Konica Minolta : Wins Good Design Award 2014 for New R&D Labs ‘Konica Minolta Hachioji SKT’

Konica Minolta is pleased to announce that the company has been awarded Good Design Award by Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP) for its R&D labs “Konica Minolta Hachioji SKT^* (SKT),” which opened in April 2014.

About SKT

SKT opened at Konica Minolta Tokyo Site Hachioji, the company’s core technology development campus, in April 2014. The new building integrates overall development functions for digital printing systems, a growth driver of the company’s mainstay Business Technologies business. In addition, SKT functions as accelerator for fusion and combination of varied technologies across diverse business sectors and promoter for internal and external “open innovation,” in order to enhance power of synergy for the creation of new value.
In July, the second floor of SKT was launched as “Co-creation Field”, a special place to drive open innovation. Customers and external partners are able to learn Konica Minolta’s strengths and potential there so that they are strongly encouraged and stimulated to work with Konica Minolta and further think and create values to deliver to the customers.

Major Features of SKT Design

In its design, SKT exemplifies “light” and “color,” Konica Minolta’s mastery technologies since its founding.

1. Spectrum Wall

The design motif of the Spectrum Wall on the west façade is light. The wall represents diverse activities on innovation through a rainbow-like light distribution due to spectral diffraction.

Spectrum Wall

Perspective

Atrium and surrounding communication areas

Collaboration beyond technical sectors

2. Large-scale atrium and surrounding offices

The atrium is at the center of the offices in a wide interior space, from the third to the seventh floors, with the sunlight coming through the top skylight. Wide staircases are designed in the atrium, giving engineers and researchers opportunities to come across each other who would not be likely to meet in older facilities, as well as encouraging spontaneous, face-to-face communication. Without partitions, office floors provide open and friendly atmosphere. These structural features help engineers expand communication across floors or technical fields and further develop new ideas that come from the enhanced communications. Surrounding the atrium are a variety of communication areas to get together casually for discussion.

3. Conference rooms to support global collaboration

In the midst of rapidly changing technologies and markets, close communication is a must for research and development activities among domestic and global laboratories or for collaborative works with external partners and customers. SKT has 50 conference rooms in the secured areas and most of the rooms are equipped with video conference systems. Up-to-the-minute discussions with partners or other sites of the Konica Minolta Group in far-away cities are crucial to step up the R&D activities. In association with the design concept of color, each conference room is named after an artist who pained masterpieces of color.

4. “Smart BCP (Business Continuity Plan)” to protect people and assets

SKT is equipped with a variety of environmental facilities, including solar panels on the rooftop, lighting sensors to control energy consumption on lighting, effective ventilation and use of well water, designed to reduce its environmental impact. These facilities work as an infrastructure for survival that ensures the autonomy of the building in case of disaster, which contributes to the realization of the smart BCP to protect people and assets in SKT. The building itself is equipped with the most advanced quake-absorbing structure, resulting in adequate security against severe earthquakes. SKT received the highest certification “Class S” in the CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency) for comprehensive evaluation of the quality and sustainability of a building.

These extensive efforts and features to assist creative activities have been highly evaluated as Good Design.

Comments from Screening Committee of JDP

The company’s brand concept “light” and “color” are used as the main axes of the design. The overall environment helps strengthen motivation internally, while the corporate message is clearly communicated to visitors.

Overview of SKT

Address	2970 Ishikawa-Machi, Hachioji-Shi, Tokyo
Building Area	Approximately 6,300 square meters
Total Floor Space	Approximately 40,000 square meters
Floors	Seven floors
Design and Construction	Takenaka Corporation
Construction Start	April 2013
Open	April 2014
Capacity	Approximately 1,500 people

*SKT stands for Smart R&D Office for Knowledge Work and Trans-boundary Communication.

Metal Mesh Transparent Conductive Film Formed With Inkjet Technology

Konica Minolta Inc has developed a transparent conductive film that can be made by using a new inkjet technology and forming a metal mesh structure.

Konica Minolta will exhibit the film at Display Innovation 2014, a trade show that will take place from Oct 29 to 31, 2014, in Yokohama City, Japan. Metal lines with a width of 5μm, which is difficult to see, can be formed at high speeds with the inkjet technology. It is difficult with conventional inkjet technologies, the company said.

The new transparent conductive film with the metal mesh structure features a lower resistance and is more flexible than conventional ITO films used for touch panels, etc. The resistance can be as low as 0.3Ω/□. The film to be exhibited at the show has a resistance of 0.3-5Ω/□ and a total light transmittance higher than 83%.

KONICA MINOLTA Signs Global Leasing Framework Agreement with DLL for Global Major Account business

Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) is pleased to announce that it has signed a “Global Leasing Framework Agreement” with De Lage Landen (DLL). This is a significant milestone for both companies and marks the formalization of an already mutually beneficial working relationship.

Konica Minolta is a global manufacturer and service provider in the imaging industry and has been engaged in providing OPS (Optimized Printing Services) and committed to premier customer partnership through its group companies in 45 countries and sales and service outlets in more than 150 across the world.

“We are rapidly expanding the contracts and execution of our OPS business with global major account (GMA) customers to meet their growing needs,” said Jun Haraguchi, Senior Executive Officer, Konica Minolta Inc. “One of the fundamental requirements by GMA customers is competitive financing solutions for printing equipment and related services with a consistent rental/leasing program available all over the world—and that’s what we believe we have accomplished with DLL.”

DLL, a global provider of asset based financial solutions, is a fully-owned subsidiary of the Rabobank Group.

“There are considerable benefits to delivering innovative financial solutions to Konica Minolta’s GMA customers,” said Steve Riggs, President Office Technology Global Business Unit, DLL. “We look forward to working together with Konica Minolta to offer a customer-focused approach that will achieve immediate benefits and reduce the burden on the balance sheet.”

Until now, Konica Minolta and DLL have been working together across the globe to serve a variety of customers, providing reliable and competitive financing solutions under existing local and regional agreements.

Based on the successful business experience of more than twenty years, Konica Minolta and DLL now decided to expand existing partnership to global level by mutual commitment to ensure resources and develop competitive program for GMA customers with extended global coverage of 26 countries at start including Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific regions.

Konica Minolta aims to continuously grow GMA business under the “Global Leasing Framework Agreement” in addition to any other new service infrastructures in the coming 6 months.

Konica Minolta Wins Good Design Awards 2014

Diagnostic Ultrasound System “SONIMAGE HS1,”

Digital Printing Systems “bizhub PRESS C1100/C1085” and

A4 Color MFP “bizhub C3850”

Konica Minolta is pleased to announce that the company has been awarded Good Design Awards 2014 by Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP) for its diagnostic ultrasound system “SONIMAGE HS1,” digital printing systems “bizhub PRESS C1100/C1085” and A4 color MFP (multi-functional peripheral) “bizhub C3850.”

Diagnostic Imaging System “SONIMAGE HS1”
– Portable but as Powerful in Resolution as High-end Models –

Comments from Screening Committee of JDP

Highly portable and compact body and the turning and tilting monitor are versatile for a variety of inspection. As it has only eight keys, the operator can keep his/her eyes on the patient while controlling the keys without looking at them.

Digital Printing Systems “bizhub PRESS C1100/C1085”
– Top-of-the-end Color Model with High Quality and Enhanced Productivity for Commercial Printing –

Comments from Screening Committee of JDP

As the latest updates to Konica Minolta’s top-of-the-end color digital printing systems, the C1100/C1085 inherit the design concept of the series. At the same time, the streamlined structure has significantly reduced the width of the main body and allowed flexibility in securing its footprint within the limited space of printing sites. For user interface, both touch panel operation and mouse operation are used with good balance. As quality requirements of a work increases, a broader range of operation becomes available. Those detailed optimization for the work environment is highly evaluated. Though there are not many outstanding changes from preceding models, the design concept of evolving engines and long-term-use options is well maintained and systematically developed. Behind the steady progression of the design, the series’ design identity has been preserved.

A4 Color MFP “bizhub C3850”
– Compact in Size with Common Operation and Expandability to A3 MFPs –

Comments from Screening Committee of JDP

Over several years Konica Minolta’s MFPs has been developed on the basic concept “INFO-Palette,” including compatibility with various devices and customizable user interface, among others. The A4 bizhub C3850 is one of the latest addition to represent the comprehensive development philosophy of the company. While downsized from A3 to A4, this product does not eliminate functions. Far from it, Konica Minolta added easy compatibility with A3 MFPs in order to achieve what is ultimately good in the office environment beyond saving space. The overall perfection level is very high.

＊bizhub, bizhub PRESS and SONIMAGE are registered trademarks of Konica Minolta, Inc.

About Good Design Award

The Good Design Award is a sole comprehensive design evaluation and commendation system in Japan since 1957. For more than 50 years, the Good Design Award has been given to outstanding designs for the creation of culture for the new era in the pursuit of prosperous lives and industrial development. Approximately 40,000 Good Design Awards have been given in continuing these efforts during 55 years so far, with around 1,000 awards annually. “G Mark,” the symbol of the award, has been recognized widely as a mark representing good design.

bizhub is compatible with the driver-free Mopria Print Service

The Mopria Print Service is an application which lets you print directly from devices running Android 4.4 (KitKat) or later. Documents such as photographs, web pages and PFD files can be printed easily Via a wireless LAN to Mopria-certified output devices.

QR Code

By Using the Mopria Print Service

• You can search automatically for different MFPs on the same network.
• You can print documents such as e-mails, photos and web pages from MFPs which are compatible with the Mopria Print Service via a wireless LAN.
• You can also set the number of copies to print and also change color and B/W settings.

Connection example

Compatible bizhub devices

A3 Colour

• bizhub C754/C654
• bizhub C754e/C654e
• bizhub C554/C454/C364/C284/C224
• bizhub C554e/C454e/C364e/C284e/C224e

A3 B/W

• bizhub 754e/654e
• bizhub 554e/454e/364e/284e/224e
• bizhub 754/654

A4 Colour

• bizhub C3850/C3350
• bizhub C3110
• bizhub C3100P

A4 B/W

• bizhub 4750/4050

■To use the Mopria Print service

It may be necessary to update the device firmware. Contact your Konica Minolta service provider for details.

Compatible OS/devices

Applicable OS Android OS 4.4 or later

• Android with the above OS installed

What is the Mopria Alliance?

The Mopria Alliance is a non-profit membership organization made up of companies with the common goals of promoting the adoption of unified industry standards and providing simple and intuitive methods of printing from smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.
The Mopria Alliance also works to develop of guidelines to use as standards between printing devices such as mobile devices and printers and to support mobile software application providers in incorporating print functionality within the applications they develop.

In addition, the Mopria Alliance is promoting understanding so that general users and business users will be able to print easily from their mobile devices to any printer from any manufacturer.

Official Web site

http://www.mopria.org/

bizhub lets you print easily using Apple AirPrint.

AirPrint is an Apple technology which is built into iOS devices such as Apple’s iPad and iPhone and OS X devices such as the iMac and MacPro. bizhub also works with AirPrint, so that you can print high-quality images and documents directly from your applications without the need to install separate drivers.

By using AirPrint

• You can automatically search for and print to bizhub devices on the same network as your iPhone or other device.
• Data can be sent via a wireless LAN to AirPrint-compatible bizhub devices for printing of files such as E-mails, photos and Web pages.
• You can set the number of copies to be printed and single- or double-sided printing.

Compatible bizhub devices*:

A3 Colour

• bizhub C754e/C654e
• bizhub C364e/C284e/C224e

A3 B/W

• bizhub 754e/654e
• bizhub 554e/454e/364e/284e/224e

A4 Colour

• bizhub C3850/C3350
• bizhub C3110

A4 B/W

• bizhub 4020/3320
• bizhub 4700P/4000P/3300P

*as of September 19, 2014

Note: To use the AirPrint It may be necessary to update the device firmware. Contact your Konica Minolta service provider for details.

Konica Minolta Acquires Verga in Italy

Establishing Sales Subsidiary in Italy, the Growth Driver Country of Inkjet Textile Printing, and Accelerating Global Business Development

Konica Minolta Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Verga IT S.r.l., an Italian inkjet textile printer sales company (Verga), under which Konica Minolta acquires Verga. Through the acquisition, Konica Minolta has established Konica Minolta IJ Textile Europe S.r.l. (Headquarters: Bregnano, Como, Italy; President: Akiyoshi Ohno), its first overseas sales subsidiary for industrial inkjet business, aiming to enhance the sales and services organization in the inkjet textile printer markets in Europe and within its proximity, with a great growth potential.

The worldwide textile printing market has been going digital rapidly, as digital inkjet technology has better responded to market requirements of the apparel industry. The current requirements include printing highly detailed and precise designs which was difficult to produce through traditional analog printing, and also printing with excellent quality through production of small quantities of many different designs. Inkjet technology has realized them all. In addition, as inkjet textile printing uses significantly less water than analog printing, more and more factories have become interested in adopting digital technology to transform themselves into more environmentally-considerate businesses.

While Europe accounts for majority of the global digital textile printing market, most of the European digital textile printers are located in Italy. In the Como region, long renowned as a cluster of high-grade apparel manufacturing within Italy, textile printers have noticed the advantages of inkjet technology at an early stage and started to install inkjet textile printers. Though their initial demands were for low-to-mid-speed printers primarily for sample production, the recent trend shows there is a greater demand for higher-speed printers suitable for mass production. Furthermore, along with the increasing adoption of digital printing in Italy, inkjet printing has come to the textile print market in Turkey, considered manufacturing base for Europe. On top of that, in China, accounting for about 30 percent of the global textile print market, further growth has been expected for inkjet printing that helps enhance productivity and reduce environmental impact.

With a broad range of its product line from low-to-mid-speed models to high-speed mass production printer, Konica Minolta launched an office for industrial inkjet business in Shanghai, China, in the summer of 2014 and has been vigorously driving its business initiatives in China. Through the acquisition of Verga, Konica Minolta established IJIT, its first overseas sales subsidiary dedicated for industrial inkjet business, in the high-class apparel cluster region in the world’s fashion leading country, Italy. The new efforts in Italy will strengthen the company’s sales and services capabilities through customer-focused initiatives. With the establishment of IJIT, Konica Minolta will offer solutions that meet market needs and further improve customer satisfaction through high-quality and speedy services. The company will also keep an eye on the Turkish market, with a good growth potential in the future, and accelerate global development of the industrial inkjet business.

Method of Acquisition

Konica Minolta has acquired all stocks of Verga. The parties entered into a definitive agreement on October 1, 2014.

About Konica Minolta

With its philosophy “The Creation of New Value,” Konica Minolta, Inc. is a leading technology company of creative minds that provides innovative solutions to businesses and the broader society. www.konicaminolta.com/inkjethead/

Konica Minolta Hologram Glasses Highlight 3D Displays

Konica Minolta thinks it has something unique to add to the emerging smart glasses field—holographic know-how.

The photocopier maker is showing prototypes of glasses that project holographic images at the Ceatec 2014 tech expo outside Tokyo this week.

The glasses feature what the company calls a holographic optical element (HOE), a transparent film that sits on the right lens of the glasses while a bulky, cylindrical electronics module lies on top of it.

A relatively large battery unit is connected to the prototype glasses by a wire. The device also houses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules for smartphone connectivity.

During a demonstration with a stand-alone HOE mounted on a rack, various full-color images could be seen through it overlaid on a background video of a busy city street.

The device displayed a timetable, radio station information and other information. When a small toy car was placed in front of the HOE, 3D graphics could be seen projected on the car.

The graphics were easy to see compared to using Google Glass. The scenery behind the HOE was also quite clear.

Eighty percent of visible light can penetrate the element, according to Konica Minolta. The prototype device is still in development, and could also be fitted to regular glasses.

“This is a combination of optics and networking technology,” said Keisuke Mitsui of Konica Minolta’s Corporate R&D Headquarters. “We’re listening to what potential users and partners have to say while exploring applications.”

The technology could be used in applications ranging from displaying text typed on a linked keyboard to goggles that would relay rescue information to firefighters. It would first be marketed to enterprises, according to the company, which did not give a timeline for commercialization.

Other prototypes that resemble holograms were also on display at Ceatec. It’s part of a wider trend, still in its early stages, to move beyond static screens and touchscreen interfaces to 3D displays with gesture control.

Healthcare electronics maker Omron, which showcased a table tennis robot at the exhibition, also demonstrated an LED-based technology that seems to project 3D images in the air.

With the awkward name of “Aerial Imaging by See-Through Light-Guide Plate,” the technology consists of various LEDs that move along the bottom edge of clear plastic sheets.

In one set of sheets, a colored 3D ring could be seen, apparently floating in space. Another set showed directional 3D arrows pointing the way over a background image of a highway.

While one sheet can display one image, adding multiple sheets enables animated images. The sheets are flexible and can be wrapped around glass or other transparent objects.

The approach requires far fewer components than other 3D image projection methods that use concave mirrors and other elements, according to Omron. The sheets can also be mass-produced as they are relatively cheap.

The company said applications include 3D billboards, station signage, window displays and gestural interfaces, as seen in another display of a 3D switch that appeared to float in the air. When visitors waved their hands over it, the switch would toggle on or off.

The University of Tokyo, meanwhile, was also exhibiting a hologram-style display, albeit a decidedly more complex one.

Visitors to the university’s exhibit were presented with six blocks next to a hand-tracking Kinect, a projector and a special reflective surface by Asukanet that was shown off at Ceatec last year. An animated baby bird appeared to float above the blocks and would fall down when a block was removed. The projector would also project a “shadow” under the chick to make it seem more real.

“This has been developed as an entertainment system, but signage applications are also possible,” said Kim Hanyuool, an interfaces researcher and PhD candidate at the university.

Wayne Taylor Racing and Konica Minolta scores one for the Americans at Petit Le Mans

Wayne Taylor Racing made America racing history on Saturday at Road Atlanta with the team’s win.

Ricky and Jordan Taylor are first American-born overall winners

Sixteen years after winning the inaugural Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda, Wayne Taylor brought his boys and a long-time friend to victory lane in the 10-hour Tudor United SportsCar Championship season finale at Road Atlanta.

Ricky and Jordan Taylor co-drove the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Konica Minolta Corvette DP with Max Angelelli to victory, holding off the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP by 11.062 seconds. They completed 400 laps — 1,016 miles -– as the brothers became the first American-born drivers to win the event overall.

“It’s a great way to end the year,” Jordan Taylor said. “We’ve won the last race the last three seasons, and it’s a great trend we hope to continue. My dad won the first Petit Le Mans, so we’ve always heard about this race. He always talks highly about it, putting it up with Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring, We’ve had the car to beat the last two races, so we’re definitely looking forward to next season.”

Action Express Racing finished second, with Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa joined by IndyCar star Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 5 Corvette DP.

While it was denied the race victory, Action Express piled up several accolades throughout the event. They clinched the TUDOR Championship team title with the waving of the green flag, and less than two hours later Fittipaldi and Barbosa drove the required distance to secure the drivers’ crown.

At the eight-hour mark, the team wrapped up the $100,000 Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup team championship by leading the second segment in the unique competition rewarding competitors in the four endurance races in the Tudor Championship: the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida and Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

“This team was unbelievable since the end of last season,” Barbosa said. “We worked all winter for the big challenge of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. It was a big task for a small team, but we had a great year. We were the only team to compete every lap in all of the races. We had eight podiums in 11 races, three great victories, and the United SportsCar Championship and Patron Endurance Cup — what a great year for Action Express.”

Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and Scott Dixon took third, one lap down in the No. 01 Telcel Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Ford EcoBoost/Riley, followed by the No. 0 DeltaWing DWC13 of Andy Meyrick, Katherine Legge and Gabby Chavez.

An accident involving Prototype Championship leader Sean Rayhall in the No. 25 8Star Motorsports ORECA FLM09 set up a seven-minute charge to the checkered flag. Jordan Taylor was up to the task, sprinting away from Barbosa to claim the team’s second victory of the season.

The No. 10 Corvette DP led nine times for 250 laps, with Action Express leading six times for 124 circuits. Ganassi Racing led three times for five laps and DeltaWing twice for 19 circuits. The event had 22 overall lead changes among seven cars.

Fox TV will present a two-hour network telecast on Sunday in conjunction with its NFL coverage. Check local listings for times.

Petit Le Mans

Saturday
On a 12-turn Road Atlanta circuit
Braselton, Ga.

With starting position (in parentheses), finishing position, drivers, car, laps completed and average speed.

1. (2) Ricky Taylor/Jordan Taylor/Max Angelelli, Corvette DP, 400 laps, 101.399 mph

2. (1) Joao Barbosa/Sebastien Bourdais/Christian Fittipaldi, Corvette DP, 400, 101.368

3. (4) Memo Rojas/Scott Pruett/Scott Dixon, Riley DP Ford EcoBoost, 399, 101.141

4. (5) Katherine Legge/Gabby Chaves/Andy Meyrick/ /, DeltaWing DWC13 Elan, 395, 100.073

5. y-(30) Renger van der Zande/Alex Popow/John Martin/Mirco Schultis, Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet, 395, 100.070

6. (11) Colin Braun/James Gue/Jon Bennett, Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet, 395, 100.040

7. (12) Gunnar Jeannette/Frankie Montecalvo, Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet, 395, 99.938

8. (8) Jack Hawksworth/Rusty Mitchell/Chris Cumming, Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet, 394, 99.818

9. x-(20) Bryan Sellers/Marco Holzer/Wolf Henzler, Porsche 911 RSR, 391, 99.039

10. (22) Michael Christensen/Patrick Long/Earl Bamber/Patrick Pilet, Porsche 911 RSR, 391, 99.036

11. (26) Kuno Wittmer/Ryan Hunter-Reay/Marc Goossens, Dodge Viper SRT, 391, 99.034

12. (27) Tommy Milner/Oliver Gavin/Ryan Briscoe, Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, 391, 98.972

13. (17) Nick Tandy/Jorg Bergmeister/Patrick Pilet/Michael Christensen, Porsche 911 RSR, 390, 98.758

14. (21) Jonathan Bomarito/Robert Bell/Dominik Farnbacher, Dodge Viper SRT, 389, 98.503

15. (7) Boris Said/Eric Curran/Max Papis/ /, Corvette DP, 388, 98.277

16. (25) Dirk Mueller/Dirk Werner/John Edwards, BMW Z4 GTE, 388, 98.251

17. (23) Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen/Ryan Briscoe, Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, 388, 98.246

18. (18) Martin Fuentes/John Martin/Adam Merzon/Ryan Eversley, Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet, 385, 97.463

19. (14) Chris Miller/Stephen Simpson/Mikhail Goikhberg, Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet, 384, 97.280

20. (10) Eric Lux/Sean Rayhall/Tom Kimber-Smith, Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet, 383, 100.525

21. (28) Tracy Krohn/Nic Jonsson/Andrea Bertolini/, Ferrari F458 Italia, 383, 97.056

22. (6) Oswaldo Negri Jr/John Pew, Riley DP Ford EcoBoost, 383, 97.032

23. (3) Mike Rockenfeller/Michael Valiante/Richard Westbrook, Corvette DP, 381, 96.402

24. z-(43) Bryce Miller/Christopher Haase/Matthew Bell, Audi R8 LMS, 376, 95.164

25. (32) Madison Snow/Jan Heylen/Patrick Dempsey, Porsche 911 GT America, 376, 95.156

26. (39) John Potter/Andy Lally/Marco Seefried, Porsche 911 GT America, 376, 95.146

27. (35) Markus Palttala/Christoffer Nygaard/Dane Cameron, BMW Z4, 376, 95.133

28. (36) Mario Farnbacher/Ian James/Alex Riberas, Porsche 911 GT America, 375, 95.136

29. (46) Matt Griffin/Michele Rugolo/Pasin Lathouras, Ferrari F458 Italia, 375, 95.046

30. (13) Martin Plowman/Tomy Drissi/Marc Drumwright, Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet, 375, 94.971

31. (42) Townsend Bell/Conrad Grunewald/Bill Sweedler, Ferrari F458 Italia, 375, 94.901

32. (38) Leh Keen/Craig Stanton/Cooper MacNeil, Porsche 911 GT America, 375, 94.875

33. (45) Alessandro Balzan/Brandon Davis/Kyle Marcelli/Jeff Westphal, Ferrari F458 Italia, 373, 94.546

34. (31) James Davison/David Block/Christina Nielsen, Aston Martin V12 Vantage, 373, 94.353

35. (41) Damien Faulkner/Philipp Eng/Ben Barker, Porsche 911 GT America, 367, 92.939

36. (48) Seth Neiman/Dion von Moltke/Alessandro Latif, Audi R8 LMS, 366, 92.593

37. (33) Norbert Siedler/Mike Skeen/Patrick Lindsey/Kevin Estre, Porsche 911 GT America, 330, 92.438

38. (9) Duncan Ende/Bruno Junqueira/David Heinemeier Hansson, Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet, 283, 72.633

39. (44) Nelson Canache Jr./Spencer Pumpelly/Andrew Palmer, Audi R8 LMS, 260, 88.511

40. (24) Sylvan Tremblay/Tom Long/Ben Devlin, Mazda Prototype Diesel, 255, 91.736

41. (47) Mark Kvamme/Daniel Lloyd/Larry Pegram, Porsche 911 GT America, 225, 56.892

42. (51) Alex Brundle/Ho-Pin Tung/Gustavo Yacaman, Ligier JS P2, 187, 96.424

43. (40) Marco Cioci/Eddie Cheever III/Piergiuseppe Perazzini/, Ferrari F458 Italia, 181, 83.397

44. (16) David Ostella/Jerome Mee/James French, Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet, 171, 82.115

45. (34) Jeroen Bleekemolen/Sebastiaan Bleekemolen/Ben Keating, Dodge Viper SRT, 166, 91.594

46. (50) Burt Frisselle/Brian Frisselle/Jon Fogarty/ /, Corvette DP, 134, 88.760

47. (15) Johnny Mowlem/David Cheng/Tom Papadopoulos/ /, Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet, 108, 95.506

48. (37) Andrew Davis/Joe Foster/Patrick Dempsey, Porsche 911 GT America, 100, 80.209

49. (29) Bill Auberlen/Joey Hand/Andy Priaulx, BMW Z4 GTE, 99, 94.477

50. (19) Giancarlo Fisichella /Olivier Beretta/Pierre Kaffer, Ferrari F458 Italia, 95, 97.796

51. (49) Tristan Nunez/Joel Miller/Tristan Vautier, Mazda Prototype Diesel, 47, 95.843

x-GT Le Mans class winner

y-PC class winner

z-GT Daytona class winner

RACE STATISTICS

Time of race: 10:01:11.256

Margin of victory: 11.062 seconds

By IMSA Wire Service

Konica Minolta hits the road in support of AFF Suzuki Cup 2014

The AFF Suzuki Cup is a biennial football competition organised by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), accredited by FIFA and contested by the national teams of Southeast Asia.

A total of eight teams will vie for the AFF Suzuki Cup trophy from November 22 to December 20, 2014. The top two teams from the qualifiers will join the six seeded ASEAN nations – holders Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – to make up the final field of eight nations.

The qualifying round will be held from October 12 to 20, 2014, in Laos. Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Timor Leste will compete with hosts Laos in a round-robin tournament for the two remaining spots in the tournament proper.

Singapore and Vietnam have been chosen as co-hosts for the group stage of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 with the kick-off on November 22 and the final pool games on November 29.

Group matches in Singapore will be staged at the brand new, 55,000-seater National Stadium which is part of the Sports Hub complex. It will be the fourth time Singapore have hosted the AFF Suzuki Cup after the 1996, 2002 and 2007 editions.

The group in Vietnam will be played at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi – Vietnam staged the event previously in 1998, 2004 and 2010.

The semi-finals and final will be played on a home and away format from December 6 to 20.

Click on the below pictures to enlarge.