DECEMBER 14, 2016

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Editor-In-Chief's Note: We were pleased to feature the work of photographer extraordinaire - John Thawley - in AE again this year. John is a gifted talent who captures the images of major league sports car racing like no other. You can see John's entire "Best of" the sports car racing year gallery here, plus you can see more images in Fumes. Wordgirl and I are deeply grateful to John for allowing us to feature his exceptional work in the pages of Autoextremist.com. -PMD

(Audi Sport)
Audi has added Frenchman Loïc Duval (left) and the German René Rast to its roster of drivers competing in the DTM series next season. Both will drive the latest Audi RS 5 racing machine and both have been successful in other racing series for Audi, most recently having been active in the WEC. Mattias Ekström (Sweden), Jamie Green (Great Britain), Nico Müller (Switzerland) and Mike Rockenfeller (Germany) will complete Audi's driver lineup for the 2017 DTM season. “We’re happy that our driver squad for the new DTM season is complete,” says Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. “In Mattias and Mike, we have two DTM Champions on board who in my book will be among the favorites next year, not least due to the new rules and tires. Jamie, no doubt, is one of the strongest campaigners in the DTM. Nico convinced us with consistently good performances and his first DTM victory last season. Not only on delivering a strong race in the finale at Hockenheim, René has shown that he’s also going to be in contention at the very front in the DTM. And in Loïc, we’ve integrated one of our best drivers from the Le Mans program into our DTM squad. I’m convinced that we’re in a top position with our driver lineup for the 2017 season and have six strong characters in our team.”

Editor-In-Chief's Note: Yes, the rumors are flying that Sergio Marchionne, FCA's Dictator, is contemplating bringing the Dodge brand back to NASCAR. The bad news? I'm sure Brian France & Co. will interpret this development as a sign that everything is perfectly fine in NASCAR's world and that they don't need to change one damn thing. So the downward spiral of reduced in-person attendance, plummeting TV ratings, and the death-march of a schedule (the most ridiculous schedule in all of sports; and when you take the NBA and the NHL into account, that's really saying something) will continue on unabated, apparently. -PMD

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Corvette Racing has confirmed that its full-season driver roster will remain unchanged for the upcoming 2017 racing season. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen will be in the NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R (with Mike Rockenfeller at Daytona and Sebring); and Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner will wheel the NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R (with Marcel Fässler at Daytona and Sebring) during both the IMSA season and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, pending invitations for the annual French endurance race. This will mark the sixth consecutive year that the full-season lineup features the same four drivers. In their combined Corvette Racing history, they have combined to win 105 races and 10 Driver’s Championships in IMSA competition. Corvette Racing also has amassed an IMSA-record 102 race victories. Corvette Racing swept all six GT Le Mans titles in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2016, while winning five times. The two Corvette C7.Rs will participate at an upcoming preseason test Dec. 13-14 at Daytona International Speedway. The team recorded a 1-2 finish in GTLM at last year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona with the two cars separated by just 0.034 seconds. Gavin and Milner used that as a springboard to three additional wins and the GTLM Driver’s Championship. Garcia and Magnussen were part of the runner-up entry at the Rolex, won overall at VIR and placed third in GTLM points.

(Acura)
Acura Motorsports and Michael Shank Racing team will debut at the Daytona 24 Hours (Rolex 24) in January and take part in the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team's driver lineup includes Graham Rahal, series regulars Andy Lally and Katherine Legge, and Mark Wilkins in the No. 93 Acura NSX GT3; and Ryan Hunter-Reay, full-season drivers Ozz Negri and Jeff Segal, and Tom Dyer in the No. 86 machine. The significance of the numbers? The No. 86 car commemorates Acura's 30th anniversary since its establishment in 1986; the No. 93 team car represents 1993, the year Honda Performance Development (HPD) was founded. All eight drivers will take part in the January 6-8 "Roar Before the 24," IMSA series open test prior to the running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway on January 28-29, the opening round of the 12-race 2017 WeatherTech Championship. (12/21)