Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian Continues West Coast Swing

                   Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

CONTINENTAL TIRE MONTEREY GRAND PRIX: Round 4 of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

TRACK: 2.238 miles, featuring 11 corners at the permanent road course facility located in Monterey, California

MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA DRIVERS: John Pew and Ozz Negri 

NEW LIVERY: Known for its stunning liveries, Michael Shank Racing has another new paint design from team partner AERO Advanced Paint Technology for the team’s West Coast swing.

LOOKING FOR REDEMPTION: Despite dominating early in both of the season opening rounds at Daytona and Sebring, Michael Shank Racing hasn’t had the results to show for it. The squad led 99 laps in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January, only to retire during the night time hours due to an engine failure. The team showed strength at Sebring, leading 34 laps and was poised for a podium result when a broken suspension saw the car retire on the final lap of the 12-hour race.

Long Beach saw the team take its first checkered flag of the year, but the lack of torque compared to that of the Daytona Prototypes saw the Michael Shank Racing squad fight to a seventh place finish.

THE REARVIEW: Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was the site of John Pew’s best-ever qualifying position last year when he put Michael Shank Racing’s No. 60 Honda-Ligier fourth on the grid. The group went on to take a podium finish of third. It was the first of three podium results the team scored last year.

MICHAEL SHANK RACING’S HISTORY AT MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA: 

2005: Started – 9th Finished – 5th (Ken Wilden, Mike Borkowski in the No. 6 Pontiac Riley DP)
2005: Started – 1st Finished – 9th (Ozz Negri, Mark Patterson in the No. 60 Lexus Riley DP)
2006: Started – 10th Finished – 13th (Antoine Bessette, Mike Borkowski in the No. 6 Lexus Riley DP)
2006: Started – 2nd Finished – 11th (Ozz Negri, Mark Patterson in the No. 60 Lexus Riley DP)
2007: Started – 7th Finished – 7th (John Pew, Ian James in the No. 6 Lexus Riley DP)
2007: Started – 12th Finished – 3rd (Ozz Negri, Mark Patterson in the No. 60 Lexus Riley DP)
2008: Started – 11th Finished – 10th (John Pew, Ian James in the No. 6 Ford Riley DP)
2008: Started – 10th Finished – 16th (Ozz Negri, Mark Patterson in the No. 60 Ford Riley DP)
2009: Started – 9th Finished – 7th (John Pew, Michael Valiante in the No. 6 Ford Riley DP)
2009: Started – 7th Finished – 5th (Ozz Negri, Mark Patterson in the No. 60 Ford Riley DP)
2011: Started – 9th Finished – 5th (John Pew, Ozz Negri in the No. 60 Ford Riley DP)
2011: Started – 8th Finished – 11th (Matt Bell, James Davison in the No. 23 Ford Riley DP)
2012: Started – 9th Finished – 4th (John Pew, Ozz Negri in the No. 60 Ford Riley DP)
2013: Started – 10th Finished – 10th (John Pew, Ozz Negri in the No. 60 Ford Riley DP)
2014: Started – 8th Finished – 10th (John Pew, Ozz Negri in the No. 60 Ford Ecoboost Riley DP) – GEARBOX
2015: Started – 4th Finished – 3rd (John Pew, Ozz Negri in the No. 60 Honda-Ligier JS P2

LAGUNA FUN FACT: Co-drivers since 2011, John Pew and Ozz Negri have completed all but one race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (2014, gearbox). The duo has run 500 of 522 laps at Laguna Seca, or 1,119 of 1,168.236 miles.

A LOOK BACK IN TIME: In 2005, the visit to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca saw Michael Shank Racing make its first-ever start as a two-car program. The weekend was a toe in the water for the duo of Mark Patterson and Ozz Negri, and they had an immediate impact. Negri stormed to the pole position with the pair coming home 10th in their first race together.

Additionally, John Pew made his first prototype start at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2007.

JOHN PEW TALKS LAGUNA: “It’s one of my favorite tracks and our car loves that kind of circuit. I think Laguna is a track that will suit us pretty well. I have some fond memories at Laguna and I have put a lot of laps in there, so I’m really looking forward to our return.”

OZZ NEGRI TALKS LAGUNA: “We always love coming back to Laguna. We finished third there last year which was just our first year with the new Honda-Ligier package. This year, we have over a year of experience to build from, so hopefully we can go one or two better and finish even higher on the podium. We have to do our homework and make sure we get the car going as well as we can and we’ll give them hell there.”

CONTINUED PREP FOR LE MANS: In addition to the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championships events, Michael Shank Racing continues prep for the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.