St. Petersburg, Fla. -Cadillac V-Performance Racing driver Johnny O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) finished second in race two of the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) GT Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Teammate Michael Cooper (Syosset, N.Y) came home in fifth.
Based upon their fast laps from race one, O’Connell took the green flag from the sixth position and Cooper went away in ninth. Down into the first turn the six cars ahead of O’Connell’s No. 3 Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe all showed a lot aggression trying to navigate the tricky right hander. O’Connell showed measured aggression and exited the turn in a solid second position behind eventual winner Patrick Long’s Porsche.
“At the start you always expect guys to get in this Turn One hot and run a little long,” O’Connell said. “Alavaro [Parente] and the Ferrari went way long and that opened up the opportunity for me to fall right into second. In the early couple of laps I thought I may have had something for Patrick, but by half distance my rear tires were just not there. The last 90-degree corner here just does not suit our car. We are great under braking and overall handling, but that last corner I just couldn’t match his speed through there this weekend. I couldn’t be more proud of this team to come away with a second and a fourth place finish. A good start to the year for us.”
Cooper had a good start and moved up to sixth from his ninth place starting spot. On lap 14 he passed the Porsche of Alex Udell for fifth. A late race caution had the young Cadillac driver run up alongside his nemesis from last year, Alvaro Parente’s McLaren, for fourth but couldn’t complete the pass and finished in fifth.
“I would have taken the fifth place without the late race caution,” Cooper said. “But that just made it more exciting for everyone, including me. On the restart I let it roll of the last corner and I got into Alvaro a little. We then slipped and slid down through three and into four side-by-side. Today was a good recovery for us, from the ninth place starting spot up to fifth. I am pretty happy with that today.”
The weekend’s races will be televised on Saturday, March 18 at 2 p.m. ET on the CBS Sports Network.
Next on the schedule, the team will travel to California for the Long Beach Grand Prix, April 7-9.
Cadillac Racing, since the team’s inception in 2004, has amassed 31 wins, 110 podium finishes (including wins) and 24 pole positions. The team won the World Challenge Manufacturer Championship in 2005, 2007, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Team Cadillac drivers have won the World Challenge Driver’s Championship in 2005 with Andy Pilgrim and in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 with Johnny O’Connell.
Gavin, Milner claim Driver’s Championship in No. 4 Corvette C7.R
•Team Championship for No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette team to go along with Chevrolet Manufacturer’s Championship
•Garcia, Magnussen take third in GTLM Driver’s Championship
•Gavin, Milner, Chevrolet also sweep Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup
BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 1, 2016) – Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner captured the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Driver’s Championship in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday with a third-place finish alongside Marcel Fässler at Petit Le Mans presented by Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort. It is the second championship for the pairing, the 10th for Corvette Racing and goes along with Chevrolet’s GTLM Manufacturer’s Championship clinched earlier in the day.
The No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R also won the GTLM Team Championship – the 11th in program history. Gavin and Milner needed to finish seventh in class or better to clinch the title.
“Oliver, Tommy and Marcel teamed up again to drive a smart race and capture a podium finish that delivered valuable points,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “As a result, Oliver and Tommy clinched the 2016 GTLM Driver’s Championship. Congratulations to the entire Corvette C7.R team on their preparation and execution all season long.”
Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Mike Rockenfeller placed fourth in class in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R after losing four laps due to a mechanical problem early in the race. The fight-back and result was good enough to give Garcia and Magnussen third place in the GTLM Driver’s Championship.
There was more good news as Chevrolet and Corvette Racing swept the Manufacturer’s, Driver’s and Team championships in the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup.
Gavin, Milner and Fässler ran in the top half of the GTLM field for virtually the entire race. Milner began from the seventh position, but the new GTLM co-champion was able to move up to second place after his two-hour, 30-minute drive. Help came in pitlane, too as the No. 4 crew gained Milner a spot at each stop.
Gavin took over and drove to the lead shortly after a full-course caution period three-and-a-half hours into the race. He never dropped before second before handing over to Marcel Fässler, who had won at Daytona and Sebring with the Gavin/Milner duo. He ran in podium position for nearly three hours before a slight off-track excursion in Turn One. He recovered nicely and was solidly in the top-five at the end of his stint.
Milner got back in the No. 4 Corvette with three hours to go and moved back into podium position less than an hour later. Gavin drove the final 75 minutes to put a wrap on the championship season.
Garcia, Magnussen and Rockenfeller were the equals of their teammates on pace in the early going. Garcia started second, and the No. 3 Corvette ran in podium position until a mistake on the pit stop shuffled the car back in the GTLM order. Magnussen took over 90 minutes in and began charging through the field before a throttle malfunction cost the No. 3 Corvette team four laps barely two hours left in the race.
Through smart strategy, heads-up driving and solid pitwork the rest of the way, the Garcia/Magnussen/Rockenfeller trio gained back three laps and finished behind the team car in class.
Corvette Racing will open the 2017 IMSA season in the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 28-29.
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM DRIVER’S CHAMPION/FINISHED THIRD IN GTLM RACE: “Woo! That feels really good. It doesn’t have the initial shock of a win, but deep down this is a pretty satisfying end of the season. We had four wins… a couple of bad races, but we had some amazing ones as well. I just don’t know what to say. Most of all, I am just really happy. I feel really fortunate to be a part of this Corvette Racing team and Chevy. Every year, every weekend, every practice session, I always have the best stuff. That is all a driver can ask for. Yea…I’m happy. This is perfect!”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM DRIVER’S CHAMPION/FINISHED THIRD IN GTLM RACE: “We’ve had a fantastic year. It started off with a fantastic race at Daytona. That was just epic to get that result. The one-two and the way we did it was just phenomenal. Then the win Sebring with Tommy – he was a rock and just steady the whole race. It was phenomenal again! He was a legend. We’ve just managed to pick up some great finishes throughout the season. Then to get the 100th win at Lime Rock – I think that is where Tommy and I really started believing that we could actually win this. Yes, the competition had some good results up to that point and we needed to stop their momentum, and we did that there. That crazy finish at Road America… We just sort of arrived here and knew what we needed to do. We executed really well and got another podium and another third place like last year. It is a great way to wrap up the championship in this way. I mean we got the Manufacturer Championship for Chevrolet, the Driver Championship, the Team Championship and the North American Endurance Cup Championship. We got it all. I’m thrilled… just thrilled. I’m thrilled for Tommy and thrilled for the team. Having Marcel (Fässler) on the team here in America has been just brilliant. He has been like our lucky charm in the car. He has been brilliant to have in the car. We want him back next year.”
MARCEL FÄSSLER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED THIRD IN GTLM RACE: “It was a very good experience for me, for sure. I’m really, really happy that I could be a part of the No. 4 car, especially today when they won the championship. This was not always quite easy because on one hand you want to push for the win, but on the other hand you have to keep in mind that you are going for a championship title. The Corvette was really great again, and it was a lot of fun. It was an incredible three races for me… two wins – Daytona in the first appearance for me, then Sebring and now another podium here. The championship for Olly and Tommy, it is really great. Also the title for Corvette Racing… it is amazing to be part of the whole team.”
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SIRIUS-XM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM RACE: “It was close to the front, but also very close to being all the way at the back. Basically that is how it is in GTLM. The Corvette behaved how we expected. The track was obviously a lot different that it was this morning (in practice) after several hours between Practice Three and qualifying with all these races in between. I think we did a good job on guessing on what the track would do. The track was definitely slower than this morning but we followed what it would do. I didn’t put together a complete lap. I did three almost identical laps; if you take the best part of each lap, I’m sure I could be up front. So it is always good to have the pole position, but we have had a couple this year. We just need to win this one.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SIRIUS-XM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM RACE: “I took it very easy to begin with. I didn’t want to risk the car; I really wanted to find the balance and see where we were compared to everyone else. It wasn’t great at first. I was struggling with top speed, plus I had a little too much understeer. We made an adjustment to the car, which made it a lot better. It was very well-behaved and fast. I was able to charge. Things are quite good and I’m very happy. Calm and collected is the strategy for the next 20 hours, I think.”
MIKE ROCKENFELLER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SIRIUS-XM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM RACE: “Obviously we were hoping to fight for the victory here. But first, congratulations to all my teammates and to the team for all of the success this year. We fought hard. We dropped back when we had the issue early in the race. I think we lost four laps and we gained three back. When I was in the car, we were lucky with the yellows. We tried hard and at the end, we were just missing one lap to be able to fight for victory. It didn’t happen. The No. 3 car just had issues this season in the long races, but I really enjoyed being a part of Corvette Racing this season. It was my first time and with my teammates, I had a great time. I hope I will be back next year.”
LEXINGTON, Oh. -Cadillac Racing driver Michael Cooper won the second race of the Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship weekend run at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course today. Teammate Johnny O’Connell completed the podium with a third place run.
Cooper (Syosset, N.Y.) took the green flag from the front row in second. He was able to get a good jump on the pole sitter Alvaro Parente (No. 9 McLaren) going into the first turn side-by-side on the outside. Keeping the No. 8 Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe under him off-line he took the lead over the hill of the second turn. Soon after the Acura TLX of second place finisher Ryan Eversley appeared in his rearview camera. Cooper was able to hold off several passing attempts from the big horsepower Acura down the long back stretch to post his second win of the season (first was at Barber Motorsports Park). Meanwhile O’Connell was in several battles of his own. As Parente held the final podium spot he was forced off the track in traffic allowing O’Connell to
Cooper and O’Connell on podium.
take the final step on the podium giving Cadillac Racing a one-three finish on the day.
“I knew I had to be aggressive at the start and go for it,” Cooper said. “It wasn’t to the extent of all or nothing, just tempered aggression. Parente and I were close going down the straight, I was able to out brake him and get around the outside. I had a nose in front of him going into Turn 5 and was able to complete the pass. Eversley had me under pressure after that and for most of the race. The traffic today was crazy. I lost time a couple of laps and had to make it back up. It is a great day for Cadillac Racing with Johnny also on the podium.”
“A great weekend for Cadillac,” O’Connell exclaimed. “Mike did an awesome job winning that race under big pressure. We started fifth and finished third, always proud when we can move up like that and finish on the podium. We were a little better with the Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe yesterday. But it is a testament to the team that is always working hard to improve everything to get on the podium.”
The Pirelli World Challenge Series races from Mid-Ohio Sports Car course will be televised Sunday, August 4 at 4 p.m. The series will travel to Utah Motorsports Park for rounds 16 and 17 to run Aug. 12-14.
TOOELE, Utah -Cadillac Racing put two in the top ten at the Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship at Utah Motorsports Campus this afternoon.
Michael Cooper (Syosset, N.Y.) started from fifth on the grid according to his fastest race lap from yesterday with teammate Johnny O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) coming to the green in 13th. Both Cadillac drivers were able to get a clean start to the 50-minute race at the 3.04-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course located 30 minutes east of Salt Lake City. As the race progressed caution free and with little movement amongst the 14 GT competitors O’Connell was able to move up three positions. The finishing positions were a testament to teamwork and driver race craft as they posted the 10th (O’Connell) and 11th (Cooper) fastest laps of the race while finishing sixht and tenth.
“I was able to get a clean run through Turn 1 at the start,” Cooper said. “I lost a position or two, but that is really where we are at with the Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe in relation to the other cars. I was able to put some pressure on the McLaren, but if they don’t make a mistake we just can’t get around them. We can get close in the corner, but by the time they exit and get on a straight they have already pulled away. It was good to get a result for the team today.”
“We moved forward,” O’Connell said. “You start 13th and finish 10th that is a pretty good day. It is frustrating we are used to running a lot further up the field. With the way the cars are regulated right now you just can’t make up 5 mph down the straight. With that said, I had a much better Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe today. We put Michael’s set-up on my car and it was much more responsive and easier to drive. We work as a team. The Cadillac Racing guys put in a lot of work to get us dialed in and I appreciate their effort.”
The Pirelli World Challenge Series races from Utah Motorsports Campus will be televised on the CBS Sports Network Sunday, August 21 at 2 p.m. ET. The series will travel to Sonoma Raceway for rounds 18 and 19, September 16-18.
SONOMA, Calif. -Cadillac Racing driver Johnny O’Connell swept the weekend at the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) Grand Prix of Sonoma presented by Cadillac.
Based upon their fast laps from race one yesterday, O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga) took the green flag for race two from third with teammate Michael Cooper (Syosset, N.Y.) lining up right behind in fifth on the GT grid.
O’Connell double race winner at Sonoma.
O’Connell was able to get a signature Cadillac start by passing two cars before Turn 1. Timing the drop of the green allowed him to miss what was to come – a carousel melee that had competitors bottled up in the long left turn resulting in race car carnage. Thanks to the aggression of the competitors behind, it allowed O’Connell to get a gap on the first lap and he was able to manage the gift to his second race win of the weekend and third on the season, the first coming at the Circuit of America’s season opening race weekend in March.
“I was laser focused on the starter with the green flag,” O’Connell said. “I had the revs up on the Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe and was able to drive by the McLarens. I guess there was a lot of action behind me in the carousel and when I exited the last turn on the first lap I had pretty nice gap. Then when I came around on lap two I saw parts and pieces in the track from the lap one action. It was a good weekend for Cadillac. I tell people this team is like Joe Montana. He was always a fourth quarter player and we are headed to Laguna Seca with still a chance.”
Teammate Cooper was one of those caught up in the carousel carnage. He hit the McLaren of Alvaro Parente causing damage to the Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe and had to pit for repairs, sending him down a lap where he was classified in 21st at the finish.
“I got bottled up at the start a little and was behind Alvaro going into the carousel,” Cooper said. “It started to stack up and I got into the back of him, I just had nowhere to go. As a result I had to pit for some body work removal and that sent us down a lap. I feel bad for the guys as they worked very hard on the Cadillac since Utah to set it up for the nuances of this track. It paid off Johnny.”
The Pirelli World Challenge series will travel to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the season finale to run, October 7-9. The race from Sonoma will be televised on the CBS Sports Network September 25 at 4:00 p.m. ET.
Big points day for Chevrolet, Corvette Racing, Corvette DPs
• Garcia, Magnussen advance to third place in GTLM
• Gavin, Milner increase GTLM Driver’s Championship lead
• Prototype win for Ricky, Jordan Taylor as Corvette DP scores podium sweep
• Chevrolet adds to lead in pair of Manufacturer races
AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 17, 2016) – Corvette Racing met its goal Saturday of a solid points haul to maximize its championship position heading into the final race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R placed third in a closely fought GT Le Mans (GTLM) class in the Lone Star Le Mans race at Circuit of The Americas.
The result was a key one for Chevrolet in the GTLM Manufacturer’s Championship, as the Bowtie Brand earned second-place Manufacturer points and its nearest rival received fourth-place points. Chevrolet, going for its 11th Manufacturer’s title in IMSA competition, unofficially leads by 20 points heading into the season-ending, 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in two weeks.
GTLM Driver’s Championship leaders Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin placed fifth Saturday in GTLM and grew their points advantage from seven points to 11. The No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R has won four times this season and has led in points from the start of the year.
The Prototype standings also favor Chevrolet and its Corvette Daytona Prototype teams after Saturday’s race. Ricky Taylor and Jordan Taylor won overall in their Wayne Taylor Racing No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP as they led 70 of 75 laps for their third win of the season.
Chevrolet also leads in Prototype points for the Engine Manufacturer’s Championship – a title it has won four consecutive years since the program began in 2012.
Garcia and Magnussen drove from eighth place in class at the start to third in the span of two hours. Magnussen drove the opening 43 minutes and picked up three spots during that time. The other big development early on was the ability of both the No. 3 and No. 4 Corvette Racing crews leapfrog their closest championship challenger thanks to a quick first pit stop.
Gavin, who started sixth, pitted from that position at the same time as Magnussen before handing off to teammate Milner. The championship co-leader held firm against a tough challenge from his leading championship rival as the two cars came together as Milner defended his position just before the halfway point. He emerged unscathed while the competing car lost 12 laps due to damage.
In Prototype, Corvette DPs won for the sixth time this year and fifth in a row. Chevrolet-powered teams also swept the Prototype podium for the third consecutive race.
The Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype won by 1.421 seconds as Jordan Taylor finished ahead of Action Express Racing’s Dane Cameron and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette DP. The Taylor have won more than any other driver combination in the category and solidified their hold on third place in Driver points.
Cameron and Eric Curran used their fourth consecutive podium to vault into the lead of the Prototype Driver’s Championship for the first time this season. Unofficially, the Cameron/Curran combo are now one-point ahead over their Action Express Racing teammates Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi, who placed third in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP.
Marc Goossens and Ryan Dalziel in the Visit Florida Racing No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP placed seventh in class after losing time due to a loss of drive just past the 30-minute mark.
The final race of the IMSA season is the 10-hour Petit Le Mans presented by Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort on Saturday, Oct. 1 from Road Atlanta. The race begins at 11 a.m. ET with live television coverage across FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2 and IMSA.tv with IMSA Radio coverage and Chevrolet on-board cameras available on IMSA.com.
CORVETTE RACING GTLM QUOTES
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SIRIUS-XM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED THIRD IN GTLM: “The further we went into the weekend, the better the Corvette was. From the first practice through the warmup and race, we never stopped working on it. At points, we made some big swings on the setup side because we had nothing to lose. At some point we found our way a little bit. The first surprise was that in qualifying, we weren’t as far off the pace as we thought. The warmup was the same. It was very hard, especially with traffic. At the end, I think we had a Corvette that could have challenged the race winners. We’re looking forward to Road Atlanta now and wrapping up the Manufacturer’s Championship for Chevrolet. We have a really good chance, and I really want to win that race. I’ve come close a couple of times so that will be my focus.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SIRIUS-XM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED THIRD IN GTLM: “It was a pleasant little surprise. I think that it’s a good couple of spots better than I thought we were going to be. The car was quite good in my stint. We were able to kind of keep up with the guys in front, whereas I thought we would be out of it real fast looking at the practice times and qualifying. But the race car was pretty good I have to say… better than I thought it was going to be. I’m happy for the result. I’m happy for Corvette Racing and Chevrolet getting closer to that manufacturer championship.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SIRIUS-XM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTLM: “This could be a real turning point for us in the championship. I think we will have to go to Petit Le Mans and get a seventh or an eighth place if the No. 67 was to win. It’s not a super comfortable cushion, but we just need to execute at Petit. I think we just need to be smart. We weren’t the greatest today, we weren’t the fastest. We were battling with the car a little bit and we made a couple of changes during the race. One was the wrong way and the other one was, I think, back in the right direction. But we need to go back and look at the data to see where we were missing it. Ultimately, we came away with scoring good points. We have extended our lead in the championship and at this time of the year that is all you need to be doing. You just need to be executing, getting the points on the board and extending our points lead. Looking at all the practice sessions, all the qualifying and everything that we did, I really didn’t think we were going to be coming away with extending our points lead over the No. 67. But we have, and it’s positive. We move forward and we go to Petit very positive.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SIRIUS-XM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTLM: “Coming away with the points lead we have was best-case scenario. It’s not really how I would have liked to have gotten that points lead. We struggled all day today and really all weekend… just looking for pace and just sort of comfort driving the car. That part wasn’t so much fun, but yeah, we lucked out today for sure. We definitely had, as Olly (Gavin) said, we’ve had either all of the luck in the world or none of it. Today it looked like we had none and then we had all of it pretty quickly there. Part of me feels bad for the No. 67 guys, but that is kind of a bummer way to lose some points. But I can’t say I’m too unhappy about it. We’ve all fought really hard all year long and some races we’ve had some good races and so have they. Now it comes down to Petit Le Mans where the gap is fairly large, but we still need to execute for the whole race. We certainly can’t just jog across the finish line there; we still have to push hard. It will be a big challenge for sure, but we are in a good spot.”
CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE QUOTES
RICKY TAYLOR, WAYNE TAYLOR RACING NO. 10 KONICA MINOLTA CORVETTE DP – PROTOTYPE RACE-WINNER: “It was an awesome race. We had the best car today, and not often do you have the best car and everything goes your way and everything goes right. Today, we had a little hiccup with traction control cutting out for a couple of laps; it was a bit of a panic for the guys with about 40 minutes about how we were going to get it working again. With a one-second lead with no traction control, (40 minutes) would have been a long, long time. But they worked through it and Jordan controlled the race after that.”
(ON HIS STINT) The conditions were not that bad. The car was very comfortable inside. The car was great. We were able to build such a good gap and Jordan was able to bring it home from there.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, WAYNE TAYLOR RACING NO. 10 KONICA MINOLTA CORVETTE DP – PROTOTYPE RACE-WINNER: “It was obviously a good day, our third win of the year. We had a strong car so I knew we had a shot at it when Ricky won the pole. Then Ricky had a flawless run, pulled out a 10-second lead and I knew, basically with me finishing it, it was up to me to lose it. I think we pulled it out to 15 seconds and then something happened – either I made a mistake by spinning or we had a traction-control problem. I spun, and the next five laps we were fighting what turned out to be traction-control problems and I was probably freaking out on the radio a little bit. Thankfully, the guys got it sorted, we fixed it. By that time, we only had a two-second lead so the race was back on. It got a little close, but the only thing that made it close was traffic coming and going. It was a good race. We had a little battle, but obviously a great day for us. Konica Minolta and DLL had 70 people here, so it couldn’t have been a better weekend for us.
(MORE ON THE RACE): “Well the spin, I don’t know if it was my mistake or the problems we were having caused the mistake, but either way I knew with it being my stint I had to kind of bring it back to the guys because of the lead we had that Ricky (Taylor) built. I’m just happy. It’s our third win of the year. DLL is here and Konica Minolta… and thank you to Continental Tire.”
(THIRD STRAIGHT 1-2-3 for CORVETTE DP) “The Corvette DP has been great for years. This was the third race in a row we finished 1-2-3 just shows the dominance of the car. The car’s been developed a lot and we’ve learned a lot. It’s been good to me, it’s been a fun car to drive.”
First class win of season for No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
•Winning duo leads 84 laps in GT-only event and solidify third in GTLM points
•Third straight win and fifth of season for Corvette Racing
•Chevrolet increases lead in GTLM Manufacturer Championship
•Gavin, Milner remain first in GTLM Driver Points
ALTON, Va. (Aug. 28, 2016) – Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen won the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR on Sunday, the second overall victory for Corvette Racing in its history and the first for the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of the season.
It was Win No. 102 for Corvette Racing, which has won five times in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class this year in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The victory also was the second for the team at Virginia International Raceway.
Garcia and Magnussen combined to lead 84 of the 90 laps including the last two following a late-race caution period. The margin of victory was 0.802 seconds although Garcia’s lead before the yellow flag was a steady 3-4 seconds.
It capped a highly successful weekend for the No. 3 Corvette team. Garcia was quickest in Friday’s practice, and Magnussen claimed pole position. The duo won at VIR together for the first time after placing third in the 2013 American Le Mans Series GT class.
Magnussen set the tone from the outset by leading from pole position. He drove the first 49 minutes – most of the time with a lead of less than a second. Garcia drove a double-stint to close in what he described as qualifying conditions. The final stop with 53 minutes remaining proved to be key as the No. 3 crew performed one of its best fuel and tire stops of the season to solidify Garcia’s lead.
Class championship leaders Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner retained their GTLM points lead despite a ninth-place class finish for the 2012 ALMS GT race-winners at VIR. Gavin set the fastest lap of the race but had an unfortunate crash that brought out the race’s only caution. The incident came moments before reports of fluid down near that area of the track.
Milner qualified second behind Magnussen but fell back at the start in a frantic run through the first corner. He remained steady and moved back up through the field to fifth before a small off-track excursion just past the 40-minute mark. With two races to go, they still unofficially lead the GTLM Driver’s Championship by seven points with two events remaining.
The next event for Corvette Racing is the Lone Star Le Mans on Saturday, Sept. 17 from Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – OVERALL AND GTLM RACE-WINNER: “We were all pretty equal all day in the class. The Corvette Racing team did a great job with the tire pressures. We had a plan where we would be better from the middle of the stint and not so much in the beginning. It wasn’t much fun early on with the tires but as things went on our Corvette got better and better. I’m super happy. It’s our first win in a long time. We have had plenty of opportunities, so I’m really pleased and hopefully this starts a streak for us now!”
WE TALKED EARLIER AND YOU THOUGHT THE FIRST STINT WAS SPECTACULAR, BUT WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ANTONIO’S STINT? “It was a fantastic drive by Antonio. He kept the gaps and opened them a little bit. I know it got a little scary at the end with one lap to go. It scared the hell out of me. But he did a fantastic drive and always does.”
WINNING FIRST RACE OF 2016: “Oh man! It’s about time! It was a great job by the whole team all week. Green with one lap to go… I don’t know what that was about; it scared the hell out of me. The No. 3 Corvette team has had a tough run this year and it’s great to be back in the Winner’s Circle.”
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – OVERALL AND GTLM RACE-WINNER: “It was really hot and super close. It was a very difficult, tricky race. The racing line was super narrow; I think that’s why we saw some mistakes at the end. I had a few up and downs in the race. Our pit stops were perfect. After the tire pressures went up and stabilized, the Corvette felt great. I was able to make a little bit of a gap in traffic but it went back and forth. It was just like qualifying except you are trying to save fuel. Luckily I was able to run a good pace and economy with our Chevy engine. I got a really good job on the restart and already had a good gap at the start-finish line. I’m happy for Jan and everyone at Corvette Racing. We have been so close so many times this year that I really think our No. 3 Corvette crew deserved it today.”
YOU HAD TO SAVE FUEL AT TIMES AND THEN YOU SAW THAT FULL COURSE CAUTION AT THE END. FUEL WAS NO LONGER A CONCERN, I THINK IT WAS MORE ABOUT THE CARS BEHIND YOU? “Yeah, it was a very hard race. My team got me a three- to four-second gap and then it was a classic green/white/checkered. Not even green then white, it was like white and checkered. It was an amazing race and the Corvette was brilliant. So I just need to thank the whole Corvette team and Chevy. Corvette Racing did a fantastic job today. It really paid off to be out testing on Monday and Tuesday (at Road Atlanta). I have to say, because the car was fantastic.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED NINTH IN GTLM: “It’s obviously a disappointing way to end the day. We heard reports that there may have been oil or fluid down near the final turn so maybe that contributed to the incident. The Corvette C7.R is a very strong and well-built car, and we are always thankful for that. It seemed like today we got behind and never could catch up. That is how difficult it is in this championship. We are still thankful to maintain a points lead and will do whatever we can to protect that lead over the final two races.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED NINTH IN GTLM: “It’s hard to pass and make up ground. I kind of got hung out at Turn One and didn’t have much grip. I had to play some avoidance also with a couple of the cars in there and had some junk on my tires. My first lap free from the pitlane was a case of me going too fast and got loose. The car would understeer behind everyone else, and I didn’t realize how loose it was. It was a mistake on my part.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “This race today was victorious today on two different levels. Obviously for the Corvette Racing team, Jan and Antonio to bring the No. 3 Corvette home first after battling all day against the best competition of the world speaks very highly of not only the crew work but the engineers that put together a setup that they could race for an entire day in this extreme heat. That should never be overlooked. On another level, I think this is one of the best races we have had since the sports car merger in 2014. The Balance of Performance was very, very tight. You only had to look at the practice times, qualifying or the race times to see that any of the cars that started the race today had the capacity to win. And that’s what makes great racing. So we were all winners today – everyone who participated today in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.”
Landmark achievement for sports car GT racing’s premier team
LAKEVILLE, Conn. (July 23, 2016) –Already sporting an unmatched collection of historic moments, Corvette Racing added another today by claiming its 100th race victory by winning Saturday’s Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. Drivers Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner piloted their No. 4 Mobil 1/Sirius XM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R to the landmark triumph.
It is the third win of 2016 for Corvette Racing, which opened the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) season with back-to-back GT Le Mans (GTLM) victories in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Corvette Racing is the first team in IMSA history to score 100 event victories. The team’s first win came Sept. 2, 2000 at Texas Motor Speedway. Saturday’s victory also was the team’s 60th 1-2 class finish with Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen runners-up in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
“Achieving 100 victories is a tremendous accomplishment for Corvette Racing,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “It’s a testament to the dedication of all the crew members, engineers, drivers and our engine team members over the past 17 years. We certainly couldn’t have achieved this milestone without the support of our partners at Pratt Miller, Mobil 1 and Michelin. Everyone with Corvette Racing operates as one team and embodies the competitive spirit of Chevrolet. We’re happy to share this success with our passionate Corvette owners and supporters.”
The Corvette Racing team made its first start Jan. 31, 1999 at Daytona. Since that time, the program has claimed championships and victories on endurance racing’s most prominent stages:
• Ten manufacturer and team championships in the American Le Mans Series, plus nine driver titles
• Eight class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
• Three wins in the Rolex 24 including an overall victory in 2001
• Ten class wins at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
Corvette Racing also claimed endurance racing’s Triple Crown in 2015 with wins at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans. It was the first team in 15 years to accomplish the feat.
The tally of Corvette Racing victories spans a number of different series. In addition to its record at Le Mans, Corvette Racing has nine wins in the WeatherTech (formerly TUDOR) SportsCar Championship, 82 in the American Le Mans Series (a record for entrants) and one in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.
No matter the series or continent, however, the aim of Corvette Racing has remained the same, according to Campbell. “Importantly, technical learnings gained from racing directly benefit our production Corvette and powertrains,” Campbell said.
Corvette Racing’s next event is the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase from Road America on Sunday, Aug. 7.
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. -Cadillac Racing driver Michael Cooper drove to a seventh place finish in the first of two Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship presented by Cadillac races today at Road America. O’Connell suffered an engine misfire believed to be from a throttle position sensor and was classified in 19th place.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) and Cooper (Syosset, N.Y.) started today’s 50-minute race from the third row in fifth and sixth. At the drop of the green flag both Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe drivers looked to improve their positions. Cooper had a run on the outside of Turn 1 and was blocked going into Turn 3 sending him back to ninth. O’Connell was able to move up to fourth position, having an optimistic start. On lap four, O’Connell reported an engine misfire that proceeded to get worse, forcing him to drive around slowly to try and accumulate as many points as possible. The team believes the issue to be a malfunctioning throttle position sensor. Meanwhile Cooper was able to improve two positions to seventh when the checkered flag dropped.
“At the start the inside line got held up into Turn 1,” Cooper said. “I got a good run on the outside, up to about fourth. I was side-by-side with Pat Long going into Turn 3 and he didn’t give me any racing room that forced me back to ninth. The Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe was handling pretty good. I just didn’t have the big straight line power to keep in touch with the front runners.”
O’Connell’s quest for his fifth driver championship in as many years took a blow today.
“Even the best teams have days where things don’t go their way,” O’Connell said. “We picked up an engine misfire on lap four. Damn I had a good car. I was excited about the handling and I was feeling good about things early in the race. I was trying to keep it up there, but the misfire got worse and worse. The Cadillac Racing team will get it fixed and be ready for the 10:30 a.m. start tomorrow. I took a big hit in points toward the championship today, so we will just have to fight that much harder the rest of the season.”
The second race of the Pirelli World Challenge Road America Grand Prix presented by Cadillac weekend will take the green flag at 10:30 a.m. ET tomorrow and can be viewed via live stream at http://world-challenge.com/streamvideo/. The race will be televised on the CBS Sports Network on Sunday, July 3 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Third place for Cooper, O’Connell electrical issues
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. -Cadillac Racing driver Michael Cooper drove to a podium position of third in today’s running of the Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship presented by Cadillac race at Road America. O’Connell’s electrical issue resurfaced and he was classified in 20th place.
Based upon their fastest lap in yesterday’s race, O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) and Cooper (Syosset, N.Y.) started sixth and ninth respectively for today’s 50-minute event. At the drop of the green it appeared that O’Connell’s electrical woes from yesterday were fixed. However, as a full caution flew on lap one he reported that the misfire was back. On the restart Cooper was in sixth and focused on getting to the front. On lap nine he passed the Porsche of Pat Long and soon after the Nissan of Bryan Heitkotter slowed on the track putting the New Yorker into fourth. Four laps later around the four-mile, 14-turn undulating road course he was able to pass local hero P.D. Cunningham’s Acura for the final podium position finishing in third.
“I got less than an ideal start,” Cooper said. “I got squeezed into the grass at the start and I didn’t want to push the issue. Pat and I had a good race down into Turn 5. I could tell I had a little more pace and I was able to set him up going into Turn 1. I chased down Cunningham and was able to get him into Canada Corner. The Bentley was very strong with their big downforce. Going through the Carrousel it would upset the front of my car. Finishing on the podium almost feels like a win today.”
O’Connell had his electrical Gremlins return.
“Clearly disappointed,” O’Connell said. “It is not an easy sport. We have a lot of technology in these cars. The Cadillac Racing guys replaced everything they could last night. It is tough. That is three races in a row that I felt like I had a podium car and something happened. I am happy for Michael to get his Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe up on the podium. For me, my championship hopes for five in a row are pretty much over. We will come back at Mid-Ohio in four weeks and go for wins.”
The race from Road America will be televised on the CBS Sports Network, Sunday, July 3 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
The Pirelli World Challenge Series will travel to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car course for rounds 14 and 15 to run July 29-30.
