Gavin, Milner, Fässler second in Petit Le Mans on drama-filled day

BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 13, 2018) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen won their second straight IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) Driver title Saturday, and in true Corvette Racing fashion it was a team effort.

Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fässler placed second in class at Road Atlanta’s 10-hour Petit Le Mans in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R to close Corvette Racing’s 20th season of competition in IMSA. Garcia, Magnussen and Fässler co-drove the No. 3 Corvette to an eighth-place finish – a result good enough to secure the GTLM Driver and Team championships.

It is the 12th Driver Championship for Corvette Racing and 13th Team title in the program’s 20-year history.

“Congratulations to Antonio, Jan and the No. 3 Corvette C7.R team on clinching the GTLM Driver Championship. This team never gave up all season to deliver our 12th Driver title for Corvette Racing over 20 seasons of competition,” said Mark Reuss, GM Executive Vice President and President Global Product Group and Cadillac. “And congratulations to Corvette Racing and Pratt Miller on their 13th Team Championship. They prepared a race car that delivered consistent performance and that great combination of power, durability and efficiency.”

Both Corvettes showed race-winning pace throughout the day and into the night as both cars led multiple times in the 10 hours. But pitwork ultimately proved to play a huge role.

The No. 4 pit crew got Milner out ahead of the No. 3 Corvette’s lone remaining championship contender on his final pit stop with 48 minutes to go. That was only half the story, however.

The No. 3 Corvette crew needed just five-and-a-half minutes to repair its C7.R after a crash with Garcia at the wheel following a pit stop with less than three hours to go. Among other items, the crew replaced the Corvette’s nose, front fender and engine floor in lightning quick speed to keep the No. 3 C7.R in the race and in the championship hunt.

At that point, the focus turned to the No. 4 Corvette. Gavin, Milner and Fässler – who drove both Corvette entries in the race – fought and clawed their way to a position where Milner could pressure the sister car’s championship challenger late. The team’s effort proved even more important as the No. 4 Corvette went from fifth to third in the final GTLM Driver and Team standings.

Although Corvette Racing’s IMSA season is complete, there is one more race left in 2018. Corvette Racing will contest the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Six Hours of Shanghai on Nov. 16-18.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM DRIVER CHAMPION: “It was definitely a tough race. From Lap 1, I went in the lead and every time I was in the car I was going for it instead of holding position. It probably went from one of my best races of my career to the most embarrassing moment of my career. But that means Team Chevy and Corvette Racing did all the prep work before this race and allowed us to come back from that. Thank you to the 4 car for keeping the pressure up on the 67 car, which had to go for the win for the (championship) result. That’s part of this championship – the 4 car keeping the pressure up at the end. I’m very happy. It will take me a little bit to forget that mistake, but I’m very happy for the whole team.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SIRIUS XM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM DRIVER CHAMPION: “The way it turned out, the way the 4 car went in there and really put pressure on changed things around. Fantastic. Such a massive team effort to make this happen. I’m so proud to be a part of this. We had a good car and were going to be right there in the mix and the pit exit stuff happened and put everything on its head. It looked like we were out of it, trying to figure out how to still make it happen. I think what really did it was the 4 car got sent super aggressively and changed the balance of things. Obviously the 4 car went for the win but they knew why they were doing it. It turned things in our favor.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SIRIUS XM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – SECOND PLACE IN GTLM RACE, THIRD IN GTLM DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP: “It’s been another amazing performance by Corvette Racing. You look at all the stints by Tommy (Milner), Marcel (Fässler) or myself and the same on the 3 car, it was just exceptional. The strategy, the way the guys worked together was just amazing. Then Antonio (Garcia) had his problem and I’ve never seen the guys work so well together to get the 3 car back out there in a short amount of time. It was just exceptional. Everybody had such great team spirit, team harmony and everybody was pulling for that championship. Us getting third in the championship was quite a result for Tommy and myself, so I’m very happy with today.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SIRIUS XM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – SECOND PLACE IN GTLM RACE, THIRD IN GTLM DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP: “We can be super proud of our effort today. The car was really good all race long. Pit stops, strategy, Olly and Marcel did great jobs in the car. What it came down to today was I think we had the car to win, we had the pace to win, but right toward the end I got stuck behind the Ford and I lost 8-10 seconds on the Porsche. A little unfortunate, but I wanted to be careful and not have any contact or interference with the Porsche on my part. In any case, everyone in the class did an awesome job. In the race we were fifth, then eighth, then sixth, and all over the place. Really impressive driving by everyone. I really wanted to win today but we can be happy with second place, and third in the championship was a bit of a stretch for us coming in. Good race today from all the guys on the 4 car to give us super pit stops and strategy.”

MARCEL FÄSSLER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SIRIUS XM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – SECOND PLACE IN GTLM RACE: “My last podium finish was here in 2016, so I’m really happy and proud of the team. My first stint in the 3 car was a little tough and then in the 4 car I had a pretty good stint in the beginning. I congratulate the 3 car for the championship. It was an awesome job today, and thanks to Corvette Racing for its trust in me to drive both cars. The crew made this podium happen because they had an awesome pit stop in the end that got the 4 car out ahead of the others. For me, it was a nice end-of-season race and making the podium made for a really good day. I will do this again for Corvette Racing any time again.”

Article by Ryan Smith

Photo by Richard Prince

MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept. 9, 2018) – For the second year in a row, Corvette Racing will head to the finale of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the Driver and Team points lead in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category.

Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen placed third in class Sunday in the America’s Tire 250 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. It is the seventh consecutive podium finish for the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R and increased the points advantage for Garcia and Magnussen to nine points with only the 10-hour Petit Le Mans left in the season.

A fourth-place class finish at Road Atlanta would give the duo their second consecutive GTLM title.

Meanwhile, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed fifth Sunday in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette following a chaotic race that saw four full-course caution periods in the first 80 minutes including one at the race start. Once the race finally went green for more than a lap, the two Corvettes ran first and second in class – with Gavin ahead of Magnussen – as a number of different strategies began to emerge.

The pair of yellow C7.Rs swapped positions on the teams’ first pit stops for fuel 40 minutes into the race and during the race’s third full-course caution. Only two GTLM cars elected to stay out, and the Corvettes rejoined third and fourth in class. The five lead GTLM cars, including the Corvettes, all pitted again near the halfway point under the final yellow. Magnussen handed off to Garcia during that stop, and Milner also took over for Gavin.

The race went green for the last 70 minutes. Garcia, now in the lead, made his last fuel stop with 46 minutes left. Milner had stopped from third only minutes later and rejoined fifth. As the race clock wound down, all the Corvette squad could do is watch as the two lead cars made it to the finish without stopping again.

Corvette Racing closes the IMSA season on Saturday, October 13 at Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – THIRD IN GTLM: “We thought nobody could make it to the end if it was green and (our competitors) were gambling on a yellow. They made it. It’s easy to think about ‘what if.’ That’s what it means to be doing a little bit of something different on strategy. I think we were on the back foot, also. We were fighting for the championship and those two guys are not… they were gambling on the win. It’s difficult to gamble when they can take no risks and you take a lot of risk. That was the main thing. It is good to open up a few more points toward Petit Le Mans. Definitely our competitors will be forced to win. I also have the feel we could have won here and locked the championship again, like we did last year.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – THIRD IN GTLM: “For the championship, another podium is great. It’s not at all what we thought we were going to be able to do here. To be completely honest, I’m a little bit disappointed, but it is what it is. The other cars went really, really long on the last tank – over half of the race distance which is pretty incredible. That’s what it is. Another podium for the championship. We are in a better position in the points than when we came here, so that’s positive. Off to the last one at Road Atlanta and go for a win there.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FIFTH IN GTLM: “It’s tough to describe because so much happened during the race. Right at the green flag there was complete carnage. I managed to get us through all of that without any problems and damage. In the first green flag session, everything went well; I was pulling away and the car was nice. There was another caution so we came in for a stop, and there was a little bit of confusion in our pit box about when I could go or couldn’t go so the No. 3 car jumped us. So, I thought, ‘OK that’s fine. There is still plenty of race to go.’ But then it just got a little bit ridiculous with the No. 67 car. He got very aggressive and touched me a number of times, and he tried to muscle his way past me coming out of turns two and into three. He damaged his car and went off but we were able to continue. I think that did something to our car. Then it became a fuel race. We didn’t have the ultimate pace to stay with the No. 3 car, but we were looking like we could at least finish second or third at worse but some of our competitors managed to really stretch that fuel and ended up getting a victory. And we ended up finishing fifth, which I feel is pretty disappointing considering where we were yesterday and how good the car felt at the start of the race. For our car, maybe the track deteriorated a bit for us and the balance went away. You want it to be the other way around. The guys did a really great job all weekend and were really solid. We thought we were doing the right thing with the strategy and the pit stops. Sometimes that’s racing and we have to go back and assess.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FIFTH IN GTLM: “That was super frustrating. We had a fast car all weekend. In the race it all fell apart. We were looking OK with about an hour and 20 minutes to go… first and second, I think. Then things didn’t quite go our way to the end. It’s unfortunate when you have a fast car like we did and not get anything out of it. Good job for the 3 Corvette guys on a good points day for them today. But it could have been a lot better for all of us.”

Article by Ryan Smith

Photos by Richard Prince

Second-place finish moves No. 3 Corvette into GTLM points lead for first time in 2018

DANVILLE, Virginia (Aug. 19, 2018) – Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia moved into the lead of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Driver’s Championship for the first time this season following Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Magnussen and Garcia placed second in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R – their fourth runner-up finish in five races and seventh podium result of the season. The defending GTLM champions provisionally lead the championship by four points with two races remaining.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed sixth in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R as their race came undone just as it started. Milner started the race seventh but was sent off track from contact with another GTLM car on the first lap. He was able to continue but the Corvette suffered damage at the front-right, which impacted the car’s performance.

Milner drove the first 57 minutes before handing off to Gavin, who reported similar struggles in his nearly 50-minute run. He swapped out to Milner for the final stint with the native Virginian able to set some of his best lap times toward the end as he began catching the fourth- and fifth-place cars before time ran out.

Garcia began his race fourth and drove the opening 55 minutes nursing a knee injury. Magnussen took over and drove the final two stints in a marathon effort. He made two stops – one for fuel only during the race’s lone full-course caution period with 90 minutes left and another for fuel and Michelin tires with 52 minutes to go.

The final stop was critical in that the Corvette Racing crew got him out ahead of one of his championship contenders who had pitted two laps earlier to hold on to second place and valuable points. It was a fight to the end with Magnussen driving as hard as he could for the closing stint.

Corvette Racing’s next event is Sept. 7-9 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SECOND: “Another second, which isn’t exactly what we were looking for. But in the end we’re keeping on with more and more points toward the championship. I’m happy with the race and happy with how Jan drove. The injury was unfortunate but I was able to do an hour and then gave it over to Jan for the biggest part of the race. It was really tough and very warm for him, and he drove great. We have the lead in the championship now, so let’s see if we can maintain that.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SECOND: “That was a tough race because of the heat. We had planned on doing two drivers changes, but with a mishap before the race we didn’t want to risk putting Antonio back in so he can be ready for the rest of the season. So I stayed in. It was just a tough race. Our car was good. The hardest thing was just after the safety car when we didn’t stop. I had so much pickup on the tires and I couldn’t get the car going no matter what I did. Traffic destroyed our chance to get the BMW, so it was a matter then of keeping second place. And that was hard work. That was as fast as I could go every single lap trying to find every little bit of road. It feels really risky when we do it because it’s a lot of points if you finish third. It’s nice that it worked out the way it did. But we want to win. It’s been almost a year since we won a race, and that’s wrong! We have six podiums in a row and the championship lead with two races left – a normal race and a long race. A lot can happen. Four points is nothing, but it’s better than being four points behind!”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SIXTH: “Tommy and I battled with a wounded car all race. It was better at some points of the race than others, but fundamentally we didn’t have the pace. Contact with the Porsche on the first lap really did shape our race. We managed to salvage sixth, which is OK. But our challenge for the Driver’s Championship is really gone. We’re too far back now. But Antonio and Jan are in the lead, which is great for everyone at Corvette Racing. But our chance is done. Onward to Laguna Seca and another track we enjoy competing. Hopefully we can have a better time there.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SIXTH: “That was an unfortunate start to the race. I haven’t seen the video of it, but (the 912 Porsche) got a penalty for moving in reaction, which you shouldn’t do because that (scenario) can happen. And it wrecked both our races. It’s easy to say now that maybe I could have tried again later. But with the gap that was there, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Because the end result was not what we wanted I’d change it, but playing it back in my head I’d do the same thing. Like anything in this class, it’s so competitive. I wanted to get by and he didn’t want to let me by. It’s unfortunate FOR US but it was a good points day for Antonio and Jan. Our car was quick there at the end as I was catching the two cars ahead of me. It’s a frustrating day and I feel bad for all the guys on the 4 Corvette team. We’ve had good cars the last couple of races here and things haven’t gone our way. We’ll keep trying and pushing super hard. Hopefully, a little bit of luck goes our way next time.”

No. 3 Corvette team closes in on GTLM points leaders; Gavin, Milner gain with fourth place

LAKEVILLE, Connecticut (July 21, 2018) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen scored their third straight runner-up finish in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday with a second-place overall finish at the Northeast Grand Prix.

Garcia and Magnussen combined to lead 138 of the race’s 178 laps in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R around Lime Rock Park, where Garcia qualified on pole position. Saturday’s result moved the No. 3 duo to within one point of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Driver’s Championship leaders.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed fourth Saturday in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R – the same position in which Milner began the race.

Garcia led the entirety of his hour-long stint before he came into the pits for a driver change to Magnussen. The Dane drove a double-stint to the end and only lost the lead on the final pit stop cycle and an unfortunate off-track excursion with 10 minutes to go.

Magnussen passed a slower GT car coming into Lime Rock’s final, diving turn and slid wide on the exit of the corner. It took tremendous control for him to gather up the Corvette and rejoin without any damage.

Milner made an early jump into third place at the race start in the No. 4 Corvette and held that position until his first stop with 63 minutes running. Gavin took over and rejoined in fifth place with the goal of moving back up into podium position during the final two hours. His perseverance paid off as he went from seventh after his final pit stop with 62 minutes left to fourth by the end of the race.

The next event for Corvette Racing is Aug. 3-5 at Road America. The Aug. 5 race will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET with live audio coverage on IMSA Radio.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – RUNNER-UP: “It’s not what we want for sure, but a third runner-up in a row is good for our average and points. It was so close to our first victory of the season. We know how close the competition is here. The strategy was what we needed to do, and I think we knew the tire strategy and management would be the difference. The winners had a little bit more than us in the end, so there was nothing we could really do. Learning from second place isn’t that bad. We need to focus and carry on the work we are doing. Sooner or later, that victory will finally come.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – RUNNER-UP: “It is hard to swallow. It is tough because we had such a great car. Everyone did a fantastic job all weekend-the crew, the engineers, everybody. It was just a little bit of a longer stint for the tire compared to what the Ford had there at the end. It got difficult. He (Joey Hand) was catching me. I think I could have held him off a little bit longer than I ended up doing because I got into the marbles passing a GTD car on the inside of the last corner, and it just threw me wide off the track. He drove by and that was it.

“I know going that long on the tires was going to be a challenge. But second place isn’t bad. We caught up in the championship which is good. The car is almost in one piece. On to Road America and see if we can do better.

“Podiums are nice. They are really good for a championship, but when you lead 80 percent of the race, you want to win. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but for everybody it is a good result. I wanted a little bit more for all the hard work the team put in.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH: “This race is always a battle – mentally, physically – for the team, the car, the drivers. There never seems to be space for operate in, so there are bits of contact. There are always close calls. It seems like tensions are always pretty high here. You are always around someone. Just no space to operate.

“I had what seemed like a rather lonely race. It seemed like I was chasing people that were a ways away and slowly catching them. People were slowing pulling away from me. I was dealing with the car and the tires and just trying to manage everything the best I possibly could. We were okay. But by the end of the stints, we were really losing quite a lot of performance. Both Tommy and I seemed to fall off a cliff in terms of performance right at the end of our stints which is probably where some of the gaps appeared to the other cars.

“I really think we had a fourth place car today. The No. 3 was just that little bit quicker than us. It was good for them to score another podium. It was good points for us. We are still chipping away at scoring those points. We are still in the hunt, but we need to tidy some things up. We need to just work away at getting a little bit better of a race for both Tommy and me. We need to work away on things and just be able to put it all together.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH: “I don’t know if you can make a plan for a race like this. I had an OK first stint; there was no damage, which was good. We missed a little on tire pressures, which made the car difficult to drive about halfway through that stint. We sort of sacrificed a little bit at the start to have better tires at the end of the race for Olly. We lost a little ground staying out a little longer and were hopefully we could make that up at the end.”

Article by Ryan Smith

Photo by Richard Prince

No. 3 Corvette on GTLM podium for second straight season; Gavin, Milner finish top-five

WATKINS GLEN, New York (July 1, 2018) – Corvette Racing endured one of its most trying races in recent memory Sunday, and the team was rewarded with a runner-up finish by Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R led 30 laps at Watkins Glen International as the squad soldiered through record-setting heat in the Finger Lakes region of New York.

The result moves Garcia and Gavin to third place in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) points standings in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Chevrolet stands third in Manufacturer points heading into next weekend’s race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park just outside Toronto.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner also spent considerable time out front Sunday in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette and ultimately finished fifth in class.

“The Corvette drivers, crew and engineers executed their race plan in extreme conditions with the same never-give-up effort that has defined this program for the last 20 years,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “We picked up some critical points in the Driver and Manufacturer standings with the top-two finish.

“It’s always great to race with the support of so many Corvette owners here at Watkins Glen in the Corvette Corral and watching around the world,” he added. “We can’t wait to race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park Motorsports Park next weekend.”

Sunday’s race featured multiple strategies over the six hours as the two Corvettes started from third and fourth. The pair of cars couldn’t match the pace of its four strongest competitors, but the race’s second half saw Corvette Racing makes its move to the front.

Magnussen began the push with a strong second stint that saw him manage his fuel enough to be the last GTLM car to pit just before the three-hour mark. By going a lap longer on fuel, it meant the No. 3 Corvette needed less fuel than its competitors 30 minutes later and moved from sixth to third.

The same caution period saw Gavin move into the lead in the No. 4 Corvette as he was able to make a pit stop just before the yellow flag came out and the pits closed. He and Milner traded single stints throughout, and both Corvettes were in position to challenge for the race lead when the final caution period ended with nearly 40 minutes left.

Corvette Racing is back in action this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix. The race will air at 4 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and live on the FOX Sports Go app. Streaming in-car footage along with live audio coverage of practice, qualifying and the race from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – SECOND IN GTLM: “I think we had very close to a perfect race. You’ll always look back and think about things we could have done differently. I had fuel reserve for the last six laps or so. I don’t know how much fuel we were able to use at the end so maybe that didn’t allow us to go as hard at the end. We had to play it more conservative just in case. Perhaps we would have been able to be more aggressive and race the Fords harder. Thinking about where we have had lately and where we have been in practice and qualifying… to be fair we weren’t dreaming about a win. We wanted a good result, and today was almost a win where we led a lot of laps. We can’t be upset or depressed by second place. That’s a top job and result for everyone at Corvette Racing.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – SECOND IN GTLM: “It was a tough race in many areas. The heat was a problem. The double stint early for me was not easy, but I have to say I liked the car all the race. But there at the end, we just didn’t have the pace when it mattered so we’ll work a little harder on it. Antonio did great in the heat and trying to get the Michelin tires to last – a fantastic job. The team did, as usual, everything they could in the pits to try and improve our position which they did. But second was all we could get out of it today. I’m very happy with that for the points… fantastic. But after six hours of sweating, you want to win.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FIFTH IN GTLM: “The race had a lot that happened. It was brutally hot, and that was pushing everything to the limit whether that was the tires, the car, the brakes, the crew, the drivers… At points today we were over the limit with some of those things. It was a real battle out there today just to get through to the finish. Tommy did a fantastic job there at the end just to get the car home. Fifth points… is that where we wanted to be? Absolutely not. We want to be up there at the sharp end battling for the victory. But it wasn’t our day. We need to go back and look and see what we can do better. I’m glad that Tommy made it through unscathed as we leave here. It’s also good to see the sister car on the podium and get some good points for us.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FIFTH IN GTLM: “The two Fords at the start were definitely the quickest, and the Porsches were strong. Our qualifying position stymied them early. It was a phenomenal job by the 3 Corvette guys to hold on to second place at the end. Both the Porsches had a little bit of pace on us. We were struggling at the end with the brakes, so it took me a little bit to figure how to drive the car with the brakes in that condition. It’s something to look at for the future and see why we struggled there. Fifth isn’t too bad, but it’s a little frustrating when you’re a little further up for a good chunk of the race and things fade at the end.”

Article by Ryan Smith

Photo by Richard Prince

Hard-Fought, Fifth-Place Finish for No. 63 Corvette

LE MANS, France (June 17, 2018) – In 19 years of competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Corvette Racing has experienced both disappointment and achievement. The constant in each case, though, is the drive of those on the program to give maximum effort each and every appearance.

That was on display again this year at the 86th running of the French endurance classic. Corvette Racing showed its mettle in the face of adversity as it fought for a ninth class victory at Le Mans. It wasn’t meant to be as Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller finished fifth in the GTE Pro category with their No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.

“All race long, the Corvette Racing C7.R teams never gave up,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “We know all the lows and highs of Le Mans, including our eight class victories here. We race at Le Mans to win, and we also race to learn. That is no different this year. The learnings from Le Mans will help us as we strive to continually improve. We look forward to getting back on track at Watkins Glen.”

Campbell added: “Our race team appreciates the support from Corvette owners and fans from all over world.”

The No. 63 team scraped and clawed for positions the entire 24 hours. Garcia began the race ninth, and the Corvette never fell below that the entire way. Despite lacking overall pace all three drivers, the crew and race engineers worked tirelessly to hover around the top-five before the Corvette settled into fifth place inside the final quarter of the race.

The tale of the No. 64 Corvette began to unfold early. Gavin fell back to 15th at the start but rebounded nicely to 12th before experiencing trouble with the right-front suspension. He handed over to Milner after a double-stint; however the team brought the Corvette back to the pits and into the garage after Milner reported severe handling issues.

The stop resulted in four laps lost, but it didn’t take the fight out of the No. 64 team. From 17th place, the Gavin/Milner/Fässler trio put in solid stints to go along with excellent stops and brake changes from the Corvette crew. Well into the third quarter of the race, however, the No. 64 Corvette began to show signs of an engine overheating condition that ultimately resulted in the car’s retirement from the race.

There’s little time for rest and recovery. Corvette Racing returns to competition in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the Sahlen’s Six Hours at The Glen from Watkins Glen International on June 29-July 1.

Article by Ryan Smith

Strong runs from deep in the field for Camaro GT4.R quartet

LAKEVILLE, Conn. (May 28, 2018) – A pair of top-10 finishes Park left Blackdog Speed Shop in good spirits Monday following the second of two GTS SprintX races at Lime Rock for the Pirelli World Challenge. Both of the team’s Chevrolet Camaro GT4.Rs made tremendous progress from deep in the field to end Memorial Day on a high note.

Lawson Aschenbach and Andy Pilgrim placed third in their class and fifth overall in the No. 1 Blackdog Speed Shop Camaro GT4.R, while Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples made up more ground than any entry in the race with a 10th-place overall finish – after starting 25th – in the No. 11 Blackdog Speed Shop Camaro. They earned the race’s Hard Charger award for their efforts.

The results were enough to move Aschenbach and Pilgrim to third in SprintX points with Gaples and Cooper tied for fifth after six GTSX races.

Aschenbach and Cooper started, and unlike the morning race both Camaros made it through the start unscathed. The duo took advantage as Aschenbach moved up five spots and Cooper gained nine positions to 16th as the race went yellow on the opening lap.

It took 27 minutes for the race to resume, but when it did the Camaros kept up their charge. By the halfway mark, Cooper ran 11th and Aschenbach 12th as the pit window opened for the race’s mandatory driver change. Aschenbach ducked in from seventh with 23 minutes left and handed off to Pilgrim. Cooper came in two laps later from fourth for the change to Gaples.

Once the pit window closed with 20 minutes remaining, Pilgrim cycled through to ninth and Gaples to 11th. The team’s progression wasn’t done. Pilgrim gained three spots to sixth when a trio of cars ahead of him went off-track. Gaples also gained a spot late with a nifty move out of the famed Uphill corner.

Blackdog Speed Shop’s next race is set for June 22-24 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Sweep at CTMP in World Challenge GTS as Gaples fifth in GTSA

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada (May 20, 2018) – Blackdog Speed Shop’s Lawson Aschenbach tightened his grip on a potential sixth championship in Pirelli World Challenge on Sunday with a second straight GTS victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport in his Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R.

The defending class champion won for the fourth time in as many races to open the GTS Sprint season in the No. 1 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R. He led every lap for the second straight day after starting from pole position for the 50-minute sprint.

The win also was the 53rd for the Camaro brand, tied for first all-time in World Challenge history. Blackdog Speed Shop also won in GTS for the 25th time to rank first among class entrants.

Teammate Tony Gaples was part of another fight for the GTSA podium in the No. 11 Blackdog Speed Shop Camaro GT4.R and finished fifth in class but less than two seconds from another podium.

Unlike Saturday’s opening GTS race, Aschenbach had to fight the entire way Sunday. He briefly lost the lead on the opening lap but regained it before he and Ian James reached the start-finish line. The two were rarely separated by more than a half-second over the final 25 minutes, which included a full-course caution period with 22 minutes left.

The race began again with 10 minutes left with Aschenbach narrowly holding off his challenger after each lap. His winning margin was just 0.145 seconds for his fifth career World Challenge victory at CTMP.

Gaples began 12th overall and fifth in GTSA, but he gained a spot in the category after seven laps. Another fierce battle in the class ensued – like Saturday – but a bobble by a competitor ahead of him cost Gaples time and two positions as the race approached halfway.

Undeterred, Gaples pressed the challenge in his Camaro for the balance of the race. Although he just missed this third podium of the season, Sunday’s efforts were enough to move him into second place in the GTSA provisional points standings heading to next weekend’s GTS SprintX event at Lime Rock Park.

Article by Blackdog Racing

Hard-fought third place for No. 3 Corvette in return to Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, Ohio (May 6, 2018) – Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia earned a podium finish Sunday in Corvette Racing’s return to Mid-Ohio Sports Car in the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio. The duo piloted their No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R to a third-place finish in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Le Mans (GTLM) class.

The result vaulted Garcia and Magnussen into a fourth-place tie for the GTLM Driver Championship with Corvette teammates Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner. They placed eighth in GTLM on Sunday in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R as the team returned to Mid-Ohio for the first time since 2012.

Chevrolet is third in GTLM Manufacturer points – three points out of first place – as Corvette Racing takes a break from IMSA competition to travel to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the 19th consecutive season.

The Garcia/Magnussen duo began fifth, but Garcia gained a spot on the opening lap. The close level of competition and constant traffic around Mid-Ohio meant the No. 3 Corvette held its position for the middle of the race.

It wasn’t easy, especially for Magnussen who was part of a three-way fight for third place in class inside the final 40 minutes. He hung tough and made his move going into the first corner with 27 minutes left to move into podium position.

Milner and Gavin started eighth, but the No. 4 Corvette moved up through the field with a strong start from Milner. He drove the opening hour before handing off to Gavin. The No. 4 squad had some of the worst luck with traffic and opted to pit with 70 minutes left in hopes of catching a caution period to gain track position. Unfortunately the race went green for the entire two hours and 40 minutes. Gavin eventually had to take a late splash of fuel two laps from the end.

Corvette Racing’s next event is the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 16-17. The team has won eight times in the French enduro.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED THIRD IN GTLM: “That was hard to watch, because I really don’t like to be watching! I prefer to be in the car. But Jan did a really, really, really good job. The whole race went according to plan. Fifth wasn’t good enough to be up front and fight for the win, but we started to make up positions like we always do. We started to see that strategy was a key thing here. We kind of managed to fight the Fords and we lost some time fighting them on everything. That is what probably allowed the 25 BMW to go crazy on strategy and that is when they went ahead of us. We learned from that, too. We are usually the ones doing crazy strategies like they did. It paid off for them. When you are in the lead pack, you need to do what we did. We got some good points over our competitors. I’m happy on how everything worked against the actual pace we had today. Porsche really deserved that win. Next time I will be a little bit faster in qualifying so we can fight for the win.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED THIRD IN GTLM: “For how things developed, this is not a bad result. Obviously we would like to have had the pace of the Porsche and BMW today but we kind of got in the middle of them, so only one of each got ahead. It was a good race… good strategy and good pit stops from the crew as usual. We had a good race car. It was all-around fun. I had really a fun battle with Joey (Hand). We got a little racey but it was good fun. Hopefully we get to have more good racing like that throughout the year. I really enjoyed it.“

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED EIGHTH IN GTLM: “We had to gamble a bit today. We were chasing a chassis imbalance all weekend, and we tried something in the warmup. But things just didn’t go our way with the start and traffic. Tommy really got balked in a couple spots, and it seemed like that happened more often than not to stop our progress. Then we had to come in with two laps left for a splash of fuel. It was that sort of day. It seemed like we had similar pace to everyone else a lot of the time but there wasn’t enough pace to get by anyone. It’s a bit of a frustrating day but we’ll move on and learn from this for the big one – Le Mans.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED EIGHTH IN GTLM: “I was pretty happy with that first stint. We’re staying in touch with the cars ahead of us, depending on traffic. Maybe we were a little off but we were close enough where we could race of the most part. It’s definitely tough at Mid-Ohio. There aren’t a lot of tracks where you have a car that you’ve felt like you’ve worked on all weekend, and this is one of those. The racing was good and fun. It was chaotic at times with passing GTD cars and being passed by P cars. We struggled a little bit with balance, but I don’t think we’re alone on that. I didn’t seen anyone out there who was super happy with their cars.”

Article by Ryan Smith and Judy Kouba Dominick

Photo by Richard Prince

Gavin, Milner, Fässler lead team with fifth-place GTLM finish at 12 Hours

SEBRING, Fla. (March 17, 2018) – Corvette Racing put forth another strong effort in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday with Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fässler leading the team’s efforts at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Advance Auto Parts.

The trio in their No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R placed sixth in GT Le Mans (GTLM) after a trouble-free run that saw the Corvette go from ninth at the start to the lead of the race at the four-hour mark.

As was the case at the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, the No. 4 Corvette team didn’t make any missteps, didn’t lose any time in the pitlane and kept the C7.R running all day and into the night. The pace from the rest of the front-running cars, however, proved to be more than a spotless race could overcome.

Saturday marked Corvette Racing’s 20th appearance at the Sebring 12 Hours, which started with the team hoping for its 12th class victory and fourth in a row. The race also was the 200th event for the Corvette Racing program.

Defending Sebring class winners Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller – in the No. 3 Corvette – finished eighth in class after a determined fightback from a variety of early-race troubles. The Corvette suffered a punctured tire resulting from contact on the opening lap, followed by visits to the garage to solve electrical and steering problems in the first six hours.

The next event for Corvette Racing is the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach from the streets of Long Beach, Calif., on Saturday, April 14 with live television coverage on FOX.

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SIXTH IN GTLM: “It looked like in the middle of the race that we were looking pretty good. As we started to lose the sunlight, it looked like we lost the balance and performance in the car. We were unable to generate the grip we needed to be competitive. There are some lessons to learn here. We battled all weekend with our Corvette and tried to come away with as many points as possible. It’s frustrating through to have a clean race, not make any mistakes and come away with nothing. Marcel and Tommy drove well. We rolled the dice a couple of times on strategies.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SIXTH IN GTLM: “All things considered, that was as good as we could have expected today when you look at how practice shook out. All the guys on the team did a great job. Marcel and Olly did a great job – no mistakes. I only had one little bit of contact from another car all day between the three of us. We can’t be unhappy about that. We tried everything we could throughout the race to make something happen… strategy calls, car changes, things like that. We can be proud of the effort we put in all weekend. We never gave up! But I still think we can be disappointed with the finishing result. That is a valid frustration. We got OK points. Our Corvette’s in one piece. We can all hold our heads high knowing we did the best job we could today.”

MARCEL FÄSSLER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SIXTH IN GTLM: “If you look at the results, I think it we can for sure be a bit disappointed because we knew it was going to be a very tough race for us going into it today. But now seeing it… that there really wasn’t a chance to go on the podium, it is disappointing for the team. But we look now to the future, and we know that we come back stronger. It wasn’t our weekend, now we focus forward.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R- FINISHED NINTH IN GTLM: ”For us here, it feels like we either go from winning to completely out of contention. It is a bit of a shame to not even be able to fight for it. We knew at the start that it would be hard. After the puncture, we kind of came back and I had the feeling following the Porsches that the car wasn’t that bad. That was in the opening hour. I had some hope there that it was probably going to be a good race for us. But then everything fell apart. It was very unfortunate. It was very difficult to spot are issues were. We lost a ton of laps. In this category, as soon as you have a little mistake, you lose every opportunity.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED NINTH IN GTLM: This is Sebring for you. When things are great around here, man they are so great. But when they are like they are today, boy is it a long day. Our guys worked hard so we could go back out. We drove to the end to take whatever we can take. It is just about salvaging one or two more points if we can. It’s not what we came here for, but it is what we have.”

MIKE ROCKENFELLER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED NINTH IN GTLM: “I had a couple of decent stints there. In the first one, we were still struggling with the steering. After that, things were fine. The Corvette was very good and it was good to get more laps. The track was difficult and very greasy for everyone toward the end of my second stint. We thought we would have a chance of victory, but we tried everything we could. Our pace was similar to the No. 4 Corvette. Things happen at Sebring but we kept fighting.”

Article by Ryan Smith and Judy Kouba Dominick