CORVETTE RACING AT DAYTONA : Halfway Quotes
Press Release:
IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP
ROLEX 24 AT
DAYTONA
CORVETTE RACING DRIVER QUOTES – HALFWAY
JANUARY 26,
2018
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 28, 2018) – The first half of the Rolex 24
At Daytona is in the books with Corvette Racing squarely in podium contention
following the first 12 hours of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
season. Both Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs were keeping pressure on the lead pair in
the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category as late Saturday moved into early
Sunday.
Mike Rockenfeller was just off the lead GTLM lap in the No. 3
Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R that he shares with class pole-winner
Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia. Each of the three drivers cycled through twice
in the opening 12 hours with both Magnussen and Garcia triple-stinting in the
darkness.
Marcel Fässler in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet
Corvette C7.R ran fourth following a double-stint by Oliver Gavin and a triple
from Tommy Milner. Those were Fässler’s first laps after a tense initial run in
rainy conditions with slick tires.
Both Corvettes had a lap in-hand over
the fifth-place entry.
The next Corvette Racing update from the Rolex 24
will come shortly after the 18-hour mark.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL
1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: (Were drivers behaving more than before?
“No, not really. I guess it depends on what driver rotation they are doing. It
is quite random driving out there. You have to be careful and do your best to
stay on the lead lap. With only two yellows and all that traffic, there was no
point in risking any damage to keep it on the lead lap. I struggled on the first
stint and tried to stay with the leaders. There aren’t any cautions to get our
lap back. The Ford guys stayed out when we did to keep us from doing that. There
are still 13 hours to go. For sure at some point we will get it back. I am
confident in that. We need to keep the car safe and see what we all have in the
end.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:
“That was a tough triple for me. It was wet, then it was dry and we went on
slick tires on kind of drying conditions. It wasn’t too bad but not great
either. I’m not finding the speed like I think I should, so I don’t know what
exactly is going on. But we are there. We haven’t hit anything or destroyed
anything. We are still in there with a good shot. We need to see how the track
develops. The way it is going right now is a little bit weird and I’m not sure
it suits our car so much.”
ARE OTHER DRIVERS BEHAVING MORE THAN AT THE START?
“No, not really. We are still getting dive-bombed late in places where it
shouldn’t happen. Not a lot of incidents out there yet but not a lot of respect,
either.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:
“It was a pretty lonely couple of stints, really. I think I saw one Porsche and
one BMW from our class. Apart from that, I was battling with prototype and GTD
traffic. I don’t know what it is… the drivers who are less experienced need to
go and get a good night’s sleep. They had to be out there around about my time.
There was some real choice driving out there. But everything is still on the car
and everything is still straight. We just keep looking after it and doing all
we can do have everything right for when the sun comes up and we can get to
those last couple hours. We are closer on pace but I’m not sure we are going to
have enough outright speed. We will see how the track develops and how we get on
come morning.
“I am absolutely astounded that we haven’t had more cautions or
retirements or any big incidents. With some of the driving, you just think it’s
going to happen. But it hasn’t yet.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM
CHEVROLET CORVETTE: “Traffic ebbs and flows a little bit as the race goes on.
You can tell guys at some times are really on it and sometimes they aren’t. I
feel like we are just feeling the car out and figure out what we have, where we
are strong compared to the other guys and where we’re not. I was talking to Rich
Brekus at Cadillac this morning, and he said, ‘You drivers always say it’s a
24-hour race and we have to be there in the end.’ He wasn’t sure how much we
listen to our own advice! So I’m going to keep repeating myself just to drum it
into my head and hopefully it’ll stick that way.”
MARCEL FÄSSLER, NO. 4
MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “My HANS was hurting but my arm is not
so much hurting now (after the first stint). It was very slippery out there, I
have to say. For sure it was a brave move to stay out but I think we needed to
try. It didn’t rain long, so it was the right call to try this. The big thing
was not to take so many risks, so I’m pretty happy. The car is still in one
piece. We are still in the game, and that is what is important.”
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