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O'Connell and Magnussen
Win GT1 in Long Beach Street Fight
O'Connell Conquers the Streets of Long Beach to Score Milestone 30th ALMS
Victory
 LONG
BEACH, Calif., April 19, 2008 – Johnny O'Connell celebrated the 30th
victory of his American Le Mans Series career with an exuberant burnout that
filled the streets of Long Beach with tire smoke. O'Connell and Jan
Magnussen teamed up in their No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R to score a
1.374-second victory in the GT1 division over Oliver Gavin and Olivier
Beretta in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R. O'Connell became the third
driver in ALMS history to score 30 wins, and today's victory propelled
O'Connell and Magnussen to a four-point lead (66-62) in the drivers
championship.
"I first raced in Long Beach in 1986, so to finally get a win here 22 years
later is very special," O'Connell said. "Corvette Racing is the team that’s
the most important in my career, and to show the performance of E85 ethanol
racing fuel here in Southern California is a very cool moment.
"I was giving it everything I had," O'Connell reported. "You see the
competition in the pits between the two crews and how close it was between
the Corvettes on the track, so it doesn’t take a big field of cars to make
it an exciting race."
 The
two Corvettes waged a fierce street fight on the 1.968-mile temporary
circuit. Magnussen started on the class pole with Gavin in hot pursuit as
both drivers had to contend with heavy traffic and debris on the circuit.
The Corvettes pitted simultaneously under caution just after the first hour
of the 100-minute race. The pit stop contest was a dead heat, and the No. 3
maintained its narrow lead.
"It was a crazy pit stop," said Gavin, who ran the fastest lap of the race
at 1:17.415. "I came in right behind Jan, couldn't see the line for the pit
lane speed limit, and nearly ran up the back of him. Then when we came into
the pit box, all of a sudden there was an official on the hood of my car! I
had to stop short, but fortunately the guys were ready with the fuel hoses
and tires."
With fresh tires and full tanks of cellulosic E85 ethanol racing fuel,
O'Connell and Beretta duked it out in the final 37 minutes. The gap between
the two stretched to 6.7 seconds, but Beretta mounted a furious charge in
the closing laps.
"I think we were a little quicker than the No. 3 car today, but the traffic
situation is very difficult on a street course," said Beretta. "The whole
team did a very good job. Olly was very quick in his stint, but traffic made
the difference. At the end of the day, it's good that the No. 3 Corvette won
and we are taking both cars home in perfect condition to get ready for Le
Mans."
Magnussen notched his 16th career ALMS win as he and O'Connell backed up
their victory in the season-opening Sebring 12-hour race.
"It was a good fight at the end, and Johnny did a hell of a job," said
Magnussen. "I think the weather cooled down a little too much for our race
setup, so we had some small handling issues, but nothing that we couldn't
overcome. In the beginning I got through the traffic really well, but at the
end of my stint it became harder and harder. At the same time that I was
catching the front-running GT2s, the prototype leaders were coming by. That
didn’t leave a lot of room."
Corvette Racing extended its reign as the most successful team in ALMS
history with its 60th win in the series.
"Long Beach always proves to be a great event," commented Corvette Racing
program manager Doug Fehan." The two Corvettes battled all day long, both
crews executed flawless pit stops, and the engineering team developed great
strategies. We had another perfect run with cellulosic E85 ethanol, so it
was just a great day for Corvette Racing and for the environment."
Corvette Racing’s next event is the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand
Prix at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 18, at
1:00 p.m. MT. SPEED will televise the two-hour, 45-minute event live at 3
p.m. ET.
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Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series GT1 Results
Pos./Drivers/Car/Laps
1. O'Connell/Magnussen, Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, 70
2. Gavin/Beretta, Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, 70
GT1 Championship Standings (unofficial after three of 11 events)
Manufacturer/Points
1. Chevrolet 70
2. Aston Martin 23
Driver/Points
1. Jan Magnussen 66
Johnny O'Connell 66
2. Oliver Gavin 62
Olivier Beretta 62
3. Ron Fellows 30
4. Max Papis 26
5. Terry Borcheller 23
Chapman Ducote 23
Antonio Garcia 23
NEXT EVENT
May 18, 2008, 1 p.m. MT, Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix, Miller
Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah
TV: SPEED live, 3 p.m. ET
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