GT’s Big Brawl for Second

While the #4 Corvette of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner has locked away the GT class drivers title and Chevrolet and Corvette Racing have cleared spots on the trophy case for the GT manufacturer and team titles, the battle for second is fully joined.

Their Corvette Racing teammates, Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia stand second with 101 points with four bridesmaid finishes and a major appetite for a win here to close the season.

A win at Lime Rock and a trio of runner-up finishes in the past four races have vaulted former ALMS champions Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long of the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche team to within just two markers of them at 99 points. Things don’t end there.

That 99-point score is matched by Johannes van Overbeek and Scott Sharp. Sharp’s Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari has run a break-out season that has delivered the team’s first pole, first win and five podium finishes in nine races.

And, lurking just one point further back at 98 is BMW Team RLL’s Dirk Mueller.

Meanwhile, Porsche (141) and BMW (138) are locked in a battle for Manufacturer runner-up honors. Corvette (4), Porsche (2), BMW (2) and Ferrari (1) all have 2012 victories.

Tires Matter

That bunching in the GT driver standings reflects just how incredibly tight the GT competition has been in the ALMS in 2012. Six different cars from five teams and four manufacturers – Chevrolet, Porsche, BMW and Ferrari -have claimed victories in what many consider the toughest class in international sports car competition. The competition extends all the way to the contact patch as three of the four tire makers competing in the GT class have wins this year.

The Corvette Racing, Flying Lizard Porsche, ESM Ferrari and SRT Viper entries are all Michelin technical partner teams. A race finish by any one of them will secure another GT tire manufacturer title for Michelin.