INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., (March 21, 2021) – In their first attempt at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, Era Motorsport earned a second-place finish on Saturday in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event. The No. 18 Oreca of Kyle Tilley, Dwight Merriman, and Ryan Dalziel started third and endured a long twelve hours of racing to earn the coveted podium position, two months after celebrating victory at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

After one of his better runs to date, Dwight Merriman put in an impressive qualifying session on Friday afternoon, setting the team up to start third on the grid for Saturday’s big race. True to her usual form, Sebring International Raceway provided a race full of excitement, calamity, and incredible racing over the course of the twelve hours. A series of bad timing on full course cautions interrupted the team’s strategy, eventually putting the blue Oreca down a lap, though still in second place. The team never gave up, working consistently to maintain position in hopes that another caution period would grant the passaround needed to get back on the lead lap, sure enough, with less than 30 minutes to go, another incident brought the No. 18 back on the lead lap for a brief 20-minute sprint to the checker flag. Despite the effort, the team finished second, securing a strong podium result in a grueling race, and valuable points to go towards the championship.

The second-place finish marks the end of the team’s winning streak in 2021, having scored class victories in five races before last weekend’s festivities. However, with the podium result, the team now stands second in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship LMP2 full-season standings, as well as the Michelin Endurance Cup. Up next, the team heads to Barcelona in April 12-13 for a European Le Mans Series test before competing in the opening round of the season, the 4 Hours of Barcelona, on April 17-18.

Kyle Tilley
“If you had told us at the start of the race that we’d be finishing second, we’d probably be pretty happy with the result, but now with seeing what a strong performance we put in and how close we were to first position at the end, its hard to be completely satisfied. We were really aiming to have our sixth straight win this weekend, and it would have been nice to win the double of Daytona and Sebring. It came down to it at the end. We’ll go home, have a think and see what we can do better next time. Onto Barcelona.”

Dwight Merriman
“While everyone is a little disappointed that we didn’t earn our sixth win in six races today, I’m still very proud of our second-place finish in our first Twelve Hours of Sebring. This track is legendary, and this race is incredibly demanding.”

Ryan Dalziel
“That was definitely an exciting race. Obviously, everybody wants to win, but considering where we were with a couple of hours to go, second place is still a little disappointing. We just got caught with a couple of bad yellows that put us a lap down. We got thrown a good luck charm there at the end and it put us back on the lead lap. It was an exciting last 30 minutes. The 52 car had the legs on us throughout the race, so to be as close as we were is a personal victory for us.”

About Era Motorsport
Era Motorsport was formed in 2018 with the idea of providing unmatched excellence in historic racing. Just two years later, the team expanded to the world of professional sport car racing, fielding an Oreca 07 in the prolific IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Motorsport isn’t just a hobby, it is a way of life: a passion that is in the team’s blood. Whether you find us in the IMSA WeatherTech paddock with modern prototypes or chasing down lap records in our fully restored classic sports cars, or even globetrotting to experience historic F1 at some of the world’s most iconic circuits, Era Motorsport has something for everyone. In 2021, the team will return to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for limited events and also contest in the full season of the Asian Le Mans championship.

Sam Mayer and Mark Brummond claim class wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway

CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA (21 March 2021)- After a 21-year hiatus, Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli returned to Charlotte Motor Speedway for 100-miles of all green-flag racing on the track’s legendary Roval on Sunday.

Breathless Racing driver Oscar Teran drove the No. 3 Ford Mustang from pole to claim his first victory in the inaugural Trans Am ProAm Challenge race. Teran started his motorsport career in 1997, earning championships in multiple disciplines across Central America. The Panama native has three Trans Am starts since 2015 and made the third one count with his run to victory lane.

“This is the first Trans Am race I finished, and to finish in the first position is great,” said Teran. “Sebring was a nightmare race for me and between races, the Breathless team took care of all the little details on the car and now I have a winning car. Thank you to the Breathless Racing team for putting in the hard work to get me on the top step.”

It wasn’t a straightforward run from pole to the top of the podium though as Teran had is work cut out for him on a very heated final circuit. Crossing the stripe with nearly a four-second lead, Teran hit mixed-class traffic on the last lap, allowing TA2® class drivers Sam Mayer and Ty Gibbs to close the gap on the more powerful Trans Am car.

On the final straight, once again Teran had to navigate around a slower class car, but was able to hold off the prowling future NASCAR stars, claiming the checkered just .246-seconds ahead of Mayer in the No. 8 M1-SLR/Fields Chevrolet Camaro.

Mayer edged out Gibbs by .222-seconds for a second-place overall finish and his first class victory. Gibbs in the No. 26 Mike Cope Race Cars finished third overall, and second in class.

“We were trying to conserve tires the whole time to stay up with the TA car which was really fast,” explained Mayer. “I am really proud of our performance and I learned a lot from driving on this Roval. Ty (Gibbs) and I will be here later this year for the Xfinity playoffs, so he and I will have another fun battle doing that. Hopefully I will win again.”

Conner Mosak (NicTailor/IFS M1-SLR/Fields Chevrolet Camaro) did not turn any qualifying laps on Saturday and started in nearly last place. Charging through the field, Mosak made up 11 positions to finish fourth overall and third in class for TA2®.

Simon Gregg (No. 59 ThePeterGreggFoundation Chevrolet Camaro) and Ken Thwaits in his brand-new No. 5 Franklin Road Apparel Chevrolet Camaro rounded out the TA class podium.

Charlotte local Mark Brummond out-wheeled Natalie Decker, who was piloting Brummond’s old Audi R8, to finish first in the SGT class. Brummond decided to enter the race last minute to shake down his newly rebuilt No. 24 GarageDoorDoctor/DynamicAutoTune BMW M4 GT for next weekend’s Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta round.

“This car got wrapped up at CoTA last season so we wanted to get some laps in before next week’s round at Road Atlanta,” said Brummond. “We decided not to run on stickers, these Pirelli tires have about five hours of race wear. The car held together and the racing was fun, and that’s what we came here to do.”

NASCAR Xfinity drivers Harrison Burton and Brandon Jones returned after missing qualifying on Saturday due to the Xfinity race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Burton finished third.

Both driving for Silver Hare Racing this weekend, Burton and Jones started from the back of the field since they did not turn qualifying laps. Running in tandem, the pair cut through the field, making up a collective 19 positions to finish fifth (Burton) and sixth (Jones) overall.

With a quick turnaround, the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli returns to action next weekend (March 26-28) for Round 2 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The weekend will be live-streamed exclusively on the Trans Am by Pirelli Racing App. Download and subscribe: https://bit.ly/2Z9IJKq

Sebring, Fla. (March 21, 2021) – The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 finished in the fourth position for the 69th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring after battling adversity despite showing strong speed for the majority of the historic race event.

Ricky Taylor took the green flag at 10:10 a.m. ET and immediately started on the front foot, demonstrating excellent speed throughout the opening stints. Teammates Filipe Albuquerque and Alexander Rossi were in a similar mood, as they too continued to maneuver the blue and black No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 at the sharp end of the field. However, misfortune struck with 3 hours and 46 minutes remaining when Albuquerque was involved in an unfortunate incident with a GTD car at Turn 7.

As a result of the incident, the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05’s speed was compromised for the remainder of the race and despite the setback, the team soldiered on to the finish to secure important points in the championship chase.

“We came away today with some decent championship points,” said Ricky Taylor. “The entire team did a great job today. We had a fantastic car all weekend. The car was so strong and it’s such a shame that we were fighting a bit wounded at the end of the race. Filipe and Alex did an awesome job and all the calls throughout the day were great. Our main rivals, the No. 31 and the No. 01, had more misfortune than we did, so we have a little bit of a buffer going into the remainder of the season. There are so many good cars and we’re going to have to continue to fight in Mid-Ohio.”

“Sebring was being Sebring tonight,” said Filipe Albuquerque. “Chaotic, crazy, unpredictable. There were so many ups and downs for everyone. We finished fourth and we couldn’t do any better, we had two penalties and a lot happened to us. We were still in contention, but then we had a problem on track which enabled us not to fight with fair tools. Alex did what we could with what he had. So, fourth is okay in the championship when a couple other teams had bigger problems than us. It’s a shame not to win again when we were looking so good today.”

“The day was really promising at times,” mused Alexander Rossi. “At various stages the No. 10 Konica Minolta car was the car to beat. Everything was looking really good for the first eight hours of the race, but with these endurance races there are a lot of variables and things that can happen. We seemed to have some sort of mechanical issue that prevented some straight-line and acceleration performance. It lasted for the final three and a half hours of the race, so it made our job really difficult. We were in good position when we could run by ourselves, but as soon as we stacked up with restarts it exacerbated the issue that we had, but such is racing. The car is home in one piece, and I think everyone on the team did a great job.”

“It was a bit of a rough day,” said Wayne Taylor. “Our guys never gave up as usually. The drivers did a good job, and we had a good strategy. We really had a good car, but we just had an unfortunate incident and then got two drive through penalties. With that incident we broke an engine component, so we were a bit down on power. We still got some solid points as we look to the first sprint race of the season in May.”

The 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship returns to action May 14-16 for the Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio which is the first sprint race of the season. Full time drivers Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque will be on hand as the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 look to continue their quest for the championship.

About Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is reshaping and revolutionizing the Workplace of the Future™ with its expansive smart office product portfolio from IT Services (All Covered), ECM, Managed Print Services and industrial and commercial print solutions. Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for thirteen consecutive years, and the World Technology Awards recently named the company a finalist in the IT Software category. Konica Minolta, Inc. has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for nine consecutive years and has spent three years on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World list. Konica Minolta partners with its clients to give shape to ideas and work 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.

SEBRING, Fla. (March 20, 2021) – Corvette Racing ended an up-and-down day with fourth- and fifth-place class finishes in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Advance Auto Parts. Both Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs faced adversity throughout, and the team nearly won for the 13th time at Sebring International Raceway.

The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg placed fourth in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category after leading much of the day in the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Garcia began on the class pole position, and the trio controlled from the outset and led 211 of 334 laps. After winning the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, the No. 3 Corvette team appeared on its way to a Florida sweep before Garcia was spun from the lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.

On the opposite side of the Corvette garage, the No. 4 Corvette C8.R trio of Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims had a day to forget. Beginning the race second in GTLM, the No. 4 C8.R developed an electrical problem from the outset that hampered the Corvette’s performance. Milner, Tandy and Sims – who finished second in GTLM at Daytona – were fifth in class Saturday at Sebring.

Despite a couple of mid-race setbacks, the Garcia/Taylor/Catsburg trio re-established themselves as the race entered twilight with a mix of fuel savings and solid strategy. A fortunate pit stop before a full-course caution period with less than two hours to go allowed the No. 3 Corvette to take the lead, although never by more than three seconds.

Garcia drove the final 2.5 hours and attempted to work his way through traffic when he was forcefully hit under braking by the second-place GTLM car and sent spinning out of the hairpin Turn 7.

The front-left of the C8.R was damaged, and Garcia had to pit with a flat tire. The damage was too great, and the No. 3 Corvette missed the podium.

The outcome spoiled a weekend in which Corvette Racing and Chevrolet celebrated a 25-year technology partnership with Mobil 1. Both of the Corvette C8.Rs sported liveries that matched the Mobil 1 brand.

Corvette Racing’s next event is the Six Hours of Spa in the FIA World Endurance Championship on May 1.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FOURTH IN GTLM: “I don’t know what to say. I’m definitely disappointed in the whole situation. It was a very hard race for all of us. We managed to be up there, and with two stints to go we were both going flat-out. It definitely was between them (the No. 25) and us. Up to that point, it was fair. The whole thing was good. He was pushing hard, and I was pushing as hard as I could. I think we put on a good show but I’m disappointed with the way it ended. I’m sure we would have been super happy to bring home a real result. It’s a tough break, especially after such a long race. I’m disappointed for the guys, for Corvette, for Team Chevy and the fans. We all deserved a little bit better. We will just move on. My next stop is Spa and I’m looking forward to that and the rest of the season. Thank you to Jordan and Nicky… it’s just a tough break.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FOURTH IN GTLM: “It’s definitely a tough end to the day. We came back from some adversity mid-race which is good and got back in the race with strategy and good fuel mileage for the last few hours. We were able to jump everybody in the pits on that last yellow stop which was great. Then Antonio was able to build a small gap and maintain it. Unfortunately the race ended the way it did. But at least we were competitive. When we were here for the 12 Hours last year, we had our own issues we had to deal with. So taking some positives away, we ran a flawless race reliability-wise for our car with no issues, so I think that is one promising thing we can leave here with and only hope for better next time.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FOURTH IN GTLM: “It was crazy… up and down. We went from in the lead to being almost last to being in the lead and then being fourth. Honestly, there were too many mistakes from our side but we recovered and did really well. The Corvette held up really well even after my spin; the car was still in good shape. We managed to get back with good strategy and good pace. Then it looked like we were going for the win… we had the right man at the right moment in the car. This is typical Sebring, though. You see the same thing in Sebring every year. You win some and you lose some. This was very unfortunate, a bit of a divebomb from the 25. These things happen. We need to regroup, learn from the mistakes we made and try to improve for the next race.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FIFTH IN GTLM: “Frustrating is probably the best word to describe it. It was a bit of a waste of a race for us unfortunately. I felt something wrong pretty much at the start and we were low on power. We drove the entire 12 hours like that. While I was out there, I didn’t know what was wrong and why we couldn’t fix it. I don’t know those answers. So yeah… it was pretty frustrating.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FIFTH IN GTLM: “Obviously it was a tough race for the whole team. On the No. 4 side of the garage, to know we were going into the battle with one hand tied behind our back right from the very beginning was tough, but there was optimism. The guys did everything possible to try and figure out and resolve the issue. But in the end we took the view that it would be better to carry on and try to pick up pieces if anything happened rather than take time out and spend a lot of time in the garage. I’m proud of the people for the work they put in trying to get the car to the end. We accomplished that. It goes to show the vagaries of motorsports from the highs of Daytona to the lows of Sebring. This is how motorsport is sometimes.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FIFTH IN GTLM: “It was a tough day for everyone on the whole team. Certainly on the 4 car, it was a long day. It was quite clear very quickly that we were going to be up against it to get anything from the race. We went into it seeing what we could salvage, and in the end we couldn’t salvage much. From a personal point of view, it was good to get more miles in the Corvette. I found a decent amount of performance in myself between first stint and second stint in the car. It was helpful to keep gaining miles. In practices this weekend, you only get 10 or 12 laps before the race starts, and that’s just not enough to get back into it. That’s the biggest positive from my side.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 75 countries with nearly 4 million cars and trucks sold in 2019. 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-u