Nov 11th is the very last GTLM class race as it goes away starting next season
Corvette and Porsche both have 41 GTLM wins, so whoever wins this last race then will hold the GTLM title forever

The 24th Annual Motul Petit Le Mans, set for Nov. 10-13 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, will serve as the absolute final event for the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

In 2022, IMSA will replace GTLM with a Pro division of the GT Daytona class (GTD PRO). With so many sports car marques around the world committed to producing GT3 specification cars, it’s a move that should ultimately result in growth for IMSA.

While it all sounds like a bowl of alphabet soup, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the GTLM era. On paper, GTLM was a product of the merger between the American Le Mans Series and the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series that resulted in today’s WeatherTech Championship.

The nuts-and-bolts basis of the class was the GT2 category of the ALMS, which by 2009 was entering a golden era of manufacturer involvement.
The next dozen years featuring the transition from GT2 into GTLM will be viewed as a prime period for GT racing in the U.S., with fierce competition between the likes of Porsche, Corvette, BMW, Ford, Ferrari and even Dodge Viper.
While the cars outwardly resembled those competing in the GT Daytona (GTD) class, there was a much higher level of technology under the skin, along with a phalanx of factory drivers and engineering support.

One key factor in the category’s growth was Corvette Racing’s decision to transfer from GT1 to GT2 midway through the 2009 ALMS season.
The ALMS era from 2009 through 2013 featured some mighty scraps, with Porsche claiming 16 race wins compared to 12 for Corvette, 10 for Ferrari, nine for BMW and a single victory for Viper.

“I was lucky enough to be part of the transition between GT1 and GT2,” said longtime Corvette Racing star Antonio Garcia, who teamed with Jan Magnussen to win the final ALMS GT title in 2013 prior to notching three more GTLM crowns in IMSA (two more with Magnussen and last year with Jordan Taylor). “You saw all the different names that got into what this category became.
You look back at the speeds we are doing now, we could never imagine them when we first went into GT2. We are faster now than we were with GT1.”

What drove that increase in speed was relentless competition among the manufacturers.
GTLM is the ultimate manifestation of a production-based road racing car, and no other form of racing more accurately sums up the old adage: “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.”

“You can see year by year all the resources that the manufacturers put in how everything is advancing and the resources the manufacturers put in on the simulator side, tire development, car development and electronics,” Garcia related.
“We have all kept improving everything. We’re now at the point where we are faster now than when we had 100 more horsepower!”

Another key milestone for GTLM came when Ford entered the category in 2016 with a new, purpose-build GT that was as much racing car as street machine. The level of factory commitment from Ford convinced Chip Ganassi Racing to transfer its IMSA focus from Daytona Prototypes to GTLM to coordinate the trackside aspect of the Ford effort.

“We had switched from BMW to Ford in the old Daytona Prototype class, wanting to stay in sports car racing but not knowing that developing the EcoBoost engine had a big carrot out there at the end of the stick,” Ganassi recalled. “We didn’t know anything about the GT program, but when you first saw the car, it took your breath away.

“It had some nice enhancements and technologies that we could really sink our teeth into. That really energized us and rejuvenated some of those brain cells that got us into racing in the first place.”

As the competition between GTLM manufacturers became more intense, so did action on the track.
The level of professionalism in the category, whether in terms of driver or engineering pedigree, was truly impressive.

“The racing in GTLM was fairly cutthroat,” observed veteran IndyCar and sports car driver Sebastien Bourdais, who was part of the Ganassi/Ford effort and co-driver of the winning car in the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona. “In DP, if you were faster than the guy ahead of you, he had a tendency to let you through, so you could both run your own race. In GTLM, it was a lot more competitive.”

Ganassi also ran the Ford GT program in the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2016-18. The U.S.-based team secured a history-making win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016, with Bourdais, Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller taking the GTE Pro class win 50 years after the Ford GT dazzled the racing world by finishing 1-2-3 overall in the iconic race.

One of the Ganassi/Ford WEC drivers was Harry Tincknell, who has moved on to earn five DPi race wins since 2019 in the WeatherTech Championship for Mazda Motorsports.
“That was a great situation for me because I was the young guy and I got to learn the ropes from some great teammates,” Tincknell said. “It was absolutely invaluable to be part of a factory team at that part of my career, and I’ve really fed off of that.”

Ready for a Big Finish

From 2014 to date in the WeatherTech Championship, Corvette leads with 29 race wins, followed by Porsche (25), Ford (13), BMW (12), Ferrari (4) and Viper (2). Porsche and Corvette are tied with 41 wins since 2009, so if either of them wins at Motul Petit Le Mans, it will make them the winning est manufacturer in GTLM.

Nick Tandy co-drove in 13 of Porsche’s GTLM wins since 2014, including a victory in the Rolex 24, three at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts and two in the Motul Petit Le Mans. Now a member of Corvette Racing, Tandy and co-driver Tommy Milner have the opportunity to cap off the GTLM era with four consecutive race wins to end the 2021 season.

“The glory days were really 2016, 2017 and 2018 when you had four and five manufacturers putting out the best GT cars ever developed and fighting it out with the best drivers in the world and best teams around,” Tandy recalled. “It was a Balance of Performance class, but it goes to show that kind of racing does work.
“All the teams, the cars and drivers had to be on their games' week in and week out,” he added. “It pushed everyone on.

The manufacturers loved it, the fans loved it, and we as drivers loved it. It’s been the most enjoyable phase of my career and what’s been the biggest part of my career to date.”

The GTLM cars take to Michelin Raceway along with the other four WeatherTech Championship classes for practice beginning Thursday, Nov. 11, with qualifying the following day.
The race airs live beginning at noon ET Saturday, Nov. 13 on NBC before coverage switches to NBCSN at 3 p.m. and continues through the conclusion of the 10-hour endurance event. IMSA Radio also has flag-to-flag coverage

Is Porsche and Weathertech playing a game by saying they are entering a second Porsche but not saying who the 3 drivers will be when race is just about 1 week away ?

BMW at last minute has decided to show up even not racing most of the season

Is this a way Europe assures Corvette will not win the very last GTLM race into history ?

WeatherTech Racing is entering a second Porsche 911 RSR-19 for Saturday’s Motul Petit Le Mans that completes the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

Kevin Estre, Michael Christensen and Fred Makowiecki will pilot the No. 97 WeatherTech Racing Porsche running alongside its No. 79 stablemate driven by Cooper MacNeil, Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. The race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will be the final one for GTLM, with the class being replaced by GTD PRO in 2022.

Makowiecki is aiming for his third Motul Petit Le Mans class win in four years.

“Petit Le Mans is a very special race, one of the best of the season,” said Makowiecki, who has six career WeatherTech Championship wins.
“It is always a big fight. I’ve won it twice in GTLM; last year in 2020 and my first came in 2018. We will try to repeat this next week.
This will be the first time all of us drive together in the Porsche RSR. We are motivated to have a good result.

It is also special to be running the last race of the GTLM.
The competition level will be high with BMW and Corvette. I am looking forward to the race.”

Estre co-drove the No. 79 Porsche at the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona and last month’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway. He’s eager to team with fellow Frenchman Makowiecki and Dutchman Christensen in the No. 97 at Michelin Raceway.

“I’ve driven a lot with Michael, and we’ve had a lot of success together,” Estre said. “This will be my first time-sharing a car with Fred, so that will be interesting. This will be my second Petit Le Mans, the first was in 2014, and it didn’t go so well. I am looking forward to it.”

Christensen has notched class wins driving Porsches at both the Rolex 24 (2017 in GT Daytona) and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts (2014 in GTLM). This week’s return will mark his first WeatherTech Championship event since the 2017 Motul Petit Le Mans.

“Petit Le Mans is a very challenging race,” Christensen said. “Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta is narrow and makes for a fast and hectic race.
People are excited and ambitious for the race, which makes for some chaos on the track. We need to stay out of trouble and be ready to fight for the win late in the race.”

Saturday’s race airs live starting at noon ET on NBC before moving to NBCSN at 3 p.m. IMSA Radio (XM 202, SiriusXM Online 992) also has flag-to-flag coverage.

This weekend will be Corvette Racing’s 250th racing event they have participated in since their first outing at the Rolex 24 in 1999.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Over the years, the competition has changed, the classes have changed, and the Corvette race cars have changed, but through it all, Corvette Racing’s winning attitude has never wavered, and ultimately it has led to 120 victories worldwide including 8 Le Mans Class Wins.

That winning attitude has carried over to the Corvette Engineering team who continued to make vast improvements with each generation of Corvette with lessons learned from racing, culminating with the 2023 Corvette Z06 which shares its engine with the C8.R race car.
And as fans, we have watched a scrappy team with a “take no prisoners” rallying cry and a skull logo become a dominant force in GT sports car racing.
It’s been an amazing run, and we are hoping for many more!

Here are some other fun facts about Corvette Racing and this weekend’s final race of the season AND the grand finale for the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class:
CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD ATLANTA: By the Numbers

• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 23 years: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.
• 3: Tracks where Corvette Racing has competed in each of its 23 years: Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Sebring International Raceway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
• 4: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Road Atlanta since 1999 – Corvette C5-R (1999-04) Corvette C6.R (2005-2013), Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and the new-generation Corvette C8.R (2020-current), which made its Road Atlanta debut during last September’s six-hour IMSA race.
• 10: Number of Road Atlanta victories for Corvette Racing dating back to 2000 – eight of those at Petit Le Mans.
• 10: Petit Le Mans wins for Chevrolet – eight in GT and two in prototype. That ranks third among manufacturers in event history.
• 13: Manufacturer Championships in GT racing for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001. That will grow to 14 with the start of Saturday’s race
• 25: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, 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.
• 29: Number of GT Le Mans wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014.
• 31: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999.
• 120: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 112 in North America and eight at Le Mans.
• 249: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
• 39,497.24: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 25 previous trips to Road Atlanta.
That represents 15,773 laps, or more than 617 trips around Interstate 285 – Atlanta’s Perimeter.
• 331,830.62: 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 when it reached its farthest point from earth. Simply put, the program has raced to the moon… and then some.

3rd practice is over

C8.Rs are not going to win the very last GTLM race running like this

Jesse Krohn took BMW Team RLL to pole in the final qualifying session in the GT Le Mans class and did it running only 7 laps where #3 C8.R ran 12 laps was still about 0.7 tenths of a second behind :-(

The Finn reeled off a best lap of 1:15.226 in the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE to outpace the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Matt Campbell by a considerable 0.512 seconds.

A late flyer by class champion-elect Antonio Garcia put the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R third on the grid, ahead of the second WeatherTech Racing Porsche of Fred Makowiecki in fourth and the No. 4 Corvette of Nick Tandy in fifth.

An issue for the No. 25 BMW of Connor De Phillippi, who went off-course and picked up a advertising sign,
will start from the rear of the six-car class field after not setting a representative lap.

Corvette Racing will line up on the second and third rows of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category grid Saturday for the 10-hour of Petit Le Mans and the final race of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as well as the GTLM category.

Antonio Garcia was the quickest Corvette driver in Friday’s 15-minute GTLM qualifying in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R at 1:15.930 (120.426 mph). He’ll start third in the mid-engine Corvette he shares with Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg as the trio looks to end the season in the same way they began it, a victory in a blue-riband endurance race.

Garcia, Taylor and the No. 3 Corvette need only to start the race to complete a second straight sweep of the full-season GTLM Drivers and Team titles. Chevrolet will clinch its 14th IMSA GT Manufacturers Championship if either of the two Corvettes take the green flag.
Nick Tandy, in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R, qualified fifth at 1:16.051 (120.234 mph). He’ll drive with Tommy Milner and Alexander Sims with the Tandy/Milner duo coming in on a three-race win streak in GTLM.

The 10-hour Petit Le Mans is Corvette Racing’s 250th event all-time, dating back to the 1999 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Will serve as a Corvette Racing celebration, as the race’s green flag will officially bring another sweep of the GTLM Manufacturers,
Drivers and Team championships to Chevrolet and Corvette Racing for the second year in a row.

In addition to the full-season GTLM titles, Corvette Racing and Chevrolet also lead the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup standings in the Manufacturers,
Drivers and Team categories. Points are awarded at the four-, eight- and 10-hour marks.
The two Corvettes and their drivers are 1-2 in the standings, while Chevy leads the Manufacturer's race by two points.

Corvette Racing has eight class wins at Petit Le Mans and is seeking its first win at Road Atlanta since 2010. It would be a fitting end to the GTLM era as the program has more wins (29) than any other entrant in the class since its debut in 2014.

Petit Le Mans is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET on Saturday from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The live television broadcast begins at noon ET on NBC followed by 7.5 hours of coverage on NBCSN from 3 to 10:30 pm. ET
The full race will stream on TrackPass and NBC Sports Gold. Live IMSA Radio coverage will air on XM 202, SiriusXM Online 992 and IMSA.com, which also will host live timing and scoring.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R QUALIFIED THIRD IN GTLM:

“That was interesting, a minute-15 lap with 21 cars!
To have 20-plus cars on this track was pretty stressful. Everyone wants to find a gap. It’s difficult to gauge how much faster we are than the GTDs, so I probably lost three-quarters of a session trying to find a gap until everyone started setting lap times and pulling into the pits.

Those were really my first two laps that I could do. The car was still coming in.
I didn’t nail the lap. It wasn’t a clean qualifying for me, for sure. I gave everything I could to get a decent lap.
Tomorrow will be way cooler with a very long race and a lot of cars out there plus five hours of dark.
Today was challenging and tomorrow will be even more.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R QUALIFIED FIFTH IN GTLM:

“It was a bit of a frustrating session. It was difficult to find space on track.
You would do one lap. Catch traffic, back off and the tires would cool.
You’d try to go again, so it was difficult to get a rhythm and the tires to work consistently.
I’m sure we weren’t the only ones to have this. In the end, we kind of missed the potential of the car.
Congratulations to the 24. It was a good run for them. Of course, this isn’t a 100-minute race; it’s a 10-hour race.
This isn’t the end of the world.”

Three hours into the 10-hour race, GTLM standings

A multi-car accident in the GT pack caused the sixth caution period of Motul Petit Le Mans as the field approached a restart shortly after the four-hour mark.
The No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R from the GT Le Mans class & half a dozen cars from GT Daytona were involved in the collision on the run down to Turn 10.

Jordan Taylor was in the Corvette Racing car and was pictured walking away from the incident after striking the back of Michele Beretta’s Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo. All drivers were reported to be OK as the cleanup commenced.

Vasser Sullivan’s No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos from Winward Racing and Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports, the Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 and Turner Motorsport’s BMW M6 GT3 were also involved.

The incident occurred as the field was preparing to take a restart at the start of the fourth hour, which marked the first points distribution checkpoint for the Michelin Endurance Cup.

Tommy Milner scored five MEC points for the No. 4 Corvette Racing crew as the class leader on four hours.

The Corvettes had been involved in an entertaining battle with the two BMW M8 GTEs through the opening four hours of the race.

WeatherTech Racing’s Porsche 911 RSR-19s both remain on the lead lap, with the No. 97 recovering from an early puncture that set Frederic Makowiecki off the lead lap.

With four hours to go

Two Hours till Finish Line

Jaminet, Campbell & MacNeil won the last race for IMSA’s GT Le Mans class at Motul Petit Le Mans in a 1-2 finish for the privateer WeatherTech Racing squad against the factory efforts from Corvette Racing & BMW Team RLL.

Jaminet took the checkered flag just 0.3 seconds ahead of Kevin Estre in the sister WeatherTech Porsche 911 RSR-19 after late contact between Nick Tandy and the overall winning Mazda DPi cost the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R a potential second place.
A final-lap reversal between the Porsches following Tandy’s incident resulted in the second major endurance race win of the year for the No. 79 WeatherTech crew which also prevailed in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Previous race leader Estre drew clear of Tandy’s Corvette after the final round of pit stops that took place with approximately three-quarters of an hour to go.
The two GT racing greats came to blows while fighting for the lead during the penultimate hour, in an episode that influenced the pit strategies for the final phase.
Estre first got past Jaminet in the No. 79 WeatherTech Porsche before closing in on Tandy, who shared the No. 4 Corvette with Tommy Milner and Alexander Sims.

Estre planted his Porsche down Tandy’s inside into Turn 10, but the pair touched and Tandy fought back which sent Estre out into the dirt for the next right-hand corner.
The contact caused some damage to Estre’s Porsche and the Frenchman pitted with an hour and 45 minutes to go, while Tandy continued under pressure from Jaminet.

The timing of Estre’s penultimate stop ended up giving him the upper hand when the GTLM front-runners came in for the final time, and set him around five seconds ahead of Tandy for the run to the checkered flag.
The 2018-19 FIA World Endurance champion then pulled away from Tandy, who fell into the clutches of Jaminet.

Tandy, who previously drove for Porsche, lost his second place with 10 minutes to go when his Corvette incurred left-front damage after a touch from Mazda’s Harry Tincknell in the Turn 10 braking zone.

Jaminet was several seconds behind Estre until the final lap when the WeatherTech cars reversed positions.

Augusto Farfus, John Edwards and Jesse Krohn picked up the final podium position in the pole-sitting No. 24 BMW M8 GTE run by the factory RLL squad.
Tandy did not return to the track after pitting his injured Corvette, marking a double retirement for the American manufacturer.

Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia also failed to finish, but sealed the GTLM drivers’ championship simply by taking the start of Saturday’s race.
After a strong opening, their No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R retired when Taylor slammed into the rear of Michele Beretta’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo as the GTD field bunched up in preparation for a restart. Both drivers walked away from the crash.

The other GTLM retirement was the No. 25 BMW of Connor De Phillippi, Philipp Eng and Bruno Spengler, which exited in the eighth hour when De Philippi ran wide out of Turn 12 and incurred damage to the car when he took to the grass along the main straight.

Corvette Racing had hopes of going out of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) era in winning style, but fortune had other ideas at the 10-hour Petit Le Mans. Despite setbacks to both Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs in the final race of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the program still celebrated a second straight sweep of the full-season GTLM titles.

Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor wrapped up their second straight class Drivers Championship as the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R took the green flag for the race start. It also locked up consecutive Manufacturers championships for Chevrolet and the Team title for the No. 3 Corvette squad.
A mid-race accident, however, forced the No. 3 C8.R’s retirement just before the halfway point.
Taylor was part of a long train of cars coming to a restart over a blind crest and crashed heavily into another GT car that had spun and stopped only seconds before. He was evaluated and released from the infield care center.

Corvette Racing still had hopes of a ninth Petit Le Mans victory with the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R of Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims.
The trio led a race-high 313 laps with all three drivers taking turns at the front of the field.
While lacking overall performance, clever strategy and pit work kept the No. 4 C8.R at or near the lead for the first three-quarters of the race. Fuel savings by the Corvette drivers meant shorter fuel fill times, and the No. 4 pit crew helped capitalize by gaining 11 spots during the first six pit stops in the race.

In a fight for track position late and running second in class, Tandy was hit and pushed off-track by the eventual race-winning prototype. The impact broke the left-front suspension of the Corvette with 10 minutes left.
Corvette Racing will return to IMSA in January for the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in the new GTD PRO category.
That effort will go along with a single-car entry in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – 2021 GTLM CHAMPION TALK ABOUT WINNING YOUR FIFTH CHAMPIONSHIP TODAY.

“A good first lap for sure knowing that we had clinched the championship You forget about that right away because you are in race mode. Everything was running super smooth for the first full stint or half-stint then I was able to save fuel and jump first and second place on the first pit stop.
Then it felt the car came back to me and was really pretty good.

I saw Nick (Tandy) behind me and we pulled a good gap over the other cars. So I settled in and everything seemed to be going to plan. Actually it caught me by surprise because yesterday the car didn’t feel very good. Somehow we had pace today. It’s just a shame about what happened to Jordan.

I could anticipate something happening after the three or four restarts I did because traffic was very severe not only on the restarts but with all the class splits out there. There was a lot of tension you could see out there. As Jordan said, the good thing is he is okay that’s the best thing so what I’m very grateful for.”

ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON:

“This year was a really good year. We started by winning the Rolex 24. It felt like a really long time since my last one. It was starting to be a little bit like last year. Corvette was super strong and probably even stronger this year. We just kept doing what we did last year, Jordan and I. We seem to be really good together. Everything was working really well. We just kept doing what we did.
We didn’t think about the championship but somehow everything came back to us. Other than this year, my only downside was Sebring. I thought we had a really good race going until six minutes to go. Now for sure I’ll remember this championship. Not winning Petit does hurt, though.”

MOVING TO GTD PRO IN 2022:

“We’re definitely looking forward to that. That opens up the opportunity to win this race, for one! This championship has really, really good racing. Getting back to race again at Daytona, Sebring, here and the other good tracks we go to, I’m really happy for that. As you can see today, GTD looks like good fun. I’m looking forward to that, too.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – 2021 GTLM CHAMPION
JORDAN, HOW ARE YOU FEELING?

“Just a little sore, thanks. It’s just really tight, a muscle spasm. I’ll be fine in a couple of days. Thankfully, Corvette, Chevrolet and Pratt Miller built a very strong car that kept me safe. It’s definitely a scary moment when you come over the crest in fifth gear and everyone stops on the other side.
It’s something we can learn from in the future on restart procedures. But thankfully I got out of the car and am okay, and we still had another Corvette in the fight.”

TALK ABOUT THE RACING OUT THERE AND SECURING THE CHAMPIONSHIP.

“Like Antonio said, as soon as you start the race, you kind of forget about the championship and go for the win because it is Petit Le Mans. When you come into these events, such high-profile events, it’s unfortunate you have such a mix of drivers and classes that don’t mix well and makes the traffic and the racing so difficult. My first stint was kind of messy with traffic in and out.

Then the way it worked we were starting in the back for that restart. The stack-up effect is always there and 10A and 10B, which was way more extreme today. It was unfortunate to catch us out, but definitely amazing to get a championship for Antonio and I and two in a row. Amazing to finish up the GTLM era with two championships like that and I think Antonio is the winningest driver in the class over its existence, so I am proud to have been his teammate for nine of those wins and looking forward to fighting for a third one next year.”

JORDAN, IN YOUR OPINON, WHAT HAPPENED?

“When we were restarting, I don’t know where we were in line, maybe 30th or 35th. The leaders were coming out of 10B and they start accelerating out of the chicane. So they start going and then when you get back to 15th or 20th, they are still braking in the chicane and it starts the accordion effect. We were so far back, we were pretty much flat-out all the way down the back stretch trying to kind of keep up with everyone.

By the time we got to the crest, I was behind the 79 or 97 and at that point I’m in fifth gear. I’m just basically following him and trusting him that he knows where he is going and he could see where we were going. As soon as we crested, he went left and I went right. Basically where he had gone turned out to be the only safe place and when I popped up next to him, there were two cars stopped in the middle of the racetrack.

I had nowhere to go so I slid into them about 110 miles an hour. Thankfully everyone was fine. The first thing I thought was I thought I broke my back, that is how hard it was and probably hurt the guy in front of me with how hard I hit him directly in the back. Thankfully he was fine.

“I already saw someone already and it is muscle spasms in my lower back. Thankfully nothing right now is too serious.
When I got to the medical center, I was the worst one.”

PERSPECTIVE:

“This was the first time I’ve had a big crash in an event we’re a family of racers my dad and my brother. It’s the first time one of us has had a big accident. It’s always a fear for a family member to get injured. Antonio’s family probably watches at home and they don’t get answers as fast as this if something happens.
I knew Ricky was in the 10 car and when I walked over the wall, my first thought was that he was going to drive by this mashed car and he’d be looking for a thumbs up. I knew he’d be freaked out, so it was an emotional moment to be honest.
It brings a lot of things back into reality. You’re on track racing these guys and wanting to beat everyone. But as soon as an accident happens, it becomes a lot more human and brings out that back into the big picture. So I want to say thank you to everyone on the team for the safety and the IMSA safety team, as well.”

SEEING YOUR DAD AFTER THE ACCIDENT:

“Ricky was one of the first ones I saw on the track. I was on the wall and he was looking for a thumbs up, so I gave him a thumbs up just to put him at ease considering his position for the championship. Then I was carted off to the medical center, where I knew my mom and my girlfriend were outside.
I called my mom from someone’s cell phone and told her I was OK and hopefully relay that message to my dad.

I saw him about an hour-and-a-half later. He was still crying, which I can imagine. I hated watching him race for the same reasons, and I can’t imagine what it’s like for him to watch his kids every day. Thankfully to this point, it was smooth sailing but in this sport anything can happen. Today was a bit of a reality check for everyone. I’m sure everyone we’ll all be really happy once we get home safely.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SIXTH IN GTLM:

“The season started amazing with winning Daytona. I think at Sebring we were in a very good position to win the race as well until we were taken out in the last little part of the race. Le Mans wasn’t too bad. So yes I can look back on a good season. And the boys can look back on an even better season because they won the championship. Today was very unfortunate.

We are all happy that Jordan is feeling well and got away with just some muscle pain. Of course I would have loved to drive and not sit on the sideline for the whole race, but other than that it was super nice this season and we get to celebrate a championship.
“It is only one-and-a-half months and we are back in Daytona GTD PRO. New challenge and I think the competition is bigger. The field is bigger. That is going to be interesting. I can’t wait to be honest.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM:

“Going into the race I said our biggest competition would be the Porsches because they had such a big advantage in performance. They already had a fast car last year and on paper, they should have been significantly faster which they were as we saw toward the end of the race today. It is kind of a shame for Corvette Racing that this happens.

We don’t go into a race thinking we are going to lose. We use any possible advantage we can find, and today we used whatever advantage we could find to be competitive at the end. It was just a little bit too big of a mountain to climb.

Then at the end, Nick got taken out by the Mazda. It happens all the time. As soon as we are out of their view they just decide to move over. We can’t just disappear, and it has ruined races for a lot of GT cars over the years. They’re never really ever penalized as much as they should.

The race today was a great race for us for most of it.
We were able to find ways to keep the car at the front. It didn’t end like we wanted it to, but we can look back on a great season.
There were lots of highlights for both the 3 and the 4 car all year. Nick and I both were happy with the last half of the season with three wins in a row.

And we get the Manufacturers and Team championships for Corvette and Chevy.
I’m happy with all that. It’s hard to reflect on the good when you had a sour end. I’m very, very proud of this Corvette Racing team and proud to be a part of it.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM:

“I was passing a GTD car late and the Mazda came through to make us three-wide down the straight into the braking zone in (Turn) 10. I was in the middle and all of a sudden the Mazda decided he would try to take the racing line. He was on the inside and came straight across the track and hit the side of our car and broke the suspension.

It’s a shame that the season ends like this. Unfortunately into the night toward the end, I didn’t have the pace in the car to challenge the Porsches. It’s a shame not to finish on the podium, but we have a lot to be happy for this season.
We wrapped up the Endurance Cup for the No. 4 car, we won a lot of races along the way and we got Manufacturers, Drivers and Team championships. All-in-all its been a successful season even if it ended very disappointing.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM:

“A large part of today’s race went really, really well. In the first seven hours or so, we were in the mix and showing like we were getting stronger and stronger. We had really good strategy and good pace to make the fuel economy work. We were at the front or near the front most of the time.

As the temperatures got really cold, the pace dropped away from us and we couldn’t hang on to the Porsches in the final couple of hours. Unfortunately the race was lost on pace but the final contact on Nick was the final nail in the coffin.
I had it happen to me in my stint where a DPi got into me. They just pass three-quarters of the way and then expect you to evaporate. It’s frustrating when we are trying to do our own thing.

But I’ve loved the year. It’s been fantastic to drive the C8.R. The team has been brilliant. It feels a bit disappointing because we had a bad Sebring, a bad Le Mans and now a bad Petit Le Mans. But I’ve enjoyed every bit of it except for the results! I’m looking forward to more next year.”

If you missed watching this 10 hours race here it is in 2 5-hour videos