RACE: 20th Anniversary of the Motul Petit Le Mans
DRIVERS:
No. 86 Acura NSX GT3: Ozz Negri, Jeff Segal, Tom Dyer
No. 93 Acura NSX GT3: Andy Lally, Katherine Legge, Mark Wilkins
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
No. 93 Acura NSX GT3: 4th with 269 points
No. 86 Acura NSX GT3: 10th with 229 points
TPNAEC CHAMPIONSHIP: The Michael Shank Racing No. 86 Acura NSX GT3 entry heads into the final round of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup (TPNAEC) championship third in the GTD category. The team has 27 points – just three points out of the championship lead. The No. 93 Acura NSX GT3 entry is fourth with 23 points. Both teams are in contention to take the TPNAEC championship title at Petit. The TPNAEC is a championship within a championship which includes rounds held at each of the four endurance events on the IMSA calendar (Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, and Petit Le Mans). Points are distributed based on track position during designated segments of each race. For the Petit Le Mans, points are allocated at the four hour & eight hour marks as well as at the finish.
CALLING ALL MSR FANS! For the third year in a row, Michael Shank Racing invites fans to sign the team cars ahead of the Petit Le Mans for the season-finale Road Atlanta event. Stop by the Michael Shank Racing transporter on Friday after qualifying or on Saturday during the Grid Walk which takes place at 9:45 AM ET on the front straight. Have your signature ride along with the team during the 10-hour enduro!
HOME SWEET HOME: Road Atlanta is the home track for both Katherine Legge and Andy Lally, who each reside in the Atlanta metro area.
A LOOK BACK AT PETIT: In the team’s third entry into the Petit Le Mans last year, Michael Shank Racing, which was celebrating its 250th Prototype class race start, utilized its Honda-powered Ligier to lead every practice session, score the pole position in qualifying, lead the most laps in the race and go on to set the fastest race lap. Drivers Olivier Pla (France), Ozz Negri (Brazil/USA), and John Pew (USA) combined to score a dramatic victory, winning by just under four seconds after 10 hours of racing.
2013 Road Atlanta: Started 9th Finished 7th (John Pew, Michael Valiante)
2013 Road Atlanta: Started 10th Finished 4th (Gustavo Yacaman, Antonio Pizzonia)
2014 Petit Le Mans: Started 6th Finished 6th (John Pew, Ozz Negri)
2015 Petit Le Mans: Started 13th Finished 9th (John Pew, Ozz Negri, Matt McMurry)
2016 Petit Le Mans: Started 1st Finished 1st (John Pew, Ozz Negri, Olivier Pla)
ROAD ATLANTA DRIVER HIGHLIGHTS:
Ozz Negri: Negri won last year’s Petit Le Mans event in the No. 60 Honda-Ligier. He has five starts at Road Atlanta and claimed a podium finish of second in 2013 while racing in the American Le Mans Series for 8Star Motorsports.
Andy Lally: Lally has 11 IMSA WeatherTech starts at Road Atlanta which includes a class victory in 2010 as well as podium finishes in 2004, 2013, 2014, and 2015. He also has several IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge starts at the track.
Katherine Legge: Legge’s competed at Road Atlanta over the previous four years with a best finish of third while racing in the ALMS in 2013. She competed in both the ALMS and Rolex Series events that year.
Jeff Segal: Segal has competed at Road Atlanta four times with a best finish of third in last year’s Petit Le Mans event.
Mark Wilkins: With just three starts at Road Atlanta, Wilkins has never finished outside of the top-five at the track. Scoring fourth in 2010, he went on to win in 2012 and take a podium finish of third in 2013 – both with CORE Autosport in the LMPC category.
Tom Dyer: The 2017 Petit Le Mans marks Dyer’s first appearance in the event. He has made several starts at the track in IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge competition.
NEW FOR 2017: In addition to the brand new cars and drivers in the Michael Shank Racing stable, the team added seven additional team members for the two car-effort.
Source. Sunday Group
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