Pratt Miller Sold
Pratt Miller Engineering, longtime contractors to operate Corvette Racing as well as the engineering force behind a myriad of other current and past racing programmes has been sold to Oshkosh Defence for $115 million.
Formed in 1989 by Gary Pratt and Jim Miller, the firm based in New Hudson Michigan has attracted industry attention not only for its astonishing success with Corvette but also as an increasingly impressive player in the defence market, an area of business which is core to new owner Oshkosh’s commercial base.
With the motorsport activities of the company trading profitably there is no sign that the change in ownership will have any impact on current or planned programmes.
“Pratt Miller’s motorsports heritage has created a culture of speed and agility that has defined our success,” said PME CEO Matt Carroll. “Oshkosh is an ideal partner for us to apply that mindset to some of the most significant challenges facing customers today. Together, we expect to grow our decade-long partnership and expand our pipeline of new business opportunities. We look forward to learning from one another and continuing to innovate to bring market-leading products to our customers.”
“Pratt Miller has made significant advances in dynamic growth areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous and connected systems and electrification,” said Oshkosh president John Pfeifer.
“We believe combining Pratt Miller’s engineering expertise with Oshkosh’s innovation and operational strengths will enable us to better serve customers and position our Company for growth.”
Toyota Step Up as Official IMSA Manufacturer
Toyota will become the 18th official manufacturer in IMSA competition when the brand enters the 2021 Michelin Pilot Challenge season. The all-new Toyota GR Supra GT4 will make its IMSA debut with Riley Motorsports.
“While this new program marks Toyota’s first foray into the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, Toyota’s IMSA history is stellar,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “The GR Supra GT4 program begins a new chapter, but if history is our guide, all the ingredients are in place for tremendous success. We’re delighted to welcome Toyota back to IMSA competition and into one of the most competitive classes of sports car racing anywhere in the world.”
Toyota Racing Development will support the team with a systems engineer and spares truck at all ten of the MPC rounds. “We are thrilled to partner together with IMSA, racing in the Michelin Pilot Series with the GR Supra GT4,” said Tyler Gibbs, general manager, TRD U.S.A., Inc. “Toyota has a storied history in the series, and we look forward to a successful return to American sports car competition as the GR Supra GT4 hits the track at Daytona next month,” he added.
The MPC programme will run alongside the team’s two-car IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship LMP3 effort. The drivers for the car are yet to be announced. The team has already completed a test of the Supra GT4 at Daytona.
Riley Management Revamp
Riley Motorsports has called on Russ Ruedisueli to manage the team’s MPC programme. Ruedisueli spent 30 years with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and has experience with Riley Motorsports from the team’s Viper days.
“I worked with Russ back when we ran the championship-winning Viper program in GTLM, and I had a lot of respect for him and everyone at SRT, the entire FCA corporation on how they ran things, and the overall demeanour within the company,” Bill Riley said. “When a need came up for additional management at Riley Motorsports, Russ was a great choice.”
