AUGUST 9, 2017

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Pipo Derani and teammate Johannes van Overbeek (No. 22 ESM Tequila Patrón Nissan) won Sunday's two-hour, 40-minute Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America, breaking a seven-race win streak for GM in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition. Derani took the lead when Stephen Simpson pitted the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports ORECA LM P2 car with 25 minutes remaining and held off Jordan Taylor in the No. 10 Konica Minolta "Cadillac" DPi-V.R to by win by 2.356 seconds. The Taylor brothers wound up second for their sixth podium result of the season and first since winning five consecutive races to open the season. Ricky Taylor started from the pole position and combined with his younger brother to lead the first hour and 45 minutes before the final round of pit stops. Tequila Patrón ESM finished with two Nissan DPis on the podium, as co-drivers Ryan Dalziel and Scott Sharp finished third in the No. 2 machine. Simpson made an emergency pit stop for fuel during the final full-course caution of the race to lose the lead, then dropped further back when he had to stop again once the green flag dropped, leaving him and co-driver Misha Goikhberg eighth in the final race results in the No. 85 machine. They finished second in each of the last two races. The next race for the WeatherTech Championship Prototype class is the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California on Sunday, Sept. 24. Editor-in-Chief's Note (Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin): It was another spectacular racing weekend at Road America despite a rainy Friday, with the IMSA series putting on a excellent show. And the news that IMSA is on an upward trajectory, as delivered by Scott Atherton, President and CEO, on Friday, should be encouraging for the competitors, participating manufacturers and racing enthusiasts of all stripes. Enjoy the spectacular images by John Thawley from "America's National Park of Speed" in our Autoextremist Gallery here.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: It has been a long road for the ESM Tequila Patrón Nissan team, as they watched the "Cadillac"-branded GM entries dominate the first seven races, but Road America was a different story, and a breakout result for the team.

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Brazilian driver Pipo Derani and teammate Johannes van Overbeek broke a seven-race win streak for Cadillac, co-driving their No. 22 Tequila Patrón Nissan to victory at Road America.

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: It was Ford's turn in the GTLM class at Road America, as they got the favorable "call" in IMSA's Balance of Performance sweepstakes. The ebb and flow of the BoP in the GTLM class is divisively political, but there's not a damn thing anyone can do about it, apparently. It's what modern-day racing has become and it stinks to high heaven. At any rate, Joey Hand (No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT started by co-driver Dirk Mueller) passed the Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor on a restart with 31 minutes remaining to win in GTLM. That victory coupled with troubles from the top two teams in the GTLM standings moved the No. 66 Ford GT team to within five points of the class-leading No. 3 Corvette Racing C7.R duo of Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen. “We had some bad luck [earlier this season], but moving forward hopefully we can carry this momentum to a championship,” said Hand. “GTLM is a tough, tough category, lots of good guys and lots of good teams. You don’t want to get in the mix, which is what happened in the beginning. I got into my teammate and the (No.) 911 and got out a little in the grass, but I was able to use the restart to get around them. The traffic made it interesting there at the end, but this was a good one for us.” Vanthoor and co-driver Gianmaria Bruni (No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR) finished second, 0.621 seconds back, for the team’s second consecutive runner-up finish. Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook (No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Ford GT) finished third and also remain in championship contention, 11 points out of the class lead. Heading into the Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway on Aug. 27, the No. 3 Corvette team unofficially leads the standings with 236 points, followed closely by the No. 66 Ford GT (231 points) and No. 25 BMW M6 GTLM (230 points). -PMD
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: The factory mid-engine Porsche 911 RSRs are the baddest 911s ever built (yes, even more so than the famed 935s). With a shrieking sound unlike any Porsche racing machines I have ever heard (nicely amplified by the forested confines of "America's National Park of Speed"), they were simply spectacular and clearly a crowd favorite. -PMD

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Jens Klingmann and Jesse Krohn (No. 96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3) teamed for an impressive first victory of the season in the GTD class, leading 65 of 67 laps at Road America. It was Turner Motorsport’s 16th win in IMSA competition, but first since Circuit of The Americas in September, 2016.  “Last year we finished P7, so I wasn’t optimistic because the cars are the same,” admitted Klingmann. “But when we practiced we realized we were competitive. Then Jesse was leading the race, and we had a big lead on P2. Sometimes it plays out your way and other days it doesn’t. Sometimes you have to get lucky and today we did."  Patrick Lindsey and Joerg Bergmeister (No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R) followed up their victory at Lime Rock Park one race ago with a runner-up effort. Lawson Aschenbach and Andrew Davis (No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS GT) finishing third in the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS GT3.

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Local favorite James French and Patricio “Pato” O’Ward (No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA FLM09) maintained their perfect record in the 2017 WeatherTech Championship Prototype Challenge (PC) class with their seventh victory of the season in the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase, but this one meant a little bit more to French. The driver hails from nearby Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and made his sixth PC start at Road America. It wasn’t until today, however, that French stood atop the podium as a race winner. French and O’Ward made it look relatively easy on Sunday, as they combined to lead every lap in the race en route to the win. “It feels pretty excellent to be honest,” French said. “This is my sixth time in this car here and no victories up to this point. Now it’s great to finally check it off the bucket. Pato did a great stint under the green. We got caught off guard by the yellow, but were able to stay out front. The team did a good job of keeping us calm and keeping the car on the right track. It was overall a great day. The car was so fast, and we kept improving over the day. At the end, we got a win on the list and now we get to go on to Petit [Le Mans, the season finale].” Mark Kvamme and Gustavo Yacaman (No. 26 BAR1 Motorsports ORECA FLM09) finished second, with teammates Don Yount and Buddy Rice third in the No. 20 BAR1 Motorsports ORECA. The PC class wraps up its WeatherTech Championship run in its next race, the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 7.

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: The spectacular racing - and setting - at "America's National Park of Speed" was expertly captured by John Thawley. Check out our AE gallery of his images here.

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: See more of John Thawley's scintillating images in the AE gallery from Road America here.

(crash.net)
Marc Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda RC213V) went flag-to-flag to win the MotoGP Brno in the Czech Republic on Sunday, a race that started out in wet conditions. Marquez started from the pole but was forced to make an early pit stop to change to his second machine fitted with slicks after his decision to run the soft wet rear Michelin tire backfired. With an change to his second bike, Marquez emerged one step ahead of the opposition. By the time his key rivals had switched to their dry set-up machines, he had built a lead of 20 seconds. Dani Pedrosa (No. 26 Repsol Honda RC213V) was second, Maverick Vinales (No. 25 Movistar Honda YZR-M1) finished third and Valentino Rossi (No. 46 Movistar Honda YZR-M1) was fourth.

(Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Martin Truex Jr. (No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota) and crew chief Cole Pearn celebrate after their win in the I LOVE NEW YORK 355 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen on Sunday. Truex Jr. slowed down to save fuel over the final laps and then held off Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing TOYOTACARE Toyota) on the last lap to win by .414 seconds. Daniel Suarez (No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Stanley Toyota) finished a career-best third.

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Risi Competizione will return to competition in the International Motor Sport Association WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series beginning with the upcoming Michelin GT Challenge race at VIRginia International Raceway, August 25-27. "We will back at VIRginia International Race with our No. 62 Risi Competizione 488 Ferrari with Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander," said Giuseppe Risi. "We have taken a hiatus since the 24 Hours of Le Mans but now plan to complete the season at VIR, Laguna Seca and the season finale at Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta." The Risi Competizione team has sat out the past four of 12 IMSA GTLM races of the 2017 IMSA season including Watkins Glen, Mosport, Lime Rock Park and Road America. The team withdrew from the series in late June in order to consolidate resources and to reflect on future racing programs following three consecutive races in which the team suffered extensive and expensive damage to their Ferrari 488 GTLM at the hands of other competitors at Long Beach, Circuit of the Americas (above) and Le Mans. The Risi Competizione Team started the 2017 season with third-place podium finishes at both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

(Acura)
Acura has teased its newest race car - the Acura ARX-05 prototype - which will be entered and run by Team Penske in 2018. Introduced in a new video , the ARX-05 marks Acura’s return to prototype racing and will be revealed during the Monterey Automotive Week beginning at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering (August 18), followed by an appearance at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (August 19) and finally, displayed on the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance concept lawn (August 20). Team Penske will campaign a pair of entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next year. The Acura ARX-05 makes its competition debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January 2018.

(Chevrolet images)
General Motors announced that the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will be its new race car for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. “Chevrolet, Camaro and ZL1 are all synonymous with winning, both on and off the track,” said Mark Reuss, executive vice president of GM Global Product Development. “We are thrilled to run Camaro in NASCAR next year, with the time-honored and track-tested ZL1 badge, and we’re just as excited for our drivers, teams, fans and customers.” The Camaro ZL1 will make its competition debut next February during Daytona Speedweeks. GM says that Chevrolet engineers employed an array of tools, including computational fluid dynamics analysis and reduced-scale and full-scale wind-tunnel testing, to optimize aerodynamic performance while maintaining the ZL1’s design character (uh, okay, that's a stretch). The ZL1 first appeared in the 1960s on a Chevrolet-developed all-aluminum racing engine that became a dominating force in road racing. In 1969, a few enterprising dealers used Chevrolet’s special-order system to get the ZL1 engine installed in 69 regular-production Camaros. The 2018 Camaro ZL1 street car is powered by a 650HP supercharged engine. The Camaro ZL1 race car unveiled on Thursday wore the No. 8, which was Louis Chevrolet’s original racing number. WIll Ford follow-up with a Mustang to compete in NASCAR's top series? We would be shocked if they didn't.