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#5548 - 03/20/22 04:42 AM Re: IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring - 2022 [Re: teamzr1]  
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C8.R Corvette Racing made it a dozen victories in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, the first victory in America’s oldest sports car race for the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg teamed for the landmark win with the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette in the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The trio combined to led 247 laps or 913.9 miles for Corvette Racing’s first Sebring 12 Hours win since 2017 and 12th since 2002.
It also marks the first win for the GTD PRO-spec Corvette C8.R in its second race as part of the new class.
The result goes along with a runner-up GTE Pro finish for Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy in Friday’s 1,000 Miles of Sebring for the FIA World Endurance Championship.

“Congratulations to Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, Nicky Catsburg and everyone on the No. 3 Corvette C8.R team,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. vice president, Performance and Motorsports. Winning in class for the 12th time at the 12 Hours of Sebring is the result of great driving, race strategy and execution of pit stops.
The Corvette C8.R’s 5.5-liter, flat-plane V-8 engine delivered the right combination of performance, reliability and efficiency throughout the race.

“This win is even more special thanks to the support of so many Corvette owners and fans at the track and around the world,” Campbell added. “This has been a great weekend, with a runner-up class finish in the World Endurance Championship on Friday and now this win in IMSA. I’m proud of everyone at Corvette Racing and our technical partners at Mobil 1 and Michelin.”

The No. 3 Corvette also won the Sebring round of the Michelin Endurance Cup a championship consisting of Sebring, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and Petit Le Mans. Points were awarded at the four-, eight- and 12-hour marks.

Corvette Racing wasted little time going to the front in the race. Garcia set the table from the beginning as he advanced from his third-place starting position to the head of GTD PRO. He passed six cars in his opening two hours before handing off to Taylor for an impressive three-hour run.
Catsburg drove an equally stirring three hours, 18 minutes in the middle of the race. He soldiered through four full-course caution periods and enjoyed a highlight-reel battle with Pfaff Motorsports’ Matt Campbell for the GTD PRO lead at the seven-and-a-half-hour mark.
The two raced side-by-side for three corners before Catsburg pulled ahead.

That left Taylor to drive one stint before Garcia closed with a triple-stint to score the victory.
Corvette Racing engineers dedicated significant time at a February test to gain a better understanding of the performance and degradation levels of the GTD Michelin tires, which are different than what the team has used in past seasons. That combined with more than 51,000 racing miles across the familiar bumps around the 3.7-mile, 17-turn Sebring circuit was the right combination.

Corvette Racing’s next event in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is April 8-9 at the Long Beach (Calif.) street circuit.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R GTD PRO WINNER:

“We had to carry on after Daytona and do all we can. There we didn’t have the pace and little issues we had put us back and out of contention. The main thing here was to stay up front, don’t make any mistakes, and have no failures that would set us back. That was the first goal. I was the first guy surprised about our pace.
We started seventh and slowly started to make our way through. I wasn’t expecting to be leading after the first stop.
I thought our car was the best during the day and when it was as warm as possible.

Furthermore, I was a little bit afraid of the rest of the field at night. It seemed like everything was switching on for them, the track would go toward them and maybe all the advantage we had gone away a little. It was up to us to control the pace and keep the gap. If we had been in a situation to catch another car, it would have been difficult. It was perfectly executed by everyone at Corvette Racing, good strategy and amazing drives by Jordan and Nicky.”

ON 12TH WIN FOR CORVETTE RACING AT SEBRING:

“It’s amazing. I said before the race that whenever you come to Sebring in a Corvette, it is always a good feeling. You know something good is going to happen. In the end and having the pace or not having pace, there is still a Corvette factor. It’s the best team to be on when you race here. I’m very happy with that.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R GTD PRO WINNER:

“Daytona was frustrating for us. We lacked pace there and had a mechanical issue in the middle of the night. We learned a lot after that and used it as a test session. That really helped us here. Zero issues around here is a big feat in itself.
Twelve hours at Sebring is tougher than 24 at Daytona or Le Mans. It’s a big accomplishment for the team.
We won Daytona and the championship last year, so it’s nice to get another major endurance race for the C8.R and start our championship fight again.”

HOLDING THE LEAD THROUGHOUT:

“I was surprised how quick we were. I think we were quick in clean air. If we had been stuck behind guys, it would have been difficult for us to get ahead. Once we got to the front, the name of the game was to maintain our track position, whether it be saving fuel and extending windows or saving tires.
The guys nailed the strategy and kept us out front all day. That’s what really won us the race.”

IMPORTANCE OF FEBRUARY TIRE TEST:

“That was big for us. If we showed up here with no test time or setup and development for this track, we would have been out to lunch.
Two days here of testing with the guys doing the development and going back and doing their homework really made our weekend.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R GTD PRO WINNER:

“Daytona is a lot about going in a straight line on the banking. This was difficult for us. Sebring was always going to be a bit easier. At the start of the weekend, we really struggled. We got a little break which definitely helped us and brought us back into contention, but it wasn’t easy.
Not at all, definitely not. I was struggling on the tires in the middle of the race. It was tough.
You never know where you really are until the race. In practice, you don’t know what people are doing in terms of fuel loads, qualifying runs or race runs. It’s difficult to say how much we picked up.”

GETTING THE CORVETTE BACK UP FRONT MID-RACE:

“We stuck to our initial plan. We didn’t try anything too crazy. The Lexus and Porsche were going out of sequence, but we always stuck to our original plan. It worked out well.”

IMPORTANCE OF FEBRUARY TIRE TEST:

“That was huge. It was a huge role. We are still quite new to this tire and to this class. The team had two excellent days here.
They learned a lot and turned the car around. If we hadn’t done that, we would have had to do it here this week, and we probably wouldn’t have won the race.
It made a lot of sense.”



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#5549 - 03/21/22 01:27 PM Re: IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring - 2022 [Re: teamzr1]  
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Lamborghini driver Andrea Caldarelli felt that C8.R Corvette Racing had “pace when it wanted” on its way to winning the GTD Pro class at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Nicky Catsburg, Jordan Taylor & Antonio Garcia led for large parts of the race before delivering the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R’s first victory in GTD trim at last weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round.

Caldarelli felt that the Florida-based TR3 squad, with assistance from Lamborghini Squadra Corse, “maximized everything” in terms of its own performance but viewed the Corvette as “very tough” to match.

The sole Corvette on the grid received a Balance of Performance adjustment shortly before the final practice session that consisted of it being given an air restrictor diameter increase, equating to only around 20 additional flywheel horsepower.

Caldarelli described the BoP update as surprising, while Corvette driver Catsburg felt it brought the American brand “back into contention” to compete for the win.
“It was a very tough race for sure,” Caldarelli told Sportscar365.
“We were battling all the time with the BMW and the Corvette. I think we maximized everything we had in our pocket. We could see that they had [extra] pace when they wanted.

It was very tough to catch them. Every time we were getting close to them, it looked like they started to have pace again, so it was very tough.
At least we know that we did almost a flawless race.
We saw a bit of performance [from the Corvette] out there during free practice. We also saw them in Daytona. I don’t know what really happened with them during the race, but their pace was there.

“So we were a bit surprised about that BoP change. Then in the race, we saw that they were very quick.”

BMW M Team RLL driver Philipp Eng echoed Caldarelli’s sentiments that the Corvette was tough to beat, with the Austrian describing it as “too strong for everyone.”
Eng, whose BMW M4 GT3 was one of the GTD Pro front-runners, commended the Corvette crew on its victory and suggested that the GM brand’s car was the strongest.

The No. 24 BMW that Eng shared with Nick Yelloly and Marco Wittmann was a podium contender for most of the race, but dropped out of the mix in the penultimate hour due to gearbox issues.
“It was the first time that we brought it together, because Daytona was not so successful"
So the team worked their asses off to put it together nicely. It was very driveable. We probably couldn’t have won because the Corvette was really quick, but the guys would have deserved a podium.

“Corvette were strong. But those guys know exactly what they are doing and have very good drivers. They didn’t do any mistakes. For me, they deserved the victory.”
Eng thought that the BMW would not have been able to overcome the Corvette on-track had it maintained its mechanical reliability until the end.
“I think they were just a bit too strong for everyone,” he said. “The Lamborghini was also strong. I didn’t understand the Mercedes’ performance; they were really quick in some stints.

I think we probably would have given [Corvette] a hard time but, ultimately, I don’t think it would have been enough.
We had a few intense stints. I had one or two against Nicky [Catsburg]. I would rather have him as my teammate! He is super fair, but I just know how strong he is.
It was very intense: one time we jumped them on the pit stop, and we were in the lead. It was perfect fun.

“I think ultimately, if it would have really come down to the wire, my feeling tells me that they would have had the upper hand.”
Catsburg suggested that the track at Sebring suited the GTD version of the Corvette C8.R better than Daytona, where both entered cars ran into problems.
He indicated that the BoP tweak helped bring the car back into the frame after it finished near the bottom of the GTD Pro pile in the first three practice sessions.
“I think the nature of both tracks, Daytona is a lot about going in a straight line and on the banking,” said Catsburg.
“We had no top end there. This was very difficult.
In Sebring, this was always going to be a bit easier than Daytona.

But at the start of the weekend, we really, really struggled. We got a little break, which definitely helped us and brought us back into contention.
“It was not easy at all. It was really tough on the tires and a long time in the middle of the race.”
Identifying how the BoP adjustment affected Corvette Racing, Catsburg said: “I would say it gave us some lap time.
“It’s always difficult to say because you never really know where you are until you’re in the race.

“In practice, you don’t know what people are doing in terms of fuel loads and quali runs or race runs.
It’s difficult to say in terms of lap times. I wouldn’t know, but it's power. It always helps.”

While all cars in DPi, LMP2, LMP3 and GTD passed post-race technical inspection, the results in.

GTD Pro remains provisional pending “further data analysis” according to a statement from IMSA.


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#5551 - 03/22/22 02:40 PM Re: IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring - 2022 [Re: teamzr1]  
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A little behind the scenes look at our Sebring 12 Hour win.
Huge thanks to the whole crew at Corvette Racing.
It was a perfectly executed race to get us the win.



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