Press Release:
CORVETTE RACING AT DAYTONA: 20th Season, Title Defense Begin
Now
GTLM championship squad aiming for another Rolex 24
victory
Corvette Racing going for fourth Rolex 24 triumph
All six
Corvette C7.R drivers with victories at Daytona
Team coming off solid
showing after Roar weekend
Chevrolet most successful manufacturer at World
Center of Racing
Fans can learn more about Chevy lineup at Corvette Racing
Display, Chevrolet Injector, Chevrolet Experience Center
DETROIT (Jan.
19, 2018) – It’s time for Corvette Racing’s return to the biggest stage in North
American sports car racing as it kicks off its 20th season of competition. The
Rolex 24 At Daytona marks the first event of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship and is a race that Corvette Racing will try to win for the third
time in four years.
In a new season, Corvette Racing will attempt to add
another chapter to its history-making record book. No modern sports car program
can boast the longevity of Corvette Racing – the same team with the manufacturer
(Chevrolet) and model of car (Corvette). It is a partnership that has resulted
in 106 race victories around the world, 12 Manufacturer and Team championships
in IMSA, and 11 Driver titles.
The two most recent came in 2016 and 2017
when Corvette Racing swept the IMSA GT Le Mans (GTLM) championships. The drive
for a three-peat begins with the same collection of driver pairings for the
Rolex 24 as the past two years. Defending GTLM champs Antonio Garcia and Jan
Magnussen team up again with Mike Rockenfeller in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM
Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. In the No. 4 Corvette, full-season teammates Oliver
Gavin and Tommy Milner will drive with Marcel Fässler in hopes of replicating
their 2016 Daytona class victory and Driver championships for Gavin and Milner.
The Corvette Racing program made its competition debut at Daytona in 1999 with a
two-car effort. In 2001, one of the team’s Corvette C5-Rs won the race overall.
The team returned to the Rolex 24 in 2014 and scored back-to-back victories in
2015 and 2016. This will mark Corvette Racing’s eighth Rolex 24. In the
previous seven attempts, the team has totaled 8,730 racing laps and nearly
30,000 racing miles – more than the circumference of the Earth at the
equator.
Of course, the team has racked up more miles at Daytona than
just in the Rolex 24 itself. It completed more than 1,400 trouble-free miles
earlier this month during the three-day Roar Before the 24. Gavin set the
second-fastest GTLM lap of the weekend to give Corvette Racing a favorable
pitlane and garage assignment. Since the 2014 Rolex 24 – the first race under
the ALMS/GRAND-AM merger – no manufacturer or team has won more often in the
WeatherTech Championship than Chevrolet and Corvette Racing. Team Chevy has 35
victories with 15 coming in GTLM with Corvette Racing. 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. 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.
The 56th Rolex 24 At Daytona is the start of the 2018 IMSA
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season and begins at 2:40 p.m. ET on
Saturday, Jan. 27. It will air on live on FOX from 2-5 p.m. ET on Saturday with
additional coverage across FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, FOX Sports Go and
IMSA.com. 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: “There are challenges every year. This year, the
traffic will be different with a lot more prototypes than we have seen in the
past. Staying out of trouble for the first 20 or 22 hours is even more important
than it usually is. If we can manage to do that, stay in contact with the
leaders and have good pace, we will have a really good shot at a win. Traffic
will get crazy, especially with the number of rookies at this race – many who
are experienced in other races but they are still rookies here. Let’s repeat
what we have done the last three years here: no mistakes and no contact. If
that’s enough, we would gladly take the win. If not, we will know that we have
done the best we can.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET
CORVETTE C7.R: “The challenge this year is the amount of drivers. There are a
lot from series like Formula One and IndyCar; you name it and they all are here.
But not all of them have endurance racing experience. It takes a lot of respect
for each other out there to make it through without getting involved in
incidents that end up costing you a trip back to the garage or even worse. It
will be a tough year in that regard. Having now done three days of practice with
this field, there is a feel of people not being as patient as they need to be.
That can prove costly in the race.”
MIKE ROCKENFELLER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM
CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “It always has been very difficult to be successful in
this race. It gets more and more difficult because the competition is getting
better and better. There are manufacturers here with new cars, and we all are
aiming for the best. This is a big field with a number of new teams and new
cars. And it’s all great. If you look at the field and the level of drivers in
this race, it’s amazing. It always has been but this year feels more special. On
our side, our Corvette is well-known in terms of reliability. We are trying to
maximize every part of it and be on the limit in every area. We have to because
last year we didn’t win the race when we didn’t have enough speed on the
straights at the end. We are hoping for the best and trying hard. But it will be
a difficult race like it always is at Daytona.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL
1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “When you look at the grid, there are a
number of teams and drivers who are new to this. Some are a very experienced
rookies, but there are others who aren’t so much. Having some of those teams and
drivers who don’t have experience in multi-class racing is a big deal. The grid
is always full and traffic is always a big thing here. Yes, the banking is wide
and there is usually room to maneuver. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be any
contact. There will always be incidents here. Yes you want to stay in touch with
the leaders in your class, but you have to keep your car clean. With the level
of talent in the Prototype category but the lack of experience of some of the
really fast guys, it’s going to be pretty intense. Those first 12 hours will be
wild… even until the sun comes up Sunday morning. You’ll have to have eyes
everywhere.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE
C7.R: “The number of new teams and new cars to this race, and drivers who are
new to endurance racing and being out there are night… all of these things are
going to be a huge part in being successful at Daytona this year. We at Corvette
Racing have been in this position many times before at Daytona and longer
events. More than ever, we are going to have a super-competitive fight in GTLM.
That will take the majority of our focus. But we’ll be crossing our fingers not
to get caught up in someone else’s accident. Being aware of all the new content
and taking some extra caution around them at times could be beneficial. At the
same time, you don’t to want to do anything that gets you out of position with
the leaders so there is going to be a very important balancing act in this
year’s race.”
MARCEL FÄSSLER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE
C7.R: “In the end, the race itself is always the biggest challenge. Definitely
having a number of unexperienced drivers in the other classes is something you
have to pay attention to. For example, on restarts we know we have a bigger
advantage with our Michelin tires in that they heat up much easier and faster
than the prototypes. That can easily lead into mistakes, so that is an example
of needing to concentrate fully during each of the 24 hours. Most importantly is
having a car that is in one piece for the last two or three hours when the race
is decided. This is always the key point. It’s easier to say than to do! But
it’s how we have and continue to approach this race.”
DOUG FEHAN,
CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “We had a very smooth and largely trouble-free
run at the Roar earlier this month. Now we will try to put it all into practice
once again for the Rolex 24 At Daytona. It’s hard to put into words how far
Corvette Racing has come since our first race here in 1999. The at-track team
makeup is different, the cars are different and the stature of the event has
grown tremendously. What hasn’t changed is our desire and expectation to succeed
in this race. It takes a lot of skill, strategy and good fortune. By and large,
no one has done that better or longer than Corvette Racing. We plan to use that
to our advantage in hopes of a fourth Daytona victory.”
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