Corvette Racing at Road America: Solid Starts for Compuware Corvettes

Garcia qualifies second in No. 3 Compuware Corvette; Gavin fourth in No. 4 entry

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 10, 2013) – Corvette Racing’s two Compuware Corvette C6.Rs qualified second and fourth in class Saturday for the Orion Energy Systems 245 at Road America. That means the two velocity yellow Corvettes will roll off the grid one behind the other for Sunday’s sixth round of the American Le Mans Series. Antonio Garcia was second-quickest in the GT class with a 2:04.212 in the No. 3 Corvette he shares with Jan Magnussen.

Oliver Gavin qualified fourth in the No. 4 Corvette at 2:04.277 that he drives with Tommy Milner. The defending ALMS GT champions stand second in this year’s championship. Garcia and Magnussen are third. Corvette Racing and Chevrolet lead the team and manufacturer standings, respectively.

“I am very happy with the way we performed,” said Garcia, who made his Road America debut in 2012. “We got 100 percent out of the car. I believe everything will be even better for the race. We can use both cars to fight at the front.”

The Road America round begins at 3 p.m. ET with live coverage on ABC.

Saturday’s qualifying session was another tight one in the class. Only 0.699 seconds separated Garcia from the ninth-place qualifier. The pole-winning time was a 2:03.410. The Corvettes have a strong history at Road America with six class victories since its first race here in 2002.

So far in 2013, Corvette Racing has won three times in ALMS competition. Gavin and Milner won the most recent round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and opened the season with a victory at Sebring alongside Richard Westbrook. Garcia and Magnussen were winners at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.

Orion Energy Systems 245 (all times CT)

• • Warmup: 8:30 a.m., Sunday, Aug. 11
• • Race: 2 p.m., Sunday Aug. 11

Road America: Watch It!

Sunday, Aug. 11 (all times ET)

• • Race (TV): Live – 3 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 11 (ABC)

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

“It was a good qualifying run. Yesterday I didn’t put together a full lap. But that’s what practice is for – to get used to new rubber and to see where you can and can’t push. It was a pretty good lap. I had a couple of very equal laps, and on the previous one I made a little mistake. Maybe we could have improved a little bit but not enough to fight for pole position. For sure it will help to not have to go through the field at the start (like at the previous round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park). We have a good car. If strategy goes the way it should, we will have a great car for the race.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4. COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R

“Coming off our victory in Canada, starting from the second row is very good. We have to hunt and search a lot to gain on the pole time. But the rest of the class is very close. You could throw a blanket over all of us. As it always is here, it will be a dogfight for those first couple of hours but then the last half an hour is the critical point. You have to make sure you have yourself in the right position and on the right tire otherwise you will really struggle. I’m confident that we have the right car and the right team.”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER

“Today’s qualifying results were very encouraging. Hats off to Antonio and the crew of the No. 3 Corvette for picking up nearly a full second from the end of Friday’s practice session. Oliver’s time in the No. 4 car gives us an ideal spot to challenge and push early for the race lead. As we all know, Road America is full of challenges and one of the toughest circuits we will race. But good strategy combined with our solid teamwork will keep both our Corvettes in contention for a class victory.”

ALMS GT Championship Standings

Driver Standings

1. 1. Dirk Muller – 70
2. 2. Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 65
3. 3. Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 56
4. 4. Dominik Farnbacher/Marc Goossens – 53
5. 5. Bill Auberlen/Maxime Martin – 50

Team Standings

1. 1. Corvette Racing – 92
2. 2. BMW Team RLL – 80
3. 3. SRT Motorsports – 61
4. 4. Paul Miller Racing – 32
5. 5. Risi Competizione – 29

Manufacturer Standings

1. 1. Chevrolet – 95
2. 2. BMW – 85
3. 3. SRT – 66
4. 4. Ferrari – 61
5. 5. Porsche – 58

Corvette Racing at Road America

Year Class Drivers Result Car Notes

2002 GTS Fellows/O’Connell/Gavin 2nd Corvette C5-R Fellows pole; Gavin fastest race lap

Collins/Pilgrim 1st Corvette C5-R

2003 GTS Fellows/O’Connell 2nd Corvette C5-R

Collins/Gavin 5th Corvette C5-R Gavin pole, fastest race lap

2004 GTS Fellows/O’Connell 2nd Corvette C5-R

Beretta/Gavin 1st Corvette C5-R Beretta pole, fastest race lap

2005 GT1 Fellows/O’Connell 2nd Corvette C6.R

Beretta/Gavin 1st Corvette C6.R Gavin pole, Beretta fastest race lap

2006 GT1 Fellows/O’Connell 1st Corvette C6.R

Beretta/Gavin 2nd Corvette C6.R Gavin fastest race lap

2007 GT1 Magnussen/O’Connell 2nd Corvette C6.R Magnussen pole, fastest race lap

Beretta/Gavin 1st Corvette C6.R

2008 GT1 Magnussen/O’Connell 1st Corvette C6.R

Beretta/Gavin 3rd Corvette C6.R Gavin pole, fastest race lap

2009 GT2 Magnussen/O’Connell 3rd Corvette C6.R

Beretta/Gavin 6th Corvette C6.R

2010 GT Magnussen/O’Connell 4th Corvette C6.R

Beretta/Gavin 3rd Corvette C6.R Gavin pole, fastest race lap

2011 GT Beretta/Milner 14th Corvette C6.R

Gavin/Magnussen 5th Corvette C6.R

2012 GT Garcia/Magnussen 6th Corvette C6.R Magnussen fastest race lap

Gavin/Milner 4th Corvette C6.R