2004 Grand Prix Of Sonoma
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2004 Grand Prix Of Sonoma
The 2004 Grand Prix of Sonoma was the fourth race for the 2004 American Le Mans Series season held at Infineon Raceway. It took place on July 18, 2004. This race saw Corvette Racing enter a third Corvette C5-R for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and co-driven by Boris Said. The car was successfully qualified but in warm-up the morning of the race, Earnhardt, Jr. went off course and collided with a barrier, causing a rupture of a fuel line. The broken fuel line was sparked when the car came to a stop and caused the car to be engulfed in flames, with Earnhardt, Jr. inside dazed by the accident and unable to get himself out immediately. Once Earnhardt, Jr. was able to become aware of his situation and rescue crews were able to arrive, Earnhardt, Jr. was successfully pulled from the burning vehicle. He received second and third degree burns to his neck, chest, and legs, partially due to not wearing a fire-retardant balaclava with his helmet. The Corvette C5-R was burned beyond repair and di ...
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Infineon (Sears Point) With Emphasis On Long Track
Infineon Technologies AG is a German semiconductor manufacturer founded in 1999, when the semiconductor operations of the former parent company Siemens AG were spun off. Infineon has about 50,280 employees and is one of the ten largest semiconductor manufacturers worldwide. In fiscal year 2021, the company achieved sales of €11.06 billion. Infineon bought Cypress Semiconductor in April 2020. Markets Infineon markets semiconductors and systems for automotive, industrial, and multimarket sectors, as well as chip card and security products. Infineon has subsidiaries in the US in Milpitas, California, and in the Asia-Pacific region, in Singapore and Tokyo, Japan. Infineon has a number of facilities in Europe, one in Dresden. Infineon's high power segment is in Warstein, Germany; Villach and Graz in Austria; Cegléd in Hungary; and Italy. It also runs R&D centers in France, Singapore, Romania, Taiwan, UK, Ukraine and India, as well as fabrication units in Singapore, Malaysia, ...
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Audi R8 (race Car)
The Audi R8 is a Le Mans Prototype sports-prototype race car introduced in 2000 for sports car racing as a redevelopment of their Audi R8R (open-top Le Mans Prototype, LMP) and Audi R8C (closed-top LMGTP) used in 1999. In its class, it is one of the most successful racing sports cars having won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005, five of the six years it competed in total. Its streak of Le Mans victories between 2000 and 2005 was broken only in 2003 by the Bentley Speed 8, another race car fielded that year by Volkswagen Group. The petrol-powered Audi R8 race car was in 2006 replaced by the new Audi R10 TDI Diesel; however, the need to further develop the R10 meant that the R8 saw action in a few races leading up to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. History 1998: The challenge In 1997, sports car racing and especially the Le Mans 24 Hours was popular among factories such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Toyota, Nissan Motors, and others. At that time, Audi ...
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Lola B2K/40
The Lola B2K/40 was a Le Mans Prototype developed in 2000 by Lola Cars International as a cheaper, smaller, and lighter alternative to the similar Lola B2K/10. Although specifically designed to compete in the SR2 class of the Sports Racing World Cup and Grand American Road Racing Championship, it would later be adapted to the LMP675 and LMP2 classes for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and American Le Mans Series. This design was replaced in 2005 by the Lola B05/40 and would last be used in competition in 2006. Development Although the B2K/40 shared some mechanical elements with the larger B2K/10, the design was more simplified for the sake of ease of use. Unlike the raised footbox B2K/10 and large protruding nose caused by this footbox, the B2K/40 would employ a simplified footbox and a flattened nose, although it still featured a raised element in the middle to help air flow between the cockpit and fenders. The fenders themselves were also much simpler, using a narrow wedge shape ...
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Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ousted General Motors founder William C. Durant (1861–1947) started the company on November 3, 1911 as the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Durant used the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to acquire a controlling stake in General Motors with a reverse merger occurring on May 2, 1918, and propelled himself back to the GM presidency. After Durant's second ousting in 1919, Alfred Sloan, with his maxim "a car for every purse and purpose", would pick the Chevrolet brand to become the volume leader in the General Motors family, selling mainstream vehicles to compete with Henry Ford's Model T in 1919 and overtaking Ford as the best-selling car in the United States by 1929 with the Chevrolet International. Chevrolet-branded vehicles are sold in most autom ...
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Johnny O'Connell
Johnny O'Connell (born July 24, 1962) is the most successful GM factory racing driver from the United States. He currently drives for Cadillac in the Pirelli World Challenge, winning the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 GT driver's championship. Career Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, O'Connell started racing in the Formula Atlantic series in 1987, winning the Championship and Rookie of the Year. He also spent 1996 in the Indy Racing League, racing in the Indianapolis 500 and finishing in the top 10 in half of his 4 starts. He has seven class wins in the 12 Hours of Sebring, more than any other driver, and an overall title in 1994 when racing for Nissan. Driving for Corvette Racing, he has also won a number of class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona. With his teammate Ron Fellows he won the 2003 GTS class driver's championship. O'Connell was also featured in Chevy's 2007, Super Bowl ad, "Ain't We Got Love" also featuring Mary J. Blige, rapper T.I., B ...
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Ron Fellows
Ronald Charles Fellows CM (born September 28, 1959) is a Canadian auto racing driver. Fellows holds the record for most wins by a foreign-born driver in NASCAR's top three series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and trucks) with six – four in Nationwide and two in trucks. Personal life Fellows was born in Windsor, Ontario, on September 28, 1959. At age four he became interested in auto racing with his family. He found a love for French-Canadian Formula 1 driver Gilles Villeneuve. Fellows has one of the biggest collections of Gilles Villeneuve merchandise in Canada and called Villeneuve his idol. To attend F1 races at a young age, Fellows went to watch them at a local track on an island in Montreal, Canada; a track that eventually would be named "Circuit Gilles Villeneuve". When Villeneuve died in 1982 the track was named after Villeneuve himself. Fellows developed a dream to win at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve when he became a racing driver. He accomplished his goal in 2008, winning the ...
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James Weaver (racing Driver)
James Weaver (born 4 March 1955 in London) is a British former racing driver. In 1978 Weaver started racing in Formula Ford with Scorpion Racing School. He then began his professional career in the European F3. In 1982 he was the Eddie Jordan Racing team's primary driver, but in 1983 he returned to the European F3. He debuted in the British Touring Car Championship in 1989 at the Oulton Park circuit in March that year. He finished second overall in the British Touring Car Championship that year behind the winner John Cleland. He won Class B that year. In 1987, Weaver joined Dyson Racing, for whom he drove for twenty years. He resulted IMSA GT Championship runner-up in 1995, won the 1998 United States Road Racing Championship and the 2000 and 2001 Rolex Sports Car Series, and collected two vice-championships in the 2004 and 2006 American Le Mans Series. Among his wins, he triumphed at the 1997 24 Hours of Daytona and the 1997, 2000 and 2002 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. He also fi ...
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Butch Leitzinger
Robert Franklin "Butch" Leitzinger (born February 28, 1969) is an American professional racing driver. He is best known as an ALMS driver with Dyson Racing, but he has also driven for a variety of other teams and race series. He won the IMSA Pro WSC Ckampionship driver's titles in both 1997 and 1998 while driving for Dyson Racing. Also a three time winner of the Daytona 24 hours race in 1994, 1997 and 1999. Racing career Sports car racing Leitzinger has driven for the Bentley factory team at Le Mans in 2001 and 2002, for the Cadillac team at Le Mans in 2000 and for Panoz at Le Mans in 1999. Leitzinger has also driven in the GT classification for Risi Competizione at Le Mans in 2003. Leitzinger was also named 2002 Rookie of the Year in the Trans-Am Series. Butch drove the Alex Job Racing (AJR) No. 81 Porsche GT3 car in the first four events in the American Le Mans Series GTC class for the 2010 season, with Juan Gonzales earning victories at the 2010 12 Hours of Sebring as we ...
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Advanced Engine Research
Advanced Engine Research, Ltd. (commonly known by the abbreviation AER) is an auto racing engine manufacturer based in Basildon, Essex, England. Established in 1997, AER has developed winning engines for a number of high-profile international race series in sports car, prototype racing, rallying, touring car, and open wheel racing. They have designed engines derived from road car platforms, but their emphasis is on clean sheet designed engines with a focus on electronics and turbochargers. Their engines have raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), the United SportsCar Championship (TUSC), GP3, British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), Nissan/Renault World Series, Grand-Am, Paris Dakar and FIA Sportscar Championship. They have worked with a number of manufacturers including Mazda, Ford, Hyundai, MG/Rover, Nissan, and Toyota. In 2012, AER developed and built Formula One turbo test engines to current rules and in J ...
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MG (car)
MG is a British automotive marque founded by Cecil Kimber in the 1920s, and M.G. Car Company Limited was the British sports car manufacturer that made the marque famous. Best known for its open two-seater sports cars, MG also produced Sedan (car), saloons and coupés, with engines up to three litres in size and 3.5L in the case of the MGB GT V8. The marque is now owned by Chinese state-owned automaker SAIC Motor, SAIC Motor Corporation Limited. MG cars had their roots in a 1920s sales promotion sideline of Morris Garages, a retail sales and service centre in Oxford belonging to William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, William Morris. The business's manager, Cecil Kimber, modified standard production Morris Oxfords and added ''MG Super Sports'' to the plate at the nose of the car. A separate M.G. Car Company Limited was incorporated in July 1930. It remained Morris's personal property until 1 July 1935, when he sold it to his holding company, Morris Motors, Morris Motors Limited ...
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MG-Lola EX257
The MG-Lola EX257 (sometimes referred to as simply MG EX257) is a Le Mans Prototype built by Lola for the MG car company for their attempt to compete again at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in . The car has had many years of mixed success since its introduction, even in privateer hands. It was Lola's only car built specifically to LMP675 regulations, and was known by their designation as the Lola B01/60. The last EX257 in original specification was retired from racing in 2007. Development Following a resurgence for the MG brand in the beginnings of the 21st century, the decision was made to expand the brand into motorsports such as touring car racing as well as sports car racing. MG had previously had success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans many decades ago, yet had never scored an overall win. At approximately the same time, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) had changed the Le Mans Prototype regulations for Le Mans, making it possible for two different classes of prototype to be cap ...
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Andy Wallace (racing Driver)
Andy Wallace (born 19 February 1961, in Oxford, England) is a professional racing car driver from the United Kingdom, who has been racing since 1979. In 1976, Wallace attended the Jim Russell Racing Drivers' School. He is the current official Bugatti test driver. He has raced prototype sports cars since 1988, winning over 25 International Sports car races including: * 24 Hours of Le Mans * 24 Hours of Daytona (3 times) * 12 Hours of Sebring (2 times) * Petit Le Mans . Wallace was also the driver for the then record-setting speed of in a McLaren F1, which for over 11 years was the world record for the fastest production car. According to the Autosport's Le Mans supplement, he liked the place so much that he became resident there. Wallace drove for Dyson Racing in the American Le Mans Series through the 2007 racing season. In January 2008, Wallace drove for Alex Job Racing in the #23 Porsche-powered Daytona Prototype backed by Ruby Tuesday in the 24 Hours of Daytona, finishi ...
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