CORVETTE RACING AT LIME ROCK: Going for No. 100… Again

DETROIT (July 17, 2018) – In the course of 20 years, there has been a large number of milestones for the Corvette Racing program.
Of all of them, perhaps none was as significant as its victory at Lime Rock Park in 2016 – the team’s 100th victory.

Corvette Racing returns to that scene two years later in search of another milestone.
A victory in this weekend’s Northeast Grand Prix for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will give the defending GT Le Mans (GTLM) champion its 100th victory in North America – far and away the most of any entrant in IMSA history.

The victory breakdown includes 16 in the WeatherTech Championship, 82 in the American Le Mans Series and one in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.

The odds of No. 100 coming again at Lime Rock are, statistically at least, better than average.
Corvette Racing has won five times in 11 appearances at the 1.5-mile, seven-turn circuit that is as close to short-track track racing is it gets in the series.

In addition, Corvette Racing drivers have proven they can go fast in qualifying and in the race through the years: three class pole positions and seven fastest race laps including 2016 (Oliver Gavin) and 2017 (Antonio Garcia).

The two Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs arrive at Lime Rock off second- and third-place finishes in the team’s most recent race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Garcia and Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Corvette stand second in the GTLM Driver’s Championship and were runner-up at both CTMP and Watkins Glen.

Gavin and Tommy Milner scored Corvette Racing’s lone 2018 victory earlier this year at Long Beach, and they were the winners two years ago at Lime Rock. The runners-up in 2016? Garcia and Magnussen.

Another strong weekend also would aid Chevrolet’s pursuit of its 13tth Manufacturer’s Championship.
Currently Chevy is second in GTLM points but only eight points from first place.

The Northeast Grand Prix begins at 3:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 21.
Same-day television coverage will air at 4 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
Streaming in-car footage along with live audio coverage of practice, qualifying and the race from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“Lime Rock is very different than any other circuit we have in IMSA.
It is a very short lap but a lot can happen during those 50 seconds.
In many ways it is one of the more difficult races we will do this season.
The strategy must be perfect, and there is little time to rest except maybe on the start-finish straight depending on traffic.
Plus it is normally very hot. We are in good position in the championship again.
The main thing will be not to make any mistakes or do anything that will cost us points.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“Racing at Lime Rock is very difficult. Usually it is very hot and humid, which creates more of a challenge.
This is as close to short-track racing as we will get all season.
It reminds me of the Danish Thundersport Championship that I race in Denmark – short laps with a lot of traffic. It seems like you are always fighting with other cars.
So you need to be aggressive and get through the traffic while not putting yourself in places where you can lose positions or worse, the car.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“I’ve been lucky to win at Lime Rock multiple times, and I have to say that each one was a challenge.
It feels like there is something always going on whether you are overtaking or being passed.
That plus the normal humid and hot conditions add another level of difficulty.
This is a very big race in terms of points with so many cars close together.
While you can’t win a championship here, you can definitely lose one at Lime Rock.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“It’s always an interesting race when it’s a GT-only weekend, like it is again at Lime Rock.
It gives you a little something extra to race for when you’re going for an overall win. But we can’t get too caught up in that.
There are so many facets of the circuit and the race that demand focus. Traffic is usually non-stop, and the slightest contact can end your day early. It can be a very physical test too with the heat and humidity working against you, as well.
It’s another great challenge that everyone at Corvette Racing is ready to face.”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER:

“We are fortunate to race on a variety of tracks on the IMSA schedule each year.
Every venue offers something unique, and Lime Rock is no different.
While it may look pretty benign at just 1.5 miles, it has a lot to challenge any team or driver.

During the race there will be an endless number of strategy options available given the very short lap times, track characteristics and this being a GT-only race. Corvette Racing has been successful at Lime Rock in the past, including our 100th win, and the expectation is that our winning ways will continue this weekend.”

Jan Magnussen reflects on a good finish at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

So the IMSA Championship is really heating up now and Corvette Racing, Antonio Garcia and I are right in the hunt.
We’re only six points off the lead with five races to go.
Anything can happen and we certainly have our sights set on trying to defend our title from last season.
I said it all last year and I think this one is going to be the same – the 2018 championship is going to go right down to the wire, to the final laps at Petit Le Mans.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was another great race for us. Through every session we were right in the hunt in the top three.
The car felt really strong in qualifying and then I made a great start and settled into second place.
Both of us really love that track and I’ve had amazing runs at Mosport over the years.
Luck certainly has the potential to play a key role in the championship.
With a bit of luck, we could have actually pulled off the win – but we also had a bit of luck with traffic too.

One of the Porsches got held up a little heading onto the back straight. Both Corvettes were there ready to pounce and a two-car bright yellow freight train was able to charge on past.
However, the late race yellow was bad luck for us, and good luck for Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe at Ford.
That yellow fell perfectly for them, and allowed them to come back out in the lead. Had that not happened when it did, we might have been able to get to Victory Lane.

Consistency was really the key to our championship last year. We were able to finish every race inside the top five.
It could have been even better because that single fifth place finish was at Long Beach, where we actually had the lead until that final corner when the track was blocked.
We’ve had one rough race at Sebring with an eighth place finish but apart from that, our season has been really strong. Four podiums in six races including three in a row has been the key for us.

To really bridge that gap to first place, a win or two would be handy but it all depends on how your opposition performs.
We’re just going to keep pushing and pushing as hard as we can and making sure we are there at the finish and knocking on the door.
In the past two races we’ve jumped from fifth to second in the points.
Things are so tight so we just have to keep that momentum rolling.

DETROIT (July 18, 2018) – Corvette Racing continues its 20th season campaign at a place where, unsurprisingly, has a strong history.
The program has won five times in 11 visits at Lime Rock with the most recent being one of the biggest milestones in Corvette Racing history…

1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 20 years: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.
3: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Lime Rock since 2004 – Corvette C5-R (2004), Corvette C6.R (2005-13) and Corvette C7.R (2016-current).
4: Wins at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin – tied for the most of any driver entered in the Northeast Grand Prix.
5: Number of victories at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing, the most of any entrant in IMSA.
5: Number of drivers who have won races at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing – Oliver Gavin (four), Olivier Beretta (three), Jan Magnussen (two), and Johnny O’Connell and Tommy Milner (one each).
7: Fastest race laps for Corvette Racing drivers at CTMP. Oliver Gavin leads with three with Antonio Garcia (2016) being the most recent.
8: As in Chevrolet’s small-block V8. More than 100 million units have been sold worldwide and is the most successful engine in American motorsports.
12: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.
16: Number of GT Le Mans wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014. That’s the most of any manufacturer and team in GTLM.
21: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres and Utah.
28: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999.
100: As in Corvette Racing’s 100tth program victory at Lime Rock Park in 2016.
107: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 99 in North America and eight at Le Mans.
207: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
5,132.54: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 11 previous trips to Lime Rock. That represents 3,417 laps and approximately 46 trips from New York City to the track.
278,757.78: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history – covered “just” 248,655 miles.

Antonio Garcia in C7.R Corvette set a 49.754 sec at Lime Rock Park to take pole for the Northeast Grand Prix, 1 of the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar championship’s GT-only rounds.

GT Le Mans

The Spaniard’s first pole for 2 years set his best time on the fifth of 11 laps around the seven-turn 1.5-mile course in Connecticut, beating Laurens Vanthoor’s #912 Porsche 911 RSR by 0.166sec, and Dirk Muller’s Ford GT by 0.191sec.

Tommy Milner was fourth in the second Corvette ahead of Richard Westbrook in the second Ford.

The BMW M8 duo of John Edwards and Connor De Phillippi will start sixth and seventh, ahead of Patrick Pilet’s #911 Porsche.

After the 15-minute session, seven of the eight GTLM entries bested the previous track record with the top three – from three different manufacturers – all breaking the 50-second mark.

Antonio Garcia will start from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class and overall pole for today’s race earning the top spot with a record-breaking qualifying lap in his No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R.

His pole-winning lap of 49.754 seconds (106.652 mph) was the first sub-50 second GT lap at the 1.474-mile Connecticut bullring, shattering the previous track record set one year ago by the Porsche 911 RSR of Gimmi Bruni (50.404 seconds, 105.3 mph).

It was Corvette Racing’s second pole of the season, with Garcia’s co-driver Jan Magnussen starting from the pole at the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.

“It’s pretty awesome to be able to run on the low fuel and fresh tires around here because this afternoon is going to be completely different,” said Garcia. “For the first time, we don’t have cars ahead of us. So it’s definitely the best start position so now we will see how strategy plays out here because it’s very important.”

Garcia will be joined on the front row by the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR of Laurens Vanthoor, who missed the top spot by 0.166 seconds with a lap of 49.920 seconds (106.297 mph). Dirk Mueller, meanwhile, qualified third in the No. 66 Ford GT at 49.945 seconds (106.244 mph).

In GTD, Patrick Long carried over his speed from Friday’s practice sessions to grab his first-ever WeatherTech Championship Motul Pole Award in the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche GT3R. Long has two previous pole positions from the American Le Mans Series and three from the GRAND-AM Rolex Series.

Long’s time of 51.491 seconds (103.054 mph) bested the previous track record set by Madison Snow last year in the No. 48 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 by 1.017 seconds. Long – who is currently tied with Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Magnus Racing’s Andy Lally for the most Lime Rock Park wins among active drivers with four – will co-drive the No. 58 Porsche with Christina Nielsen.

“The 911 has always been strong here at Lime Rock,” said Long.
“It brings back great memories here with Joerg (Bergmeister) with Petersen White Lightning and Flying Lizard, but today is all about Wright Motorsport, it’s about Porsche and the GT3.R. We’ve had a slumpy season and it reminds everybody on the crew that winds change quickly in motorsport.
The lows teach you to kind of band together and then you have something like this with a pole position and it makes it that much sweeter.”

The two 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3s in the field followed Long, with the No. 14 of Daniel Baumann in second and the No. 15 of Jack Hawksworth in third. Cooper MacNeil qualified the No. 63 WeatherTech Racing Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 in fourth.

The Northeast Grand Prix begins at 3 p.m. ET today and will be televised on a delayed basis starting at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.
The race will be carried live by IMSA Radio on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio (Sirius 138/XM 202/App 972).

The Ford GT grabbed IMSA victory at Lime Rock after pressuring Jan Magnussen into a mistake in the dominant Corvette with just 15 minutes to go.
Antonio Garcia’s pole sitting #3 Corvette took the lead from the start over Laurens Vanthoor in the #912 Porsche, while the second Corvette of Tommy Milner beat Muller’s #66 Ford to grab third, but a yellow-flag flew immediately for a GTD collision.

The restart saw the order remain static among the leaders, but John Edwards slotted his BMW M8 ahead of the second Ford of Richard Westbrook, and the second BMW of Connor de Phillippi and Patrick Pilet in the #911 Porsche.
Before Lap 30, however, Westbrook had passed Edwards for fourth and set about trying to close what was now a six-second deficit to teammate Muller. Instead, Muller kept the gap static and instead started pressuring Milner’s Corvette for third.

Following the first stops, the first two remained in place, #3 Corvette ahead of #912 Porsche, but with Jan Magnussen and Earl Bamber now in their respective cockpits.
But now their nearest pursuers were the two Ford GTs, with Joey Hand and Ryan Briscoe now ahead of the second ’Vette, which now had Oliver Gavin at the wheel.
Magnussen pulled in from the lead on Lap 106 but Bamber made a costly error as he sped up before his pitstop, running off course.
The Porsche drivers’ issues were compounded when a faulty wheelgun stretched the pitstop so long that he rejoined in fourth.

Tandy in the other Porsche lost second place to Hand’s Ford GT with 45mins to go, just before he stopped, which allowed his teammate into the final podium spot, 2sec ahead of Gavin’s #4 Corvette, but 18 sec behind Hand who in turn was almost 10 sec behind Magnussen.

However, Hand started slicing into the leader’s advantage, although once the gap came down to 5sec with half an hour to go it stabilized.
When Hand tagged the Magnus Racing Audi as he tried to lap it, he dropped back to 8sec behind the leader.

He then regrouped and charged again. Into traffic with 25 mins to go,
Magnussen was also having to contend with Tandy trying to unlap himself, something Jan grudgingly allowed to happen, allowing the Porsche driver a chance to chase after Briscoe’s fifth placed #67 Ford.
It also meant that Magnussen’s mirrors were now full of Ford GT with 15 mins to go, and two minutes later the Dane went briefly off the road at the final turn and Hand was through and gone.

Magnussen would cross the line 11.4sec behind the new leader and only 2sec ahead of Bamber. Gavin took a solid fourth,

No. 3 Corvette team closes in on GTLM points leaders; Gavin, Milner gain with fourth place

LAKEVILLE, Connecticut (July 21, 2018) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen scored their third straight runner-up finish in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday with a second-place overall finish at the Northeast Grand Prix.

Garcia and Magnussen combined to lead 138 of the race’s 178 laps in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R around Lime Rock Park, where Garcia qualified on pole position.
Saturday’s result moved the No. 3 duo to within one point of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Driver’s Championship leaders.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed fourth Saturday in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R – the same position in which Milner began the race.

Garcia led the entirety of his hour-long stint before he came into the pits for a driver change to Magnussen.
The Dane drove a double-stint to the end and only lost the lead on the final pit stop cycle and an unfortunate off-track excursion with 10 minutes to go.

Magnussen passed a slower GT car coming into Lime Rock’s final, diving turn and slid wide on the exit of the corner.
It took tremendous control for him to gather up the Corvette and rejoin without any damage.

Milner made an early jump into third place at the race start in the No. 4 Corvette and held that position until his first stop with 63 minutes running.
Gavin took over and rejoined in fifth place with the goal of moving back up into podium position during the final two hours. His perseverance paid off as he went from seventh after his final pit stop with 62 minutes left to fourth by the end of the race.

The next event for Corvette Racing is Aug. 3-5 at Road America. The Aug. 5 race will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET with live audio coverage on IMSA Radio.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – RUNNER-UP:

“It’s not what we want for sure, but a third runner-up in a row is good for our average and points.
It was so close to our first victory of the season. We know how close the competition is here.
The strategy was what we needed to do, and I think we knew the tire strategy and management would be the difference.

The winners had a little bit more than us in the end, so there was nothing we could really do. Learning from second place isn’t that bad.
We need to focus and carry on the work we are doing. Sooner or later, that victory will finally come.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – RUNNER-UP:

“It is hard to swallow. It is tough because we had such a great car.
Everyone did a fantastic job all weekend-the crew, the engineers, everybody.
It was just a little bit of a longer stint for the tire compared to what the Ford had there at the end.
It got difficult. He (Joey Hand) was catching me.
I think I could have held him off a little bit longer than I ended up doing because I got into the marbles passing a GTD car on the inside of the last corner, and it just threw me wide off the track.
He drove by and that was it.

“I know going that long on the tires was going to be a challenge. But second place isn’t bad. We caught up in the championship which is good.
The car is almost in one piece. On to Road America and see if we can do better.

“Podiums are nice. They are really good for a championship, but when you lead 80 percent of the race, you want to win.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but for everybody it is a good result. I wanted a little bit more for all the hard work the team put in.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH:

“This race is always a battle – mentally, physically – for the team, the car, the drivers.
There never seems to be space for operate in, so there are bits of contact. There are always close calls. It
seems like tensions are always pretty high here. You are always around someone. Just no space to operate.

“I had what seemed like a rather lonely race. It seemed like I was chasing people that were a ways away and slowly catching them.
People were slowing pulling away from me.
I was dealing with the car and the tires and just trying to manage everything the best I possibly could. We were okay.
But by the end of the stints, we were really losing quite a lot of performance. Both Tommy and I seemed to fall off a cliff in terms of performance right at the end of our stints which is probably where some of the gaps appeared to the other cars.

“I really think we had a fourth place car today. The No. 3 was just that little bit quicker than us.
It was good for them to score another podium. It was good points for us. We are still chipping away at scoring those points. We are still in the hunt, but we need to tidy some things up. We need to just work away at getting a little bit better of a race for both Tommy and me.
We need to work away on things and just be able to put it all together.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH:

“I don’t know if you can make a plan for a race like this.
I had an OK first stint; there was no damage, which was good. We missed a little on tire pressures, which made the car difficult to drive about halfway through that stint. We sort of sacrificed a little bit at the start to have better tires at the end of the race for Olly.
We lost a little ground staying out a little longer and were hopefully we could make that up at the end.”

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing played the rare role of spoiler Saturday in the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park.

With Corvette Racing eyeing an historic 100th career IMSA win following what had been a dominant weekend for the team, the No. 66 Ford GT of Joey Hand slowly caught and eventually passed the No. 3 Corvette C7.R of race leader Jan Magnussen with 13 minutes remaining, driving away to an 11.431 second victory alongside co-driver Dirk Mueller.

The winning pass came when Magnussen tried to make a move on a GT Daytona (GTD) car in Turn 7. Magnussen cleared the car but ran wide, allowing Hand to slip by. It was a surprising turn of events as Magnussen and co-driver Antonio Garcia were strong all weekend, starting on the pole and combining to lead 150 of the race’s 178 laps.

“I think today we capitalized on some opportunities, some guys made mistakes and we were right there to take advantage of it,” said Hand.
“Winning races is all about that, winning championships is all about winning races.

“I hope everybody enjoyed the race today. This is one of those places where you get that feeling, you have such genuine fans here.
You can see them on the hillside, it’s like a stadium race. It’s like a short track Saturday night. I think that’s what makes this WeatherTech series a show, and it has to be a show. That’s why we’re all paid to be here.
I’ll tell you, when I get to race in the show and I get to win, that’s what makes it worth it.

It was the third consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM win for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing with Hand and Mueller winning two races ago at Watkins Glen, and the No. 67 Ford GT of Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe winning the most recent race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

“This win truly is a win for the whole team and for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing,” said Mueller.
“I want to thank everybody, it was awesome. I’m still shaking. That’s how strong this team is. We’re always looking forward.
We came here, we didn’t know we could be that kind of strong. We knew maybe a podium was possible, but anything is possible.”

Both Ford GTs are now in the thick of a tight points battle with Corvette Racing with four races remaining.
Mueller and Hand unofficially now have 208 points with Garcia and Magnussen a point behind with 207 and Briscoe and Westbrook one point further back with 206.

The WeatherTech Championship returns to action in two weeks at Road America for the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase on Sunday, Aug. 5.
The race signals the return of the Prototype class following Lime Rock’s GT-only event and can be seen live on FS1 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
The race will be carried live by IMSA Radio on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio (Sirius 138/XM 202/App 972).

Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen says his error while leading IMSA's Northeast Grand Prix is hugely disappointing, as the battle for GT Le Mans honors heats up with just four races to go.

Magnussen and co-driver Antonio Garcia led 150 of the 178 laps at Lime Rock Park on Saturday, but in the closing 15mins as he was going off line as he lapped a GT Daytona car, Magnussen went onto the rubber tire marbles, slid off-track and allowed the Ford GT of Joey Hand to grab the lead.
Had the #3 Corvette C7.R retained the lead, their drivers would have headed the GTLM battle in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship.

Instead, Hand and co-driver Dirk Muller lead Magnussen and Garcia by just one point, with the #67 Ford GT pilots, Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook (who finished sixth on Sunday) just a further single point in arrears.

Said Magnussen:

“It is hard to swallow. It is tough because we had such a great car. Everyone did a fantastic job all weekend – the crew, the engineers, everybody. It was just a little bit of a longer stint for the tire compared to what the Ford had there at the end. It got difficult.
“[Hand] was catching me.
I think I could have held him off a little bit longer than I ended up doing because I got into the marbles passing a GTD car on the inside of the last corner, and it just threw me wide off the track. He drove by and that was it.

“I know going that long on the tires was going to be a challenge. But second place isn’t bad. We caught up in the championship which is good.
“Podiums are nice. They are really good for a championship, but when you lead 80 percent of the race, you want to win.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but for everybody it is a good result.
I wanted a little bit more for all the hard work the team put in.”

Garcia added: “It’s not what we want for sure, but a third runner-up in a row is good for our average and points.
It was so close to our first victory of the season.
"We know how close the competition is here.
The strategy was what we needed to do, and I think we knew the tire strategy and management would be the difference.
The winners had a little bit more than us in the end, so there was nothing we could really do.”

The result means Corvette still has just one victory to its name this season – the Long Beach triumph for the #4 car’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner at Long Beach.
This pair lie fifth in the championship, just behind Porsche’s Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor and just ahead of the other Porsche pairing of Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet.
The top six in the championship are covered by just 16 points after seven rounds, with four to go – Road America, VIR, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Petit Le Mans.