Press Release:
Eventful start to program’s 21st season of
competition
CORVETTE RACING AT DAYTONA: Soggy Result in Rolex 24 for
Corvette C7.Rs
Eventful start to program’s 21stseason of
competition
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 27, 2019) – In more than two
decades of
competition, Corvette Racing has faced its share of adversity and
challenging conditions. The championship-winning program experienced the
highs and lows of endurance racing Saturday and Sunday in a soggy start to
the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The two Mobil
1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs finished the Rolex 24 At
Daytona despite
some of the most treacherous conditions in the team’s
21-year history. Both
Corvettes led the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class on multiple
occasions in the
opening half of the race before troubles beset Corvette
Racing
entries.
The No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of Antonio Garcia, Jan
Magnussen and Mike
Rockenfeller led the team’s effort with a sixth-place
class finish.
Magnussen qualified second and led during his first 90 minutes
in the
Corvette before the two C7.Rs made contact in
pitlane.
Despite losing three laps in the incident, the No. 3
Corvette crew and
engineers took advantage of timely yellows and key
strategic calls to move
Garcia back into the lead less than 10 hours.
Unfortunately, the No. 3
Corvette suffered an electrical issue that impacted
the digital dash around
the track. As a result, the car-to-pits telemetry
was compromised including
fuel monitoring. That issue reared its head just
before halfway as Garcia
ran out of fuel on the backstretch of the 3.56-mile
circuit.
Once back in the pitlane Garcia handed over to Rockenfeller,
who re-entered
eighth in class. Attrition and the weather allowed the No. 3
Corvette to
make up two positions before the race was stopped for the final
two hours.
The No. 4 Corvette C7.R of Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel
Fässler found
itself in contention from the get-go after starting ninth in
class. Gavin
moved up to fourth before handing over to Milner near the
two-hour mark, and
the No. 4 Corvette raced its way to the lead a little
more than an hour
later. All three drivers spent time in the lead of the
class.
The second half of the race held much of the same misfortune
for the No. 4
C7.R as its sister car experienced. After having to stop for
bodywork
repairs not long after the rain began in earnest, Milner
hydroplaned under
braking going into the first corner and going into the
tire barriers with
the left side of the Corvette.
Once it
returned to the garage, crews from both team entries went to work
replacing
a number of components on the No. 4 C7.R including left-side
exhaust, rocker
and bodywork plus the wing and nose, among other items. The
stellar work
took less than 30 minutes with Fässler returning to the circuit
inside eight
hours to go.
The next event for Corvette Racing is the Mobil 1 Twelve
Hours of Sebring on
Saturday, March 16 from Sebring International Raceway in
Sebring, Fla.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET
CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED
SIXTH IN GTLM: “We fought the entire race even in
bad conditions. There were
some issues with the electronics where we lost
some telemetry. We couldn’t
even get information to the engineers… things
like fuel. Nothing seemed to
be working. That made things a lot more
complicated. Even with all that, we
made it back to the lead. That was a
great feeling to be back up there and
fighting for it. But we got to a point
where we were guessing where we were
on fuel. Maybe we could have gone a lap
or two shorter but we come here to
win and go 100 percent. It’s a shame.
Everyone at Corvette Racing gave the
maximum effort, which we as drivers
appreciate. Things didn’t work out today
so we move on to Sebring to try and
get the result we know we can achieve.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL
1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED
SIXTH IN GTLM: “Obviously the
result is a disappointment because we had a
fast Corvette when we were on
track. Unfortunately we had a trip back to the
garage to fix some of the
electronics; we lost telemetry and because of that
we ran out of fuel. That
put us 10 laps back and ended our chance for a good
result. Before that we
got to the lead at the beginning and then got back up
front after our
problem in the pits. I’m sorry for the guys. I think we
deserved a lot more
but that’s how these 24-hour races can go sometimes. It’s
also about not
being unlucky and staying out of trouble. On to Sebring where
we’ll go for
another good result.”
MIKE ROCKENFELLER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET
CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED
SIXTH IN GTLM: "Our Corvette was really good,
actually. We had good pace in
the race. We had some incidents obviously.
The first one was with our
sister car, but we knew it was early in the race.
It was no big issue.
Things can go wrong’ it’s normal under racing
conditions. Then we were back
in the lead and another problem occurred. That
took us eight laps down to
the leader and basically that was our race. So
for myself I tried to not
damage the car, and the end of the day there was
nothing I could do.
Unfortunately another year over for Daytona, but we are
looking forward to
Sebring. We will focus on that. Thanks to the team. The
Corvette was really
spot on-pace."
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL
1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED
EIGHTH IN GTLM: “Right from
the start, it was clear that we had a good
Corvette in dry conditions, and
it looked like we were very good on the
medium tire compound. Normally the
way things usually play out, you’re
looking forward to dry conditions on
Sunday where you’ll be on the tire that
we thought would be quickest for our
car. I think we certainly would have
been able to fight whoever to the end.
But then the rain came, and it was a
lot. From then on, it was always going
to be a lottery. Tommy’s incident was
unfortunate and there was nothing he
could do. It shows the strength of our
Corvette that he walked away. The
whole team did a great job getting us back
out where we didn’t lose so much
time. After that, we were just looking at
what we could get from the race
and score as many points as possible. There
were so many cars going off and
crashing into each other. The officials and
the series made the right call
to red flag the race and finish it when they
did. Congratulations to all the
winners and thanks to everyone on the team
for their work the last few
weeks. No one ever gave up and really dug in on
any problems we had. As
drivers, we were given the best equipment all of the
time which is all you
can ask for.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE
C7.R – FINISHED
EIGHTH IN GTLM: “This one will go down in history as one of
the most
difficult Rolex 24s that teams have been part of with the weather
conditions. We had our own adversity with an unexpected extra engine change
Friday. But we have a strong Chevrolet engine and power for the first half
of the race. Things obviously unraveled for us later on but both Corvette
Racing teams fought back from all those things to get us back up front but
it wasn’t meant to be. That’s how it goes sometimes. It seems like today it
was against us. Congratulations to all the winners for surviving the
conditions out there. I tip my hat to them, as well as Olly and Marcel for
finishing up in some pretty difficult conditions.”
MARCEL FÄSSLER,
NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED
EIGHTH IN GTLM:
“This was a super-crazy race if you look back. We had really
good speed
overall in our Corvette and led many times. In the end, we were
for sure a
little unlucky but that is racing. With the circumstances in the
rain, it
was very tricky to drive. I’m really happy Tommy is OK because it
was a hard
crash; the Corvette held up really well. When I went out in
similar
conditions, it was very tricky to drive. It didn’t work out today
for us
unfortunately. But Corvette Racing showed that we have potential to
always
do great things. We should take positive things to Sebring and turn
everything around there.”
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