Phorm is a sports nutrition company based in St. Louis, MO. In 2009, CEO Andy Frisella and his business partner Chris Klein started the brand, and since then, it has become the fastest growing supplement company in the world. 1st Phorm has set the standards in the industry for quality and helping people reach their goals. This new racing partnership is not their first time in the exotic car scene either. 1st Phorm has been the title sponsor for the Gold Rush Rally for six years running. With over a million followers across social media, 1st Phorm has amassed a huge cult-like following known as, “The Legion of Boom.” They stand for a movement in the fitness world. To turn it back to what it was meant to be. Helping others improve their lives, to be a good human… and to drop the excuses and do the work. 1st Phorm is a winning brand and they don’t expect anything less when it comes to their race team. For additional info: www.1stphorm.com

Mountain Motorsports
Mountain Motorsports is a group of motorcycle and powersports dealerships with multiple locations in the southeastern United States. The company was founded by lifelong friends Ryan Hardwick and Justin Price when they opened their first location as a single-line Honda dealership in Sevierville, Tennessee in 1999. The company has since grown into one of the largest retailers of motorcycle and powersports vehicles in the nation, spanning nine dealership locations representing eleven of the industry’s most well-known brands. For additional info: www.mountainmotorsports.com

Una Vida Tequila
Una Vida translates to One Life. That is how this brand started. By people who want to live their “One Life” to the absolute fullest and to their highest potential. A group of guys from the Midwest who love great quality tequila, and want their One Life to have meaning and impact others.

One Life, One Tequila is our CORE BELIEF. We’re building the only tequila brand you will ever need to drink. Una Vida is bigger than just tequila we’re also building a culture of people who want to live their life to their utmost potential.

Our story begins and continues to grow bottle by bottle. It’s a life mission for us to create a community of people who all raise a glass knowing they’re living their ONE LIFE! For more information, visit unavidatequila.com

Wright Motorsports
Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series, international racing team known for superb car preparation, expert race strategy, and driver development. Located in Batavia, Ohio, it is owned and directed by John Wright, a certified Porsche factory-trained technician. As a crew chief John Wright has played a key role in winning eight driver and seven team championships in World Challenge, IMSA (ALMS) and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Wright Motorsports won the team championship in Porsche GT3 Cup USA in 2012, 2013 and 2015, and went on to win the Pirelli World Challenge Overall, Sprint, Team and Manufacturer’s titles in 2017. In 2020, the team captured the GT World Challenge America Am championship.For more information, visit wrightmotorsports.com For more information, visit wrightmotorsports.com.

Long Beach, Calif. (September 25, 2021) — The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 finished fourth in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The result ensures that they maintain their lead in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a total of 3,071 points and a 19-point lead over their closest rivals.

Filipe Albuquerque was aggressive but calculated at the start, passing a pair of Cadillacs and entered the Turn 2 fountain section side-by-side with second place. He filtered out in third and concluded his stint in fourth position with one hour remaining.

The team executed a one-stop strategy for the 100-minute sprint, with Ricky Taylor taking the wheel for the second stint. Taylor was fast and consistent, bringing the blue and black Konica Minolta machine home in fourth.

The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 team will conclude the 2021 season in November at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the prestigious Motul Petit Le Mans. Alexander Rossi will join full-time co-drivers, Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque for the ten-hour endurance event in hopes of mirroring the start of the season with another victory to clinch the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

“We got the result that we expected today,” reflected Ricky Taylor. “The Cadillacs were clearly fastest this weekend. We finished the best of the rest. Filipe made a fantastic start, and because he did, we weren’t in a position to take a huge risk on the strategy, which ultimately wouldn’t have paid off, so the guys did their thing. We had a good stop, and everyone executed well. We came home with a fourth place at Acura’s home race. It’s nice to get some points and a clean race, but it’s a shame we can’t be on the podium at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.”

“I’m happy with our performance,” said Filipe Albuquerque. “I think Ricky, myself, Wayne Taylor and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 team maximized our Acura around Long Beach. Obviously, we would have liked a podium or finish ahead of the No. 31, but they were simply too quick. The margin is very small so it’s all about who wins at Motul Petit Le Mans in a month’s time. Let’s see how it goes. Still leading the championship, that’s what matters.”

“Coming in, we knew this was going to be a tough race for us,” said team owner Wayne Taylor. “From the off, it was all three Cadillacs first, second and third. We said, if the No. 31 wins, we have to be fourth to keep the championship lead and we’ve done that. We head to Motul Petit Le Mans where we’ll be on a more even keel, I think.”

The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 2021 returns for the championship deciding Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on November 11-13. Practice begins on Thursday at 9:20 a.m. ET. Green flag will wave on Saturday, November 13 at 10:10 a.m. ET with complete 10-hour race coverage on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.
ABOUT KONICA MINOLTA

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is reshaping and revolutionizing the Workplace of the Future™. The company guides and supports its clients’ digital transformation through its expansive office technology portfolio, including IT Services (All Covered), intelligent information management, managed print services and industrial and commercial print solutions. Konica Minolta has been included on CRN’s MSP 500 list nine times and The World Technology Awards recently named the company a finalist in the IT Software category. Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for fourteen consecutive years, and received Keypoint Intelligence’s BLI 2021 A3 Line of The Year Award and BLI 2021-2023 Most Color Consistent A3 Brand Award for its bizhub i-Series. Konica Minolta, Inc. has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for nine consecutive years and has spent four years on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World list. Konica Minolta partners with its clients to give shape to ideas and works to bring value to our society. For more information, please visit us online and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter. Wayne Taylor Racing’s existing lineup of partners that also features Harrison Contracting, Acura Motorsports, Hammer Nutrition and CIT.