DETROIT (Aug. 15, 2018) – Corvette Racing’s title chase in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship takes it to a circuit where – not surprisingly – it has shown significant strength: Virginia International Raceway.

This weekend’s Michelin GT Challenge is a GT-only weekend with the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class taking top billing. It’s a situation that has worked out well for Corvette Racing in the past with the program looking for a third straight victory – and fourth in class since 2012 – at the 3.27-mile, 17-turn circuit that straddles the borders of North Carolina and Virginia.

Corvette Racing is the IMSA co-leader for victories at VIR with three – all in GT categories. Meanwhile, Chevrolet has seven IMSA victories at the track since 2002.

All four Corvette C7.R drivers remain well in the hunt for the GTLM Driver’s title with three races to go. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen, partners in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, stand second in the championship and only four points behind.
The duo have won the last two years at VIR and have finished on the GTLM podium in each of the last five IMSA races dating back to May at Mid-Ohio.

Magnussen was the pole-winner in 2016 in the No. 3 Corvette, and he also was a winner at VIR in a 2007 race for the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. Garcia set the fastest race lap in 2012 as part of the American Le Mans Series GT class.

Oliver Gavin and Virginia’s Tommy Milner, in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C7.R, are fourth in GTLM points and 14 points out of the lead.
They clinched the ALMS GT title in 2012 with a victory in Corvette Racing’s VIR debut and are coming off a runner-up finish two weeks ago at Road America – just ahead of the No. 3 Corvette.

Milner also won at VIR in 2005’s Rolex Series race and was a GT pole-winner the year prior. He and Gavin were GTLM winners earlier this year at Long Beach.

The Michelin GT Challenge is set for 1:05 p.m. ET with FOX Sports 1 airing the race live from 1-2 p.m., followed by coverage on FOX Sports 2 from 2-4 p.m. 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:

“We obviously would like to win three in a row at VIR. Our Corvette has been very good there. Being able to win that race last year put us in a very good position to win the championship. I hope it’s the same this year.
We aren’t leading in points but we are very close. Oftentimes there is less than a half-second between GTLM cars there, so track position and qualifying will be key things.
We are hopeful to carry on that momentum this week.”

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

“VIR is a fantastic place and we’ve won there the last two years. We hope to find ourselves in contention again. It’s a great, old-school track that is very fast but also has a high level of risk. It’s those tracks I like best.
Antonio and I really would like a win here to solidify ourselves in the championship. We’re in contention with a lot of podium finishes. We need that one win to really get our momentum going into the last couple of events.”

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

“Over the years, VIR has been very positive for us. We’ve all had very strong years there.
The No. 3 car of course has won there the last two years. Tommy and I haven’t been far behind, and we had our victory there in 2012 to win the ALMS GT Championship.
This year’s competition has been fierce, no matter which manufacturer we are racing. We need to focus and execute, which we did at Road America for two excellent podiums. But it’s getting toward the business end of the year and we need to get back to winning races.
A strong and clean weekend is our goal and our focus.”

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

“From a driver’s perspective, all four of us really enjoy VIR, as do most of the other drivers in the series. It’s a lot of fun but difficult to get a perfect lap. There are a lot of places that you are unsighted in areas and really having to trust the car underneath you.
These kinds of tracks and these kinds of corners reward a car that handles to your liking. Each year we have been there, we’ve been happy with our car right from the first practice. It’s a combination of all those things that when you put them all together, it’s very good for us.”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER:

“2012 marked the debut of the Corvette Racing program at VIR. Since our first trip there, it has quickly become one of our favorite stops of the year.
It’s a unique track layout that has very distinct and defined sectors – one that is slower speed, another with high speeds with quick changes in direction and finally a roller-coaster ride to start-finish.
As a result, it takes a very well-developed car to have success throughout the entire lap. In the last six years, our Corvettes have been just that. It’s a testament to the work done by our engineers, crew and drivers.
To remain in championship contention, we will need all of that again this year.”

CORVETTE RACING AT VIRGINA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY: By the Numbers

DETROIT (August 16, 2018) – Virginia International Raceway may be relatively new to Corvette Racing – only six visits there – but the team already has made an impact at the thrilling circuit in southern Virginia.
As the program looks for a fourth victory – and third straight overall – this weekend at the Michelin GT Challenge, here are some facts and figures on Corvette Racing’s history at VIR as well as the entire program.

1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 20 years: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.
2: Overall VIR race wins in a row for Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen
2: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at VIR since 2012 – Corvette C6.R (2012-2013) and Corvette C7.R (2014-current).
2: Double-podium finishes this season for Corvette Racing: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America.
3: Class wins at VIR for Corvette Racing, tied for the most among IMSA entrants. Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin won in ALMS GT competition in 2012, and Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen have won overall the last two years.
5: Consecutive GTLM podium finishes for Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Corvette – Mid-Ohio (third), Watkins Glen (second), Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (second), Lime Rock Park (second) and Road America (third)
7: Number of VIR victories for Chevrolet since 2002 covering both ALMS and the Rolex Series.
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.
24: 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, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen.
28: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999.
107: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 99 in North America and eight at Le Mans.
209: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
3,632.97: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its six previous trips to Virginia International Raceway. That represents 1,111 laps or nearly 14 trips from Tommy Milner’s home in Ashburn, Virginia to the track.
278,748.94: 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

Right now, Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia are four points out of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class points lead.

With three races left on the 2018 schedule starting with this Sunday’s two-hour, 40-minute Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway, it’s officially “go time” in the championship. For Magnussen and Garcia, who co-drive the No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, their chief competition for the title has been the pair of entries from Ford Chip Ganassi Racing.

Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe currently lead the GTLM standings on the heels of their third victory of the season in the No. 67 Ford GT earlier this month in the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America. Garcia and Magnussen are five points ahead of No. 66 Ford GT co-drivers Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller, who have won two of the last four GTLM races.

“It is so close in this championship,” Magnussen said. “Every weekend, one car has the edge, but usually not a massive edge.
That makes it tough. It makes it tough on the drivers, of course, but also on the teams to perform well in the pits, to pick the right strategy and make the right calls. That’s what I love about GT racing.
It’s so close, you fight every lap of the race, and then when it’s over, hopefully you’ve got something good to show off back home.”

Lately, the ones in the GTLM class showing off most of the good stuff at home has been Ford Chip Ganassi Racing. The team has won the last four races.
Garcia and Magnussen, meanwhile, haven’t won yet this season in the No. 3 Corvette. In fact, they haven’t won a race since last August.

That win came at VIR. They also won at VIR in 2016. You can bet they’re pretty pumped to be going back there this weekend.

“To have a chance to go for the (VIR) hat trick is a fantastic opportunity,” Magnussen said. “It’s tough right now. In the championship, competition is really, really, really hard from Porsche and from Ford and BMW.
If we can go there and get another win, that’d be absolutely fantastic.”

“Yeah, it’s a racetrack we definitely like,” Garcia added. “All three, Corvette, Jan and I. Everything seems to be working really good, especially over the last few years.”

While they haven’t won yet this year, the No. 3 team continues to shine – as it did in 2017 – through consistent strong finishes. Last year, they finished every race inside the top five and had three wins.
This year, they’ve finished fourth or better in seven of eight races and have finished on the podium in the last five events.

That’s why they’re only four points out of the lead. It’s also why – while a third consecutive win at VIR would be nice – neither Garcia nor Magnussen are desperate to win.

“We need to do what we’re doing at the moment and get as many points as possible,” Magnussen says. “We need to be going for wins, for sure, but getting the points, that’s the most important thing.
We’ll see. In the past, we’ve been good at VIR. We’ve been fast there every year, so hopefully we can go there with a shot of getting another win.”

Garcia is looking forward to another run on the flowing, 3.27-mile circuit at VIR. It’s one of a handful of circuits on the WeatherTech Championship schedule that drivers consider among their favorites.
It’s also the second and final race of the season featuring only the GTLM and GT Daytona (GTD) classes.

“It’s very fun,” Garcia said. “It’s very challenging and very, very old school. I mean there are no escape roads.
There is definitely just the racetrack, the white line and a lot of grass everywhere. The grass won’t save you.
Every single mistake you do there, there is punishment.

“VIR is a place where you really need to be attacking all the time, but also knowing the slightest mistake can cost you a lot.”

That’s certainly how it played out last year.
While Garcia and Magnussen were en route to winning the race, a late-race incident between Mueller in the No. 66 Ford and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette dropped the No. 66 team from third to fifth in the final race standings, costing the team much needed championship points in the process.

You can bet that championship points will be top of mind this weekend. That’s why the No. 3 team is looking forward to returning to VIR this weekend.

“Definitely over the last few years, it’s been helping us; especially last year being able to win the race,” Garcia said. “It really put is in a really good spot towards winning the overall championship at the end of the season.
I hope this year it’s the same and it is a good race.”

The Michelin GT Challenge will start at 1 p.m. ET with live television coverage beginning on FS1 for the first hour before moving to FS2 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET
IMSA Radio also will offer live coverage on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM Radio (Sirius 138/XM 202/App 972)

Sims clashed with a GTD car and spun, which resulted in a drive-through penalty, but a full-course yellow meant a switch to an alternate strategy, and Sims unleashed strong pace leading in clear air in the final hour of the race. It marked the first win for the new BMW M8.

At the start, pole-winner Richard Westbrook’s Ford GT led the fast-starting BMWs of John Edwards and de Phillippi.
Front-row starter Patrick Pilet (Porsche) was slow away and slipped back to fourth by Turn 1, and then Antonio Garcia’s Corvette also got around him a few laps later.

There was trouble behind, as Tommy Milner’s #4 Chevrolet Corvette ran wide on the opening lap, and as he tried to recover he later made contact with Earl Bamber’s #912 Porsche on the straight that sent Milner spinning wildly off the track, while Bamber rotated at the next corner due to a flat right-rear tire.

Westbrook handed over to Briscoe just after the 50-minute mark, a lap before Edwards followed suit to hand the #24 car to Jesse Krohn, with de Phillippi doing likewise to Sims a lap after that. But Briscoe was in trouble with a clutch problem, and the #67 was out of contention after going to the garage for repairs.

During the first pit sequence, Porsche short-filled to get Nick Tandy out in the lead after he took over from Pilet, with Krohn running second.
Third-placed Dirk Muller split the BMWs in the second Ford, taking over the #66 after Joey Hand’s opening stint.

Sims then attacked Muller, but got on to the grass, taking out the #15 GTD Lexus as he rejoined the track, with Sims also spinning – which promoted the #4 Corvette of Garcia/Jan Magnussen to fourth.
The race lost its second leader when Tandy was forced to pull off and jump out of Porsche #911 just after the hour mark, as smoke erupted from underneath.
That caused a full-course yellow, with Krohn leading Muller and Magnussen at the time.
The recovering Sims was fourth ahead of Oliver Gavin, who took over from Milner in the second Chevy.
Muller lost two spots in the flurry of pitstops that followed, with Magnussen and Vanthoor gaining positions – although leader Krohn stayed out.

At the restart, Sims – who’d served a drive-through penalty for the incident – further demoted Muller.
He went on to lead the race as the front runners pitted, Magnussen rejoining second ahead of Muller

Krohn had dropped back to fifth after his final stop, but battled his way past Vanthoor and Muller to run third.
Sims used amazing pace to extend a 53s lead, and pitted with 24 minutes to go.
He rejoined in the lead by over 8s from Magnussen and Krohn and went on to record a landmark win.

Muller finished fourth, ahead of Vanthoor and Milner.

After winning the Michelin GT Challenge each of the past two years, Magnussen came up just shy of a three-peat in the No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R along with co-driver Antonio Garcia.
It was the team’s seventh podium result of the season and sixth consecutive and it vaulted them into the GTLM championship lead by four points, 269-265, over No. 67 Ford GT co-drivers Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe with three races to go.

John Edwards and Jesse Krohn made it two BMW M8s on the podium with a third-place run in the No. 24 BMW Team RLL entry.
In addition to it being the first victory for the M8, it also was the first time two M8s finished on the podium in the same race.

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing saw its GTLM winning streak stopped at four in the Michelin GT Challenge. No. 66 Ford GT co-drivers Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller finished fourth, while the No. 67 entry of Briscoe and Westbrook was forced to retire early from the race with clutch problems.
Westbrook started the race from the pole position and led the first 28 laps before pitting to turn the car over to Briscoe, and the problem reared its ugly head shortly thereafter.

No. 912 Porsche co-drivers Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor came back from an opening lap incident with the No. 4 Corvette to finish fifth.

CORVETTE RACING AT VIR: Championship Lead for Garcia, Magnussen

Second-place finish moves No. 3 Corvette into GTLM points lead for first time in 2018

DANVILLE, Virginia (Aug. 19, 2018) – Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia moved into the lead of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Driver’s Championship for the first time this season following Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Magnussen and Garcia placed second in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R – their fourth runner-up finish in five races and seventh podium result of the season.
The defending GTLM champions provisionally lead the championship by four points with two races remaining.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed sixth in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R as their race came undone just as it started.
Milner started the race seventh but was sent off track from contact with another GTLM car on the first lap.
He was able to continue but the Corvette suffered damage at the front-right, which impacted the car’s performance.

Milner drove the first 57 minutes before handing off to Gavin, who reported similar struggles in his nearly 50-minute run.
He swapped out to Milner for the final stint with the native Virginian able to set some of his best lap times toward the end as he began catching the fourth- and fifth-place cars before time ran out.

Garcia began his race fourth and drove the opening 55 minutes nursing a knee injury.
Magnussen took over and drove the final two stints in a marathon effort.
He made two stops – one for fuel only during the race’s lone full-course caution period with 90 minutes left and another for fuel and Michelin tires with 52 minutes to go.

The final stop was critical in that the Corvette Racing crew got him out ahead of one of his championship contenders who had pitted two laps earlier to hold on to second place and valuable points. It was a fight to the end with Magnussen driving as hard as he could for the closing stint.

Corvette Racing’s next event is Sept. 7-9 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

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

“Another second, which isn’t exactly what we were looking for. But in the end we’re keeping on with more and more points toward the championship.
I’m happy with the race and happy with how Jan drove.
The injury was unfortunate but I was able to do an hour and then gave it over to Jan for the biggest part of the race. It was really tough and very warm for him, and he drove great.
We have the lead in the championship now, so let’s see if we can maintain that.”

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

“That was a tough race because of the heat. We had planned on doing two drivers changes, but with a mishap before the race we didn’t want to risk putting Antonio back in so he can be ready for the rest of the season.
So I stayed in. It was just a tough race. Our car was good.
The hardest thing was just after the safety car when we didn’t stop. I had so much pickup on the tires and I couldn’t get the car going no matter what I did. Traffic destroyed our chance to get the BMW, so it was a matter then of keeping second place. And that was hard work.
That was as fast as I could go every single lap trying to find every little bit of road. It feels really risky when we do it because it’s a lot of points if you finish third. It’s nice that it worked out the way it did. But we want to win. It’s been almost a year since we won a race, and that’s wrong!
We have six podiums in a row and the championship lead with two races left – a normal race and a long race. A lot can happen.
Four points is nothing, but it’s better than being four points behind!”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SIXTH: “Tommy and I battled with a wounded car all race. It was better at some points of the race than others, but fundamentally we didn’t have the pace. Contact with the Porsche on the first lap really did shape our race. We managed to salvage sixth, which is OK. But our challenge for the Driver’s Championship is really gone. We’re too far back now. But Antonio and Jan are in the lead, which is great for everyone at Corvette Racing. But our chance is done. Onward to Laguna Seca and another track we enjoy competing. Hopefully we can have a better time there.”

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

“That was an unfortunate start to the race. I haven’t seen the video of it, but (the 912 Porsche) got a penalty for moving in reaction, which you shouldn’t do because that (scenario) can happen. And it wrecked both our races. It’s easy to say now that maybe I could have tried again later.
But with the gap that was there, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
Because the end result was not what we wanted I’d change it, but playing it back in my head I’d do the same thing. Like anything in this class, it’s so competitive. I wanted to get by and he didn’t want to let me by. It’s unfortunate FOR US but it was a good points day for Antonio and Jan

. Our car was quick there at the end as I was catching the two cars ahead of me. It’s a frustrating day and I feel bad for all the guys on the 4 Corvette team.
We’ve had good cars the last couple of races here and things haven’t gone our way.
We’ll keep trying and pushing super hard. Hopefully a little bit of luck goes our way next time.”