TUSC: February test dates set; Michelin now official tire supplier for GTLM class - MotorSportsTalk

IMSA and officials at Sebring International Raceway have confirmed Open Test dates in February for both the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

Both series will have morning and afternoon test sessions on both Thurs., Feb. 20, 2014 and Fri., Feb. 21, 2014 to prepare for the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring weekend on March 12-15, 2014. The weekend will include the CTSCC’s first-ever race at the famous Florida road course.

Sebring will also host testing for other IMSA-sanctioned series – including Cooper Tires Prototype Lites, Porsche GT3 Cup USA, Porsche GT3 Cup Canada, and Lamborghini Super Trofeo – on Feb. 24-25, 2014.

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IMSA has also confirmed that Michelin is now an approved tire supplier for TUSC’s GT Le Mans class. The French tire maker will supply for six teams in the class: Corvette Racing, BMW Team RLL, Risi Competizione, SRT Motorsports, Aston Martin Racing, and Porsche North America.

“Michelin’s record in sports car racing, particularly in North America, speaks for itself,” IMSA president/COO Scott Atherton said in a statement. “We witnessed firsthand the many positive contributions Michelin provided the American Le Mans Series over many years and could not be more proud to welcome this truly world-class manufacturer into the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.”

As a supplier in the now-former ALMS, Michelin collected 139 overall wins and 392 class wins over 147 races.

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SINGAPORE — Max Verstappen’s Formula One title celebrations were put on hold after the Red Bull driver placed seventh at a chaotic Singapore Grand Prix, won by his teammate Sergio Perez on Sunday.

Perez’s second win of the season saw him finish 7.6 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. in third place.

Perez was investigated for a potential safety car infringement but still kept the win after a 5-second time penalty for dropping too far back after being warned.

Verstappen had won the past five races but needed to win here and finish 22 points ahead of Leclerc to be crowned champion for a second straight season. That could happen next weekend at the Japanese GP.

Verstappen made a mistake after the second safety car restart, following AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda’s crash on Lap 36. When Verstappen tried to overtake Lando Norris’ McLaren, he locked his tires and needed to pit again.

Leclerc started from pole position with Verstappen going from eighth after a team blunder in qualifying.

The race start was delayed by more than an hour to clear water off the Marina Bay Circuit track following heavy rainfall. Drivers had to finish the 61-lap race within a two-hour window; 59 laps were completed.

RACE CLASSIFICATION (END OF RACE)

Perez wins an incredible race on our return to Marina Bay #SingaporeGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/P14dpRmDQo

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 2, 2022

Tricky conditions saw the virtual safety car deployed three times and DRS was allowed with about 30 minutes remaining.

Perez made a good start and jumped past Leclerc while Verstappen dropped several places. The first safety car was on Lap 8 when Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo was cut off by Nicholas Latifi’s Williams.

Perez got away cleanly at the restart, while Verstappen climbed into seventh behind Fernando Alonso – whose 350th F1 race ended disappointingly when his engine failed on Lap 21, bringing out the first VSC.

With the track still damp, drivers decided against changing to quicker tires – apart from Mercedes’ George Russell, who struggled for grip.

Hamilton made a rare mistake on Lap 33 and thudded into the crash barrier. Soon after, the leading drivers changed tires in a flurry of stops. They did so just before the safety car was deployed again following Tsunoda’s error.

Verstappen overtook Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin right at the end for seventh place.