Total BS and no surprise on how Europe treats American Corvettes

Corvette driver Antonio Garcia says he is "surprised" with the lap time he set in first Le Mans 24 Hours qualifying, which was enough to top the GTE Pro class before it was disallowed.
Garcia shot to the top of the GTE Pro order on Wednesday night with a best lap of 3m49.467s, but it was not allowed to stand as the Spaniard didn't slow down sufficiently under yellow flags.

That meant the #63 Corvette C7.R shared by Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller ended up 10th in class, just over 2.5 seconds slower off the eventual class benchmark of 3m49.530s set by Ford driver Harry Tincknell.

"We’re right there, it was a really good lap," reflected Garcia.
"I knew there were yellows there and I did slow down, but you don’t really know how much to slow down.
"I was actually surprised by how good the lap was, I was happy that was good enough for [provisional] pole.
Luckily we have another four hours today.
"We’ll definitely go for it, because we’re still very far down the order, but we know the pace is there. Conditions should be better, the temperature was low but the laptime was there regardless."

Asked what he thought of Tincknell's late session-topping effort in the #67 Ford GT, Garcia said: "I think you have to count on everybody [challenging] – Ford, Ferrari, Porsche.
"Porsche for sure, they were strong last year and they are running the same spec, and there are four of them. If they are winning races, that means something. They are probably the team to beat."
Garcia stopped short of saying Gianmaria Bruni's 3m47.504s lap in qualifying last year was within reach, but didn't rule out that benchmark being beaten on Thursday evening.
"The last chicane is slower than last year [due to new kerbs], but maybe if somebody has a clear lap and everything runs smooth, someone can beat that," he said.
Milner laments "sloppy" session for #64 crew
The sister #64 Corvette shared by Tommy Milner, Oliver Gavin and Marcel Fassler suffered a fraught session, ending up 14th out of 17 cars in class and almost three seconds off the pace.
That followed punctures for both Gavin and Fassler - the latter coming after the crew had already abandoned efforts to embark on a proper qualifying run.
"Frustrating is definitely the word," Milner told Motorsport.com.
"Unfortunately Olly had a small issue early on that led to a puncture and the damage that resulted from that.
"It took a bit of time to fix that, and then there were still some issues left over from that.
We had plans to do a qualifying run which went out of the window, so tried to get all of us qualified, get the five night laps over with. I got my five, but Marcel had another slow puncture.

"Just a sloppy session, but hopefully we’ve got our bad luck out of the way and we can have a clean weekend from here out."
Milner however described Garcia's disallowed lap in the #63 car as encouraging, adding: "It’s great to see there’s some pace in the car.
Hopefully it stays that way for the race."

No program in endurance sports car racing can claim a longevity to match Corvette Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Not only is this is the program’s 20th consecutive year at Le Mans, each year has been with Chevrolet and the Corvette brand.
The success has been substantial with eight class victories in 19 attempts.

Ahead of this weekend’s 87th running of Le Mans, Corvette Racing leadership and drivers offered their thoughts on this historic milestone.

JIM CAMPBELL, CHEVROLET U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, PERFORMANCE AND MOTORSPORTS:

"This is Corvette Racing’s 20th consecutive appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Every single year is an absolute honor to race at Le Mans. We’re proud to have celebrated eight class wins and many podium finishes with Corvette owners and supporters from around the world.
The tens of thousands of miles completed at Le Mans continue to help us learn lessons on the track that transfer back to our production vehicles and powertrain systems for the showroom.
The Corvette owners’ passion and support of this race program is one of the reasons why we continue to compete at Le Mans each year."

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

"Corvette Racing is a huge part of Le Mans. Even though people focus a lot of prototypes, we always have a large group that follows us at the race and around the world on TV and radio.
It’s a big honor for them to follow us."I’ve already been there 15 years, but Corvette Racing has been there a few years longer!
I don’t see any other team that has been going to Le Mans for such a long period year after year. Corvette Racing needs Le Mans, but I also believe Le Mans needs Corvette Racing."

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

"I don’t know if sports car racing will see a program like Corvette Racing again. It is unique with how this program has been put together and run for the last 20 years. That’s what makes being part of Corvette Racing so special. None of us knew when we joined the team that we were going to be here this many years for Le Mans. That’s one of the strengths of the program – the continuity in the team.
Everyone knows each other so well that we can work to the strengths of everyone on the team. I’d say it’s a huge advantage. It doesn’t mean we will win every race, but we do have the biggest chance to not making mistakes because there are very few unknowns. As a driver, I really like that."

MIKE ROCKENFELLER, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

"What stands out to me about Corvette Racing is that it is an American team that comes over every year for 20 years to Le Mans. It shows how important Le Mans is to Corvette Racing, but also Le Mans appreciates the attendance of Corvette Racing as well.
This program is committed and has all this experience over the years, still we know it’s a new challenge. The Corvettes always stand out.
Even when I was younger and in my container with other teams, you always knew when Corvette would come by!
I knew that sound and loved it, and so do all the fans."

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

"Corvette Racing has been very loyal and determined to follow through on our commitment to Le Mans and what it stands for. It means a lot to the brand. Creating that image and sporting identity of racing and winning at Le Mans each year against the other top manufacturers is a huge deal. If we are fortunate to do it again this year, we would come away with nine wins out of 20 years!
That’s an amazing average and something to be extremely proud of. Then you think about how many races where we’ve been runner-up. For all the victories we’ve had, there have been some extremely unlucky close calls where we could have two, three or four more.
But that’s the nature of Le Mans and why we keep going back. You take up that challenge and fight against the other teams and manufacturers to come away with the spoils.
And when you do, it’s the best feeling in the world."

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

"These 24-hour races are unique in itself. But Le Mans is why Corvette and other teams and manufacturers want to compete and test themselves and their technology.
In a lot of ways, this is shaping the trajectory of the Corvette brand itself with lessons learned on the track and improving future generations with what we learn on the racing side at Le Mans. It definitely has had an impact on the Corvette brand and the cars people can buy every day.
If there was ever an example of how a manufacturer makes a car better or the sentiment toward your brand,
I’d say those manufacturers look at Corvette Racing as the shining example of what can be done."

MARCEL FÄSSLER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

"This is something very unique. It makes me very proud to be a driver for such a great team.
The commitment also shows the value of the success of Corvette Racing at Le Mans. They have won many times and been on the podium many more.
It shows the professionalism of the team in the preparation and also not having so much change within the team.
This is an important thing to have consistency within the team to improve and be fast. It develops a trust between the drivers and the team. You are confident because you know have the support of the program in good times and bad times.
This is something every driver appreciates and I’m very happy and appreciative to be part of Corvette Racing."

Porsche retook provisional pole in GTE Pro thanks to a late effort by Michael Christensen in the #92 911 RSR of 3m49.388s in the closing stages of the session.
Antonio Garcia - fastest on Wednesday night until his best time in the #63 Corvette C7.R was scrubbed - came within 0.036s of Christensen's time late on, becoming the only other driver to better Harry Tincknell's first qualifying benchmark in the #67 Ford GT.

Tincknell's time of 3m49.530s remained enough for third, ahead of the #93 Porsche which likewise did not improve, while the #91 Porsche slipped one place to fifth despite a late improvement by Gianmaria Bruni.

The best of the Aston Martins slipped from third to sixth on the provisional grid, ahead of the #94 Porsche, the #69 and #68 Fords and the top Ferrari, the #71 car.
BMW was therefore the only manufacturer to end up outside the top 10 in class, the two MTEK-run M8 GTEs ending up 14th and 16th.

The top two times in GTE Am remain the same as on Wednesday, with Matteo Cairoli's best lap in the #88 Dempsey-Proton Porsche not being bettered.
Giancarlo Fisichella was the highest-profile improver, moving up to third place in the #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari, behind the #56 Project 1 Porsche.
C7.Rs start race in 3rd and 11th place.

Normal Ford crap having 4 GTs running to the 2 C7.Rs

Garcia leads charge in No. 63 Corvette ahead of team’s 20th straight Le Mans

In its 20th consecutive appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Corvette Racing recorded its fastest lap in a decade around the fabled circuit Thursday on the final qualifying day for Saturday and Sunday’s race.

Antonio Garcia set a lap of 3:48.830 (132.849 mph) in the No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R that he shares with Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller.
A three-time winner at Le Mans – twice with Corvette Racing – Garcia set his best time in the final of three qualifying sessions.

The lap was good enough for the No. 63 Corvette to start third among 17 GTE Pro entries for Saturday’s 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET race.
Rockenfeller had been quickest in class at the annual Le Mans Test Day 10 days ago, and Garcia qualified within 0.830 seconds of the pole-winning car.

Teammate Oliver Gavin was the fastest driver in the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C7.R with a lap of 3:49.573 (131.917 mph) that also was set in Thursday’s final session.
The No. 64 Corvette – with Milner, Oliver Gavin and Marcel Fässler – will start 11th in class but it could have been much better as Gavin was stymied on his final two laps that had his Corvette trending toward the top-five.

Track conditions around the 8.49-mile circuit were at their peak Thursday with rain having moved out Wednesday.
Garcia took advantage late in the opening session with his best time placing provisionally second in class. However, a number of teams set their best times of the day immediately at the beginning of the final session.
After giving his teammates a chance to sample the setup of the Corvette, Garcia went out for the final 20 minutes and very nearly delivered pole position.

Milner had sights on moving up the charts early but caught the worst of traffic and yellow-flag sectors around the track during his quick run.
As darkness grew, focused turned to race setup for Saturday and Sunday until the team sent out Gavin in the final minutes for a final qualifying shot.

The achievements by the collection of six Corvette Racing drivers can’t be matched by any other entrant at Le Mans.
The group has combined for 19 victories – an exemplary record at Le Mans:

Antonio Garcia: Three victories in 13 appearances- 2008, 2009 and 2011; runner-up in 2014; third place in 2017
Jan Magnussen: Four victories in 20 appearances- 2004-06, 2009; runner-up in 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2014; third place in 2017
Mike Rockenfeller: Two victories in nine appearances- 2005 and 2010; third place in 2012
Oliver Gavin: Five victories in 18 appearances – 2002, 2004-06, 2015; runner-up in 2003; third place in 2001 and 2008
Tommy Milner: Two victories in 10 appearances- 2011 and 2015
Marcel Fässler:Three victories in 13 appearances- 2011-12 and 2014; runner-up in 2010; third place in 2015

The 24 Hours of Le Mans begins at 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET on Saturday and will air live on the MotorTrend Network with full audio coverage on Radio Le Mans.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED THIRD IN GTE PRO:

"It was interesting and difficult.
We know how the session went with the amount of yellows and slow zones, so it was kind of a gamble that we could go on track and find a clear lap and just go for it. We decided to have another go (tonight) mainly because yesterday’s time got cancelled so we needed to have a run in the first session this evening.
That put us in a position where, instead of doing the classic two attempts in the final session, we had to do one in the first session when the track wasn’t as good.
I drove a pretty decent and pretty fast lap.

It was pretty close between Porsche and us. We obviously went a bit faster in the last session, though I don’t know whether the conditions were really better. I don’t think we would have gotten pole, because those lap times were very, very strong. But if you look all around the field you see 12 cars within 1.5 seconds and I am just 0.8 off pole position, that’s pretty close.
And that’s what we can expect for the race: a train of GTE cars. But luckily, we’re in the first part of the train, which will make things a little bit easier since we’ll be a little bit more in control rather than chasing all the time. I think it’s going to be a very interesting 24 Hours, with 15 laps per hour and many cars nose to tail."

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED 11TH IN GTE PRO:

"We’ve had quite a fraught couple of days on the No. 64 Corvette with punctures and damage.

The crew has worked super-hard to straighten things out and get us ready for today, and we all need to thank them for that.

We were running through a program and Tommy was so unlucky; every time he went out to do a qualifying run, he was so unlucky. He was getting balked, getting traffic, red flags, slow zones
I think he came in and waved the white flag and said we needed to get myself and Marcel some laps, which was very decent of him. I was out there end and our engineer came on the radio and asked if we should give it one last shot.
It’s always magic to drive around here with low fuel and good tires.
We were getting some breaks but other things were just utterly ridiculous with the driving standards. We were on two really good laps but had people ahead of me who wanted to wreck our laps.
You don’t want to see that. But I’m pleased we were a little farther up the grid;
I think that last lap would have close to where Antonio ended. That’s the way things roll around Le Mans.
Once again, thanks to the guys for sticking with us and pushing, pushing, pushing."

With less then 10 hours before race starts !

Aston Martin and C7R Corvettes have both been penalized in the latest GTE Pro class Balance of Performance issued for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The Aston Martin Vantage GTE, which took pole on Thursday night thanks to Marco Sorensen's 3m48s lap, has been given a small turbo boost reduction.
All cars in the class except the Corvette C7.R, including the Aston Martin, have been handed a 5kg weight break.

It comes after Antonio Garcia qualified the best of the Corvettes third.

The Aston has also been hit with a two-liter reduction in fuel capacity as organizers aim to ensure all cars are capable of no more than 14-lap stints during green flag running.
BoP changes have been made in the GTE Am class as well, following a Porsche top-three lockout in qualifying.

The 911 RSRs will run 10kg heavier,
while the sole Ford GT in the class, the Keating Motorsports entry, has been handed a 10kg weight break. !

Both the Ferrari 488 GTE and previous-generation Aston Martin Vantage are unaffected by the latest changes.

With 6 and half hours of race #63 C7.R is in first place, #64 is back in 8th place
see live timing at

Live Timing

Race video

Two safety car periods broke up the sixth hour of the race, one for a big incident at the Porsche Curves.

The infamous set of sweeping bends have claimed their first victim of the race,
the No. 64 Corvette Racing C7.R of Marcel Fassler, which was running just outside the top five in Pro.

The Swiss collided with the No. 88 Dempsey Proton Porsche while lapping the Gulf Racing Porsche, Satoshi Hoshino in the Porsche turning into the side of Fassler as he came through.
That sent both off the circuit, the Corvette straight into the barriers.

It was race over immediately for Fassler and the No. 64 crew, reducing Corvette Racing’s effort to just a single car.
Thankfully he was OK — fit enough to tell the team on the radio that “there was nothing” he could do.

It’s not over for Corvette, though. Its No. 63 currently sits third behind the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari and No. 92 Porsche.

“He was talking and walking. We believe we have the safest GT cars in the world,” Corvette Racing’s Doug Fehan said.

“Our crush zone, seating and side window nets have all come into play.
As a precaution he’s down at the medical centre.
He’ll be back later, the car looks too badly damaged to be repaired.
But we’ve done this before, we’ve been here and won with two cars, it’s not over yet.”

At 45 mins past the eight hour, there was a clash at the second chicane between Olivier Pla in the #66 Ford GT and Sven Muller in the #94 Brumos-liveried Porsche 911 RSR as they dueled over 10th place.

Approaching the ninth hour – midnight local time – James Calado moved the AF Corse Ferrari 488 into the lead ahead of Michael Christensen before pulling into the pits for the 10th time.

Once the leaders had cycled through their 10th stop, Christensen resumed around 6sec ahead of Calado with Corvette Racing’s sole remaining #3 C7.R chased by Jonathan Bomarito (#67 Ford), Patrick Pilet (#93 Porsche), Sam Bird (#71 Ferrari), Richard Lietz’s #91 Porsche and #69 Ford GT of Richard Westbrook.

Alex Lynn had spun the 13th place #97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR just past midnight, breaking the rear wing and right-front fender, and the team were still occupied fixing that 20mins later when Marco Sorensen suffered a much bigger impact in the #95 Aston just before Indianapolis corner.

The resultant safety car period had a major impact on the race, too, with Christensen and Calado very close too each other – indeed, the Ferrari was swiftly past the Porsche – but now over 75sec clear of their chasers led by Magnussen, Pilet, Bomarito, Wesbtrook, Lietz and Joey Hand in the #68 Ford.

The 11th stops saw the #92 Porsche now driven by Laurens Vanthoor emerge just ahead of the AF Ferrari now driven by Daniel Serra and the 12th stops maintained this order, but Vanthoor went over half a minute clear of the Ferrari only until the spinning Ligier brought them back together.

Sadly that didn’t bring the chasing pack back in touch, with third and fourth places held by Fred Makowiecki and Earl Bamber in the the #91 and #93 Porsches, followed by Mike Rockenfeller in the Corvette, and then the #69, #68 and 67 Fords of Scott Dixon, Sebastien Bourdais and Andy Priaulx respectively.

Race stewards found Marcel Fassler at fault for the crash.
According to social media, Fassler has been fined €7000 and had his license endorsed to the tune of seven penalty points.

Corvette Racing reached half distance of its 20th appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans early Sunday with one of its Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs firmly entrenched in the battle for GTE Pro honors.
The No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller ran fifth at the 12-hour mark with Rockenfeller just finishing a double-stint. The practice of having the three drivers stay in the car for two fuel stops at a time was the prevailing strategy for Corvette Racing, which is shooting for its ninth Le Mans class victory.

Unfortunately, the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C7.R isn’t part of the fight following a heavy crash for Marcel Fässler near the six-hour mark. The incident happened in the lightning quick Porsche Curves toward the end of the lap. Fässler – driving with Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner – was hit from behind after making a pass on a slower car with the impact sending the Corvette hard into the wall on driver’s right.

The damage was too extensive to repair, and Corvette Racing was forced to retire the car. Fässler was evaluated at the track medical center and was sent to a local hospital for a CT scan, which came back negative.
Early in the race, the No. 63 Corvette led early and often. Garcia began the race from the third position but needed less than 20 minutes to move to the point in a frantic start.

All three drivers of the No. 63 Corvette took turns in the lead early. The first safety car period of the race during the sixth hour brought the top nine GTE Pro entries to within 15 seconds of each other at the six-hour mark. Another safety car near the 10 hours running split the two lead cars from the rest of the GTE Pro field, effectively taking what had been a nine-car battle down to two with the Corvette part of the second group.

The No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette was up and down the order early with Gavin climbing from 11tth at the start to fourth in class during his opening two stints. Debris on his tires made it challenging for him to maintain his early pace but he and Milner had relatively calm stints before handing over to Fässler, who was matching the pace of his teammates before the incident.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“There was a lot of uncertainty at the start.
We were all looking at each other not knowing who would be fast and who would be slow. So we did like we did in qualifying and just settled in. Everybody seemed to be on a good pace and obviously our car felt pretty good.
In the draft I was kind of following everybody but I think I feel more secure and better for myself when I’m running in a higher position rather than depend on the others.
I could have stayed behind, but I decided to go ahead and see if I could stay because with the amount of slipstreams you have here it’s easy for the others to overtake you again even if they don’t have the pace. There is no better place to stay than P1!”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“The first stint was good, keeping the same distance to the Porsche and opening the gap a bit towards the end, which was nice.
The second stint was a little bit more of a handful on the tires. The car started moving around a bit.
I think the track isn’t quite ready yet for double-stinting the tires, but we have to do it.
I thought we were going to lose everything when I had to come in (early for an emergency five seconds of fuel) under the full-course yellow when the pit lane was closed, but fortunately everybody else was pretty much in the same boat so we didn’t lose anything.”

MIKE ROCKENFELLER, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“Like last year, unfortunately, these safety car rules tear the field apart, which is a shame but the race is not over.
Let’s see. Maybe we will get lucky and catch the better safety car next time and the field will be bunched up together because it was a good fight when we were all together. Let’s see where we will end up in the morning.
It feels like since it has cooled down or the track has rubber-ed in that the car is running better and better. This is good, but we just need some luck to come to us.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“It was a very interesting first couple of stints. We bounced up and down the order among pretty much all the manufacturers.
There definitely were some moves early on there. We were on the move a lot of the time. But it was aggressive very aggressive.

It was very intense racing. In the back of your mind, you’re thinking we have a lot of racing to be done but it was pretty wild now thinking about it. Toward the middle of the second stint, I ran wide a little bit near the end of the lap and got a bunch of junk on the tires.
I just couldn’t cleaned up for a bit. It was amazing how many stops I dropped just through that one little thing. That shows the fine line in this category.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“My stints were pretty relaxed.
There was some fighting ahead of me during my second stint, but generally those guys were not going crazy.
In the first stint, I struggled with understeer but my pace was decent.
On the second stint, we decided to double-stint the tires, which was a bit of a struggle.
I think we were heading toward a good balance in the car and would have been in good shape.”

Just as the fans began to fill the stands trackside for what looked to be a grandstand finish in GTE Pro in the final hours of this race, it all changed when the AF Corse Ferrari, which had held a slim lead over the No. 63 Corvette, was handed a huge advantage.

The RLR MSport ORECA suffered a terminal engine failure in pit lane, while Nyck De Vries had a big off at Indianapolis in the Racing Team Nederland Dallara.
The Dutchman lost control and went head-on into the barriers, severely damaging the front end, bringing out a safety car.
De Vries managed to get going and back to the pits, the task ahead for the team’s mechanics mAnd it was the safety car that changed it all.

The GTE Pro contenders were spread across the three safety cars, splitting the class battles up. Initially the Corvette of Jan Magnussen was behind the AF Corse Ferrari of James Calado, setting up a two-way fight.
But Corvette had to pit the No. 63, meaning Magnussen was forced to wait at the end of the pit lane as the safety car train drove past, and wait for the next one.
This gave the Ferrari a two-minute advantage at the front ahead of the Corvette and the gaggle of Porsches and Fords behind.

Once the race restarted, things changed again when Magnussen had a near-identical off to that of Gustavo Menezes early in the race, losing the rear end of the No. 63 through the Porsche Curves, and clouting the barriers head-on.
This forced the Dane into the pits for repairs, dropping the car to eighth in class.
Corvette’s day, therefore, will end with no silverware: a tough pill to swallow after such a consistent run for the No. 63 in the No. 64’s absence.

“This may have decided GTE Pro now,” Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, former Porsche GT boss said.
“The four cars at the top have been split across three safety cars, the Ferrari has been given a big advantage.
Sometimes the safety cars give, sometimes they take.
It’s a pity because the race was so close after an excellent battle for 20 hours. But maybe another will come?
We will see!”

This leaves the No. 51 Ferrari over a minute up win the No. 91 and No. 93 Porsches behind.
The No. 68 Ford is now waiting in the wings to take the final podium spot in fourth.
GTE Am had a hairy moment too, Felipe Fraga going off at the Ford Chicanes and almost hitting the barriers.
Thankfully, the Brazilian rejoined and is back at normal pace, almost three minutes clear of the Project 1 Porsche.

C7Rs finish race back in 9th and 17th place