Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Runner-Up in C8.R Le Mans Debut

Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Runner-Up in C8.R Le Mans Debut

Photo Credits: Richard Prince for Corvette Racing

Garcia, Taylor, Catsburg second in GTE Pro; No. 64 Corvette endures hard-luck race

LE MANS, France (Aug. 22, 2021) – The mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R finished on the class podium in its 24 Hours of Le Mans debut Sunday with the trio of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg placing second in the No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R.

The debut of the mid-engine racing Corvette came a year later than originally planned due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. But the wait proved worth it with Corvette Racing showing its usual competitive spirit during its 21st race at Le Mans since 2000.

“Today’s second-place result in GTE Pro for the No. 63 Corvette C8.R and drivers Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg is a significant achievement as we debuted the mid-engine Corvette C8.R at Le Mans,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S Vice President, Performance and Motorsports. “To be on the podium at Le Mans with the C8.R is very gratifying. It’s a testament to the hard work and determination of our Corvette production and racing teams.

Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Runner-Up in C8.R Le Mans Debut

“The support of Corvette owners and fans from around the world has been incredible,” Campbell added. “This race result is dedicated to our customers and supporters.”

While the No. 63 Corvette ran in contention for the entire race, the No. 64 C8.R of Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims seemingly ran into nothing but bad luck. It began on the roll-off from the grid when Milner was hit from behind by the eventual class-winning Ferrari at the beginning of the formation lap.

The contact broke part of the diffuser, but the No. 64 Corvette ran well early and even led in a wet start with Milner going to the fore. He and Tandy cycled through and kept the No. 64 C8.R in contention before the diffuser finally broke in the fifth hour shortly after Sims’ first stint.

Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Runner-Up in C8.R Le Mans Debut

It was the first of three visits to the garage for the No. 64 team, which also had to repair part of the gearbox, clutch and the alternator. Milner, Tandy and Sims – who set a GTE Pro record race lap of 3:47.501 – finished sixth in class.

On the No. 63 Corvette side of the garage, all three drivers drove double stints to open the race. Each of the trio led for a time as well as the race began to evolve into primarily a battle between Corvette and Ferrari, although five cars remained on the lead lap in GTE Pro at the halfway point.

Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Runner-Up in C8.R Le Mans Debut

hings began evolve into a two-car race into the final six hours between the No. 63 C8.R and No. 51 Ferrari. The Corvette team kept it close and was able to triple-stint its Michelin tires in the late going but couldn’t make up the necessary ground.

The No. 63 Corvette did, however, complete the entire 24 hours without a change of brakes.

Corvette Racing returns to action in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Sept. 10-12 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.

Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Runner-Up in C8.R Le Mans Debut

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTE PRO:

“I don’t know if I prefer to be two seconds, 10 seconds, 40 seconds or three laps back. I think it hurts the same! We’ve been in that 30-second range between the two cars pretty much for 24 hours. I must say it does hurt a little bit. When you come so close, it’s difficult. But when you do your best, you run almost a perfect race and someone else does it a little better than you, you have to congratulate them. There is nothing we could do. I think we ran a perfect race regardless of our position. We finished second but very close for sure. They just did it 40 seconds better than us. I’m very happy for the team, the 63 crew, Jordan and Nicky – all six drivers had really, really good drives and helped develop this Corvette and for sure all the engineers. So even if the 64 had so much trouble, getting up to this point we have all been working together to get the most out of the C8.R. For sure, two of our cars up front would have put even more pressure on the 51. We were both alone so it was a one-on-one fight between Corvette and Ferrari. We were close. When you are up on the podium, you always want a tiny bit more. I would have liked to have given Corvette the first Le Mans win in the C8.R. Now we need to wait until next year and work harder.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTE PRO:

“That’s my fourth podium here. It’s hard to complain with a podium at Le Mans. But when you come this close, it’s difficult to take. The Corvette Racing guys did an amazing job. We didn’t have any issues with our car. We executed really well strategy-wise and in the pitlane and on the track, there were no mistakes. For our first run at Le Mans with the C8.R, we should be pretty proud of that to come home second against some cars that have run here the past few years. We learned a lot as a team and can come back stronger next year.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTE PRO:

“It’s super nice. This is my third time at Le Mans, and the first two times we finished nowhere. To be in the fight right to the last lap was very cool. It went well. The C8.R was very good. I had some good stints and nothing really bad happened. I will go home with some positive feelings. P2 kind of feels like a loss, but on the way home I’ll be like, ‘We finished P2 at Le Mans. That’s not bad!’ We had a cool fight with the Ferrari, and I think we did well.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SIXTH IN GTE PRO:

“It was a very frustrating race for us. It wasn’t taken away from us right at the start, but a pretty good indication looking at the damage from the contact before the race started with the Ferrari that it was going to be a big problem for us. It ended up being such that we had more problems after that. It’s hard to say if that initial damage caused some of the other problems we had. It’s very unfortunate and unlucky… unnecessary but in the end we turned it into a test session in a lot of ways. We tried to go as fast we could to learn as much as we could about the C8.R and find anything that in future may or may not be a problem. Our focus turned from going for a race win to helping the 63 guys do whatever it took to get them the win. Unfortunately that didn’t materialize; I think the Ferrari had just a little bit too much pace compared to everyone else. From our side, it’s disappointing but for the team, second place is a good result. It’s not the result we were all looking for but we can be happy about our performance today.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SIXTH IN GTE PRO:

“Endurance racing is not an easy game. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. This time on our side of the garage, we didn’t have the smoothest of runs. But I really enjoyed the week. I’ve enjoyed being with Tommy and Alex being in the car again. I’m proud of how we managed to get the speed out of the car. Honestly, it’s probably the nicest racecar I’ve had to drive around this circuit – to be consistently fast and confidence-inspiring… I’m really proud of everyone who worked to give us a car with that performance. The reliability didn’t go our way this time, but we can be proud that we have one car on the podium. It’s a great experience with the new C8.R and hopefully we will come back fighting stronger next year.”

ALEXANDER SIMS NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SIXTH IN GTE PRO:

“Everybody comes here to win, knowing that even if you have a super-fast car, there are so many opportunities for things not to go perfectly – reliability, drivers making mistakes, slow zones and safety cars. There are so many factors, and this time we had a couple of those go against us. Nevertheless, to get my first finish at Le Mans was good. I got a lot of great experience with the C8.R . It was brilliant to drive through the entire race. It’s a shame not using that pace to fight for the podium positions. I’m proud of the whole team. The effort they put in was remarkable. They got the changes made in the pits very, very quickly for such big fundamental changes that needed to be done. Well done to the 63 car for getting the podium. On to the next one.”

Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Runner-Up in C8.R Le Mans Debut

Source:
CorvetteRacing.com

Related:
Corvette Racing at Le Mans: 18-Hour Report
Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Halfway Report
Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Six-Hour Report
Corvette Racing Included in a Balance of Performance Update Ahead of 24-Hour Race
Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Tandy, No. 64 C8.R Third in Hyperpole
Corvette Racing at Le Mans: How to Watch and Listen


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Corvette Racing at Watkins Glen: Pole for Garcia, No. 3 Corvette

Corvette Racing at Watkins Glen: Pole for Garcia, No. 3 Corvette

Photo Credit: Richard Prince for Corvette Racing

WATKINS GLEN, NY (June 26, 2021) – Corvette Racing swept the front row of GT Le Mans (GTLM) grid Saturday for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen with Antonio Garcia taking pole position in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

Garcia led a 1-2 result for Corvette Racing with the mid-engine C8.R is on its maiden Watkins Glen International weekend. He took his second straight pole at Watkins Glen – he did the same in 2019 – with a lap of 1:40.944 (121.255 mph). Tommy Milner was second in class with the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette and 0.374 seconds off Garcia’s time at 1:41.318 (120.807 mph).

Corvette Racing at Watkins Glen: Pole for Garcia, No. 3 Corvette

Saturday’s result continues Corvette Racing’s season-long run of first-place starting positions in each of the four IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM races to date. The No. 4 Corvette started on pole at Daytona and Detroit with Garcia putting the NO. 3 C8.R on pole at Sebring.

The next several days – including a two-hour, 40-minute sprint race on July 2 – present an opportunity to make up for lost time after last year’s Six Hours was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That meant Corvette Racing didn’t have the chance to show off the mid-engine Corvette C8.R during its debut season.

Corvette Racing at Watkins Glen: Pole for Garcia, No. 3 Corvette

The C8.R and Corvette Stingray production car were developed simultaneously, and the race car and production vehicle share more technology and parts than any previous-generation Corvette. When initial Corvette C8.R design and development work began more than six years ago, Corvette Racing engineers worked closely alongside Corvette production personnel with a heavy emphasis on wind tunnel and simulation testing.

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen begins at 10:40 a.m. ET on Sunday, June 27. Same-day coverage will be available from 7-10 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Live streaming video on Trackpass via NBC Sports Gold and the NBC Sports App begins at 10:35 a.m. ET. Live audio coverage of qualifying and the race from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992.

Corvette Racing at Waltins Glen: Antonio Garcia Takes the Pole

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE-WINNER:

“That felt really good. We’re back on pole because the last time we were here, we on pole too. It’s always fun to qualify at here. That’s when you really get to experience Watkins Glen. You can really go for it and be really close to the walls. It was fun. Unfortunately I had one lap deleted (for track limits infraction), which didn’t help but I was able to almost do it again. The C8.R was great again. It’s always good to get on pole and to get one for Corvette Racing.”

“It was a pretty good, intense qualifying like always. It’s always good to be out there in the best car possible and go for the fastest lap around this race track as well. That’s when you get to experience this track. I’m really happy with that and how everything felt although I did have one lap deleted which confused me a little bit because it was like almost two laps after I actually did the lap time. Fortunately, I still had good laps left to be on pole and I was able improve again. It was intense, like always here at the Glen. It means a lot, but in a way it’s still six hours to go. It’s going to be a classic six hours here where everything will probably come down to the last two pit stops probably. I hope we can always be up front. I’m sure maybe we will cycle a few positions up and down with strategies. But you can’t ask for more, a Corvette one-two. So that’s pretty good.”

THE RACE OUTLOOK “I think we will be alright. We saw this morning how cold it was compared to now. The car felt completely different in practice. The work we did yesterday was really good, and that will be way closer to what we will experience tomorrow. We were competitive on Friday and we will have to be the same in the race. Still, the Six Hours will come down to the last two or two-and-a-half. But we are in the best spot we can be.”

WHEN YOU QUALIFY AT WATKINS GLEN, DO YOU HAVE TO SCARE YOURSELF A LITTLE BIT? “I think you need to close you eyes a few times! You need to get close to the walls here, for sure. That’s the fun part of it. It’s not that you have massive run-offs. You do at Turn One and a little bit at Turn Eight. The good thing is that you still have very interesting points around the track. This is very challenging and we’re glad to be back.”

RULES FOR TRACK LIMITS: “You need to keep two wheels on the curbs in Turn One and Turn Eight. Those are the two places where you can be really close to that. The one that got invalidated, it probably wasn’t the best laptime, but I’m sure they reviewed that. And that’s the thing. I would rather have the banner they have on Turn Eight so that gives everybody a heads up. We always try to find the limit and probably overshoot there.”

WHAT WILL YOU DO BETWEEN RACES? “Just prepping the next race. Hopefully we have a clean race tomorrow so all we need is to redo the cars. Hopefully we won’t have anything to repair. Also I think I will be doing some inserts for Le Mans because we are running another chassis over there. They need to redo the car in only two or three days and that’s a big push for (the crew).”

Corvette Racing at Watkins Glen: Pole for Garcia, No. 3 Corvette

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTLM:

“Obviously going one-two is a good start for the weekend. For us, I think the car was just a bit out of the window balance-wise to kind of put it all together. It seemed like Antonio had a couple of good laps there. I say we missed it a little bit, but the car was still super, super good and super quick. But when you are looking for a tenth here and a tenth there, those little differences definitely make a difference. We’ll definitely work on those and get it better for warm-up and for the race. Obviously the pace all weekend has felt good. The Corvettes are driving really ,really well. From the first session, the car has been super close on being a good race car. Sometimes you come to some race tracks and you are a little bit lost and you are playing catch-up. I think right now we are in a good spot. Hopefully that holds true for the race. The race is six hours so a lot can happen but this is a good start.

“Qualifying is always fun. It doesn’t matter where you are but especially here at Watkins Glen. You have new tires, low fuel and be able to really go for it… to really crash the curbs in the Bus Stop and driving the Carousel super, super fast with just a bit of a lift there… This track always feels fast but especially so during qualifying.”

Corvette Racing at Watkins Glen: Pole for Garcia, No. 3 Corvette

2021 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTLM
(After Two of 10 Events)

Driver Standings
1. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 697
2. Cooper MacNeil – 656
3. Augusto Farfus/Jesse Krohn/John Edwards – 653
4. Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy/Alexander Sims – 647
5. Bruno Spengler/Connor De Phillippi/Philipp Eng – 636

Team Standings
1. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 697
2. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 656
3. No. 24 BMW Team RLL – 653
4. No. 4 Corvette Racing – 647
5. No. 25 BMW Team RLL – 636

Manufacturer Standings
1. Chevrolet – 720
2. BMW – 700
3. Porsche – 692
4. Ferrari – 330

Source:
CorvetteRacing.com

Related:
Corvette Racing at Watkins Glen: Glad to be Back
Mobil 1 The Grid Goes Inside the Headquarters of Corvette Racing
Corvette Racing is Constructing its Fourth C8.R Chassis Ahead of Le Mans

For GREAT deals on a new or used Nissan check out Mossy Nissan National City TODAY!

Corvette Racing at VIR: Another Win for Garcia, Taylor

Corvette Racing at VIR: Another Win for Garcia, Taylor

Third win for No. 3 Corvette C8.R, team’s fourth straight since return to racing

ALTON, Va. (Aug. 22, 2020) – Corvette Racing won again in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday as Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor drove the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to victory in the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway.

It’s the second win in a row for the Garcia/Taylor combo, their third of the season and the fourth consecutive win for Corvette Racing – the first time that’s happened for the team since 2014. Garcia and Taylor extended their lead in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Driver’s Championship, as did Chevrolet in the Manufacturer’s standings.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed fourth in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R, just missing making the podium again with their teammates. The result was enough to keep Gavin and Milner third in GTLM points heading to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in two weeks.

Garcia, Taylor and the No. 3 Corvette will enter on one of the team’s hottest streaks in almost five years. For the second race in a row, they were the beneficiaries of late-race misfortune for the race leader but this time had to survive their own drama inside the final 20 minutes.

Taylor started the race fifth but worked his way up to second in the first 30 minutes before making his first stop at the 30-minute mark. An error in the pitlane sent the No. 3 Corvette back to fifth, but an inspired drive and bad luck for his fellow competitors meant he pitted from the lead with less than 55 minutes to make the hand-off to Garcia.

Corvette Racing at VIR: Another Win for Garcia, Taylor

One of those unlucky cars was the No. 4 Corvette, which went off-track shortly after a restart when Gavin picked up debris on his tires prior to the race’s third and final restart after full-course caution just an hour into the race. Try as he might to clean off the pick-up and easing his way through VIR’s final corner, the Corvette still went wide and onto the grass across from pit entry.

Gavin recovered nicely and carved his way back through the slower GT Daytona cars and was behind the No. 3 Corvette in only seven laps. He stopped for fuel, tires and driver change to Virginia native Milner with 65 minutes to go with hopes of another yellow to tighten the field back up.

Meanwhile, Garcia had settled into second place but faced a 13-second gap to race leader Nick Tandy once the final GTLM pit cycle completed. The No. 3 Corvette got the break it needed with 17 minutes left when Tandy was forced to pit with a tire issue, sending Garcia to the lead.

In a race filled with uncertainty, there was still a little left for the No. 3 Corvette. Garcia reported a vibration at the rear of the car from a damaged diffuser, just as Tandy went into the pitlane. It impacted the balance and handling of the Corvette, but Garcia held on to take a 3.521-second margin of victory.

Corvette Racing’s next event is the TireRack.com Grand Prix at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Sept. 4-5.

Corvette Racing at VIR: Another Win for Garcia, Taylor

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – RACE WINNER:

“Things are definitely going our way. We can’t complain about that! To do this, you need a fast car and a team to perform the whole time. We have that. We had our issues like the other teams did, but the main thing is that the ones we had were early so we could recover right away. Jordan did a really good job in his middle stint to drive back and maintain the gap behind the leaders. When I jumped in, the race was pretty much done. All I could do was keep some pressure on the 911 and not let him get away and have an easy race to the end. But we had our issues at the same time. They lost another tire and we had an issue with our diffuser. At first I thought it was terminal because it felt really bad. Once I got used to it, I could tell it wasn’t really interfering with the performance. I had enough of a gap to the 25 by about 12 or 13 seconds. With that, I could manage that in a way. It was very stressful to keep going but not knowing what would happen if the diffuser came off. Thankfully the C8.R is very strong all around! I’m very grateful for everyone at Team Chevy and Corvette Racing again. We just need to keep this momentum.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY CONTACT WITH ANYONE OR DID THE DIFFUSER COME LOOSE BY ITSELF? “It just went. It was literally when I was watching the 911 go into the pitlane. At the same time, I had a massive vibration and I thought I had a tire blowing up. It was scary because it would have been a full lap back to the pits. Then I realized it was speed-related and wasn’t bad all the time. It took me three or four laps to be kind of cautious. Once I realized it was hanging on, I stepped up my pace a little bit more to make it difficult for the cars behind me to catch up. I was happy that traffic wasn’t too bad at that time and I could manage to stay ahead. “

WHAT WERE YOU FEELING SPECIFICALLY BEHIND THE WHEEL, AND DID YOU KNOW WHAT IT WAS? “It took me a little bit, but the whole car was shaking a lot. At about 200 kph, the entire car was shaking. I knew it was coming from the back, but even the front end and front grip were moving around. The rear grip definitely was the same so maybe we were a little bit faster down the straights after that! Who knows. It was challenging to drive. Once I figured out what lines to use and not hit the curbs to keep both tires on the ground, it went my way a little bit.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – RACE WINNER:

“My time in the car was good. The Corvette C8.R has a pretty good cooling system, so it was nicer in there than it was watching! Heading into the race, our main objective was points. Seeing how strong the Porsches were on pace, we knew they were going to be hard to beat. We focused on our own race, and it came to us in the end with attrition and not making mistakes. We made one little hiccup in the pits but we were able to recover from that pretty quickly. At the end, Antonio was able to maintain a gap to second when he needed to, even with the vibration at the end. He did a great job of overcoming that. It’s an amazing day for Corvette Racing – the fourth win for the C8.R and third win for us. I’m definitely happy with this part of the season.”

WOULD YOU AGREE THAT THIS WAS A RACE OF SURVIVAL? ALMOST EVERY CAR HAD A PROBLEM AT ONE POINT. “It felt like an endurance race with all the issues everyone was having. A lot of guys were making mistakes… going off-track, pit stop issues and tires. For us, it was about damage control and minimizing mistakes. Today was out-of-character in IMSA to see this many issues happen. I think we had the least amount of mistakes, and that’s why we won.”

Corvette Racing at VIR: Another Win for Garcia, Taylor

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM:

“For us, it came down to the wave-around after the last caution where one of the Lamborghini GTDs had to pass me to get back on his lead lap. I had to move off-line and run through a whole lot of pick up and I got my left side tires in it. Apparently I didn’t get them completely clean. Then on the restart it wasn’t completely clean, then I got into the Oak Tree corner and the car began to slide wide again. Maybe the tire wasn’t completely clean… there are just such fine margins here between having grip and no grip. Jordan (Taylor, No. 3 Corvette) nearly got by me as we came out but I stayed in front of him. On the brakes into the next corner, things were pretty messy. As I got into the final corner, I just lost the front of the car, got out on the curb and then was into the grass. Once you are in the grass there, you are a just passenger. It’s frustrating for sure. All I could do is apologize to the guys on the team because we had a great car today. We were fast, we were competitive. Looking at where we were and how things ended up, you could say the win was in the cards for us. But it wasn’t to be. A lot of people had troubles and made mistakes. The only ones that ran trouble-free was the No. 3 Corvette. It’s amazing that we now have four wins in a row and that sets them at the top of the championship as leaders. Hats off to those guys. They have been fast and haven’t made mistakes. That is the name of the game. Others made mistakes and were punished for it. It is so competitive and there is no margin for error in this class.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM:

“Today was certainly a very weird race. I would say it’s very uncharacteristic in our class for everyone to have some sort of a problem. This is one that I think every team and driver pairing will look back on this one and wonder, ‘What if’. Obviously we’re super happy for the No. 3 guys. Antonio and Jordan drove a great race. They didn’t make any mistakes except for one little hiccup on one pit stop, but ultimately it didn’t have a huge bearing on their race. Congrats to those guys for keeping the Corvette win streak going and keeping Corvette on top. Our competitors are probably sick of seeing Corvette there but we aren’t. We went a very long time – more than two years – without a win, so we are just catching back up. I feel bad for Olly, and obviously he is bummed. We’ve all been there… one little mistake and that can end your chances for the day. I’ve made my share before, and we will both make them again. He was just unlucky today. His situation happened at a part of the track where then terrain makes it difficult to get back on the circuit. We win or lose as a team. We always help each other and support each other through things like this. We will be better for it and for the rest of the year.”

Source:
CorvetteRacing.com

Related:
Corvette Racing at VIR: Second and Third-Row Starts for Corvette C8.R
Links and Info the 2020 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR
Corvette Racing at VIR: Coming in Hot!

For GREAT deals on a new or used Toyota check out Claremont Toyota TODAY!

Corvette Racing at Sebring: Pole Position in GTLM for Taylor, No. 3 Corvette

Corvette Racing at Sebring: Pole Position in GTLM for Taylor, No. 3 Corvette

SEBRING, Fla. (July 18, 2020) – Corvette Racing claimed its second consecutive pole position in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as Jordan Taylor turned in the best GT Le Mans (GTLM) qualifying time for the Cadillac Grand Prix on Saturday in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

Taylor’s best effort was a 1:55.634 (116.436 mph) lap for his first career GTLM pole in the Corvette that he shares with Antonio Garcia. Oliver Gavin was just behind in the No. 4 Corvette that he drives with Tommy Milner – only 0.381 seconds off the lead C8.R.

Garcia and Taylor delivered Corvette Racing’s first victory with the mid-engine C8.R and the team’s 100th win in IMSA two weeks ago at Daytona, a race in which Gavin was the fastest qualifier just ahead of Taylor.

The Cadillac Grand Prix at Sebring is set for 5:30 p.m. ET today with live race television coverage on NBC Sports Network, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App. IMSA Radio will broadcast the race on IMSA.com, which also will host live timing and scoring.

Corvette Racing at Sebring: Pole Position in GTLM for Taylor, No. 3 Corvette

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE WINNER:

“This one was a little bit unexpected. At Daytona, we thought we would have pace because we were there for the Roar and the Rolex 24, and had a lot of data to go by to improve the C8.R. Coming here was a big unknown. We did two of testing in February, but it was private testing so we didn’t know how quick everyone else would be, and where our strengths and weaknesses would lie. There is limited practice time here again, but we had a couple days on the simulator where we worked on a few things. This morning to be honest, we were a little off the pace and bouncing around a little. The Corvette Racing guys made a lot of big changes for qualifying, and the Corvette was super nice to drive. It’s my first pole with Corvette and first one of the No. 3 C8.R, so that’s special to do it at a historic track like Sebring. I’m excited but the race is going to be a much different story with the what type of weather might come later on today.”

TALK ABOUT THE MOMENTUM OF THE TEAM RIGHT NOW: “It’s great to be up front and now trying to follow up our first win. I think everyone was down during the quarantine time – stuck at home and stuck in the shop and hoping all our work would pay off. Now we’ve proven it at Daytona with the win and it’s gotten everyone excited and showing on the track how much work we’ve done. There’s a lot of good momentum and we hope to carry it on throughout the season.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTLM:

“It’s positive result for the team to have both Corvettes up front and get another 1-2 in qualifying. Due to the lack of dry running, both cars went different directions for qualifying to try and learn more in time for the race this evening. Our car was good for a couple laps and I thought there might have been more in it, but the balance just started to go away. It seemed Jordan really managed to nail it and get that lap together for pole. Hats off to him and everyone at Corvette Racing for another good day. We’ll try to carry that forward into the race. The weather will play its part, but we don’t know how or when. We’ll be ready for whatever is thrown at is.”

Corvette Racing at Sebring: Pole Position in GTLM for Taylor, No. 3 Corvette

Source:
CorvetteRacing.com

Related:
Links and Info for the 2020 Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring
Corvette Racing at Sebring: Looking To Go Back-to-Back
Corvette Racing at Daytona: 100th Win in IMSA as No.3 C8.R Takes the Checkered Flag