The driver of this orange C8 Corvette coupe escaped injury after a Chevy pickup rolled over the sports car and wound up with its front tires resting on the seats. To get the 2 people out of the C8, rescue had to take the front wheels off the truck
Authorities say the weird mishap happened around 9:30 p.m. Monday at 168th Avenue & Colorado Boulevard in the Colorado town of Thornton. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but photos from the scene show the front end of the Silverado resting atop the front of the Stingray with the truck’s right front tire removed to help extricate the two people in C8.
Thornton Fire Department, North Metro Fire Rescue District, and Brighton Fire Rescue responded to the accident. According to authorities, no one in either vehicle had to be taken to the hospital for treatment.
The aftermath of a new Torch Red Z06 Convertible which fell off an unnamed dealer’s service department lift while being prepped for customer delivery
The Dealer technicians are continuing to make this rookie mistake that the lift arm wasn’t properly positioned, which led to “the Corvette Z06 gets sliced like butter.” due the lift arm wasn’t at the correct jack points.
The rear lift points on the C8 Corvette were moved further back to make up for the 40/60 percent weight distribution of the car.
Yet, this is at least the fifth C8 we’ve seen fall off a dealer’s lift that we know of.
GM again has put out a new TSB related to buying 3rd party airfilters for like $300-$500 that claim 30 HP gains (which is BS) in that, using a washable airfilter requiring spraying it with oil because the pores of those filters are large which sucks crap into the engine In countless cases of doing custom tunes I could see screwed up fuel trims and airmass reported was not normal
That is because they use the oil to try and trap dirt but in doing so over oiling the filter the excess oil flows across the MAF internal sensors and causing the airmass output to be incorrect and PCM is commanding fuel injectors to the faulty values this also affects auto tranny as to line pressure
If using such filters assure it is not over oiled, less is better and make sure you give it time to dry some before installing But in any case, if the vehicle is in GM warranty period, and they find you're using an oiled filter, kiss off any damage costs done and void warranty for that
CORVETTE CORRAL, COMING BACK TO INDY on Sept 15-17th
For the first time in nearly a decade, C8.R Corvette Racing is returning to the hallowed grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With that comes the chance to be a part of history with the first Corvette Corral at IMS since 2014.
Tickets remain on sale for the three-day Corvette Corral at the Battle of the Bricks, the next-to-last round of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In addition to watching Corvette Racing go for its second GTD PRO victory in a row, Corvette Corral ticket-buyers also have the chance to participate in a number of special activities including:
• Reserved parking and air-conditioned hospitality with food and drinks
• On-track parade laps Sunday around IMS one of the world’s most iconic circuits
• Participation in Q&As with Corvette subject-matter experts from the Corvette Engineering Team, Corvette Racing management and partners, brand ambassadors and more
• An exclusive autograph session and photo opportunities with Corvette Racing drivers Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor
• Raffles, live television feeds throughout the weekend
3 GT cars, including the GTD Pro and GTD class championship-leading entries, have been hit with Balance of Performance adjustments ahead of next weekend’s Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Released in a technical bulletin on Thursday, IMSA has confirmed power reductions for the BMW M4 GT3, Lexus RC F GT3, and Chevy Corvette C8.R GTD. The BMW, which currently leads the GTD standings with Paul Miller Racing, has received a power cut in the range of 6 horsepower, roughly the same as the Corvette, while the Lexus has been the hardest hit with an 8 hp reduction.
While the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo gets a 20 kg increase in minimum weight, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo has received a 30 kg break and the Type-992 Porsche 911 GT3 R at a 10 kg increase but offset with a larger air restrictor for the second consecutive race.
Fuel capacity adjustments have been made to all the adjusted cars except for the Mercedes, meanwhile. IMSA has also declared the BoP for the final two races of the season for the GTP class, with separate tables for Indianapolis and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta released.
As has been the case all season, only minor tweaks have been made to the four LMDh manufacturers. The Acura ARX-06 has been given a 3 kg increase in minimum weight for Indy to bring it up to 1047 kg, although it will shed 1 kg for Motul Petit Le Mans, with the BMW M Hybrid V8 set at 1031 kg for the final two races.
Cadillac’s V-Series.R remains at 1030 kg for the championship stretch, with the Porsche 963 getting a 1 kg increase since Road America, and will now run at 1037 kg. Power levels, meanwhile, have fluctuated by no more than 1 kW (1.3 hp) across the four cars.
A few years back, the 24 Hours of Le Mans became part of the World Endurance Championship’s regular racing schedule, and it made getting entries into the race that much harder. Corvette Racing was eventually forced to take part in another WEC race on the schedule to qualify for Le Mans while organizers were working GM Racing behind the scenes to get a C8.R team to run the full WEC schedule.
As we like to say, be careful what you wish for! Last year Chevrolet split the IMSA Corvette Racing into two and sent the second C8.R to the WEC where it would race the full WEC schedule. This year with a revamped line up featuring veterans Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating, and newcomer Nico Veronne, the No. 33 Corvette C8.R came out swinging with two wins in a row at Sebring and Portimão, while also picking up P2 at SPA.
Then came the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the C8.R battling back from two laps down to take the win in France With the championship already in reach, Corvette Racing clinched the deal with a fourth place finish in Italy to take the GTE-Am championship with two races left. As the Number 33 Corvette returns to the track this weekend for the Six Hours of Fuji in Japan, our friends at Mobil 1 the Grid take a look at Corvette Racing’s unstoppable assault on this year’s World Endurance Championship.
Join us as we go behind the scenes with Corvette Racing’s 2023 journey. From intense IMSA battles to the ultimate Le Mans Centenary victory, hear from the drivers and team manager themselves about the thrills of racing for Corvette.
C8.R Corvette Racing returns to action in the FIA World Endurance Championship this weekend as the series resumes after a lengthy hiatus with Sunday’s Six Hours of Fuji. It’s the second consecutive appearance in the Far East for the newly crowned GTE Am championship-winning team with aims of continuing what has been a historic season so far.
As they have in the previous five rounds of this year’s championship, the trio of Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nico Varrone will share the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in its next-to-last race in the WEC. Together, the three drivers and the rest of Corvette Racing have put on a season-long show that ranks as one of the best in series history by any metric.
For starters, there is the collection of three victories, all of them significant: the season-opener at Sebring, a thrilling late-race drive by Catsburg to win in Portugal and, of course, the historic ninth victory at Le Mans for the Corvette program coming from two laps down in the process. There also were pole-position runs by Keating at Portimão and Le Mans, and Varrone’s fastest GTE Am race lap at the 24 Hours.
All of this led Corvette Racing to clinch a class championship earlier than any previous team in the WEC, regardless of category. Still and even with all those accomplishments, Corvette Racing’s drive to keep collecting race victories with the C8.R remains. To do so will require the team to win for the first time in Japan, after making its debut at historic Fuji Speedway a year ago in the GTE Pro class with a fifth-place class finish.
As in previous races, the C8.R will run at Fuji with a level of rewards weight due to its successes earlier this year: 15 kilograms for winning Le Mans and 15 kilograms for leading the championship, on top of 10 extra kilograms added to the car’s minimum weight ahead of the Monza round for a total of 40 kilograms – 10 less than at the Italian round.
The Six Hours of Fuji is scheduled for 11 a.m. JST on Sunday / 10 p.m. ET on Saturday. MotorTrend and MotorTrend Plus will provide both live television and streaming coverage, as will the FIA WEC app. Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage of qualifying and the race.
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“I feel like with Fuji coming up, even though we’ve won the championship, that it will not change our approach at all. We will still try to go for race wins. Personally, I always find Fuji a very difficult track, especially the last sector. It’s very technical and very slow. I feel this could be good for our car, but it’s not a track where I feel like I am on top of things. It will be very challenging. But this is always one of my favorite countries to visit. Japan is a country that I really love, and I’ll stay a few days after in Tokyo just to spend some time there. I’m really looking forward to seeing all the team again and continue where we left off. I don’t think there will be a different mood because we have already won the championship. So I’m looking forward to the challenge and cannot wait to get on the plane!”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“I absolutely love the experience of racing in Japan. Each year I’ve been in WEC, the Japanese fans have been some of the best around the world. They are extremely passionate about the racing, they know the competitors, and the level of respect that have for what we do is tremendous. We are all honored to compete for them this weekend.
“I also really enjoy the track at Fuji. It is a track where you don’t necessarily need the fastest car, but you need one that is well-balanced in terms of pace and handling ability. I hope some of the previous success I’ve had at Fuji can be passed along to the Corvette team. Yes, we’ve won the championship already but in some ways I think it makes us want to have a solid run in Japan that much more. I expect a really strong and competitive race. All three classes in WEC are so close and super competitive that I am confident we will put on a good show for the fans.”
NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“It feels like I haven’t been in the Corvette for quite a long time. For that reason, I’m excited to go to Fuji and Japan for the first time there in my career. I have heard from a lot of people on the team how great it is to race in Japan, how nice of a track this is and the warm reception of the fans there. I definitely want us to be big in Japan! This is one of the reasons I am excited to drive for Corvette Racing in WEC. Of course, having secured the championship already is very nice, too! That doesn’t mean we will simply show up. We want to keep racing hard and going for wins.”
2023 FIA World Endurance Championship – GTE Am (After five of seven events)
Driver Standings 1. Ben Keating/Nicky Catsburg/Nico Varrone – 145 2. Michelle Gatting/Rahel Frey/Sarah Bovy – 67 3. Ahmad Al Harthy/Charlie Eastwood/Michael Dinan – 65 4. Christian Ried/Julien Andlauer/Mikkel Pedersen – 60 5. Benjamin Barker/Michael Wainwright/Riccardo Pera – 54
Team Standings 1. No. 33 Corvette Racing – 145 2. No. 85 Iron Dames – 67 3. No. 25 ORT by TF – 65 4. No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Racing – 60 5. No. 86 GR Racing – 54
The number of Corvette Z06 GT3.R racers competing in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship Series has just doubled to just four for the 2024 season Canada’s AWA Racing announced on Twitter Thursday that they will be fielding 2 Z06 GT3.R racers in the GTD class in IMSA for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, writing “We are very proud and delighted to confirm that we will be fielding dual Corvette Z06 GT3.R entries in the GTD Class for the 2024 and 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship seasons”
AWA will be the only team other than Pratt Miller Motorsports racing the new GT3 version of the car in IMSA for next season. Currently, the Canadian team is racing in the LMP3 class. “We are happy to welcome AWA to the Corvette Racing family,” said Christie Bagne, Corvette Z06 GT3.R Program Manager.
It was important for us to select a highly competitive and collaborative team to be our first representative in the WeatherTech Championship’s GTD class.
“AWA is a fantastic choice. The team has a proven capability of winning races in multiple sports car categories and series.
“Our goal is to help AWA compete for championships and race wins with the Z06 GT3.R in 2024 and beyond.”
AWA first year in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship came in 2022 after graduating from the Michelin Pilot Sport Challenge. They won the LMP3 class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January this year.
I am honored to have the opportunity for AWA to represent Corvette in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship,” said team owner and technical director Andrew Wojteczko.
“I have the utmost respect for the people involved and I am looking forward to doing our part to help secure results for the Z06 GT3.R.”
It’s getting close to the end of Corvette Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. And there’s no better place for the perennial powerhouse team to accelerate its title push than historic Road America.
The 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course is the site of the upcoming IMSA SportsCar Weekend, which culminates Sunday with the eighth round of this year’s GT Daytona (GTD) PRO championship. The Corvette Racing duo of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor are hoping for a return to its winning ways in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
The pairing won last month in class at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – the first victory of 2023. A second win this season would go along nicely with a 2020 triumph at Road America in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. With only four races to go, victories are what will help the Garcia/Taylor tandem and the No. 3 C8.R team most in the hunt for the GTD PRO title.
Although they finished fourth two weeks ago at Lime Rock Park, the result was enough to move into second in the class championship standings 151 points from the leaders with 1,500 points still available with four races left. However, pole positions and race wins are the most immediate goals for Garcia and Taylor, with points taking care of themselves after that.
To get back on the top step of the class podium, Corvette Racing will need to come to grips literally with a recently repaved Road America surface. In years past, Road America was notorious for eating up tires with high levels of degradation. That very likely won’t be the case this year, with substantially more grip available to the field of 46 cars.
Road America and the Corvette brand have a lengthy history, dating back nearly 60 years. Chevrolet routinely used the track to test and validate the performance of early-generation Corvettes, with that tradition continuing into the present day. Road America was the site of the first on-track running of the Corvette C8.R in 2018, and the mid-engine Corvette continues to write new chapters at each event.
The IMSA SportsCar Weekend race at Road America is scheduled for 10:10 a.m. ET on Sunday, August 6. The race will air live on USA beginning at 11 a.m. ET and stream live on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.com outside the U.S. IMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions beginning with Friday morning’s practice at IMSA.com with the race call also on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“We don’t really know what to expect at Road America. It’s a kind of track where you can run a completely different configuration that is completely opposite than the rest. So maybe there’s more room to play with setup in order to go completely against everyone else.
At most other IMSA tracks, everybody is kind of running the same full-downforce, full-everything. At Road America, there’s a little bit more play. I don’t know how the new surface will affect things. Tire degradation used to be very big there, but I anticipate the tire deg to not be as big as such a big thing there this year. Let’s see. We are definitely knocking on the door every single race.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“Road America is great and has given me a lot of good memories. One of my first wins with the C8.R was there in a downpour late in the race. It wasn’t necessarily our strongest track last year, so hopefully with the new repave we can make some gains on everyone else. We’ve done some simulation work to perfect what we can do on our side to get as much performance out of the car as possible. From this point, it’s all about going for race wins.”
When an Over-the-Air (OTA) update has been downloaded to a 2020-2024 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac vehicle and is available to be installed, a message is displayed on the infotainment screen notifying the driver of the impending update. The message to accept and install an OTA update will not appear until the minimum values for the battery State of Charge (SOC) and Outside Ambient Temperature (OAT) are met.
In order for an OTA update to be pushed to a vehicle, the vehicle must be parked for the entire download process. There is not a notification to the driver that the software update is being downloaded to the vehicle. Battery SOC and OAT values are not checked before a download. These checks are only performed once the software update is downloaded and ready to be installed. The OTA software download can occur in increments, so if the vehicle is driven during the download process, the download will be paused until the vehicle is parked and download conditions are met again.
Once the OTA software is downloaded, a message on the infotainment screen will display a prompt to accept the installation. The customer does not need to remain in the vehicle during the installation of the software. However, the vehicle cannot be driven during the installation and certain vehicle features may not be available. It’s not required for the ignition to be on for the installation to begin. Installation time will vary based on the size of the update.
Additional information about OTA updates and the download and installation process has been released in Bulletin #23-NA-125. The bulletin includes a variety of information in a Frequently Asked Questions format, including:
• OTA Overview and Requirements covers requirements before an OTA update can begin, checking OTA updates on the infotainment screen and OnStar plans. • OTA Download & Install Process highlights the differences between a software download and the installation process, how long the installation takes, and what to do if the customer declines or does not accept the OTA update. • OTA Communications reviews customer communications about an OTA update, as well as the differences between an OTA update and an In Market Enhancement (IME).
Resetting an OTA Update Following an OTA update, some of the following concerns may be present:
• Radio remains on for up to 11 minutes after Retained Accessory Power (RAP) is cancelled. • No crank condition due to a dead battery. The vehicle will start and run after the battery is charged. • Intermittent condition at start-up where the infotainment screen momentarily displays “Important Update … Download Resuming
These concerns may be the result of the OTA update being stuck in a pending or download state. Perform the following items to reset the OTA Update and clear the messages:
1. Charge the vehicle battery and test for a good battery. Confirm the vehicle will start and run. Be sure to connect the negative battery charger lead to a solid engine ground or the ground stud in the engine compartment that is connected directly to the battery negative cable/terminal/post. Do not connect the battery charger lead directly to the negative battery post.
TIP: If the vehicle does not power up or start once the battery is charged, this procedure does not apply. Perform normal diagnostics in the appropriate Service Information.
2. Go to Vehicle Settings on the infotainment screen and verify under Vehicle Updates that an OTA Update is available.
Record the campaign number that is shown.
3. Move the vehicle to a location that has a known good cellular connection. Turn off the ignition, exit the vehicle with the key fob, close all doors and lock the vehicle.
4. Contact TAC (U.S.) by creating a DCM case and reference PI #PIT5966 in the TAC case along with any other pertinent information, including the previously recorded campaign number. In Canada, call TAC to create a TAC case.
5. TAC will send your VIN to Engineering to have a reset performed. A confirmation message will be sent back from TAC indicating the reset has been requested.
6. Once the confirmation message has been received back from TAC, allow the vehicle to remain undisturbed for 2 hours.
7. During this time, the battery SOC must be above 70% for the OTA Update to prompt the installation button.
8. After 2 hours, start the vehicle and verify that there are not any update messages shown on the infotainment screen. In addition, go back into Vehicle settings on the infotainment screen and check the Vehicle Update to ensure there are no OTA Updates available. In some cases, there may be an OTA Update to accept.
9. Also confirm there are not any excessive parasitic battery draws.
For more information on resetting an OTA update, refer to #PIT5966B.
Another y-tube ahole who has a business that includes the word Motorsports Sells so-called performance mods for C8s
C8 exploded on the track and burned after throwing a rod through the block
So question is possible he did the $3-4K tune ? Like, who puts a piston rod through the block ? Now with another engine already doing pulls on a chassis dyno and ranting how he is headed to track again
Oh, last year he blew up another C8 on track and whined on Y-tube to get GM to replace the engine and then sold it :-(
Long tracks and short tracks, Corvette C8.R Racing has won at them both. It’s the latter that’s next on the team’s calendar as the longest-running sports car racing program in North America heads to Lime Rock Park for Saturday’s FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix presented by Liqui Moly.
The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor will look for back-to-back victories this weekend, having won the last time out at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park two weeks ago. As was the case then and at most stops on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule, Corvette Racing owns a stellar record at Lime Rock.
With six victories at the 1.474-mile, seven-turn road course in northwestern Connecticut, no team in IMSA history has won more times at Lime Rock than Corvette Racing. In fact, no team in the paddock has half the number of victories at the circuit. A seventh Lime Rock triumph would go a long way toward helping Garcia, Taylor, the No. 3 C8.R team and Chevrolet get back in prime position to fight for the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO championship. There are five rounds to go, counting this weekend, with the Corvette squad third in the Drivers, Manufacturers and Teams standings and within striking distance of first place.
The Garcia/Taylor pairing has stood on the top step at Lime Rock before, taking victory in the GT-only race in 2021. This is the first of two races this season to feature only GTD PRO and GTD cars, the second coming at Virginia International Raceway in August. Of note, six of Corvette Racing’s 126 victories worldwide have been overall wins, including the 2021 Lime Rock win for the No. 3 Corvette.
The FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 22. The race will air live on the USA and stream live on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.com outside the U.S. IMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions beginning with Friday morning’s practice on IMSA.com with the race call also on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“It’s always good to go right back to racing after a win. Everyone I think gets to the track feeling better about things, so I hope that is the case for us at Lime Rock. This is a very intense and physical race usually. It’s so hard to pass and if we are stuck behind GTDs, especially early, then it can be a long and frustrating day. This race is all about track position, so we need to arrive at the track with everything right on our Corvette, so we can start fine-tuning immediately That will be the easiest and best way to start toward the front and hopefully stay there.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“Lime Rock is such a unique race for us. It’s nothing like any of our other events, a true bullring of a track. I feel like we’ve had a few races in a row now that we’ve been executing on all levels, and everything fell into place for us at CTMP to get the win. With Lime Rock being such a big race on execution, I always like our chances with Corvette Racing. And if we need to make some positions on track, maybe some of my stock car experience from this year can come into play.”
As you may have read, one vendor has cracked just the GM Global B security for the PCM of the C8 LT2 engine At this time, cannot tune the TCM for the DCT
To do this, you will (or have to pay for someone to do this) have to get the C8 high enough and take off the whole center plate of tunnel to disconnect the wiring connectors and take out the PCM and have the car non-driveable as you ship the PCM to a hacker for $1,500 plus roundtrip shipping
This vendor hack on the PCM hardware to hack the Global B security which now makes the PCM non-normal and leads to GM warranty ripped up, C8 could fail smog testing, may prevent GM electronic test tools to not function and maybe no longer for the C8 to do OTA updates
If that PCM fails, you have to start all over again in total costs.
Now add about $1,000 for the tuning tool and the crooks of the tuning product requires you give them another $400 for so-called "credits"
IF you are not a tuner and must have some tuner do yours than you will have to get the C8 Stingray (Z06 not supported at this time) with the hacked PCM and these tuners are charging from $3,000 to $4,000 in total tune costs
If this tuned C8, and you're on the road, and it breaks down, since the PCM is hardware hacked you might find no one can work on the C8 to repair
This tuner product has been out for a few weeks, and it's come out now that those who spend that amount of money for a stock C8 Stingray are only getting about 10 HP or less for all that costs and bow have a hardware hacked PCM
Questions can be 1. Does the tuning tool limited what functions, tables and values it allows to be changed ? 2. Is the person doing these tunes to have no clue to what they are doing ?
3. If OTAs or a dealer auto erase and replace the tune back to GM's calibration or even change the PCM lock and security to prevent engine running ?
Sheesh, glad I did not hold my breath getting this C6 Corvette converted to an all electric driven tune completed !
2 Two guys not local to me contacted me six years ago in their beginning of yanking out the gas engine and designing a custom all electric driven system designed of a 2005 C6
They would work on this for a while, then would be some months before they would contact me again, and I had to do a very odd and custom tune so that all the normal controllers for a C6 would still function along with the stock auto tranny I had to do a lot of lying and sneaky tuning changes to make all this work
Congrats to them and can tell they are very proud of their design and sticking with it to make it a real electric Corvette !
Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia scored their first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO victory since Sebring 2022 Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. On the other side of the Atlantic in Italy, their sister team finished fourth in the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Monza. Not a very remarkable result, but on the back of victories at Sebring, Portimão and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it clinched the GTE-Am championship for Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone with two races yet to run.
“A very good day. I don’t think it could have gone much better,” said Taylor after celebrating on the top step of the podium at CTMP. “We have our remote ops here as well, so during our pre-race meeting and warmup we were listening to their intercom and what was going on there. (Chief Engineer) Kyle Millay is usually on the WEC side, but he came here this weekend, and they were still talking to him here during our pre-race meeting about strategy for there.
It’s a team effort from both sides. Nicky texted us just now saying that they were on our intercom during our race. It’s one big family. They’ve obviously had an unbelievable year winning as much as they did – winning Le Mans and able to clinch the championship, so I think it was a good decision for Corvette to stay in the WEC to execute that championship and open up some doors for the future.”
Ben Keating, the defending GTE-Am champion who came on board the Corvette program for this season after WEC shelved the GTE-Pro class, is often lapping the No. 3 Corvette regularly in IMSA competition aboard the PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 car. But he is now part of the Corvette championship family.
“I’ve said it over and over, but in this championship and in each one of the five races we’ve had, it has been a true team performance overall. You win as a team, and you lose as a team, but we’ve also been lucky in quite a lot of places. It’s just been a magical season,” he said, a sentiment echoed by Catsurg.
“Honestly, this season might have been one of my nicest in motorsport,” Catsburg said, who also won the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, albeit with a different marque. “It has been so cool right from the start. It was always very relaxed with not a lot of pressure. Somehow the results just kept coming. I cannot deny that we have a great car, a great team and we have an awesome lineup. But we still need to execute, and I feel like we did that really well.”
For Garcia and Taylor, there is still the opportunity to produce a championship of their own. They are third in the GTD PRO points, although with a 109-point deficit to championship leaders Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth, it’s going to take a lot of luck in the five remaining races to achieve. For now, though, they get to celebrate Corvette Racing’s “unbelievable” day.
Going a bit off strategy, plus some misfortune for competitors, allowed Corvette Racing with Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia to claim their first GTD PRO victory of the season in the No. 3 C8.R at the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Brian Sellers and Madison Snow, meanwhile, claimed their third GTD victory of the season for Paul Miller Racing in the sixth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Taylor brought the Corvette into the pits for the first time only 33 minutes into the race far earlier than necessary, but far enough in that they could likely make it to the end with one more stop – and handed the car over to Garcia. Meanwhile, local favorite Pfaff Motorsports went for an opposite strategy, pitting as late as possible the differing strategies actually coming together at the end of the race.
Without some misfortune for the frontrunners, though, Corvette Racing would have had a tougher time taking the win. The first GTD PRO competitor to fall brought out the race’s first full-course caution halfway into the race. Contact between Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin and Jules Gounon in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG in Turn 8 sent Gunn’s Aston hard into the tire wall. Gunn was evaluated by the medical team and released; the No. 79 had to serve a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.
The second incident occurred on the penultimate restart, with a little more than an hour in the 2h40m contest left with Patrick Pilet leading in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Ben Barnicoat in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus attacked for the front, but ran out of room and went off track; Garcia seized the moment to pass them both and take the lead. “On the restart, I knew that the Porsche was the only one that gambled on a different strategy, jumped us, and I was kind of first-row spectator into Turn 1 watching them going side by side, which I think never works here,” said Garcia. “Once I saw that, I was kind of alert and going for it and made the move, went into the lead. Then I think we had strong pace, especially on the front.”
Meanwhile, Barnicoat took the Lexus to the pits with a leak in the cooling system, the car eventually going behind the wall and ending an 11-race podium streak for him and Jack Hawksworth. However, with Gunn out, the No. 14 squad still collected fourth-place points. Garcia was able to hold off Pilet to the end, the Corvette Racing team collecting their first victory since Sebring last season, with Pfaff’s Pilet and Klaus Bachler second followed by Gounon and Daniel Juncadella in third.
“We’ve definitely struggled here and there,” said Taylor. “But I felt like we’ve been executing very well in a lot of the races and the results just haven’t been there. We’ve had a lot of podiums here and there, but it’s nice to for everything to click and go our way. The guys called a great strategy to kind of undercut everyone at the beginning, jumped up a couple spots into second, and Antonio had a great restart there to jump into the lead. It was kind of stressful to watch, being mixed in with the GTD cars, but he stayed out of trouble and I think we had a pretty quick car in clean air. It’s nice to get a Corvette back into victory lane.”
In its 25-year history, Corvette Racing has taken victories at 27 racetracks around the world. Very few have witnessed more Corvette successes than Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, which plays host this weekend to the Chevrolet Grand Prix for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor will team in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R the mid-engine racecar’s second race at the venerable Canadian circuit. After a second-place finish in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class a year ago, Garcia and Taylor, plus the entire Corvette Racing effort, will look to finish one step higher on the class podium this time around.
The program first raced at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, formerly Mosport International Raceway in 2000. Since then, Corvette Racing has won at the 2.459-mile, 10-turn circuit 11 times more than any other track except Sebring International Raceway. Both drivers have victories to their credit at CTMP in Corvette racecars. Garcia won the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category in 2014, driving a Corvette C7.R with Jan Magnussen. Taylor was victorious the following year in a Corvette Daytona Prototype for Wayne Taylor Racing.
Garcia also is a former pole-winner at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (2016) and set the fastest GTLM race lap in 2015. The No. 3 Corvette drivers, the team and manufacturer Chevrolet enter CTMP third in their respective GTD PRO points standings. Only 73 points separate second through fourth, with a maximum of 385 points available this weekend. Lexus and its No. 14 drivers and teams lead the class by 172 points after five races and with six events left in the season.
In addition to the extensive success and following at CTMP, Corvette Racing legend Ron Fellows is part-owner of the circuit and is largely responsible for operations at the facility. In his Corvette Racing driving career spanning 1999–2008 Fellows won 30 races (three times at CTMP) and three championships in the American Le Mans Series. He also was one of the founding members of the team and a key development driver starting in 1997.
The Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 9. The race will air live on NBC and stream live on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.com outside the U.S. IMSA Radio will air on-track sessions beginning with Saturday morning’s practice at IMSA.com with the race call also on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“Last year was nice to get back to Canada and finally race the C8.R there. Our result was good. Last year, we finished second behind the Porsche and the Lexus was behind us. So I don’t know where we will fit in once we get on the track. Hopefully we can find our way to the front for all our fans there. It’s always a massive turnout for Corvette Racing. I was happy with our race at Watkins Glen, with our pit stops, how clean we were and always gaining positions with strategy. We’ll hopefully carry on doing that.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“It was cool driving the C8.R around Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the first time last year. We were actually not bad last year there. We saved a lot of fuel and were in the top-three, sitting behind the Porsche and Aston Martin. Looking at the pace at Watkins Glen, it’s a little concerning because the tracks are kind of similar.
But since last year, we’ve done some development, so hopefully that can work to our advantage. It’s another sprint race, so we’ll take a couple of pit stops with some strategy and hopefully work some Corvette Racing magic.”
Fresh off a class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans its ninth since 2001 Corvette C8.R Racing can add one more major honor this weekend with the resumption of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Depending on its finish and those of other title contenders, Corvette Racing can wrap up the GTE Am Drivers and Teams championships at the Six Hours of Spa. Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating, Nico Varrone and the team of the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R have won three of the first four WEC rounds to open a commanding 74-point advantage with 91 possible points remaining in the final three races of the season.
Such a position likely was incredibly optimistic for even the biggest Corvette Racing fan before the season began. Not only is this season the first for the Catsburg/Keating/Varrone trio, but it also is the in GTE Am for Corvette Racing. The new challenge hasn’t been too big for the team, which largely has nailed every pit stop and strategy call during this year’s campaign.
That was part of the story last year at Monza for the Corvette squad, which won in its debut at the circuit in the GTE Pro class. Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy were winners that day in the C8.R on a strategic masterpiece by the Corvette squad.
The team will need to rely on some of that quick and clever thinking this time around as the Corvette will carry 40 additional kilograms of “success ballast” in accordance with GTE Am sporting rules. That is due to the victory in the previous race at Le Mans, 10 kilograms for taking the runner-up spot at Spa (the race prior to Le Mans) and another 15 for leading the championship.
On a positive note, the No. 33 C8.R raced at Spa with 45 extra kilograms over its minimum weight and placed second, highlighted by a furious late-race defense by Catsburg to hold on to the second position.
The Six Hours of Monza is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. CET / 6:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, July 9. MotorTrend and MotorTrend Plus will provide both live television and streaming coverage, as will the FIA WEC app. Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage of qualifying and the race.
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“Coming into the season, we were confident that we could compete for race wins and the championship. We knew we had a good team and a good car. But I couldn’t have expected the success we have had so far, with three wins Le Mans among that and a chance to win the championship this early. Even though we are in this position, we cannot take anything for granted or lose focus.
Fortunately, I have teammates in Ben and Nico and a team behind us in Corvette Racing that won’t let that happen. Monza is a very good and fast track. We may be a little limited by the success ballast, but it will not change our approach and mindset. I’m ready to get there and go for the best result we can get.”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“I love Monza. On the WEC calendar, Le Mans and Monza are my best tracks. Interestingly enough, in my first year at Monza in WEC, I rented a bicycle and was riding around. On the grandstand side, there is a driver development simulator company. I spent four or five hours there on a whim.
At the time, my chief competitor was a Ferrari with Alessio Rivera, and in the sim he was my coach! So every year since then, I always book time. Monza is one of my best tracks, but I’ve yet to finish a race there. It’s been my unluckiest track. One year we had a blowout at 170 mph, and it blew apart the car so much that it bent the exhaust, blew the floor out and blew the hood off. Then last year, we lost brakes and flipped the car. Even though I feel excellent about my performance at Monza, the track has not always loved me back. I have a lot of faith in the Corvette and the Corvette Racing team. I really feel like in this season, the team’s performance has been key to our results. This race will be no different. We’ll be carrying 40 extra kilograms for the race, but the other teams chasing us have weight, too. I’m hopeful we can clinch a championship there. It doesn’t require a podium finish, but does require some points for us and the 25 and 85 cars having a bad race. With the 40 extra kilograms, it would be a lot to expect us to win. I’m not saying it’s impossible because anything is possible with this car and this team.”
NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“I love Monza! It’s a fast track with a lot of history. We have been doing a great job all year. I feel like the pressure from ahead of Le Mans is gone with the victory there. We will arrive at Monza with less pressure and I think enjoying the moment. We will do what we do every race do what we do, do what we know, keep it clean, be as fast as we can and get the pit stops and strategy right. Everything will come to us after that. If we are champions in Monza, then great. But we are not going in with that mindset. We are going to do our best and trying to win.”
The Louisville Metro Police Department is taking some huge swings lately and it’s landing them too. In an investigation dubbed “Operation Havana Highway,” it just arrested six people and recovered approximately 30 vehicles. In total, they’re preliminarily valued at above $3,100,000.
The LMPD says that its 6th Division Impact detectives executed a number of search warrants on June 19. All stemmed from a long-term investigation surrounding a criminal enterprise car theft ring. It found stolen cars from across the nation in addition to three car haulers, a travel trailer, and a boat. Included on the list are high-end rides from Bentley, Maserati, and BMW. On top of that, it found marijuana and cocaine too.
The department showed off the haul in a video we’ve embedded below. Set to music from what sounds like a mid-2010s amateur dubstep competition, the LMPD lays out all of the cars it seized in the bust with Powerpoint-esque graphics. Police say the suspects involved use a special type of VIN cloning. The process includes creating a new set of VIN identifiers on a stolen vehicle that coincides with a legitimate vehicle. Then they can register the vehicle, sell it, or keep it and drive it without it coming back as stolen through a VIN search.
“We found that the cars were being cloned with new VINs and it was almost impossible for us on the street to be able to detect that the cars were stolen because if you were to run the license plate, it would come back to the car,” said LMPD Det. Brian Reccius.
Notably, the Louisville Metro Police Department hasn’t named any suspects at this point. It has charged “several people” but hasn’t released details on exactly what those charges are or how big this criminal organization is. Local news organization WDRB found that public court documents shed some light on those details. Three of the individuals have now been named. Each is charged with obscuring the identity of a machine of $10,000 or more and receiving stolen property.
A sophisticated high-dollar-car theft ring involving at least two C8 Corvettes has been broken up by the Louisville (Kentucky) Metro Police Department. Authorities say the suspects cloned VIN numbers to avoid detection of the crimes, stealing a black and a Torch Red C8 among other expensive vehicles like Bentleys, Maseratis, and BMWs.
The crooks created a new set of VIN identifiers on a stolen vehicle that coincided with a legitimate vehicle – allowing them to register the vehicle, sell it, or keep it and drive it without showing up as stolen if a VIN search was initiated.
Known as “Operation Havana Highway,” the long-term investigation conducted by 6th Division Impact detectives involving three states (Kentucky, Florida, and Texas) has already resulted in six arrests and recovery of some 30 vehicles, along with three car haulers, a travel trailer, and a boat, along with marijuana and cocaine.
The process includes creating a new set of VIN identifiers on a stolen vehicle that coincides with a legitimate vehicle. Then the thieves were able to register the vehicle, sell it, or keep it and drive it without it coming back as stolen.
The first customer team for the new Corvette Z06 GT3.R was just announced. Corvette Z06 GT3.R Program Manager Christie Bagne has confirmed that TF Sport will be switching from Aston Martin to Corvette for the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship and will be competing with two new Z06 GT3.Rs in the new LMGT3 class.
The British team owned and run by Tom Ferrier will be racing two of the eight Z06 GT3.R racers confirmed for the 2024 racing season. The Z06 GT3.Rs are replacing the Corvette C8.R which was first introduced in 2020 and will be retired at the end of the year.
“We are excited to welcome TF Sport to the Corvette Racing family,” said Christie Bagne, the Corvette Z06 GT3.R program manager. “Tom Ferrier and his organization showcase the elements we were looking for in a team to run our Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the FIA WEC– a first-class operation, strong collaboration and a history of success. We look forward to working with Tom and his team to make the Z06 GT3.R a success in the WEC and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2024 and beyond.”
No drivers have yet to be announced for TF Sports, but it has been speculated that Corvette’s factory drivers may be part of the line-up. TF Sport has been campaigning the Aston Martin since 2014, and they won Le Mans in the car in 2020 while also taking the WEC GTE-Am class championship in 2022.
Ferrier expressed his gratitude to Aston Marin and discussed his move to Corvette: “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to represent such an iconic brand on the world stage,” he said. Corvette Racing has an immense history at Le Mans, and we will be looking to continue that run of success.
I’d like to thank everyone at Aston Martin Racing for the support and success we have had over the past six years and seven Le Mans, but now I feel the time is right for a new challenge in the WEC. “We still have a job to do in this year’s WEC, now lying second in the championship. And will give it our all to finish on a high.”
TF Sport will still need approval from the WEC to run the new Z06 GT3.R Corvettes, but series organizers are expected to give preference to manufacturers who are also racing in the Hypercar class, and Cadillac has already announced two LMDh racers will be fielded in the WEC next year. To support its European racing support efforts, GM plans to run its customer operation out of a new location in Europe.
“To do a proper job in Europe, we want to make sure we have a setup that will likely include some type of headquarters that we can run parts in and out of,” GM sports car racing program manager said. Stay tuned, as additional customer team announcements for IMSA and SRO America series will be made in the coming weeks.
WATKINS GLEN, NY (June 23, 2023) – Chevy & Pratt Miller Motorsports officials announced today the formation of a program that will lead competition and development efforts with the Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3.R Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports.
Starting with the 2024 Rolex 24 At Daytona, Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports will campaign a pair of the new-for-2024, GT3-spec Corvettes for a full season in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO category of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The factory-supported effort is the first of two 2024 WeatherTech Championship programs that feature the Corvette Z06 GT3.R with additional customer programs set to announce in the coming weeks.
Drivers for the GTD PRO effort will be announced at a later date, as well.
The link-up between Chevrolet and Pratt Miller Motorsports (PMM) is a natural fit. The current full-factory Corvette Racing program is in the midst of its 25th season with 125 race victories to date, the most recent coming at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the team’s ninth class win at the famed French classic. Also for the second year in a row, Corvette Racing has programs in both IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship with the Corvette C8.R, now in its final season of competition. “Chevrolet and Pratt Miller have collaborated for more than 25 years on the Corvette Racing program, and we are thrilled that we are able to continue together into the GT3 era,” said Christie Bagne, Corvette Z06 GT3.R Program Manager.
Corvette Z06 GT3.R customer teams will compete under the umbrella of Corvette Racing, which also will include customer and technical support to help carry on the tradition of Corvette Racing excellence that began in 1999.
With an eye toward the future, Chevrolet Motorsports Competition Engineering and Pratt Miller began planning more than two years ago for the Corvette GT3 era. Pratt Miller located in New Hudson, Michigan is the constructor of the Z06 GT3.R. Pratt Miller engineers have worked hand-in-hand with Chevrolet Motorsports engineers on development, build and testing to date.
With Pratt Miller dedicated to chassis builds and engineering on the Z06 GT3.R, GM Propulsion Performance and Racing Center in Pontiac, Michigan, also has been busy with development and refinements on the 5.5-liter, flat-plane crankshaft DOHC LT6 V8 engine that will power the racecar.
The LT6 engine for the Z06 GT3.R originates from the Performance Build Center in Bowling Green, the same line on which all production Corvette Z06 engines are built. The racing engines are delivered to the Performance and Racing Center, where they are fitted with certain race-specific components.
The 5.5-liter power plant shares more than 70 percent of its parts with the production Z06 engine, including the crankshaft, connecting rods, cylinder heads, fuel injectors, coils, gaskets and a variety of other sensors.
“It makes sense to have Corvette Racing with Pratt Miller Motorsports lead the competition element of the Z06 GT3.R program in the GTD PRO championship starting in 2024,” Bagne said. “We couldn’t have a better representative than the same group that has been part of the development, build and testing processes for our new Corvette racecar. The learnings we will take from testing and competition will flow to our other Z06 GT3.R customer teams to ensure that the Corvette brand is a championship contender around the world.”
Since September of last year, Corvette Racing and Pratt Miller have accumulated nearly 9,000 kilometers (5,500 miles) with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The car is currently undergoing its final homologation testing in Europe, with additional testing planned for the summer and fall to fine-tune the Z06 GT3.R to multiple brands of tires for use across an array of championships around the world.
“This is an exciting time for everyone at Pratt Miller,” said Brandon Widmer, Pratt Miller Vice President, Motorsports. We’ve experienced a lot of successes, race wins and championships with Chevrolet through the Corvette Racing program. Now we move into the GT3 era. Everyone is pleased with the progress of our testing and development programs, and new car builds are under way.
“We’re appreciative of the decades-long relationship with Chevrolet. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports is looking forward to continuing showing our expertise in race operations and management to our fans, our commercial partners and new prospects as we go forward.”
