With the heartbreaking memory of Le Mans in the rearview mirror, C8.R Corvette Racing is looking to regroup as it heads to Italy for the first time ahead of the Six Hours of Monza in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

As they have for the previous three WEC races, Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy will share the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, which is on its maiden globe-trotting tour in 2022. It’s the first “new” event for the Corvette WEC program, having previously been to Sebring, Spa and of course Le Mans.

The 3.60-mile, 11-turn circuit is one of the fastest in the world with multiple long straights and huge braking zones for the four WEC categories.
Even without having set foot inside Monza Park where Autodromo Nazionale Monza sits there already is data from the long straights and slow corners at Le Mans that Corvette Racing engineers can refer to when establishing a baseline for this weekend.

Input will also come from Tandy, one of the few Corvette Racing team members who have previous experience at the circuit.
This will be the case for Fuji and Bahrain to close the WEC season, although Milner has accumulated several hours of simulator work ahead of his first race at the Italian circuit.

The No. 64 Corvette opened the WEC season with a strong second-place showing at the rain-shortened 1,000 Miles of Sebring.
Things were trending the right way for the Tandy/Milner pairing at the Six Hours of Spa before a red flag just past the one-hour mark wiped out the team’s first planned pit stop and effectively put the Corvette a lap down before finishing fourth.

Le Mans was the cruelest blow with the No. 64 C8.R eliminated while effectively leading just shy of the 18-hour mark.
The Six Hours of Monza for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for noon CET/6 a.m. CET on Sunday, July 10 from Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy.

Qualifying is set for 5:30 p.m. CET/11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, July 9.
The race will air live on MotorTrend with live-streaming coverage of the race and qualifying on the MotorTrend Plus app. Radio Le Mans will broadcast qualifying and the race.

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“It’s another classic track that we’ve never had a chance to compete at before, and it’s one I’m looking forward to. Based on what Nick has said about the area and especially the history of the track makes it something special to compete there.
So I’m excited about that opportunity. I’ve had a chance to do some laps in the simulator.

Looking at the track layout, it seems fairly simple in some ways, but driving it has its own unique challenges. It’s fun to drive, too. The corners are quite different where you have some very slow chicanes and some pretty quick third- and fourth-gear corners.
There is a wide variety of track sections. The slowest part of the track is preceded by a very long straightaway, which will be great for racing. It’s exciting. I enjoy the historic part of the sport so the chance to see the old Monza banking is something I can’t wait to see.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“Monza is another classic place. When anyone speaks of Monza, it’s one of those iconic names and venues.
The word just strikes passion into motorsport. Any series that races there is a top event, and it’s a privilege to race at the circuit and in Monza Park.

It’s not a normal setting for a racetrack near a city but in an actual park. Even from driving into the circuit, it’s a different experience.
When you get to the track, it’s unlike any other circuit. It’s short but it’s so defined by the fast straightaways. It’s a bit like Daytona in that sense. Furthermore, it’s fun.”

More Monza:

“It’s a normal lap time, but there are effectively six corners three corners and three chicanes. From that point of view, it’s not the most technical circuit for a driver. On the other hand, for the car and engineering crew, trying to get a window where your car operates is critical.
Of course, you have to be fast in a straight line, but the car has to be excellent under braking. This is a huge thing about Monza.

It’s a real tricky one to kind of figure out for what is best for ultimately making laptime out of your car.
Of course, we are new as it will be the first time that Corvette Racing has been to Monza. I’ll be relaying my experience from previous years to the team and try to help out. Past that, we’ve already started our prep and started running on the sim before Le Mans.

We’ve figured out a few options we can take with us to find what’s best. But I’m also looking forward to seeing everyone’s faces and the people who have never been and have a chance to go to Italy and have a look around this amazing facility and amazing town.”

End of first practice

The No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R competing at Monza is the same one that did the 1000 Miles of Sebring and the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa.
The car that dramatically crashed out of the GTE-Pro battle at Le Mans has been returned to the team’s base in Detroit, as originally planned.

Corvette’s Tommy Milner reported a constructive first practice session at Monza for the American GTE-Pro squad:
“It seems like to get a good lap time here, the car balance needs to be a little free, which is a lot of fun to drive on this circuit,” he said.

Second Practice - C8.R last place

Third practice completed, C8.R goes to first place
Qualify is coming up

Qualify completed and how they will line up for the 6-hour race tomorrow

Ferrari claimed its first pole position of the season after bringing up the rear of the GTE Pro field at each of the WEC qualifying sessions so far this year.

Alessandro Pier Guidi leapfrogged AF Corse teammate Antonio Fuoco on his final lap to take qualifying honors in the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.

The Italian driver’s 1m45.270s gave him the top spot by just under a tenth, after Corvette man Nick Tandy managed to split the Ferraris right at the end with 1m45.324s.

The Briton had earlier set a time good enough for pole, a 1m45.238s that was cancelled by race control for a track limits violation.

Nick Tandy put Corvette Racing on the front row of the GTE Pro class in qualifying Saturday ahead of the Six Hours of Monza for the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Tandy qualified the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R second in class around the 3.6-mile, 11-turn Autodromo Naztionale Monza circuit. His time of 1:45.324 (123.031 mph) was only 0.054 seconds off the pole-winning time of the No. 51 Ferrari.

Tandy will start Sunday’s race and team with Tommy Milner in Corvette Racing’s first appearance at Monza.

Tandy set the fastest lap in the class during Saturday’s final practice and was the only driver under the 1:46.000 mark ahead of qualifying.
The competitiveness of the Corvette is a testament to the prep work on Chevrolet’s Driver in the Loop simulator and the efforts of the engineering team and crew to get the C8.R in an optimal spot for qualifying at a new circuit.

The team hopes to get back on the WEC podium, having started the season with a runner-up finish at the 1,000 Miles of Sebring. Misfortune while leading at both Spa and Le Mans dashed promising chances for victories at each.

The Six Hours of Monza for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for noon CET/6 a.m. CET on Sunday, July 10 from Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy. The race will air live on MotorTrend with live-streaming coverage of the race on the MotorTrend Plus app. Radio Le Mans will also stream live audio coverage of the race.

NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTE PRO:

“That was very close, but I’m obviously really happy with a front-row start.
The Ferrari looks very quick. It’s nice for them to be on pole for their home race. Qualifying is always a situation whereas a driver, you push the limits.

We had a fast lap, but unfortunately I ran out of bounds of the track, and we had the lap deleted.

Luckily, the car was still strong for the next two laps, which is a good omen for the race; it’s not one lap of qualifying but an endurance race.

So yeah, I’m glad we could get back in it and get this Corvette back on the front row.
The first corner and first chicane at Monza who knows whether it’s better to start on the inside or the outside!
But this was a good session, and it’s overall been a good day and good weekend so far for Corvette Racing.”

Nick Tandy stated that the limited tire allocation in GTE-Pro has made it more challenging for C8.R Corvette Racing to get up to speed on tracks it has not visited previously in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Corvette is making its race debut on a number of venues this season because of its full-season effort in the globe-trotting series, which sees the No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R contesting a race at Monza for the first time this weekend.

Tandy, who shares the car with Tommy Milner, reckons that the relatively limited tire allocation for GTE-Pro squads is a challenge for Corvette as it gets to grip with new venues.
The championship’s sporting regulations dictate that, for six-hour events, teams in GTE-Pro are allocated 12 tires (three sets) in Free Practice, with 18 tires available for qualifying and the race.

Tandy said that while setup work has been fairly straightforward for the team, the relatively low number of tires has been the main challenge for the team at new venues, especially as Milner has to familiarize himself with the circuits in practice.
“I think by now, knowing what we know about this car and what we can then translate to work at the workshop and also work on the sim, a bit like Le Mans, we haven’t really moved the car,”
“We tried bits and pieces with the setup and the downforce levels and everything like this, we’ve more or less come back in a similar direction to how we rolled off the truck when the car was good.
“I think the bigger impact of the new tracks is with the lack of tires that we have in practice.
“Tommy has to get laps in to learn the circuit, so this takes up one set of tires.

“So for us to start working forward towards the race, we’ve really only got two sets of tires between the pair of us driving in the other two and a half session of practice.
“This is one of the harder things to manage. We know that racing here with the limited tire allocation, it’s a similar story in the race.
“So it’s perhaps not a bad thing to always run around on used old tires but it does sometimes get frustrating for the team and especially for the drivers.”
Tandy lamented the situation, saying it is “more fun” to drive on fresh rubber, but recognized it is a challenge that all teams have to deal with.
The Briton went on to praise the rate at which his American co-driver has gotten to grips with the Italian venue.

“By the time we had done a couple of setup runs in practice 1, he’s in tune with the circuit,” Tandy said of Milner.
“It’s not like this is the first new track he’s come to this year or the first new track he’s been to in his career.
“By the time you do a couple of runs, by the time you come in the box and sit and have a chat with maybe me about the circuits and the curbs, because the curb usage is massive.

“What the cars can take and what they can’t take defines the lines and also how the cars are set up.
“So by the time you’ve done a couple of runs on the first day, that’s track learning over, and you can get into the meat of the setup stuff with the actual chassis work.”
In addition to the tire allocation, Tandy said the hot conditions at Monza is another challenge Corvette has had to deal with, but that they have been able to draw from previous experience with similar conditions in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Air temperatures during the race are expected to reach as high as 34 degrees C (93 F).
“The track temps are way above anything we have experienced in WEC this year,” Tandy added.
“The good thing is they are not dissimilar to a lot of the races we run with the team and the car in IMSA in the last two years.

“This is something that all the teams have to manage. Of course, Porsche have got the same knowledge of steady races throughout the summer in IMSA, running these confidential Michelins in these sorts of track temperatures, same as we have.
“This is definitely something that is new to everyone.
“You see it a lot in practice, the track can change during an hour, how the rubber gets laid down, where the grip is on track, how you need to move around to find the grip.
“This is part of the hot conditions and this is in a one-hour session.
“So over a six-hour race, how the track will change will be a key aspect of the strategy and how the drivers adapt to find the grip.”

At the halfway mark of 6 hour race

Corvette took their first victory in the WEC in GTE-Pro.

Great to see an American Corvette beat the best of Europe's best


In a season that has seen the AF Corse GTE PRO Ferraris outpaced in qualifying elsewhere, the red cars found their feet on home ground, with Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Fuoco holding the top two into the final seconds of the session.

The No. 51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo2 topped the times with a 1m45.270s, the sister car just 0.0058s back.


That was until Nick Tandy finally banged in two flying laps in the No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R after losing times to track limits earlier in the session.

His effort was good enough to split the Ferraris, just 0.004s better than Fuoco’s best.

C8.R Corvette took a surprise victory in GTE Pro after Antonio Fuoco was forced to bring the #52 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo to the pits with just 2m30s to go for a splash and dash.

It marked Corvette’s first victory in the WEC since the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours and the first since it joined the series full-time at the start of the current season.

Fuoco and Miguel Molina had inherited the lead from the pole-sitting sister car of Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado, which was hit with a five-second stop/go penalty in the penultimate car for failing to transfer data from their car after a pitstop.

Ferrari was seemingly on its way to a victory on its home turf, having led the race from the beginning until both its car had to pit late with just minutes to go, allowing Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy to score a popular victory in the #64 C8.R.

Calado and Pier Guidi eventually secured the final spot on the rostrum in third after Pier Guidi emerged on top in a long battle with the #92 Porsche of Kevin Estre for which Estre was hit with a drive-through penalty.

That dropped Estre and Michael Christensen to fourth, ahead of the sister #93 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Gianmaria Bruni and Frederic Makowiecki.