Defending IMSA GTLM championship team leaves satisfied with testing program

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 7, 2018) – Corvette Racing left Daytona International Speedway content with the results of its testing program following the annual Roar Before the 24 and ahead of the opening race of the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

The two Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs logged more than 1,400 miles between them during the three days and eight sessions of track time. The packed schedule included a 15-minute qualifying session to determine assignments for the pit boxes and garages when teams return later this month for the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Oliver Gavin was the second-fastest GT Le Mans (GTLM) qualifier Sunday in the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R with a lap of 1:43.640 (123.653 mph). Teammate Antonio Garcia wasn’t far behind in fifth at 1:43.998 (123.227 mph) in the No. 3 Corvette C7.R.

As it has for the last 20 years, Corvette Racing displayed its usual clever strategy and ingenuity to achieve its qualifying results. Even on a test weekend, the team consciously practiced drafting with its two Corvettes during multiple sessions in order to approach the performance levels of its quicker GTLM competitors.

All six Corvette Racing drivers were on-hand Friday through Sunday. Defending GTLM champions Garcia and Jan Magnussen are teaming with Mike Rockenfeller while Gavin and full-season teammate Tommy Milner are partnering with Marcel Fässler.

Corvette Racing and Chevrolet are coming off a second straight sweep of the GTLM Manufacturer, Driver and Team championships in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – titles won by combining driver skill with smart engineering strategy and team execution. That is a large reason for Corvette Racing’s success ahead of its 20th season – a mark unmatched by any other team in the IMSA paddock.

The Rolex 24 served as the first event for the Corvette Racing program in 1999, and one of the team’s Corvette C5-Rs finished third in class. Two years later, Corvette Racing won the race overall – the first of what is now 106 victories around the world. Fast forward to the current era, and the program added class victories in both 2015 and 2016. The latter was the thrilling 1-2 finish that saw the No. 4 Corvette beat its sister entry by just 0.034 seconds.

That is just one of more than 40 victories for Chevrolet across all motorsports events at Daytona, making it the most successful manufacturer at the World Center of Racing.

Corvette Racing will return to Daytona for the 56th Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 25-28.

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTLM: “One of the key things for the Corvette Racing program is that we are learning and trying new things all the time. No one here ever rests on their laurels. Yes, we’ve had two very successful seasons, but everybody is still looking for ways to improve whether that is through the car with the technical partners we have with Mobil 1 and Michelin. Or whether it is the way the engineers interact with the drivers, and the drivers are working with each other out on track. That was a key part of the success of that qualifying session. Antonio and I had discussed with one another how we were going to do that session, and our engineering team talked it through with us. We had a strategy and plan, and it worked and paid off. Antonio was in front of me for five laps and basically pulled me around. It got me in second position. It proved that a strategy like that would work. Would we have been this close to the front without that? Absolutely not. I don’t know how far off we would have been, but we certainly wouldn’t have been second. It is nice to see a plan come together and work that way. I think there were a few people, myself included, wondering if it was going to work or not. But you have to put your faith and trust in the people around you and it paid off. Antonio once again drove brilliantly and set it up perfectly. He and I have got some history here now, and we know how to drive around one another here at this track! We have a good understanding and are good friends. It’s great to see a team work together like they did today and profit from it.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED FIFTH IN GTLM: “Yes, we always come up with something different for sure. It was somewhat of a risk. We practiced that during the last two practices and on old tires. Traffic didn’t make it easy to do it, but then having our two Corvettes so equal made it less difficult. My only goal was to stay as fast as possible all the way to Turn Six, and then give Olly a nice tow all the way to the Bus Stop. We tried one lap where I just stayed in front of him to start/finish, and then the next one was like the finish of the 2016 race where he won by a foot. We timed it so he would go across the line in front of me. So I think it was worth quite a few tenths. We didn’t make it to be the fastest, but, that’s basically what we had to do to finish where we are. That’s really a very small portion of what the 24 Hours will be like, but it is good to have that experience. It was important to follow our test program, and I think everyone has gone according to plan.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “We had a good test and got through a lot of stuff. It was super cold most of the test, so it will be interesting to see if that helps us. Today was a little better and more representative of what we will have for the race. This is a brand new car, so we were able to shake it down and didn’t have any issues. I’m looking forward to coming back for the race week and see what we have.”

MIKE ROCKENFELLER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “As a driver, you always want more and more time in the car, but track time is at a premium at the Roar every year. I feel like we have maximized our efforts and run as many miles and as quickly as we can. We all know that later this month, the track conditions likely will be different. It has been quite cold this week but we have learned things that can help us for the race. I feel we are heading in the right direction. It’s always a pleasure to be in Daytona with Corvette Racing and drive a Corvette around this track.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “The fact that we didn’t have any major issues is definitely a plus. It hasn’t always been like that for us! From that perspective, things couldn’t have gone better. Any opportunity you have to get laps at Daytona this close to the race is super important. We always come into this weekend with lots of things to try and ideas our engineers think might work to keep building on our book of information on these Corvettes. We have a good base to work from, but of the many items our engineers drew up, we saw some little gains from each of them. That’s encouraging for us.”

MARCEL FÄSSLER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “Everything has run quite well. There were a number of items on our test plan, and we ran through it fairly smoothly. This is why we are here – to test different kinds of things to make progress and development with the car. I also am happy with the time I could spend in the Corvette, even dividing it between three drivers. It was fairly easy to adapt to the car again after some time away… shortly after Petit Le Mans. This was a great opportunity to be back in it and with the team. I think we all feel good after this test.”

Garcia, Magnussen, Rockenfeller place second in No. 3 Corvette C7.R

• Impressive drive-back nets fourth for Milner, Gavin, Fässler

• Result caps championship-winning day for Corvette Racing, Chevrolet

• Four GTLM victories on season for Corvette Racing

BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 7, 2017) – Corvette Racing capped its championship-winning season Saturday with a runner-up finish at Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans for Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. It put a Bowtie on a day that saw Corvette Racing and Chevrolet sweep the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Manufacturer, Driver and Team titles in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fässler placed fourth in a stellar late-race comeback.

The 10-hour endurance race in the rolling hills of north Georgia was a classic in every sense of the word. The top seven GTLM cars finished on the lead lap, and rarely were they separated by more than 30 seconds.

Six cars led in GTLM over the 392 laps and just under 1,000 miles. The No. 3 Corvette led four times, but even more key were the positions that the team gained with excellent pit work and strategy throughout. Especially key was a late stop for fuel and tires that put Garcia, who started and finished the race, into second place after entering the pits third. That solidified Chevrolet’s hold on the Manufacturer Championship with 50 minutes left.

Garcia ended one second back from the winning BMW with Milner only 21 seconds further back.

The latter’s late-race effort was particularly stout as he passed three cars in the final five minutes. He opened the race in tricky wet conditions and handed off to Gavin with Fässler driving the middle portion of the race. Creative strategy and more stellar pit work kept the No. 4 Corvette within sight of the leaders for much of the day

The 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship opens with the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 27-28.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM: “I really cannot expect anything else. We gave it all we had until the last lap. Actually for a moment, I thought I had some chances for a win when an hour before I thought it was done. That is the spirit of Corvette Racing. That has been the spirit all year long. We never give up. Big thanks to Jan and the whole crew. For me it was very, very easy for me to believe I couldn’t make it to the end because I was in the car for three hours. After one hour, I was like ‘Don’t tell me I have to do another two.’ They really kept motivating me. That is part of their job and I am very thankful for that. Big thanks to Team Chevy, the whole Corvette Racing team and the whole Corvette community. I think other than maybe Long Beach, this was a perfect season, so thank you all!”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM: “A fantastic day and a fantastic race. The whole category has been so close all day long. It was difficult to really make a difference out there… to pass people. You kind of had to wait for mistakes, but nobody made mistakes. Traffic could sort of play into it, so it was kind of waiting for the right place and the right time to take advantage. We had great strategy. Beating the 67 Ford out on that last stop was very important. That Ford got taken out by a prototype later on, but it was important for us to get out ahead if for nothing else than to prove a point.”

MIKE ROCKENFELLER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM: “Congrats to Corvette Racing. It’s amazing what they achieved this year, especially Antonio and Jan; they had a fantastic year to win the Driver Championship. The Manufacturer Championship was secured for Chevrolet so I think we fulfilled almost everything this weekend. We wanted to win as well, but the BMW was too strong. Congrats to them. It’s been a good year with Corvette Racing. The three races I did were really strong. The win at Sebring was really strong and very competitive. At Daytona we were strong, just not quite enough to win. And here at Petit Le Mans we were in the hunt for the victory. So I am I am very happy, and I hope I can be back with the team. I did my best to help as much as I can. It’s not always easy to jump in as the third driver without so much seat time, but my teammates help me a lot. It is just great to be part of Corvette Racing and I’m looking forward to the future.

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “It was great racing all the way through… very tight and close in our class. I had an excellent battle with one of the Porsches. I managed to pass him twice; we were quicker than him in certain parts of the track, and they were quicker than us at other parts. It’s just great racing. Petit Le Mans generates such great competition and racing. Everyone at Corvette Racing was on their game with pit stops and strategy all day. There was so much to play for but very little lap time between the cars. You just couldn’t pick a winner until the end.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “Mission accomplished! That is what we set out to do at the beginning of the year was to win everything, and we just about got that done. We missed the endurance championship, but we got the rest of them. I’m super proud of this team a super proud of the guys on the No. 4 Corvette. We had a rough year this year but those guys didn’t quit. Their last pit stop was probably their best. I can’t thank Olly and Marcel enough. We have a lot of fun here for sure, but it will be more fun next year when we have some better results.

“It is a team effort totally. I’ve never heard in the seven years I have been here anyone on this team having conflicts in any way. Olly and I had a pretty rough year this year, but we tried in any way we could to help the No. 3 car in whatever situation that we need to. We all work together to help get Chevrolet a championship and whichever car is in the hunt for the title, we do all we can. For some reason we seem to have this seesaw effect… when one car is running well and has all the luck in the world, and the other one doesn’t. Then it switches. Last year we had all the luck in the world, and this year we had very little luck. We got a good win at Long Beach and we were plenty quick in a lot of places. It is easy to look at the bad things, but there are a lot of good things to build on for next year.”

MARCEL FÄSSLER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “It was very busy out there in my stints. There were cars all around but there was a lot of good overtaking, especially after restarts. Once we got running, I got caught up and Rocky (Mike Rockenfeller) went by. I didn’t want to risk doing something to hurt the sister car. Maybe I was a little too careful and had a couple of cars go by. After that the pace wasn’t too bad. The rear tire degradation made it difficult to race the last few laps. I made a little mistake in Turn 3, so we had to pit a little early. So I’m not really happy about that. But what I am happy about is that Corvette Racing has won the Manufacturer, Driver and Team championships. It has been great to be a part of Corvette Racing again this year.”

Article by Ryan Smith and Judy Kouba Dominick

Photo by Richard Prince

Chevrolet leads Manufacturer’s Championship heading to Road Atlanta finale

MONTEREY, California (Sept. 24, 2017) – Corvette Racing’s pairing of Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen took a huge step toward the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Driver’s title in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Their fourth-place class finish in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R at the America’s Tire 250 means they only need to start the season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in two weeks to officially claim the GTLM championship.

Sunday was a doubly good day for the Corvette Racing program as Chevrolet extended its lead in the GTLM Manufacturer’s Championship to four points with the result. As long as Chevrolet is the second-highest finishing manufacturer in the 10-hour Petit Le Mans, the Bowtie Brand will clinch its second straight title and 12th since 2001.

Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin had another run of bad luck in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. With aims of moving up through the field like the sister Corvette, the Gavin/Milner pairing placed ninth in GTLM after Gavin was hit from behind at the first corner of the opening lap. The contact damaged the Corvette’s rear diffuser, which impacted the handling and performance throughout.

Once changed, however, the No. 4 Corvette team gathered valuable information for the No. 3 Corvette’s championship run.

Magnussen began the race seventh in class, but that was a product of the team’s qualifying strategy to focus on race setup rather than ultimate pace in Saturday’s time trials. That paid off in the long run, as did a timely full-course caution just shy of the halfway point in the two-hour, 40-minute race. A GTLM competitor went off-track, and No. 3 Corvette lead race engineer Kyle Millay immediately called in Garcia for tires and fuel before the pits closed.

The call elevated Garcia from seventh to second by the time the race resumed. With a mind toward the championship picture and not the race result, the team elected to stay with a strategy that ensured the No. 3 Corvette would finish ahead of its closest title contenders.

Corvette Racing closes the IMSA season with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans from Road Atlanta on Saturday, Oct 7.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “I think we played it really cool today. It felt like instead of being the ones defending, we were the ones trying to go for it. We seemed to be the more relaxed car out there out of the ones in contention. We were not sure about the pace today. For sure the beginning of the race wasn’t really promising when everyone started to pull away. As soon as everyone started to drop off in lap time and I saw Jan before we pitted we were almost within a tenth of them so I thought, ‘Um, we might have a chance here.’ For sure if it had been a green race, I think we had a very good chance to finish second behind the Ferrari. But when it came to strategy, fuel and all of that, we had to be smart and go for the championship and not worry about the race results. I was pretty happy with how our Corvette felt, especially during the last 10 to 15 laps of a stint, which I think the hardest today. It was just really good. I had pressure for sure. I really liked that the closest car to me was Richard (Westbrook) because I knew he wouldn’t do anything strange. We had a fair fight. I kind of knew he would try to catch me and try to pass me, but I also knew he would run out of tires soon. I kept calm and as soon as I saw he was starting to struggle, I put in a little bit more pace to open the gap. At the end of the day, we didn’t know if all the other cars would make it to the end of the race (on fuel), and they actually did. But it doesn’t matter for the championship.

“I think we played all year long, I can’t remember us making a mistake. I don’t know… I would have to go back race-by-race. But I think this has been a perfect season for Corvette Racing and the No. 3 car engineers and crew. Whenever we had the car, we made most out of it and whenever we didn’t, we still made good points… just like today. If you would have told me before the start we would have come out of here with fourth and while not going for the race result of podium, I wouldn’t have believed it. I am very, very happy. I still don’t believe we are mathematically done and as soon as we start Petit Le Mans, that is it. It has been a very long season for us since after COTA. We struggled, but we kept it up there but we proved that we had what it took to win races and the championship.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “We’ve managed the whole year largely because of Kyle (Millay, No. 3 Corvette lead race engineer) to get more out of races than we should have. Whenever we haven’t had good pace, we always got good points. Today was no different. We had a good plan for the race but was painful to execute, but it worked. The painful part was in the beginning watching everyone drive away. Then things would turn around at the end of the stint where we would catch everything back and be in the mix. That’s great strategy that got us ahead of both Fords and the No. 25 BMW. It’s a great way to go to Petit Le Mans, where we can work on securing the Manufacturer’s Championship.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED NINTH IN GTLM: “Unfortunately our race was shaped by contact from another car. It seems like it has been the story of our year unfortunately. As I came into Turn One of Lap One, the No. 24 BMW got turned around. I was right behind Jan; he was checking up and I was just desperate not to hit the back of him. As I braked, the Lamborghini from GTD just came in and obviously didn’t expect me to be going so slow. It just drilled us in the rear which broke our rear diffuser, which flapped for all of my two stints. The vibration just got worse and worse, and we lost performance. The car was tricky to drive, hard to drive and very snappy. Once again, frustrating. We managed to do a couple of things just to try things out to give them (the No. 3 car) the right steer with the right tire choices. It’s been a good team effort. They are in a really strong position now in the championship which is great to see. They just basically have to start and they lock up the championship. It’s been once again a great team effort for Corvette Racing. We haven’t had the fastest car here this weekend but by strategy, execution, hard work, working certain problems, the team has come through with an extended lead in Manufacturer’s points, and an extended lead for Antonio and Jan and the No. 3 car for their championship. So ultimately, we’ve checked the box for the championships and that is fantastic.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED NINTH IN GTLM: “Our race was doomed from the start, in the first corner. That’s just very unlucky. It was just a racing deal – a car spinning ahead of Olly and cars behind getting stacked up. That kind of stuff in inevitable especially in a tight turn like it is here at Laguna. The car was a little bit damaged there at the start. Our Corvette was okay; it definitely didn’t have the pace today to win the race, but could have maybe been fourth or fifth if everything went smoothly. I am super proud of the team. We had super tricky conditions all weekend here. At times it was looking doom and gloom like we were way off the pace. In the end, the engineers did a really did a great job of keeping their heads clear and making good calls with tire strategy and pit strategy. Ultimately we executed as best we could today. That is what makes a championship team even in the face of some super strong adversity. Even under all that pressure there, all those guys did an awesome job. I am super proud of this Corvette Racing team and proud of what we have achieved this year.”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “When you put together great race strategy with perfect pit execution and you have drivers of the talent level that we have at Corvette Racing, you’re going to make things happen that ordinarily wouldn’t. Today we showed that again. We qualified seventh and ninth, and we took the No. 3 Corvette to where we needed in order to put a very firm grip on the Driver’s and Team’s championships. Now we will go to Atlanta and do everything we can do to defend our Manufacturer’s Championship. It should be a great race.”

Article by Ryan Smith and Judy Kouba Dominick

Photo by Richard Prince

Fourth place for Garcia, Magnussen; No. 4 Corvette suffers early contac

LAKEVILLE, Conn. (July 22, 2017) – Corvette Racing extended its lead in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Le Mans (GTLM) standings Saturday with a fourth-place finish for Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen in the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park.

The pairing – in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R – now lead the Driver’s Championship by seven points, and Chevrolet increased its lead in the Manufacturer’s standings to four points after seven of 11 events. Garcia also set the fastest lap of the race to earn one critical bonus point.

The No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner finished eighth after early-race contact on the rough-and-tumble circuit. The No. 4 Corvette was forced to return to the paddock twice for repairs – an example of the never-give-up attitude that defines Corvette Racing.

Magnussen started sixth and drove the first 51 minutes before handing off to Garcia from fourth place. Garcia rejoined in fifth and eventually cycled through to the lead as different pit stop strategies emerged into the final hour. The No. 3 Corvette pitted from first with 47 minutes left and was one of the final GTLM cars to stop for fuel and fresh Michelin tires.

The strategy very nearly paid off with a podium finish, but the tight confines of Lime Rock and traffic stymied Garcia’s changes.

Corvette Racing’s next event is the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase from Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The race is scheduled for 2:35 p.m. CT on Sunday, Aug. 6. Fox Sports 1 will air the race live with audio coverage on IMSA Radio.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FOURTH IN GTLM: “The points situation was in my mind at the end. I fought hard to get by the No. 24 car but I also knew that wasn’t the car we are fighting for in the championship. There were some moments where he cut me off late and almost spun himself out. Luckily nothing happened. I tried everything I could. Their car for sure was out of tires at the end and the car was very wide. The way the strategy worked, we had better tires on lighter fuel. I’m very happy with today. A podium was possible but we did all we could. It is great to get the fastest lap and the bonus point. Having that made me think a little bit how aggressive I needed to be at the end.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FOURTH IN GTLM: “It was a great job by the team on strategy. Antonio gave it everything he had. It was a fantastic race at the end between he and the 24 car. Fourth place is good for the points as the 25 and 66 were behind us. It would have been great to be on the podium but it wasn’t in the cars. Now on to Road America and hopefully a return to the podium.

“My stint was a tough one. I didn’t really have the pace to keep up. I got really held back in traffic with people fighting for every inch out there. That really cost some time so we fell back quite a bit. Other than that it was pretty uneventful!”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – EIGHTH IN GTLM: “After the second time behind the wall, Tommy mentioned the car was pretty good, and when I got in the first number of laps were pretty solid. We had decent balance. I struggled too with tire pickup, then tried to be kind to others and not get too involved with anyone else on the circuit. So I put myself in positions to pick up some junk on the tires. It was so difficult to clean them off afterward. We just want to have a clean weekend. It seems like every weekend we run into some issue or problem… you name it and it’s happened this year.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – EIGHTH IN GTLM: “I’m pretty disappointed to have another race where we don’t finish. It would be nice for us to have a clean race here for once. It’s hard to tell what happened there. It looked like the Ford checked up earlier than I expected; I tried whatever I could to not hit him but that probably caused more problems. I’m sorry for those guys. I never want to be involved in an accident like that and take somebody else out of the race. Looking at the data, I was slower than I had been going in there. But that’s racing. We’re trying to make split-second decisions. Most of the times they are the right ones, but every now and then they’re the wrong ones.” I certainly would like to take back what happened there, and I’m sure he would a little bit as well. But again, that’s racing.”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “Today was a very atypical Lime Rock race where there were no cautions, but at the same time typical in the amount of close-quarters racing and a premium on strategy and luck. Fourth place today is a solid result for us in the GTLM Championship, where we have grown our lead in the Manufacturer’s, Driver’s and Team standings. It just shows again how anything can happen at Lime Rock! Now we regroup and ready for another great challenge and great track at Road America.”

No. 3 Corvette, Chevrolet maintain GT Le Mans points leads after fourth-place class finish

BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO, Canada (July 9, 2017) – Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen retained their Driver’s Championship lead in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Le Mans (GTLM) class Sunday with a fourth-place finish in the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

The duo and their No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R improved three spots during the race from their seventh-place starting position thanks to another round of solid strategy and execution by the Corvette Racing crew and engineers. The result also kept Chevrolet in the Manufacturer’s Championship lead and the No. 3 Corvette first in Team points.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner were classified eighth in class after the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R was involved in heavy crash late the event. Milner went hard into the outside tires but walked away uninjured as the safety features in the Corvette did their job. He was evaluated and released from the infield medical center shortly thereafter.

Magnussen drove the opening hour in the No. 3 Corvette with he and Gavin line astern for their first stints. After a fairly uneventful opening hour and 50 minutes, the race’s first full course caution period gave way to a heavy shower on the back part of the 2.459-mile, 10-turn circuit. Garcia and Milner – by now in for double-stints to the end of the race – stayed out on dry tires, as did the rest of the GTLM field.

The track remained damp on the far side of the track for the better part of 20 minutes before the No. 4 Corvette’s incident with Milner running seventh and Garcia fifth. Another downpour with five minutes left caused another accident for a prototype car and a third full-course caution. The race ended under yellow.

The next event for Corvette Racing is the Northeast Grand Prix from Lime Rock Park on Saturday, July 22. The GT-only race is set for 3:05 p.m. ET with FOX Sports 2 airing the race live at 3 p.m. ET. Live audio coverage will be available from IMSA Radio via IMSA.com.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FOURTH IN GTLM: “There was the potential for third place, but on the other hand I’m glad we made it to the end without damage. It was very tricky and conditions were dreadful in the rain. With all the traffic and people going at it, it was difficult to stay on track. It’s a bit disappointing because we could have both Fords behind us, but that is racing. It’s a shame the No. 4 Corvette wasn’t there at the end. I’m glad Tommy is OK, though. We again proved that even though we had the slowest car we scored good points. We need to keep going, analyze our performance and find ways to improve. Let’s see if we can do that and come up with another win.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FOURTH IN GTLM: “My stint was pretty uneventful apart from trying to navigate through traffic. The car is about what it was in qualifying with the same kind of balance. We may have been a little faster than the Fords but there was no way around them. It’s difficult; any time you get close to anyone here, you start losing performance. Hopefully our guys can come up with some interesting strategy and keep us ahead of the Fords.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – EIGHTH IN GTLM: “It’s disappointing to end like that. It was a nasty accident for Tommy. I’m very glad he is OK. Corvette Racing and Chevrolet focus so much on drive safety. Tommy couldn’t have been in a better and safer car than our Corvette. It’s a testament to the build of the C7.R and the chassis on the production car that Tommy was able to walk away.

Article written by Ryan Smith and Judy Kouba Dominick

Garcia, Magnussen, Taylor climb Le Mans podium in GTE Pro

LE MANS, France (June 18, 2017) – Corvette Racing has experienced highs and lows in its 18 appearances at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. America’s premier GT racing team added to that Sunday with a dramatic third-place finish in the GTE Pro category with Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Jordan Taylor climbing onto the podium together for the second time in four years.

The No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R came back from an early-race puncture and clawed its way back into contention before barely missing out on its ninth class victory at Le Mans since 2001.

Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fässler placed eighth in the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C7.R. The trio had a fight-back of their own after Milner lost a wheel in the opening half of the race. It proved to be the only mistake by that trio but the four laps lost proved costly as the GTE Pro race was as much as a seven-car fight into the last six hours.

“The GTE Pro battle was intense and certainly garnered the most attention of any race that I can recall,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “While our goal is always to win, it occurred to me that the Corvette Racing team has a never-give-up attitude. That element has been critical in many of the eight class wins in our Le Mans history. Jan, Antonio, Jordan and the entire 63 crew held together strong as a team and demonstrated incredible heart and determination all race long. I also want to thank the Corvette owners and fans around the world for the support they have been giving Corvette Racing at Le Mans from 2000 until today.”

The early puncture for the No. 63 Corvette set the stage for a phenomenal drive back toward the front by the driving trio, the crew and engineers. The crew performed a perfect brake change near the 10.5 mark – it took approximately 75 seconds to do all four wheels – and the engineering team got the car back on the same pit strategy as the race leaders just after dawn Sunday.

From then on, the Corvette asserted itself and cycled through the lead up until the final hour. Magnussen and Taylor alternated single stints over the last three-and-a-half hours. The Corvette Racing team elected to take fuel only and change to Taylor in order to gain track position over the final 46 minutes. The two cars ran within 1.5 seconds of each other until the final lap.

The next event for Corvette Racing is the Sahlen’s Six Hours at The Glen on Sunday, July 2 from Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – THIRD IN GTE PRO: “That is this race. If you have a small mistake, your plan changes and this turns into a catch-up race. That’s what happened to us. It took us 18 or 19 hours to catch back up to the leaders after the small puncture in my first stint. Another small puncture took out the opportunity for us to win this race. We had two of them at exactly the wrong moments. It’s a shame. After all the good work and strategy calls we made today, it’s disappointing. We were in the right spot to win. It was a fair fight with the Aston Martin. We had a chance but it didn’t happen. We come here to win this race. There is no other place we want to be. It’s a shame for the entire team. We all worked very hard in preparation. Both Jan and Jordan did fantastic jobs driving. There were just a number of things that went against us.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – THIRD IN GTE PRO: “The race was one where everyone was so close and so evenly matched. When Antonio had a cut tire and had to come in early (in his second stint), that put us behind everybody and on a different strategy. That also meant that we would not be catching the slow zones in the same everyone else and that really started to bite us. So we fell further and further back. Until we got back on the same strategy as everyone else, it was an uphill fight. But the car was good and the team worked fantastic the whole time. Antonio and Jordan drove perfect throughout the whole race. When we perform like this as a team, it’s difficult not to be disappointed with the outcome. A podium at Le Mans is pretty decent; it’s just not what we came for.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – THIRD IN GTE PRO: “Obviously it was a disappointing finish. But if you look at the whole 24-hour race, we weren’t always up front. So leaving with a podium finish is something we can be proud of. When you come so close, extremely close, that is the frustrating part. I think we showed a never-give-up attitude. We went two minutes down early in the race and fought back from there. A lot of people doubted that we could bring it back. I think everyone executed well and unfortunately it just wasn’t our day.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – EIGHTH IN GTE PRO: “It was one monumental battle in GTE today, whether we were dealing with the conditions, the competition or the traffic. We were right up there when we had our incident which cost us four-and-a-half laps and basically ended our race. The competition in GTE is so tight it’s impossible to catch up that kind of delay. At Le Mans you can’t but recognize the efforts of everybody involved with Corvette Racing, especially the guys of the 63 car. I feel terribly sorry for them to have lost the race in this way.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – EIGHTH IN GTE PRO: “This was a race all of us at Corvette Racing had high hopes for. But those hopes fell just a bit short. For us, I’m disappointed to have had the problem we did, which put an end to our race. I’m super bummed for the No. 63 guys to have come that close to a win. But they did a great job all race long. Everyone at Corvette Racing can hold their head up high as this has been one of the greatest GT races Le Mans has ever seen. It’s always a pleasure to come to Le Mans with Corvette, and this result makes you want to start to prepare for next year starting tomorrow.”

MARCEL FÄSSLER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – EIGHTH IN GTE PRO: “I enjoyed the race and the Corvette really a lot. We had great overall speed, all three of us, and I think we would have had the chance to fight for the win or a podium finish like the sister car had we not had our issue. But Le Mans decides for you and it cost us four laps – the same four laps we were down on the winners at the end. I also feel sad for the sister car which had the puncture on the last lap. Even though it was a tough race, I enjoyed the event and the team enormously.”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “Just as predicted this may have been one of the most epic GT races in Le Mans history. To have all the manufacturers so closely matched is a testament to all the hard work of the ACO and the FIA. We saw an event over the past 24 hours in which all of the 13 cars entered in GTE Pro were capable of leading and winning. That’s good racing and we couldn’t be more proud to have been part of it.”

GARY PRATT, CORVETTE RACING TEAM PRINCIPAL: “Whenever you have a great race like that… it’s always nice to win, but you can’t feel bad about having a great race like that and it coming down to the last lap of a 24-hour race. It’s just fantastic racing and hats off to those guys. They did a good job and we were one lap shy.”

Article written by: Ryan Smith and Judy Kouba Dominick

Garcia, Magnussen win second race of 2017 in No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R

• Chevrolet assumes GTLM Manufacturer’s Championship lead

• Second win for Corvette Racing at Circuit of The Americas

• Milner, Gavin caught up in opening-lap chaos

AUSTIN, Texas (May 6, 2017) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen won their second race of the season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday with a GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory in the Advance Auto Parts SportsCar Showdown.

The victory at Circuit of The Americas for the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette gave the pairing the lead in the GTLM Driver’s Championship, as well as moved Chevrolet into first place in the class’ Manufacturer’s standings. It was the 105th all-time victory for Corvette Racing.

“This was a great result for Antonio, Jan and the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R team,” said Mark Kent, Chevrolet Director of Motorsports Competition. “Not only has Corvette Racing won three straight races in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, we now lead the GTLM Manufacturer’s, Drivers and Team championships. This is a great way to head into our break for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”

Garcia and Magnussen won by 2.498 seconds after the No. 3 Corvette had led by upward of a half-minute before a late-race, full-course caution bunched the field back together for the final five minutes. The duo won at COTA for the second time together, the first coming in 2013. Unofficially, they lead the GTLM Driver’s Championship by six points after four of 11 rounds.

Chevrolet and the No. 3 Corvette squad lead the class Manufacturer’s and Team standings by six points, as well.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, winners last month at Long Beach in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, saw their race Saturday effectively end at the first corner of the opening lap. Milner couldn’t avoid another spinning GTLM car and also was hit from behind after the initial impact.

The No. 4 Corvette Racing crew worked quickly to replace several suspension and brake components at the front and rear. Despite the setback and multiple trips to the garage, the No. 4 Corvette finished seventh in class.

Magnussen avoided the first-turn melee from his sixth-place starting position and settled into fourth for the balance of his stint. The key point in the race came when No. 3 Corvette lead engineer Kyle Millay called in Magnussen to the pits at the 51-minute mark as another car stopped on track. Magnussen reached the pitlane before the caution flag flew and handed off to Garcia, who got a full tank of fuel and fresh Michelin tires.

None of the three leading GTLM cars made the pits before they closed, giving Garcia a huge advantage in track position when the other contenders stopped. Garcia never trailed again.

Corvette Racing’s next event is the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 17-18 from Le Mans, France. It returns to IMSA competition for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on July 2.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “I think it is the perfect way to come back after what happened at Long Beach. We have had four races this year with zero mistakes by Corvette Racing in any of them. That is what it takes to be there if you have the pace to win. If you don’t have the pace, you finish fourth – like what happened at Daytona. Then we took the win at Sebring; that one was a bit unexpected but we really worked for that.

“On pure pace we didn’t have the best car. But it is not the first time we have won here not being the fastest. It was a perfect call to pit just before the second yellow. That gave us track position. It feels like we put a lot of pressure on our competitors and they started to make mistakes. I’m very happy with that if that is what it takes. From then I just tried to maintain the gap to second place. We were all just counting down minutes and laps, and seeing how much slower I could go. I didn’t care so much about the other car catching me because I don’t mind winning by three seconds or 20 seconds. I knew that if there was a late yellow, which we had, I needed to have better tires.

“I don’t know if I saved enough tires to be faster than (Alexander Sims), but in a way that was enough. I am very glad and very happy for Corvette Racing. It is a shame the No. 4 car had that contact at Turn One. That was very unfortunate. But again, it is three wins in a row for Corvette Racing. I think no one expected that, but that is what it takes for those results: Zero mistakes.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “This is a nice way to move on from what happened at Long Beach. But it was a crazy race. So much stuff happened all the way through from Turn One when a few cars got taken out and got in trouble. I got a good start and got clear of all of that. My first stint I was trying to pay good attention to the tires and give good feedback to the team to the changes that needed to be made for Antonio. When he got in, the team made a fantastic call on that pit stop to beat everybody out… again! Then a few cars got in trouble and got some penalties that gave Antonio a massive lead which he was kind of nurturing. I don’t think he was pushing too hard, just making sure not to make any mistakes. It is a fantastic result for the team. This is a really, really nice way to head to Le Mans.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SEVENTH IN GTLM: “Our race was ultimately shaped by what happened at Turn One on Lap One. Some over-optimistic driving by some of our competitors resulted in Tommy having nowhere to go at the first corner. We basically spent the rest of the race getting our Corvette right so we could go out and complete the race. That’s the never-give-up attitude within Corvette Racing. The car felt OK at points but we were burning through the tires really quickly. When the car is as damaged as it was at the right-front and left-rear, you have to change out so many parts to get it back out. The crew at Corvette Racing did a great job and worked as fast as they could to get us back out. It was a rough day for us but congratulations to the sister car, Antonio and Jan. They ran a clean, smart race, and that’s what you need to do.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SEVENTH IN GTLM: “It looked like one of the Fords and the Ferrari were a little off line at the exit of (Turn) One. There must have been some contact or something like that got the Ferrari coming back across the track. It looked like racing a little bit too hard at the start. We were just unlucky and got the right front into the Ferrari and then we got it from behind from someone unsuspecting as well. It’s not the way we wanted to start our race, but the guys did a great job working to get Oliver and I back out so we could get as many points as possible.”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “When you’re good, you’re good. When you’re good and you’re lucky, you can be unbeatable. We had a great Corvette today, a great team effort and good fortune – all that allowed us to bring home a victory in the No. 3 C7.R. I don’t think there were many people on the grid that gave us much of a chance. Inside Corvette Racing, however, everybody believes. And today everybody executed. It’s unfortunate we lost one of the Corvettes on the first lap, we’ve been there before. Our experience came in today. Flawless execution is going to get you to the finish line. Once again Corvette Racing got there first.”

Article by: Ryan Smith and Judy Kouba Dominick

Photo by: Richard Prince

Sixth victory for team at action-packed street circuit

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 8, 2017) – Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner won the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class at Saturday’s Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix of Long Beach in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. It is the sixth class win for the team and Chevrolet at the historic Long Beach street circuit.

Gavin won for the fourth time at Long Beach, and the victory was Milner’s second at the event. They won together in 2012, and on Saturday came from sixth at the start to record a surprising but rewarding victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

“After a hard-fought battle, it was rewarding to see Tommy Milner roll the No. 4 Corvette C7.R into Victory Lane today at Long Beach,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “Tommy and Oliver Gavin overcame adversity early in the race to be there at the end to capture the win.”

Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen, coming off a GTLM victory at Sebring three weeks ago, placed fifth in class Saturday with their No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. Garcia seemed headed for certain victory until a multi-car incident at the final turn blocked the track and brought a handful of cars to a stop – including both Corvettes. Garcia became trapped on the left-hand side of the track while Milner, on the right-hand side, was able to slip through the traffic jam and won by 1.830 seconds.

The two Corvettes found themselves running 1-2 in class with 10 minutes left despite different race strategies. Magnussen was caught up in an opening-lap incident and suffered damage to the front of the No. 3 Corvette C7.R. Garcia drove the final 78 minutes on the same set of Michelin tires and tank of fuel, aided by five full-course caution periods.

Gavin drove the first 42 minutes in the No. 4 Corvette before handing off to Milner. Not long after Milner left the pitlane, an incident – similar to the once that impacted the race’s finish – blocked the final turn with Milner stuck in the outside lane. Nearly an hour later, he found himself approaching the same situation but chose to take the inside line. As it turned out, it again was the lane that was able to clear the pileup.

“While the outcome of the late local caution was frustrating, it is the never-give-up attitude of everyone at Corvette Racing that continues to result in these exciting races and finishes,” Campbell said. “We had two strong race cars today and look forward to the next race at COTA.”

The next race for Corvette Racing is the Advance Auto Parts SportsCar Showdown on May 4-6 from Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. FOX Sports 1 will air the race at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 6. Live coverage will be available on FOX Sports Go with live audio coverage from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com.

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “This was a very bizarre day and finish. We will take this victory, and we’re glad that Corvette Racing and Chevrolet have won again at Long Beach. It was just a very unfortunate way that it worked out for Antonio and Jan. We’ve all raced together for so many years now. It’s definitely not the way Tommy and I would have liked to have won. But at the end of the day, a victory is a victory. The good thing for Tommy and I is that it has gotten us back in a good direction heading to COTA for the next round.

“The start was pretty interesting. Coming down into Turn One, it looked like Jan had been jumped by a couple of cars. On first laps here, you’re always looking to see who has their tires up to temperatures, who is using a little bit of extra road and who is taking chances. When I came to Turn Five, the Patron car was already backward going over the apex curb. Knowing that the camber falls away, I knew everyone would be going outside and into the wall. Three of us managed to avoid any contact and got through. From there, it was a lot of insane racing. “Yes it’s a 100-minute race but some people were trying to win it with 75 or 80 minutes left. My goal was to keep the Corvette clean and hand it off to Tommy at the appropriate point whenever the team called us in. We managed to do that and our crew managed to get us out and in front of the cars we felt we were racing. Even past that point, the race kept getting turned on its head. You never knew which way it was going to go.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “It was a weird race today for sure. There was a lot of giving and taking throughout the day. As for the finish, I’ve never seen things work out that way for me or anyone else for that matter. You feel bad for the No. 3 guys, for Antonio and Jan. They had a great race and did everything right. It was just unlucky to lose it that way in a big pack. You need luck in racing sometimes, and today we had that on our side. It feels good for us to get a win and to get points for our No. 4 Corvette and Chevrolet.

“We were a bit behind at one point and it didn’t look like our strategy would play out for us. All those cautions allowed the cars who pitted early could make it on one stop for fuel. Our hope was to get past them if they had to make a late splash for fuel. That didn’t happen. I was hoping for another yellow to get us bunched back up again, which is what happened. I had 13- or 14-lap newer tires and I was able to get around the 24 and I went door-to-door with the 67. That allowed Antonio to get out in the clear, and then so was I. He was quick but then his tires started to go away. In that situation, getting by him was going to be really tough.

“In the last corner at the end, my first reaction was that the race was over. Antonio had a gap over me and also over the 67. I figured it would end up like that but I heard on the radio that there was another crash at the hairpin. At first the track was clear and then it wasn’t. I was in that exact situation earlier in the race and went to the outside; it didn’t work and I lost a spot there. I went to the inside this time, and it opened up. When I got out of the hairpin, I saw green but thought the race was over until they told me on the radio that we had won. It was definitely an unusual way to take a victory. Now we have to regroup as a team and get ready for the next race at COTA.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTLM: “I’ve never been part of a finish like that. It’s for sure very difficult to go through; I’m very confused with how the officials judged both incidents in the last corner. Our No. 3 Corvette team did everything we needed to do in order to have the best chance at another victory. I don’t understand the ending and unfortunately for us the results are what they are. All we can do is put ourselves in position to go for a win the next race in Austin.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTLM: “The start was unfortunate. I didn’t get a good getaway. I kind of got swamped going into Turn One. Then I was just in the wrong place going in to Turn Five when the Ferrari got it wrong with one of the prototype. I got caught in all of that and set put us back. We were on a different strategy from there. Our team did a fantastic job. It just an unsatisfying result.”

Corvette Racing takes third straight and 11th class victory in 12 Hours

•Garcia, Magnussen, Rockenfeller complete stunning turnaround

•25th Sebring class win for Chevrolet-powered entries

•No. 4 Corvette suffers from overheating issue

SEBRING, Fla. (March 18, 2017) – Corvette Racing stormed to a stunning class victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida on Saturday – its third straight in North America’s oldest endurance sports car race. Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller drove the winning No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R to a 4.453-second victory for the team’s 11th Sebring class victory.

It ended an amazing comeback for the No. 3 Corvette, which ran sixth as late as the eight-and-a-half-hour mark of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s second round. After maintaining through difficult conditions and bad luck in the afternoon, a series of strategic calls, strong pit stops and exceptional driving resulted in another Sebring triumph for America’s sports car.

Garcia drove a stunning final two hours and 53 minutes to claim victory. He led the final 35 laps and withstood intense pressure from other contenders in the class. While Sebring’s brutal conditions and bad luck began to claim other entries, the No. 3 Corvette and its team ran a nearly flawless race.

Saturday’s victory was Magnussen’s fifth at Sebring, the third for Garcia and first for Rockenfeller. The trio also won the second of four Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup rounds of the season.

The No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C7.R was forced to retire with water temperature issues that arose in the opening hour. The root cause remained unclear, and it brought an early end to the day for defending class winners Tommy Milner, Oliver Gavin and Marcel Fässler.

Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller each rotated through with two stints each in the first six hours. The No. 3 Corvette C7.R led at the three-hour mark but a combination of greasy track conditions and bad luck with traffic and caution periods hindered its standing at six hours.

An emergency stop for fuel near the halfway point was particularly cruel. Rockenfeller was set to pit for new Michelin tires, fuel and the exchange to Garcia but the yellow flag ruined that plan and strategy. Instead, Rockenfeller had to stop for five seconds of fuel and then again one lap after the GTLM leaders completed their stops.

Fortunes reversed for the No. 3 Corvette with a timely full-course caution with four hours left. A perfect pit stop moved Magnussen from sixth to third on a restart. That the stage for the late-race heroics.

The next event for Corvette Racing is the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix on Saturday, April 8 from the Long Beach (California) street circuit. The race will air live at 4 p.m. on FOX. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “I knew it was going to be really, really tough. Since yesterday in qualifying it was super close, the first two hours I managed to make my way up to P2. I did two hours first following the No. 66. Then I did that third hour and I was kind of sick of following Fords. So at some point I just needed to go. We made that really good call to come in with the Ferrari. So the Fords stayed out on a poorer set of tires than us. I knew that had to be my stint. That first stint with two or three stints to go, I needed to make the moves and pass the Ferrari. I passed the No. 68; I passed (Scott) Dixon. I passed everybody because I knew it had to be done then because that was probably the only time they would be a little bit weaker than we were. It worked. At the end the Porsche looked very, very strong. That second-to-the-last time they pitted quite a bit later than us, and they were flying. They passed all the way up to us until that last safety car. Again, there was a magnificent stop by the Corvette Racing crew. I think the Porsche made a mistake there. Without knowing, I thought it was Joey (Hand) behind us, but it was again the Porsche. I knew it was going to be tough. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to hold him , but probably. The car kept going faster and faster. When you lead the way, the aero works pretty decent compared to when you follow someone. At the end things went a little bit in our favor. It was a sprint to the end. I can’t believe what Corvette Racing did today. Just awesome. Amazing.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “I don’t even know where to start. What a fantastic race. It was a tough race… a hard race. I mean I am so happy about this. The boys did a great job with the pit stops. Antonio’s last stint there was just fantastic. What can you say? It is just fantastic. It was all about running our own race and then at the end when we had to do something, to then be able to do it. The crew – those last couple of pit stops – awesome. As I said Antonio’s last stint… just fantastic!”

MIKE ROCKENFELLER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “It is still hard to believe right now because I didn’t expect it. We had a tough race, and Antonio (Garcia) did just a fantastic job – like always. But it is very special what he got out of the car today. That is why I am speechless. I am very happy for the team. Thanks to Corvette Racing and everyone on the teams – all the mechanics and engineers. They always believe. We had a tough start in Daytona and even here. We weren’t the quickest all the time, but at the end when it counted, we were there. This team is just amazing!”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “I think what we saw tonight may have been the most intense mix of tremendous engineering and strategy from our engineering crew and flawless pit stops all day long by our Corvette Racing crew. Then there was the driving exhibition that I’m sure will be a highlight of Antonio’s career – certainly at Corvette Racing. When you put those three elements together, we are hard to beat. It was an amazing demonstration by everyone at Corvette Racing.”

Article by Judy Kouba Dominick and Ryan Smith

Photo credit: Richard Prince

 http://www.monch.com/mpg/news/14-land/724-orbital-atk-progress-through-partnerships.html

Mönch’s US correspondent Marty Kauchak, on-site at an Orbital ATK-hosted BUSHMASTER Users Conference outside Kingman, Arizona, USA, provides highlights of Day 2 (31 January 2017) of the event.

Industry representatives were finalising their preparations for live fire demonstrations scheduled for tomorrow (Day 3). While some industry teams remain focused on innovation and expanding technology baselines, others are seeking incremental efficiencies through reusability and similar strategies. At the end of the day, collaboration and partnership are vital to allowing industry teams achieve their milestones.

For its part Oshkosh has two Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) at the conference to internally compete a M230 Link Fed Chain Gun integrated with Kongsberg PROTECTOR Remote Weapon Station (RWS) and EOS R400 RWS. The RWS will be put through its paces in static and on-the-move firings tomorrow (Day 3). Dave Diersen, the Director of Defense Programs, JLTV Program, at Oshkosh, spoke with Mönch about his company’s presence at the users conference, but first took the opportunity to update Mönch on this major Pentagon programme. JLTV is in low rate initial production, with Oshkosh having started delivering the vehicles to the US DoD in 2016. “We’re continuing to deliver vehicles for test. They are just getting into their test programme. They will have tests that will be ongoing for a little over a year,” Diersen added.

This testing regimen will culminate in a full rate production decision in about December 2018. Oshkosh is on contract to deliver 1,398 JLTVs among its US Army and Marine Corps (USMC) customers during the LRIP period. Part of the JLTV contract directs Oshkosh to fully integrate the vehicle. With respect to weapons systems, “What we’re trying to demonstrate is versatility and flexibility of our vehicles. We don’t make guns and we don’t make radios. We integrate them into the vehicles. What we’re showing is that flexibility to integrate different types of weapon systems and capabilities on our vehicles, so should our customer tell us what they want, we can quickly and rapidly integrate those systems on our vehicles. Let’s be clear, this is not a government event,” the industry executive concluded.

Scott Burk, the Washington, DC-based Business Development and Government Relations at Kongsberg, built the business case for embracing his company’s PROTECTOR M230LF CROWS (Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station), noting in one instance, many of the components used in this system have been reused from existing CROWS systems currently in the field. “This significantly reduces cost, but more significant, reduces cost to the taxpayer and the federal government. In many instances the system has previously been qualified and in some cases these are also owned by the federal government with the license agreement we have on the CROWS programme. So it made a lot of sense from an investment perspective to use this as much as possible.”

As noted earlier, the RWS solution for JLTV has not been definitised by the US Army customer. Discussions have included a co-axial capability of a smaller machine gun, anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) integration and even the long-range sensor system Long-Range Advance Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3) (Raytheon). “In all those cases, JAVELIN for ATGM, co-ax and LRAS integration – we’ve already done it. There’s already qualified software, qualified hardware in the Army system. We would be lifting capabilities from other systems that have already been qualified. It makes it very simple.”

Citing specific instances of reusability, the sight servo assemblies on the PROTECTOR system are both from the US Army M153 low profile CROWS from the M1A2 ABRAMS Main Battle Tank. “We lifted both of those components off there. So you have reuse of the sensors, reuse of the sight servo assembly and reuse of the controlling software,” the industry subject matter expert observed.

A number of military and security forces around the globe are using manned guns without optics, thermal imaging devices and other enablers, mounted in the rear of commercial vehicles. These weapons platforms offer their operators limited lethality and accuracy during operation. In another effort to examine and expand the art of the possible in weapons platforms, Orbital ATK selected Pratt Miller, to determine how to safely and robustly place an unmanned weapon system in the rear of a small truck and operate it.

New Hudson, Michigan-based Pratt Miller specialises in advanced research and development, advanced engineering and developing advanced suspension systems for the defence sector and also has an extensive motor sports portfolio. Ray Errer, a Program and Engineering Manager at Pratt Miller, recalled that about seven months ago his company started work on the project using a Toyota LC (Land Cruiser) 79 as the weapons platform because, “it’s a platform you see all over the world. It is very robust and they have been making them for 30 years – not much has changed in 30 years.”

Pratt Miller’s envisioned outcomes efforts go beyond the LC 79, and are designed to make the weapons integration process universal in any small type vehicle – a Chevrolet pick-up truck, a robotic system or other. Pratt Miller’s industry partners to develop a weapons integration kit have included Rod Hall Products (Reno, Nevada) and Fox Defense (El Cajon, California) for the suspension system. “We totally redid the suspension system, working with them to come up with a complete kit that includes everything from leaf springs to shocks to stay bars, all brand new, to optimize speed on terrain, new center of gravity with the gun and accuracy of the weapon system,” Errer added.

Additional enhancements to permit emplacement of a weapon in the rear of a common, small commercial truck include addition of an independent, 24-volt alternator system, a remote weapon control system command station inside the cab, a weapon mounting station that bolts to the frame of the truck (rear bed), and others. EOS has a heritage of providing RWS on vehicles in many nations, and is supplying its remote weapon station solution in this Orbital ATK project – but with a major difference. “When you are talking about the M230LF and the recoil off of it and adding it on to a platform of this size, this is the first time we’ve provided this much fire power on this type of platform,” Craig Burman, the Chief Technology Officer at EOS, pointed out.

Orbital ATK’s Small Caliber Systems Defense Systems Group will be supplying ammunition at the Wednesday event to support US Ordnance’s firing of its crew served weapons, medium machine guns and light machine guns. Dan Fassler, the senior vice president of the McCarran (Reno), Nevada-based company emphasised that all weapons are assembled from start to finish at his facility. He continued “We have our machining capabilities, our own chrome line to line our own barrels in the MK19 receiver, stress relief ovens and other capabilities. Our customers like to visit us because they know they are actually getting something from us because they can see it being made there.”

Article by Monch Publishing Group