Press Release:
CORVETTE RACING AT CANADIAN TIRE MOTORSPORT
PARK: Eyes on The Prize
Team will go for 12th class victory at historic
Canadian venue
BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO, Canada (July 8, 2017) – Corvette
Racing has turned its focus toward raceday as it seeks to earn a 12th class
victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The pair of Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet
Corvette C7.Rs will start from the fourth row of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) field for
Sunday’s Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix.
Both Jan Magnussen and Oliver
Gavin were under last year’s pole-winning time in Saturday’s qualifying session.
Magnussen, in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, set a best time of 1:14.844
(118.227 mph) with Gavin not far behind at 1:14.904 (118.183 mph) in the No. 4
Corvette. They were both within 0.819 seconds of the pole-winning time in
class.
Magnussen and Antonio Garcia – the current GTLM Driver’s points
leaders in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – claimed Corvette
Racing’s most recent victory at CTMP in 2014. They placed third in the GTLM
class last year at the track with Gavin and Tommy Milner second. The pairing in
the No. 4 Corvette teamed for a victory in 2012.
The Mobil 1 SportsCar
Grand Prix at CTMP is Corvette Racing’s second event as part of back-to-back
race weekends for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The race is set
for 12:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 9. FOX Sports 1 will air the race live
starting at noon with live audio coverage from IMSA Radio and a Corvette Racing
In-Car feed available on IMSA.com.
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM
CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED SEVENTH IN GTLM: “The balance of the car was
quite nice. We got out a little late, but the way the tire behaved during the
run and the way the balance came to the car was quite nice. We just aren’t fast
enough. I don’t know where we are missing to the other cars. I’m not happy with
the result but I’m happy with how the car behaved. We’ll go back and see if we
can find out where are giving up to everyone. It’s still super-close and in the
hunt.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R –
QUALIFIED EIGHTH IN GTLM: “It was a fun qualifying session, as it always is
here. You’re pushing to the max and trying everything we can. Reed (Sullivan),
our engineer, did a good job. There’s a half-tenth between Jan (Magnussen) and
myself, but we’re seventh and eighth. It’s frustrating and disappointing. But we
started in a similar spot last year and ended up finishing second. So we have to
look forward to the strategy we have for the race, how our Michelin tires are
lasting, if everyone else will be able to have the same longevity on their
tires… I’m sure there are various different strategies out there. You have to
keep working away. At Watkins Glen, we weren’t the fastest by any means and
we’re the same here. We’re fighting a lot of the same
problems.”
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