IBSF World Cup makes seventh stop on famed St. Moritz track
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (Jan. 29, 2020)– The famed all-natural iced track of St. Moritz will host the seventh of eight stops on the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Cup tour this week.
This will be the last World Cup of the season for the U.S. bobsledders. The bobsled team has opted to spend extra time in Germany to prepare for the 2020 World Championships in lieu of traveling to Latvia for the eighth and final World Cup.
The detailed schedule is as follows, with all times listed in local time:
Friday, Jan. 31
9:30 a.m.: Men’s skeleton heat #1
11:15 a.m.: Men’s skeleton heat #2
1 p.m.: Women’s skeleton heat #1
2:45 p.m.: Women’s skeleton heat #2
Saturday, Feb. 1
9:30 a.m.: Women’s bobsled heat #1
11 a.m.: Women’s bobsled heat #2
1 p.m.: Men’s two-man bobsled heat #1
2:30 p.m.: Men’s two-man bobsled heat #2
Sunday, Feb. 2
10 a.m.: Four-man bobsled heat #1
11:30 a.m.: Four-man bobsled heat #2
NBC Sports and Olympic Channel will have broadcast and digital streaming coverage of the IBSF Bobsled & Skeleton World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland from January 31- February 2. Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBC Sports online at NBCSports.com/Live, or through the NBC Sports app, which is available on the Apple App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Additional coverage will be available on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app.
Savannah Graybill (Denver, Pa.), Megan Henry (Roxbury, Conn.) and Kendall Wesenberg (Modesto, Calif.) will represent Team USA in the women’s skeleton competition, while Andrew Blaser (Meridian, Idaho), Austin Florian (Southington, Conn.) and Alex Ivanov (Carlisle, Mass.) will compete in the men’s race.
Wesenberg has raced in St. Moritz five times, and she claimed her first career World Cup medal, a silver, on the Swiss course in January 2017. The gliding track suits Wesenberg’s driving style, and she’s a favorite for the medals on Friday. Henry has competed in two Intercontinental Cup competitions in St. Moritz, while Graybill has raced in three World Cup races on the famed track.
Blaser has never competed in St. Moritz before. Ivanov has two European Cup competitions under his belt on the Swiss course, while Florian has raced in one World Cup in St. Moritz.
Kaillie Humphries (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Lauren Gibbs (Los Angeles, Calif.) will team together for the fifth time this season. Humphries and Gibbs started the season with double gold medals. Humphries has a history of success in St. Moritz, having earned three World Cup medals and the 2013 World Championship title there.
St. Moritz is one of the few tracks outside of North America that Hunter Church (Cadyville, N.Y.) has some experience on. Church raced to 15th place in the 2018 Junior World Championships in Switzerland. Church will race with Josh Williamson (Lake Mary, Fla.) in Saturday’s two-man race. Williamson, Jimmy Reed (Garmisch, Germany) and Kris Horn (Pembroke, Mass.) will be Church’s push crew on Sunday in the four-man completion, which is the final four-man race of the World Cup season.
Please contact USABS Marketing & Communications Director Amanda Bird at 518-354-2250, or amanda.bird@usabs.com, with media inquiries.
About USA Bobsled & Skeleton
USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Omaze, Kampgrounds of America, BiPro, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Ferris Mfg. Corp, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com.
###
Mid-Engined Chevy Corvette C8 Production Has Started: Report
[UPDATE] Contacted by Motor1.com, GM spokesperson Chris Bonelli says production of the new Corvette will begin in February.
It’s a great day for those who have signed their names on the dotted line to buy a C8 as it appears production of the mid-engined Corvette has finally started. The eighth generation of Chevrolet’s popular sports car was originally scheduled to hit the assembly line towards the end of 2019, but the UAW strike took its toll and forced General Motors to push back production until February.
It looks like they’ve managed to get everything ready a few days sooner, with production at the Bowling Green, Kentucky factory now underway. The reveal comes to us from Chevy salesperson Mike Davenport through his YouTube channel called “Chevy Dude” where he regularly posts videos about everything interesting that’s going on related to the C8 and other models that have the bowtie emblem. He was the first to break the news about Chevy cutting back on dealer allocations for the Corvette’s 2020 model year, which was shortly confirmed to Motor1.com by a spokesperson.
It goes without saying Chevy Dude is talking about the production of customer cars, including his very own C8. Another tidbit revealed is about the cancellation of the optional exposed carbon fiber ground effects for the 2020MY due to supplier issues. If you have ordered the car already with this option, Chevy will have no other way but to delete it.
For those who haven’t pre-ordered the new Corvette and are interested in getting the 2020MY, it appears April is going to be the last month when dealers will be able to ask Chevy for cars. Interestingly, Chevy Dude also knows the production of the mid-engined sports car will transition to the 2021MY in September.
That effectively means the initial model year of the C8 will only be in production for about seven months. We also get to learn the first cars will hit dealers across the country around mid-February or closer to the end of the month.
As you might have heard already, the 2021MY is rumored to come with a price bump, but nothing is official at this point. All we have for the time being is a rumor originating from a “well-placed source” cited by Motor Trend who is saying the Corvette will lose the sub-$60,000 sticker. Chevy Dude doesn’t expect the price increase to be significant, based on his 20-year experience in selling cars and analyzing Corvette pricing changes from one model year to the next.
Motor1.com has reached out to Chevy for comment and will update the article if we get a response.
Source: Chevy Dude / YouTube
Exclusive! C8.R Corvette 5.5L DOHC V-8 Pics and How the Flat-Plane Crank Alters Its Iconic Sound
There’s A New Engine In The C8.R Corvette, And It Sounds Nothing Like Its Predecessor.
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and although that’s true, it can also be in the ear of the listener.
Since the Corvette first hit the streets back in the 1950s, it was imbued with the beautiful and nearly magical sound of V-8 performance. It was a deep, bass-filled rumble that just oozed a feeling of power. Over the years, the sound emanating from Corvettes, both on the street and at the track, had a distinctive note that became synonymous with the car. When the Corvette moved to the LS1 in 1997, the firing order was tweaked a bit, and although the sound did change, it still had that deep rumble that we all love.
But the only thing constant in the world is change. For the C8.R, Chevrolet Racing really changed things up with its new mid-engine marvel, but it wasn’t the engine placement that ended the car’s iconic sound signature. It was the engine itself. Gone is the deep baritone exhaust note, replaced instead with a high-pitched Ferrari-like sound. Think puberty in reverse. And although we love the sound of a wound-out Ferrari or other Italian supercars, having that pitch emanate from the back of a Corvette is something that will be hard to get used to. We’re not saying the sound is bad—it’s actually pretty badass—but it’s not even close to the sound signature we’ve come to associate with Corvettes.
The real culprit here isn’t the new 5.5L DOHC V-8 that Chevrolet moved to. Instead, it was the choice to go with a high-revving flat-plane crank. This drastically changed the firing order of the engine and eliminated the classic American V-8 sound that’s typical with the firing sequence of a traditional cross-plane crank. But we know what you’re thinking: “Well, this is just the race car, so I’m going to be able to get my V-8 rumble fix from the production car!” Well, yeah, for now. You see, for Chevrolet Racing to run this new DOHC flat-plane crank mill in the C8.R, it has to, according to the rules, run a similar engine in at least 300 production cars. So does this mean that an eventual C8 Z06 variant will lose its iconic exhaust note?
Koenigssee hosts sixth stop of IBSF Bobsled & Skeleton World Cup tour
KOENIGSSEE, Germany (Jan. 22, 2020)– Koenigssee will host the sixth of eight stops of the IBSF Bobsled & Skeleton World Cup tour this week. The German track was completed in 1968, and was the first artificially refrigerated track in the world.
The competition schedule is as follows, with all times listed in local time:
Friday, Jan. 24
11:30 a.m.: Women’s skeleton run #1
1 p.m.: Women’s skeleton run #2
3:30 p.m.: Men’s skeleton run #1
5:15 p.m.: Men’s skeleton run #2
Saturday, Jan. 25
12 p.m.: Women’s bobsled run #1
1:30 p.m.: Women’s bobsled run #2
3 p.m.: Men’s two-man bobsled run #1
4:30 p.m.: Men’s two-man bobsled run #2
Sunday, Jan. 26
1:30 p.m.: Four-man bobsled run #1
3 p.m.: Four-man bobsled run #2
Fans can watch the action live and on demand. NBC Sports and Olympic Channel will have broadcast and digital streaming coverage of the IBSF Bobsled & Skeleton World Cup in Koenigssee. Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBC Sports online at NBCSports.com/Live, or through the NBC Sports app, which is available on the Apple App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Additional coverage will be available on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app.
Savannah Graybill (Denver, Pa.), Megan Henry (Roxbury, Conn.) and Kendall Wesenberg (Modesto, Calif.) will compete for Team USA in women’s skeleton. Henry is fresh off her first career World Cup medal, bronze, in last week’s race in Igls, Austria, and she’s hungry for the medals once more. Henry has raced in six Intercontinental Cup competitions in Koenigssee before this week. Graybill has the most experience of the three women with eight races in Koenigssee on her resume, including a 16th place finish in the 2017 World Championships. Wesenberg has raced on the German track seven times, including fourth place finishes in the 2014 European Cup that helped her secure the 2015 overall title.
Andrew Blaser (Meridian, Idaho), Austin Florian (Southington, Conn.) and Alex Ivanov (Carlisle, Mass.) will follow the women on Friday in the men’s skeleton competition. This is Blaser’s first time in Koenigssee, and only Florian’s third. Ivanov has competed in Koenigssee six times in various European Cup and Intercontinental Cup races.
In women’s bobsled, Kaillie Humphries (Carlsbad, Calif.) will again team with Sylvia Hoffman (Arlington, Texas). The duo claimed bronze together in last week’s Igls race. Humphries is no stranger to success in Koenigssee– she’s earned seven World Cup medals and two World Championship medals on the track. The last time she raced the German course was in January 2018, when she finished second for Team Canada.
Hunter Church (Cadyville, N.Y.) is once again learning a new track. The 23-year-old will race with Kyle Wilcox (Tampa, Fla.) in Saturday’s two-man competition. Church’s four-man crew for Sunday will be Josh Williamson (Lake Mary, Fla.), Jimmy Reed (Garmisch, Germany) and Kris Horn (Pembroke, Mass.). Church had a breakthrough last weekend, when he claimed his first career four-man bobsled World Cup bronze medal with Williamson, Reed and Horn. It was the first World Cup medal in three years for a U.S. men’s team on foreign soil.
Please contact USABS Marketing & Communications Director Amanda Bird at 518-354-2250, or amanda.bird@usabs.com, with media inquiries.
About USA Bobsled & Skeleton
USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Omaze, Kampgrounds of America, BiPro, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Ferris Mfg. Corp, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com.
Source: TeamUSA
Henry claims bronze in Igls’ women’s skeleton World Cup
GLS, Austria (Jan. 17, 2020)– Megan Henry (Roxbury, Conn.) put together two solid runs to claim bronze in today’s women’s skeleton World Cup in Igls. Today was only Henry’s fifth World Cup appearance. Kendall Wesenberg (Modesto, Calif.) and Savannah Graybill (Denver, Pa.) and also had strong performances, finishing 14th and 18th, respectively.
“I’m super excited to have my first World Cup medal,” Henry said.
Henry started her campaign for the medals with a start time of 5.36 seconds and the third best run of 53.80 seconds. Only five-hundredths of a second separated the top five after the first heat. Russian Elena Nikitina was one-hundredth of a second ahead in silver medal position, and hometown competitor Janine Flock was three-hundredths ahead in first place. Germany’s Jacqueline Loelling was on Henry’s heels, just two-hundredths behind in fourth.
“I knew that I had a really good run, but I didn’t know how good,” Henry said. “I got to the bottom and Tuffy (Latour) told me my position and I was like, ‘Oh, ok,” Henry said. “I kind of felt like my legs were jello before the second run. I knew that I could medal as long as I stayed consistent with my push.”
Henry nearly matched her first run start time with a 5.37 push, and the American raced to the finish in 53.90 seconds. She had fallen back a spot, but would later gain it back.
Kimberly Murray from Great Britain surprised even herself with the track record of 53.70 seconds in the second heat. This was Murray’s 10th career World Cup race. She was in 16th place after the first heat, and moved up eight spots to finish eighth. The pressure was on for the remaining competitors.
Loelling broke Murray’s newly set track record with a second run of 53.62 seconds to leap past Henry and take over the lead to win with a combined time of 1:47.44. Flock bumped back one spot into second place with a total time of 1:47.46. Nikitina fell back into fourth to finish behind Henry with only the 10th best run of the second heat. Henry claimed bronze with a total time of 1:47.70.
“There were a couple of mistakes I would have liked to clean up, but when I realized I had medaled I was super excited,” Henry said. ”I can’t be disappointed with my first World Cup medal.”
Wesenberg finished 14th with a two-run combined time of 1:48.59. She clocked start times of 5.69 and 5.72 seconds for runs of 54.31 and 54.28 seconds, respectively.
“Good drive,” said USA Skeleton Technical and Development Lead Coach Caleb Smith from the coach’s box after Wesenberg’s final run.
Graybill pushed identical start times of 5.60 seconds in both heats. She posted a downtime of 54.46 in the first heat, and 54.38 in run two for a combined time of 1:48.84 to lock in 18th place.
Tomorrow will feature the women’s bobsled race at 10 a.m. local time, and the two-man bobsled competition at 2 p.m. NBC Sports and Olympic Channel will have broadcast and digital streaming coverage of the races. Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBC Sports online at NBCSports.com/Live, or through the NBC Sports app. Additional coverage will be available on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app.
Please contact USABS Marketing & Communications Director Amanda Bird at 518-354-2250, or amanda.bird@usabs.com, with media inquiries.
Results
1. Jacqueline Loelling (GER) 1:47.44 (53.82, 53.62);
2. Janine Flock (AUT) 1:47.46 (53.77, 53.69);
3. Megan Henry (USA) 1:47.70 (53.80, 53.90);
14. Kendall Wesenberg (USA) 1:48.59 (54.31, 54.28);
18. Savannah Graybill (USA) 1:48.84 (54.46, 54.38);
About USA Bobsled & Skeleton
USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Omaze, Kampgrounds of America, BiPro, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Ferris Mfg. Corp, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com.
Source: TeamUSA
Blaser leads USA Skeleton in fifth career World Cup
IGLS, Austria (Jan. 17, 2020)– Andrew Blaser (Meridian, Idaho) led the U.S. in this morning’s men’s skeleton World Cup in Igls with an 18th place finish. It was the first time Blaser has raced in Igls. Austin Florian (Southington, Conn.) and Alex Ivanov (Carlisle, Mass.) finished 26th and 28th, respectively.
This is Blaser’s World Cup debut season, and his first time racing the European tracks. Today was the fifth World Cup race of Blaser’s career, and the first time he’s qualified for the second heat. Blaser was the only North American to make the top 20 today.
“We knew it was going to be a development year for me,” Blaser said. “It was my first time in La Plagne (France), my first time in Winterberg (Germany), my first time here– I’m getting those first runs under my belt this season. It was overwhelming at first, but it’s exciting and things are starting to come together over time.”
The Igls track favors fast starters, which gave Blaser a boost today. He posted a first run start time of 5.01 seconds, which was 10th best of the field, and raced to the finish in 53.27 seconds for 19th place to qualify for the second heat. Only the top 20 athletes after the first heat are granted a second run.
“I was elated,” Blaser said.
He nearly matched his first run start time in heat two with a push of 5.02, and moved up a spot with a downtime of 53.05 seconds. Blaser finished 18th with a combined time of 1:46.32.
When USA Skeleton Head Coach Tuffy Latour handed Blaser the phone for this interview, his first reaction was, “Did my mom get Tuffy’s number?”
“This is all new to me,” Blaser said.
Latvian Martins Dukurs was today’s winner in 1:44.50. Reigning Olympic champion Sungbin Yun of Korea was a distant 0.42 seconds behind in second place with a total time of 1:44.92. Russia’s Alexander Tretiakov claimed the bronze medal in 1:44.94.
Florian and Ivanov both missed the top 20 cutoff for the second heat. Florian clocked the 22nd best start time of 5.11, and slid to the finish in 53.63 seconds for 26th. Ivanov was 28th fastest off the start with a push time of 5.17, and he maintained 28th place at the finish with a downtime of 53.74.
The women’s skeleton race is up next at 2 p.m. local time. NBC Sports and Olympic Channel will have broadcast and digital streaming coverage of the Igls races. Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBC Sports online at NBCSports.com/Live, or through the NBC Sports app. Additional coverage will be available on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app.
Please contact USABS Marketing & Communications Director Amanda Bird at 518-354-2250, or amanda.bird@usabs.com, with media inquiries.
Results
1. Martins Dukurs (LAT) 1:44.50 (52.34, 52.16);
2. Sungbin Yun (KOR) 1:44.92 (52.66, 52.26);
3. Alexander Tretiakov (RUS) 1:44.94 (52.53, 52.41);
18. Andrew Blaser (USA) 1:46.32 (53.27, 53.05);
26. Austin Florian (USA) (53.63, DNS);
28. Alex Ivanov (USA) (53.74, DNS):
About USA Bobsled & Skeleton
USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Omaze, Kampgrounds of America, BiPro, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Ferris Mfg. Corp, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter.
Ro leads USA Skeleton in North American Cup finale with two gold medals
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (Jan. 7, 2020)– USA Skeleton athletes captured two spots in the top-three North American Cup standings, and collected five medals in the Lake Placid finale this week. Mystique Ro (Nokesville, Va.) led the way for the women’s team with two gold medals and wrapped up her season ranked third overall. Chris Strup (Defiance, Ohio) concluded a successful North American Cup tour ranked second overall in the men’s field, and secured two silver medals in Lake Placid. Daniel Barefoot (Johnstown, Pa.) earned the fifth medal this week for USA Skeleton by claiming silver in today’s finale.
Two single-heat races were held yesterday, and a two-heat race concluded the skeleton North American Cup season today.
Ro struggled in yesterday’s opening heat, finishing sixth with a run of 55.96 seconds. She said one-heat races are tough because you have “one shot, so you have to make it count.”
“Once that was in the books, I had to scrap it and move on,” Ro said.
Kellie Delka of Puerto Rico won with a run of 55.50 seconds. Yuxi Li from China claimed silver with a time of 55.52, and Korean Eunji Kim was third with a downtime of 55.60. Ro was the highest U.S. finisher in sixth.
Ro rebounded in yesterday’s second one-heat race, posting the fastest run of 55.69 seconds to capture her first victory of the week by 0.01 seconds over Kim. Canadian Jaclyn Laberge earned bronze in 55.82.
In today’s two-heat competition, Ro was in third position after a first heat time of 56.03 seconds. She made up nearly half a second to overtake the lead with a second run of 55.83, earning another gold medal with a combined time of 1:51.86.
“The second win is a great feeling,” Ro said. “I tried to play it safe during my first run, but I made some mistakes. I talked to Matt (Antoine) between heats and made the adjustment before I went down for my final run. I think this was crucial for me to learn that I can be confident in my training and in the knowledge I have gained to be able to put two runs together in competition. The support of my teammates and coaches has been great. I’m excited to continue training and see how we all progress.”
Laberge finished second to Ro with an aggregate time of 1:52.06, followed by Kim in third with a total time of 1:52.18.
Ro’s Lake Placid performances helped her secure third place overall in North American Cup points, despite missing three of the eight races this season while racing the European Cup. Kim claimed the title with 373 points. Nicole Rocha Silveira from Brazil finished second overall with 301 points, while Ro was close behind in third with 290 points.
Lauren McDonald (Fairfield, N.J.) had strong performances in her first-career competitive season. The up-and-coming competitor finished 12th and eighth yesterday, and 12th again today. McDonald and Ro are two of the fastest starters on the tour. McDonald pushed a start time of 5.32 seconds yesterday, and Ro pushed a 5.33. McDonald finished the season ranked fourth with 287 points.
Michelle Toukan (Central City, Neb.) placed 19th and 10th yesterday, and wrapped up her season with an impressive sixth place finish today. She is ranked fifth overall with 271 points. Emily Schelberg (Annapolis, Md.) was 18th and 14th yesterday, and she did not finish today’s competition after a crash in the first heat.
In the men’s field, Strup cracked into the top-six in the final stop season, earning two silver medals and a fourth-place finish. Strup claimed double silver medals in yesterday’s single-heat races. His first silver medal was earned with a run of 53.89 seconds. Wenhao Chen from China was victorious in 53.52, while Ander Mirambell from Spain was third in 54.15 seconds.
Strup claimed silver again in yesterday’s second competition with a downtime of 54.33 seconds. Wenhao was golden in 53.73, and Zilong Zhu from China earned bronze in 54.37.
Strup narrowly missed the medals today, finishing a mere one-hundredth of a second from bronze with a combined time of 1:49.04 for fourth place. Strup finished the season ranked second overall with 346 points.
Barefoot was today’s men’s medalist for the U.S. The Intercontinental Cup competitor posted the fastest run of 53.98 seconds in the first heat, and fell back by just 0.06 seconds in the second heat to finish with the silver medal. Wenhao swept the men’s races. He won today with a combined time of 1:48.24, followed by Barefoot with a 1:48.30, and Zilong in third with a cumulative time of 1:49.03.
“I knew that I’ve had enough runs here to win, but I would have to be at my best,” Barefoot said. “I think that self-inflicted pressure caused some unnecessary tension, but I’m glad to have experienced that and learned how to handle it. Just a couple big mistakes spoiled my runs for races six and seven, so I was pretty happy to clean them up a bit and dip into the 53’s on an overall slower day in race eight. I’m most excited about how much our team is improving overall. Everyone is making significant progress and walking with a little confidence their steps! It’s pretty cool to be around.”
Mirambell claimed the overall title with 370 points. Strup was second, and Nathan Crumpton from American Somoa finished third with 345 points.
Barefoot was fourth and fifth yesterday, and he finished the North American Cup season ranked seventh overall. He spent most of his time racing the Intercontinental Cup, thus missed points from three North American Cup races.
Kyler Sultemeier (Fredericksburg, Texas) concluded his first competitive season ranked 14th. He finished 12th in both of yesterday’s races, and 10th today. Hunter Williams (Carnegie, Pa.) also finished his first racing season. Williams finished 17th, 14th, and 17th, and is ranked 21st.
The North American Cup will officially conclude tomorrow with three four-man bobsled competitions in Lake Placid. Please contact USABS Marketing & Communications Director Amanda Bird at 518-354-2250, or amanda.bird@usabs.com, with media inquiries.
Results
Women’s skeleton race #1
1. Kellie Delka (PUR) 55.50;
2. Yuxi Li (CHN) 55.52;
3. Eunji Kim (KOR) 55.60;
6. Mystique Ro (USA) 55.96;
12. Lauren McDonald (USA) 56.93;
18. Emily Schelberg (USA) 57.65;
19. Michelle Toukan (USA) 59.13;
Women’s skeleton race #2
1. Mystique Ro (USA) 55.69;
2. Eunji Kim (KOR) 55.70;
3. Jaclyn Laberge (CAN) 55.82;
8. Lauren McDonald (USA) 56.59;
10. Michelle Toukan (USA) 56.78;
14. Emily Schelberg (USA) 57.42;
Women’s skeleton race #3
1. Mystique Ro (USA) 1:51.86 (56.03, 55.83);
2. Jaclyn Laberge (CAN) 1:52.06 (55.78, 56.28);
3. Eunji Kim (KOR) 1:52.18 (55.90, 56.28);
6. Michelle Toukan (USA) 1:53.43 (56.56, 56.87);
12. Lauren McDonald (USA) 1:54.49 (56.80, 57.69);
Emily Shelberg (USA) (DNF)
Men’s skeleton race #1
1.Wenhao Chen (CHN) 53.52;
2. Chris Strup (USA) 53.89;
3. Ander Mirambell (ESP) 54.15;
4. Daniel Barefoot (USA) 54.21;
12. Kyler Sultemeier (USA) 55.32;
17. Hunter Williams (USA) 55.95;
Men’s skeleton race #2
1.Wenhao Chen (CHN) 53.73;
2. Chris Strup (USA) 54.33;
3. Zilong Zhu (CHN) 54.37;
5. Daniel Barefoot (USA) 54.62;
12. Kyler Sultemeier (USA) 55.95;
14. Hunter Williams (USA) 56.30;
Men’s skeleton race #3
1.Wenhao Chen (CHN) 1:48.24 (54.17, 54.07);
2. Daniel Barefoot (USA) 1:48.30 (53.98, 54.32);
3. Zilong Zhu (CHN) 1:49.03 (54.67, 54.36);
4. Chris Strup (USA) 1:49.04 (54.40, 54.64);
10. Kyler Sultemeier (USA) 1:51.21 (55.60, 55.61);
15. Hunter Williams (USA) 1:52.46 (56.25, 56.21);
About USA Bobsled & Skeleton
USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Omaze, Kampgrounds of America, BiPro, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Ferris Mfg. Corp, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com.
Corvette Poised for Sebring WEC Return
Corvette Racing set for COTA-Sebring double FIA WEC run with C8.R
Corvette Racing looks set to contest the 1000 Miles of Sebring, in what would be the second consecutive FIA World Endurance Championship outing for the new Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
Sportscar365 has learned that provisional plans are in place to run the Sebring WEC race alongside its two-car factory GT Le Mans class program in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring the following day.
It would come as one of the prerequisites from the ACO, which has stipulated that the Pratt & Miller-run team must run in at least two regular-season WEC races in order to be guaranteed a pair of GTE-Pro entries for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The team ran the Shanghai WEC race in 2018 in addition to Sebring last year with its previous-gen Corvette C7.R.
While declining to comment or confirm on any WEC plans beyond its COTA entry, Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan said that it’s been their intention to run two regular-season races in the 2019-20 WEC season.
“Right now, that’s the plan but we’re running down a road,” Fehan told Sportscar365.
“We haven’t refined what exactly that plan is going to be. I couldn’t give you every detail and widget.
“We’ve been busy for a couple of years trying to race and design, build and develop the new car. This adds to the challenge of all of that.
“I think most people would understand that we don’t have it completely defined yet.
“It’s a case of dealing it in an orderly fashion.
“We can’t become overwhelmed too much with what’s going on down the road when we have to focus on what we need to accomplish [in Daytona] in a couple of weeks.”
While set to give the new mid-engined GTE contender its competition debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona later this month, the car’s second race will come just four weeks later at Circuit of The Americas, with a single entry having been submitted for the WEC replacement round.
Fehan said details on that program, including drivers, have yet to be determined.
He explained the reason for doing the additional WEC races is to “try as best we can” to support the globe-trotting championship.
“We understand the value that has to the sanctioning body and the value to the global fan base,” he said.
“We know it’s important but they also know the business side of it that prevents us from doing both things. They get that.
“I think they also appreciate how hard we’re trying to make all of the accommodations we can to keep the ball moving down the field.
“It’s not easy for us and they know it’s not easy for us and they appreciate that.”
No Issues in 2019 ‘Super Sebring’ Endeavor
Fehan said the team faced no issues in its double-duty endeavor at Sebring last year, in what was only the second-ever time the team raced three cars between two different series on the same weekend.
In addition to its over-the-wall crew and several other staff, drivers Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller took part in both Friday’s eight-hour WEC race and the around-the-clock IMSA enduro the day later.
“That worked out great,” Fehan said. “We were lucky because we had enough equipment.
“It’s not like you can piggyback what you have set up. You’ve got to have a completely additional set of stuff.
“Between stuff that we had in stock and stuff that we had for the Cadillac program, we had enough in place.
“That system is getting better and we learned from that on all the things we did right and all the things that we know we could improve upon.”
Source John Dagys; SportsCar365
Garcia: “Big Steps” to Come With Corvette C8.R at Roar
Corvette Racing drivers on anticipation of Roar Before Rolex 24 with new mid-engined C8.R…
Antonio Garcia believes there will be “big steps” to come in the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R’s development as the new-for-2020 mid-engined GT Le Mans class contender makes its public debut in this weekend’s Roar Before the Rolex 24.
The Pratt & Miller-built Corvette, along with Porsche’s 2019-spec 911 RSR, are the two all-new GTE-spec cars set for their first official competitive outings in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition during the three-day mandatory test.
While having already completed private testing at the 3.56-mile oval/road course, Garcia believe every lap will matter in their plan for the weekend.
“There is a lot to discover and develop,” Garcia said. “Usually your starting point is better than what you previously had.
“But this is completely different. We are still in the early stages with this new Corvette.
“There will be big steps for sure.
“I don’t know when we will get to the point where we will start making little steps. We need to run this car and we need to race it to find out where we are against our competition.
“We are concentrating on our own work. Whenever it becomes race time, we will know where we actually are.”
Garcia’s new full-season co-driver Jordan Taylor said they won’t necessarily be concerned about pace at the Roar, which will also set the pit lane and garage allocations through a qualifying session on Sunday morning.
The 28-year-old, who makes the switch from his family’s Wayne Taylor Racing operation, said little things, such as driver changes, will be a focal point as well once they achieve the targeted baseline.
“As many laps as we can get at the Roar and going through the program, getting all the drivers on the same page from a setup point of view and then the little things like pit stops and driver changes will be different than what we’ve had in the past,” he said.
“The car is a little more tricky to get in and out.
“Understanding that muscle memory of the process of getting in and out, where the seatbelts go, where the drinks bottle is, where the air hose goes… those little details that we haven’t refined that were refined with the C7.R are things that will show up in a 24-hour event, so those are things we will need to check off the list at the Roar.”
Gavin: “Very Structured” Plan for Weekend
Team veteran Oliver Gavin, who returns to the No. 4 entry alongside Tommy Milner, said that coming away with achieving 60 or 70 percent of their list will be considered a “big win” over the weekend.
“The team is going to have a very structured plan,” Gavin said. “And that’s one of the things that’s so good about Corvette Racing. We plan our time and fundamentally understand what all we have to work through and the list of things we need to achieve.
“The third drivers will need time in the car. We’ll all have to work through that program and procedure as best we can.
“Certainly we’ll learn a huge amount every time we go on track just with how certain tires work, how the braking package works, the aero setup, weight placement… all kinds of different thoughts that the team will look to work through.
“We know that of that list of 50 things we want to try and achieve, the chances are that if we can come away with 60 or 70 percent of that done, it’s a pretty big win.”
Original Source; John Dagys. Sportscar365
Ro leads USA Skeleton with sixth place finish in Koenigssee’s European Cup
KOENIGSSEE, Germany (Dec. 15, 2019)– Mystique Ro (Nokesville, Va.) finished sixth in the women’s skeleton European Cup race in Koenigssee today as the top U.S. finisher. It was Ro’s career-best European Cup finish, besting her former personal record by three places.
“This has been a trip with a lot of new information flooding in every week,” said Ro, who’s never raced on the European tracks before this season. “It’s been challenging, but fun. Koenigssee has definitely been a track that has tested my confidence. I had some rough training runs, so I watched sleds for six-plus hours a day throughout the week. It was nice to see things click at the end of the trip and to end with a solid personal record.”
Ro has a huge advantage at the start, and she gave herself the lead right off the block today with push times of 5.08 and 5.04 seconds. Both runs of 53.86 and 53.31 seconds were sixth best of each heat. Mystique’s total time of 1:47.17 placed her in sixth.
The European Cup took place in conjunction with the Intercontinental Cup, and Ro said she enjoyed having teammates with her who were also learning the foreign tracks for the first time.
“I’m glad I had the support and encouragement of my teammates as a majority were sliding here for the first time and having similar issues,” Ro said. “Matt (Antoine) has been great at keeping us focused and very encouraged throughout training.”
Ro was ninth yesterday with a combined time of 1:49.11. She clocked starts of 5.13 and 5.06 for runs of 54.96 and 54.15 seconds, respectively.
Kristen Hurley (Columbia, Conn.) just missed yesterday’s top-20 cutoff for the second heat with a run of 56.98 seconds, which placed her in 21st. She moved up four spots today to 17th with a total time of 1:50.43 after clocking runs of 55.67 and 54.76.
British competitor Amelia Coltman claimed gold yesterday in 1:46.21. Germans Josefa Schellmoser and Hanna Staub earned silver and bronze with total times of 1:46.83 and 1:47.42, respectively. Endija Terauda from Latvia was today’s winner in 1:45.78. Luisa Hornung from Germany claimed silver in 1:45.94, while Coltman secured bronze in 1:46.46.
Austin McCrary (Colleyville, Texas) was the sole men’s competitor in Koenigssee. He finished 10th yesterday with a combined time of 1:44.78 and 12th today in 1:43.85. McCrary’s best push time over the two days was 4.99 yesterday, and he posted the sixth-best time of yesterday’s second heat to show his potential on the German track.
Please direct media inquiries to the USABS Marketing and Communications Director Amanda Bird at amanda.bird@usabs.com.
Results
Women’s skeleton race #1
1. Amelia Coltman (GBR) 1:46.21 (53.39, 52.82);
2. Josefa Schellmoser (GER) 1:46.83 (53.47, 53.36);
3. Hanna Staub (GER) 1:47.42 (53.85, 53.57);
9. Mystique Ro (USA) 1:49.11 (54.96, 54.15);
21. Kristen Hurley (USA) (56.98, DNS);
Women’s skeleton race #2
1. Endija Terauda (LAT) 1:45.78 (52.93, 52.85);
2. Luisa Hornung (GER) 1:45.94 (53.27, 52.67);
3. Amelia Coltman (GBR) 1:46.46 (53.46, 53.00);
6. Mystique Ro (USA) 1:47.17 (53.86, 53.31);
17. Kristen Hurley (USA) 1:50.43 (55.67, 54.76);
Men’s skeleton race #1
1. Felix Seibel (GER) 1:43.37 (51.77, 51.60);
2. Lukas David Nydegger (GER) 1:43.45 (51.74, 51.71);
3. Krists Netlaus (LAT) 1:43.71 (51.66, 52.05);
10. Austin McCrary (USA) 1:44.78 (52.68, 52.10);
Men’s skeleton race #2
1. Amedeo Bagnis (ITA) 1:42.35 (50.97, 51.38);
2. Cedric Renner (GER) 1:42.48 (51.35, 51.13);
3. Krists Netlaus (LAT) 1:42.50 (51.44, 51.06);
12. Austin McCrary (USA) 1:43.85 (52.02, 51.83);
About USA Bobsled & Skeleton
USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Kampgrounds of America, BiPro, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com.
World Cup racing resumes in Lake Placid on Friday
World Cup racing resumes in Lake Placid on Friday
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (Dec. 12, 2019)– The second week of bobsled and skeleton World Cup racing begins tomorrow at the Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid. This weekend will feature skeleton races for the women and men, a women’s bobsled competition, and double four-man bobsled races.
The detailed schedule is as follows, with all times listed in EST:
Friday, Dec. 13
10 a.m.: Women’s skeleton heat #1
11:30 a.m.: Women’s skeleton heat #2
2 p.m.: Men’s skeleton heat #1
3:45 p.m.: Men’s skeleton heat #2
Saturday, Dec. 14
10 a.m.: Four-man bobsled heat #1
11:45 a.m.: Four-man bobsled heat #2
2 p.m.: Women’s bobsled heat #1
3:45 p.m.: Women’s bobsled heat #2
Sunday, Dec. 15
10 a.m.: Four-man bobsled heat #1
11:45 a.m.: Four-man bobsled heat #2
Savannah Graybill (Denver, Pa.), Megan Henry (Roxbury, Conn.) and Kendall Wesenberg (Modesto, Calif.) will represent Team USA in the women’s skeleton competition, while Andrew Blaser (Meridian, Idaho), Austin Florian (Southington, Conn.) and Alex Ivanov (Carlisle, Mass.) will compete in the men’s race.
Wesenberg led USA Skeleton last weekend with a sixth place finish, while Florian was the top men’s finisher in 14th. Henry, Blaser, and Ivanov made their World Cup debuts last weekend. The team is eager to medal on home ice before the tour heads to Europe.
Two American sleds are entered into the women’s bobsled race. Three-time Olympic medalist Kaillie Humphries (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Olympic silver medalist Lauren Gibbs (Los Angeles, Calif.) will once again team together. Humphries and Gibbs aim to repeat their gold medal performance from last weekend’s season opening race. Brittany Reinbolt (Searcy, Ark.) and Sylvia Hoffman (Arlington, Texas) narrowly missed the top-six last weekend, and are hungry to podium on Saturday.
Hunter Church (Cadyville, N.Y.) put together two strong fifth place finishes in last weekend’s double two-man races, and the 23-year-old is eager to get back on ice in four-man, which he considers his specialty. Josh Williamson (Lake Mary, Fla.), Jimmy Reed (Garmisch, Germany), and Kyle Wilcox (Tampa, Fla.) will compete with Church in both races.
Codie Bascue (Whitehall, N.Y.) continues to battle back from a hamstring injury sustained during team trials. He will race with Blaine McConnell (Tacoma, Wash.), Adrian Adams (Reidsville, N.C.), and Kris Horn (Pembroke, Mass.) in the first race, and with McConnell, Chris Kinney (Stockbridge, Ga.), and Horn in the second competition.
Geoff Gadbois (Milton, Vt.) is scheduled to race with Chris Avery (San Diego, Calif.), Kinney, and Dakota Lynch (Boise, Idaho) on Saturday, and Avery, Adams, and Lynch on Sunday.
Please contact USABS Marketing & Communications Director Amanda Bird at 518-354-2250, or amanda.bird@usabs.com, with media inquiries. Media interested in attending either weekend of racing can apply for a credential at https://www.whiteface.com/media.
About USA Bobsled & Skeleton
USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Kampgrounds of America, BiPro, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Ferris Mfg. Corp, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com.
USA BOBSLED 2014 Olympians Silver Medalists
Nebraska native Curt Tomasevicz now has a silver medal for the 2014 Olympics — five years after the Olympic games.
Tomasevicz and the U.S. Men’s Bobsled team received their medals during a ceremony in Los Angeles Tuesday night.
The team’s bronze medals were upgraded after the Russian team was stripped of their gold medals for alleged doping.
Latvia’s team now has the gold.
“I think people felt bad we didn’t get the original experience but this time it was just celebrating our team – there was no one else on the podium. And it was great to do it on U.S. soil,” said Curt Tomasevicz.
The U.S. four-man team included Tomasevicz, Chris Fogt, Steve Langton and the late Steven Holcomb.
“Our pilot Steve Holcomb is no longer with us,” Tomasevicz said. “That’s the part that may bother me the most. Our podium moment has kind of been taken away from us. We didn’t get to celebrate together as a team and that’s just never going to happen now.”
Tomasevicz, the other two remaining members of the team, and Holcomb’s family are now using this opportunity to honor Holcomb.
“It’s really hard to explain whether it should be excitement or relief or what it is I guess, because he won’t be there to celebrate with us,” Tomasevicz said. “And I don’t know that we feel full justice has been served.”
While Tomasevicz and the team received their new medals on Tuesday night, they had to give the medals back after the ceremony. A grammatical error in the medal’s engraving must be fixed before the team receives their permanent medals.
Tomasevicz was also part of the 2010 Men’s Bobsled team that received gold in Vancouver.
He has retired from bobsledding and is an engineering professor at the University of Nebraska.
Original Source: 1011 Now
VKTRY Performance Insoles Embrace Carbon Fiber For Energy Return
If just a touch of carbon fiber can provide benefits for athletes, then VKTRY founder Matt Arciuolo figured engineering a full-length carbon fiber insole had a range of untapped potential. Following nearly a decade of research and development, all sparked by an effort to provide the USA Olympic bobsled team more explosiveness on their starts, Arciuolo patented a carbon fiber footwear insole customizable to provide performance benefits for athletes far beyond the bobsled.
VKTRY, now four years beyond that patent and three years since producing its first commercial insoles, has made inroads in major college and professional sports the country over, gaining backing from LSU’s director of athletic training Jack Marucci, now-retired Lakers trainer Gary Vitti, Red Sox doctor James Creps and a handful of professional athlete endorders.
“Insole inserts are passive devices designed to absorb shock, but they don’t generate energy or return energy to the athlete,” Arciuolo says. “Instead of a passive device, I designed this carbon fiber insole to store energy and return it.”
The process works in four steps, all using the impressive strength-to-weight ratio of carbon fiber. When the heel hits the ground, the VKTRY insole absorbs the shock of the heel strike and returns it like a trampoline, Arciuolo says. When the second phase of an athlete’s gate moves their full body weight over the middle of the insert, the arched design deflects and adds cushioning. “The third phase is where the magic happens,” he says. When athletes pick their heel up to take a step or jump, the carbon fiber stores the energy at the ball of the foot, returning it in the toe-off phase — phase four — “where all the energy stored in the first three phases is returned.” The insole isn’t generating energy on its own, instead using an athlete’s energy and returning it to them for efficiency and explosion.
Using independent studies, including one from Southern Connecticut State University, VKTRY CEO Steve Wasik says science backs that claims, showing the company’s insoles provide over a 9 percent rate of force development, basically explosiveness, than not using the product.
The carbon fiber is engineered with multiple layers of fibers in different lengths, makeups and directions to offer flexibility where needed and stability in other areas.
VKTRY was designed for use across multiple sports — major footwear brands from Nike to Asics have started employing carbon fiber in long-distance running shoes for linear benefits — and Wasik says they’ve seen adoption from football to baseball, but have found basketball and volleyball players especially enjoy the energy return for higher jumping ability and less force upon landing. “We hear some great stories from athletes who have suffered from sore knees or shin splints and the pain is gone,” he says.
The original bobsled design requiring the insole to fit in the tight confines of a spike helped create a product ideal for all athletes, Arciuolo says. “The challenge was not only getting something that worked in terms of propulsion, but also that fit in the shoe,” he says. The carbon fiber portion of the product weighs less than an ounce and is less than a millimeter thick. A proprietary polyurethane top cover provides additional comfort.
VKTRY isn’t a one-size fits all proposition, with Arciuolo calling it a “truly customized product.” It comes in five different “pro levels,” which are basically different flex levels. Lighter athletes with smaller feet require more flex than a 320-pound football player. To get the same propulsion performance, insoles require customization based on sport, weight and foot size, so an algorithm helps find the best flex level for each athlete. The insole is further customized by sport, using different thickness and sizes.
“The VK is the best combination of injury protection and performance I have ever seen in insoles,” Vitti says.
Endorsers of the brand also include Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays, Anthony Miller of the Chicago Bears, Josh Norman of the Washington Redskins, Lexie Brown of the Minnesota Lynx, Myles Jones of Chaos Lacrosse Club, George Springer of the Houston Astros, CrossFit world champion Annie Thorisdottir and plenty more.
Creps says that “for the first time, athletes can experience stabilization, shock absorption and propulsion in a device that is specifically tailored to their size and weight. This is a game changer.”
Written by Tim Newcomb; Forbes
How the C8 Corvette’s Dual-Clutch Has Changed Since We Drove the Car
The new Corvette has an eight-speed Tremec DCT. We weren’t crazy about it in the pre-production C8 we drove, but engineers tell us the final version will be better.
For the C8 Corvette, Chevrolet abandoned the traditional manual and torque-converter automatic for a new, eight-speed Tremec dual-clutch. And in our Performance Car of the Year testing, the gearbox was the weakest component in the pre-production C8 Stingray we had on hand. It’s part of why the Corvette didn’t win.
In automatic mode, the DCT dolled out nice, snappy shifts, but when using the paddles, it could be clumsy. Too often we found ourselves running into the rev limiter, or having downshifts denied after a paddle pull. But, the C8 we drove wasn’t a finished product. There’s been development work since we drove the car, and that work will continue for the foreseeable future. At a powertrain engineering seminar held by Chevy last week, we asked Glen Hoeflinn, controls program manager for the DCT, what will change from the car we drove.
“Maybe you get some humpy-bumpy shifts here, you get a little bit of that there. That all gets refined out,” Hoeflinn said. “It’s in final refinement, and then it’s in final checks and looking what we’re doing and making sure that it’s behaving exactly [how] we want.”
“That’s what we’ve done since the car that you had. Doing all that refinement and making sure it’s ready to go for everybody across the all the cars.”
A dual-clutch presents unique challenges, no matter what sort of car it’s in. “There’s a lot of pre-selection interaction that goes on in the background,” Hoeflinn said. “It’s the same choreography” between the engine and transmission, he added, but without the “luxury” of a torque converter, there’s a lot more programming work involved.
As you’d expect, the transmission has different automatic shift strategies for the various drive modes, which adapt in real time. The more aggressive, the more spirited you drive, the more aggressive the car’s going to respond,” Hoeflinn said. “As you start to relax, the car’s going to start to relax.”
The DCT uses latitudinal and longitudinal accelerometers, and looks at information like throttle position and steering angle to gauge how the car is being driven, and react accordingly. For example, in Track mode with the transmission set to automatic, the car will downshift aggressively when the driver is braking hard into a corner, and hold upshifts until corner exit.
The C8 has two manual modes. If you pull a paddle while in Drive, you get a temporary manual mode, which automatically times out, or can be exited sooner by holding the upshift paddle. In this mode, the car will automatically upshift at redline. If you press the M button in the center console, you get full manual mode. There’s no time out, and the car won’t upshift at redline.
There are two other neat tricks available for drivers to exploit. First, if you hold the downshift paddle, the DCT will serve up the lowest possible gear. Do that while braking, and the transmission will keep downshifting as engine speed allows. And second, pulling both paddles at the same time is equivalent to pushing in the clutch pedal on a manual car, which allows you to rev the C8’s new V-8 as much as you want.
In the C8, the paddles are directly wired to the transmission control module (TCM) for quicker response times. “In other applications, from the paddle, the wire will go to the body control module and then from the body control module back over to the transmission. You have obvious latency there,” Hoeflinn said.
“It could be 25, 30, 40 milliseconds from the time you pull, to the time that transmission actually got the message. When you wire them directly from the paddle straight to the TCM, we’re getting the message instantaneously.” This doesn’t mean the paddles will give you a downshift that over-revs the engine—the TCM prevents that—it just helps reduce delay.
One of the headline figures of the C8 Corvette is its incredible acceleration. We timed a pre-production Z51 Stingray as hitting 60 mph in 2.8 seconds and running the quarter-mile in 11.2 seconds at 122 mph. With the C8’s Performance Launch mode, the car will actually use the inertia of the engine coming down between revs to propel the car forward. Chevy calls these “Boosted Shifts,” and they’re only used with a Performance Launch. In any other mode, they make the car feel unsettled.
From a mechanical standpoint, this new Tremec transaxle isn’t a radical departure from other DCTs. There are concentric clutches and input shafts for the odd and even gears. The even gears and reverse live near the front of the transmission, while the odds are at the back. A limited slip-differential is integrated within the unit. Base Stingrays get a mechanical diff with a 4.89:1 final drive ratio while Z51-pack cars get an electronic LSD with a 5.17:1 ratio. The overall gear ratio spread of 8.8:1 is the same regardless of differential.
The packaging of the transaxle is such that there’s a common oil sump—filled with 11 liters of Pentosin FFL-4 fluid—for all components. A cooler mounted to the top of the transaxle assembly means there’s no need for additional hydraulic lines, while two filters keep things clean. An externally mounted pressure-side filter requires replacement every 20,000 miles, while the internal suction filter mounted to the sump is a lifetime part.
We asked about why the C8 team didn’t try to do a manual. Hoeflinn and the other engineers present gave us a similar answer to Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter, when we interviewed him before the car debuted. They’d need to develop a new manual just for the C8, and considering the stick-shift market is shrinking, it would be an expensive endeavor seemingly without much reward. There are packaging constraints with the Corvette’s central backbone tunnel, too, which would require a hole to accommodate the shifter and gear linkage, hurting structural rigidity. Juechter also said the pedalbox would be cramped with a clutch.
Our first experience with this DCT was less than positive, but this is a gearbox that shows a lot of promise. We look forward to driving the finished product.
Originally written by Chris Perkins; Road&Track
Highlights of the 2019 SEMA Show in Las Vegas
SEMA is the United Nations conference of all things aftermarket, and here’s some of the best stuff we spotted there.
1.Quintin Brothers Dodge Challenger
This 1000-hp Dodge Challenger went on a wild adventure after it arrived in Las Vegas. Vermont-based Quintin Brothers Auto & Performance had their truck and trailer stolen days before the show. Their custom Challenger was inside. Video surveillance helped track down the perp, but when Nevada state trooper Adam Whitmarsh tried to block the stolen Challenger into a parking space, the suspect rammed the Trooper’s Ford Explorer and escaped. After exiting the parking structure, the suspect smashed through a fence and drove the stolen Challenger across a nearby karting track—during a karting event. He eventually ditched the car and was later arrested. The Quintin Brothers and their Dodge Challenger arrived at the SEMA show wearing battle wounds from the wild chase.
2. Chevrolet E-10 Concept
It’s not an engine, it’s a motor. The Chevrolet E-10 concept is a 450-hp electrified C-10 pickup. Typically the only time a 1970s Chevy pickup is plugged into anything, it’s connected to a trickle charger. The E-10 has its batteries in the bed. The two electric motors seen here are called eCrate motors, a nod to the popular Chevy crate engines that can be found swapped into just about anything. GM claims the E-10 can complete a zero-to-60-mph run in about five seconds with a quarter-mile time in the high 13s. A Tesla P100D might be quicker, but it doesn’t look as cool.
3. Vibrant Performance Titanium Chair
Had Game of Thrones producers used Nissan Skylines or Toyota Supras instead of dragons as source material, this might be the Iron Throne. Vibrant Performance didn’t have to vanquish their enemies to build the thing, but they did use more than 50 pieces from their lineup of titanium exhaust products to construct what’s likely the most uncomfortable Adirondack chair on the porch. But it’s fun. Feeling exhausted? Have a seat.
4. Hyundai Veloster Grappler Concept
You’re unlikely to see a Hyundai Veloster on an off-road trail, let alone a dirt road, but this overland concept is out to change that. The Veloster Grappler concept is equipped with typical in-car camping accessories like a rear-hatch tent, solar panels, LED light bars, big all-terrain tires, and a roof basket to carry a spare. It’s still pretty low to the ground, and the tire clearance isn’t ideal for crawling, but it’s a concept. We’d pitch a tent with this thing.
5. Toyota Supra Wasabi Concept
Toyota’s Genuine Accessory Team cooked up a color for this concept that we hope will soon find its way onto a Camry. This Supra’s paint mimics wasabi paste and features white accents on the brake calipers, mirrors, stripes, and spoiler. The forged-aluminum wheels were designed at Toyota and have center caps with the original Toyota emblem. Ohlins coil-overs drop the Supra concept two inches. This was one of many Toyota Supras at the show.
6. AEV Jeep Gladiator
This Jeep Gladiator is equipped with all the proper get-dirty-quick gear. It has tough Bilstein dampers, a lifted suspension, and 37-inch tires. American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) is known for swapping big engines into off-road vehicles and then adding lift kits and other off-road accessories. They’re also responsible for the coolest parts of the Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison. This year AEV brought three green machines to show off their latest accessories.
7. 1999 Honda Civic Si Super Street Build
Was this the car that sparked the movie The Fast and the Furious in 2001? It sure looks like it. Honda brought a handful of concepts to the show in celebration of its 60th year in North America, and what better way to do it by showcasing the Civic Si Super Street magazine modified for the Civic Si Challenge in 2000. If you collected buckets of Mattel die-cast cars as a kid (or shamelessly as adults, like us), this car might look familiar.
8. Nissan Frontier Desert Runner
The current-gen Nissan Frontier might be 16 years old, but this concept proves that Nissan knows what people at SEMA want in a truck: tons of suspension, awesome off-road tires, some type of light bar, and a 600-hp 5.8-liter V-8. In the meantime, we can only hope one of these ingredients get put to use on the upcoming Frontier refresh.
9. RTR Rambler Ford Ranger Concept
The RTR Rambler Ford Ranger does everything right without going too far. Ford chose 33-inch Nitto Ridge Grappler tires with custom RTR Tech 6 wheels, because they know anything bigger than that will be unnecessary in most cases. Three LED light bars are tastefully tucked into a custom front grille to complete an almost Ranger Raptor–like appearance. A two-inch suspension lift is installed as well as heavy-duty rock sliders, which act as both a step and as extra protection against rocky terrain. It’s a simple package done well, saving the flashy stuff like wild paint for the Insta-campers.
10. 1972 Honda N600
If it looks like this 1972 Honda N600 has a motorcycle engine under the hood, it’s because it does. This oddball is powered by a Honda VFR 800-cc V-4 motorcycle engine that puts power to the rear wheels. Although the car itself predates the era of high-revving VTECs, with the bike motor installed, this is likely the only N600 with a 12,000-rpm redline. This was one of several cars Honda showcased at the SEMA show.
11. Honda Civic Si Drift Car
This is a peek under the hood of a 926-hp Honda Civic Si. The engine is turned longitudinally and transforms a front-wheel-drive coupe into a rear-wheel-drive drift-spec machine. The work was done with help from Jeanneret Racing and Olson Kustom Works.
12. Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 Prototype
We saw this Chevrolet Silverado Desert race truck back in early October, when it competed in the Laughlin Desert Classic, a 17-mile race event in Nevada near the Arizona border. It was there for “engineering development,” but we still think it’s a preview of an upcoming Silverado Z
13. Honda Rally Passport
Honda R&D in Ohio built this rally-ready Honda Passport in their spare time. It has already survived a handful of rally competitions, finishing second in its class at the Southern Ohio Forest Rally. It has had typical safety additions like a roll cage, but other than that it’s unchanged except for tires, brake pads, wheels, and skid plates. Oh, there’s also the addition of a hand-operated hydraulic brake, for epic drift action.
14. 1968 Ford Bronco
There’s been plenty of buzz lately about the upcoming Ford Bronco, which is expected to debut in early 2020. A collaboration between Jay Leno and Ford, this Bronco has a supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 from the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 and a five-speed manual transmission. The restoration maintained the simple beauty of original Bronco. The 18-inch steel wheels by Detroit Steel Wheels are a great combination of old style and modern needs. The Bronco’s Tonight Blue color would look great on a Mustang or F-150 Raptor.
15. Hyundai Veloster N Performance Concept
The Veloster N is quick, but this Veloster N Performance concept is quicker. Hyundai modified its hot hatch with carbon fiber for the front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser, and spoiler while adding carbon fiber to each wheel’s center caps. The suspension is made up of Extreme Racing coil-overs and H&R coil springs with aluminum chassis bracing to add rigidity. Orange-accented interior bits stand out among more carbon-fiber pieces and an Alcantara dashboard.
16. SpeedKore Dodge Charger
Routed through the front fender of a 2019 Dodge Charger Pursuit is the exhaust from a 1525-hp Dodge Demon V-8. This project, put together by SpeedKore Performance Group and MagnaFlow, began as a police car. After fitting a carbon-fiber widebody kit, they turned it into something that would outrun police cars. The stock supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 was transformed into a twin-turbo engine and received an upgraded upper intake manifold designed to withstand the 26 psi of boost.
Written by: Austin Irwin, Car&Driver
2020 Corvette Stingray Shown at Spring Mountain’s SEMA Display
Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club, home of the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School, is located less than hour from Las Vegas and they bring a continent of cars and people to the annual SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Drivers for Ron Fellows School provide hot laps for the attendees which is hella fun if you have ever had the opportunity to catch a ride in one of the ZR1s they have. In addition to the hot laps, Spring Mountain also has booth display at SEMA and featured prominently is the 2020 Corvette Stingray wearing the Ron Fellows Driving School livery.
We asked Spring Mountain’s Todd Crutcher send us some photos of the 2020 Corvette on display as it’s the only place at SEMA outside the Chevrolet display where you catch the C8 Corvette in the flesh.
Chevy had displayed a C8 Corvette with the Ron Fellows door stickers at both the Woodward Dream Cruise and Corvettes at Carlisle, but the car on display at SEMA is much more representative of the Ron Fellows livery that also features the No. 01 car number on the front and back while Michelin stickers are also featured. A windshield banner completes the look.
This C8 Corvette is a Z51 model and 3LT trim package and inside is the two-tone Blue leather interior. The Stingray also shows off the visible carbon fiber roof panel that’s only been spotted a couple of times.
There has yet to be any kind of announcement regarding a driving school for owners of the C8 Corvette at the world-class driving school, but we’ve been told to stay tuned as things are progressing. We do know that a continent of cars will be built for the school and that they will be used as part of the official GM training for dealerships who are selling the new sports cars. While the strike has messed up the original timeline for the school to receive their cars, we expect some sort of announcement will be made in the near future.
If you have purchased a C7 Corvette in the last year, your time is limited to take advantage of the 2-day Corvette Owner’s School that’s heavily subsidized by Chevrolet. To find out more information about the Corvette Owner’s school, visit SpringMountainMotorsports.com or call Melinda or Donna for details 1-800-391-6891. All Corvette enthusiasts are invited!
Spring Mountain / Ron Fellows Driving School
Lake Placid picks up a second weekend of IBSF World Cup races
LAKE PLACID — The state Olympic Regional Development Authority will be hosting the first two International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Cups this year at Mount Van Hoevenberg, instead of only one as previously planned.
The season-opening BMW IBSF Bobsled & Skeleton World Cup originally scheduled at Park City, Utah from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1 was moved to Lake Placid for the weekend of Dec. 7 and 8, the IBSF announced on Nov. 2. The second World Cup race will be held as planned at the Olympic Sports Complex from Dec. 13 to 15.
“Due to the short time for preparation and in order to guarantee high level quality ice, the schedule for those two World Cup weeks had to be amended,” the IBSF stated in a press release.
There will be two, two two-man bobsled World Cup races held during the first week and two, four-man bobsled races held during the second week. There will also be women’s bobsledding and skeleton racing for men and women. The IBSF had not changed the schedule on its website by press time.
The IBSF cites technical issues with the refrigeration pump system on the Park City track as the reason for the rescheduling.
Pic 2 Bobsledder Codie Bascue rides through Curve 14 at Mount Van Hoevenberg on the men’s first run during the IBSF World Cup in February. (Enterprise file photo — Lou Reuter)
“Though the track management has acted immediately and tried to repair the system, it cannot guarantee that it will be ready by the time of the World Cup,” the IBSF stated. “In order to avoid any risk of not hosting the event it was decided to move it to Lake Placid.”
In its release, IBSF officials thanked Park City track management “for the swift and professional proceeding in this matter,” Jeff Potter at ORDA “for his support in taking over the event” and John Rosen of USA Bobsled & Skeleton “for coordinating the matter.”
“The immediate cooperation between the two track managements of Park City and Lake Placid shows their great commitment for bobsleigh and skeleton sports and we want to thank both Race Organizers,” the IBSF stated.
The Lake Placid races were announced by ORDA Tuesday as part of its winter schedule. After the first two World Cups are done, the circuit heads to Europe for World Cup racing Dec. 30 to Jan. 5 in Winterberg, Germany.
ORDA will host the Viessmann FIL Luge World Cup/BMW Sprint Cup from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 at Mount Van Hoevenberg, giving Lake Placid three straight weeks of World Cup racing on the American teams’ home track. Both USA Bobsled & Skeleton and USA Luge are based in Lake Placid.
Original source: Andy Flynn, AndirondackDaily