Topic: CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD ATLANTA: Seeking to Close the Season Strong
in Forum: C6 Corvette Racing
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Press Release:
CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD
ATLANTA: Seeking to Close the Season Strong
Eleven class wins at
Road Atlanta – nine in Petit Le Mans – since 1999
· Corvette Racing stands 1-2 in Tequila Patrón North American Endurace Cup for GT Le Mans
· Garcia, Magnussen ready for final push toward GTLM Driver’s Championship
· Corvette Racing looking to add fourth endurance race win to Triple Crown season
DETROIT (Sept. 29, 2015) – Corvette Racing looks
to close its season of sports car racing in the same fashion as it started –
with a victory.
The team’s two Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs
and five drivers are set for Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta and the final race of
the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. Petit Le Mans is a 10-hour enduro and
has been one of sports car racing’s premier events since its first running in
1998.
Corvette Racing has fared well at Road
Atlanta over the years with 11 class victories – nine of those coming in Petit
Le Mans. Of the five drivers entered for Road Atlanta three have won at Road
Atlanta in their sports car careers: Oliver Gavin (six), Jan Magnussen (four)
and Ryan Briscoe (two).
Corvette Racing opened its season by
winning the two biggest races in the TUDOR Championship – the Rolex 24 Daytona
and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The team added its eighth class win at
the 24 Hours of Le Mans later in the year to claim endurance racing’s Triple
Crown.
No team since 2000 had laid claim to that
feat. Winning Petit Le Mans would give Corvette Racing endurance racing’s
proverbial “Grand Slam” – something no team has
accomplished.
Magnussen, Briscoe and Antonio Garcia
reunite this week in the No. 3 Corvette C7.R. The trio were winners at Daytona
and Sebring. Garcia and Magnussen stand third in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Driver’s
Championship and stand 10 points out of first place; there are 36 points
available at Petit Le Mans.
The pair also holds the lead in the
Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup. It is a competition made up of the
TUDOR Championship’s four endurance races: Daytona, Sebring, the Sahlen’s Six
Hours at The Glen and Petit Le Mans. Points are awarded at the four-, eight- and
10-hour marks at Road Atlanta; five points go to the leading car, four to second
place, three for third place, and two points for fourth place on
back.
Garcia and Magnussen lead Gavin and Tommy
Milner in the No. 4 Corvette C7.R in the Endurance Cup standings by four points.
Coincidentally, Gavin and Milner are tied with Briscoe in Tequila Patrón North
American Endurance Cup points.
It was Gavin and Milner who teamed with
Jordan Taylor to win at Le Mans this year to cement Corvette Racing as one of
endurance racing’s top squads.
Corvette Racing’s last victory at Petit
Le Mans came in the 2010 American Le Mans Series season with Gavin, Magnussen
and Emmanuel Collard winning the GT class on the final
lap.
The 18th annual Petit Le Mans
is set for 11:15 a.m. ET for Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. It is the 10th and
final race of the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing.
It will air live on FOX Sports 2, FOX Sports Go and IMSA.comthroughout the day beginning at 11 a.m.
Flag-to-flag radio coverage also will be available via IMSA
Radio.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE
C7.R: “Road Atlanta is a
track I enjoy very much. It is one of the classic circuit that we go to each
year and it is a big challenge, especially in a 10-hour race. You have to be
mindful how the track changes from the start of the race in the late morning to
the end of the race at night. Traffic plays a big role too with some of the the
elevation changes. Some of the rises and drops can affect your ability to pass.
Personally, I’d very much like to win at Road Atlanta for the first time. It
would be great to add that to our wins this year at Daytona and Sebring. Jan and
I also are leading the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup, and winning
that would help salvage our season.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE
C7.R: “I’ve raced at
Road Atlanta more times than any other on our schedule. It’s a track that is
great fun - lots of fast corners and high speeds. The first corner and the last
corner are two of the best on the schedule. You really have to a car that is
well-balanced to go quick at Atlanta. The thing is that the conditions can swing
back and forth depending on things like time of day and traffic. We are all
eager for a good result to close the season. Winning the Tequila Patron North
American Endurance Cup would be a fantastic end to
2015.”
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE
C7.R: “I’m looking
forward to this weekend with Corvette Racing and getting back in the Corvette
C7.R. Jan, Antonio and I started off the season with two massive victories and
I’m hoping we can end the year in the same way. Petit Le Mans is a race I’ve won
before. Road Atlanta is a unique track and very old-school. There is no room for
error in a lot of areas, especially in some of the key areas. Turn 1, for
example, is really quick. There is no run-off area. If you run wide, you’re in
the grass and likely to go to the fence. It’s a track where you have to be
concentrating 100 percent. Daytona and Sebring are very forgiving in a lot of
places like that, whereas Road Atlanta isn’t. You have to be on your game and
it’s what makes Road Atlanta special.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE
C7.R: “I won my fifth Le
Mans 24 Hours this year, and I’d very much like to win Petit Le Mans for the
sixth time to close the 2015 season. This race is never easy. A lot of that is
down to the layout of the track, which is very fast and very daunting. There are
a number of places where the elevation rises and falls, and the camber of the
track falls away in certain spots. The considerable traffic and racing into
night only adds to the challenge. Traditionally Corvette Racing has excelled at
endurance events - our record this year at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans is an
example. The Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup is still very much in
play for Tommy and I. It’s an important championship and an achievement we would
gladly take.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE
C7.R: “The season
championship is pretty much out of reach for us. Oliver and I still have a
chance to win the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup. That is
definitely something I’d like to win, as it would help us win both the Team and
Manufacturer championships in that competition. Corvette Racing historically has
been strong in endurance races, as we’ve shown this year. We’ve won the three
biggest races we could win. Petit Le Mans has been one that has been challenging
the last couple of years for the team, but our strength lies in endurance races.
The Corvette C7.R has been a durable car and well-suited for these longer races.
While the last few races haven’t turned out how we would have wanted, we
definitely head into this weekend with high hopes.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM
MANAGER: “Petit Le Mans
has been a fixture on our schedule since the beginning of the Corvette Racing
program. It’s an extreme test of endurance that puts a strain on personnel and
equipment - partly because of the distance and partly because of Road Atlanta’s
nature. Everything has to work together to have a chance at success.
Fortunately, we have excelled in long-distance events and expect to do so again
this week. We’ll have one of the largest Corvette Corrals we’ve seen cheering us
on, and we don’t want to disappoint them!”
Corvette Racing at Road
Atlanta
|
Year |
Class |
Drivers |
Result |
Car |
Notes |
|
1999 |
GTS |
Fellows/Kneifel/Paul
Jr. |
5th |
Corvette
C5-R |
|
|
GTS |
Pilgrim/Collins/Sharp |
4th |
Corvette
C5-R |
||
|
2000 |
GTS |
Fellows/Kneifel/Bell |
3rd |
Corvette
C5-R |
Fellows
pole |
|
GTS |
Pilgrim/Collins/Freon |
1st |
Corvette
C5-R |
||
|
2001 |
GTS |
Fellows/O'Connell |
9th |
Corvette
C5-R |
|
|
GTS |
Collins/Pilgrim/Freon |
1st |
Corvette
C5-R |
Pilgrim
pole | |
|
2002 |
GTS |
Fellows/O'Connell/Gavin |
1st |
Corvette
C5-R |
|
|
GTS |
Collins/Pilgrim/Freon |
3rd |
Corvette
C5-R |
Pilgrim fastest race
lap | |
|
2003* |
GTS |
Fellows/O'Connell |
3rd |
Corvette
C5-R |
|
|
GTS |
Collins/Gavin |
1st |
Corvette
C5-R |
||
|
2003 |
GTS |
Fellows/O'Connell/Freon |
5th |
Corvette
C5-R |
|
|
GTS |
Collins/Gavin/Pilgrim |
3rd |
Corvette
C5-R |
||
|
2004 |
GTS |
Fellows/O'Connell/Papis |
2nd |
Corvette
C5-R |
|
|
GTS |
Beretta/Gavin/Magnussen |
1st |
Corvette
C5-R |
Gavin pole, fastest race
lap | |
|
2005* |
GT1 |
Fellows/O'Connell |
1st |
Corvette
C6.R |
O'Connell pole, fastest race
lap |
|
GT1 |
Beretta/Gavin |
2nd |
Corvette
C6.R |
||
|
2005 |
GT1 |
Fellows/O'Connell/Papis |
6th |
Corvette
C6.R |
|
|
GT1 |
Beretta/Gavin/Magnussen |
1st |
Corvette
C6.R |
Beretta pole, Gavin fastest race
lap | |
|
2006 |
GT1 |
Fellows/O'Connell/Papis |
4th |
Corvette
C6.R |
O'Connell
pole |
|
GT1 |
Beretta/Gavin/Magnussen |
3rd |
Corvette
C6.R |
Gavin fastest race
lap | |
|
2007 |
GT1 |
Magnussen/O'Connell/Fellows |
3rd |
Corvette
C6.R |
|
|
GT1 |
Beretta/Gavin/Papis |
1st |
Corvette
C6.R |
Gavin fastest race
lap | |
|
2008 |
GT1 |
Magnussen/O'Connell/Fellows |
1st |
Corvette
C6.R |
O'Connell pole, Magnussen fastest race
lap |
|
GT1 |
Beretta/Gavin/Papis |
2nd |
Corvette
C6.R |
||
|
2009 |
GT2 |
Magnussen/O'Connell/Garcia |
6th |
Corvette
C6.R |
|
|
GT2 |
Beretta/Gavin/Fassler |
4th |
Corvette
C6.R |
||
|
2010 |
GT |
Beretta/O'Connell/Garcia |
6th |
Corvette
C6.R |
|
|
GT |
Gavin/Magnussen/Collard |
1st |
Corvette
C6.R |
Magnussen fastest race
lap | |
|
2011 |
GT |
Beretta/Milner/Garcia |
17th |
Corvette
C6.R |
|
|
GT |
Gavin/Magnussen/Westbrook |
4th |
Corvette
C6.R |
||
|
2012 |
GT |
Garcia/Magnussen/Taylor |
2nd |
Corvette
C6.R |
|
|
GT |
Gavin/Milner/Westbrook |
12th |
Corvette
C6.R |
||
|
2013 |
GT |
Garcia/Magnussen/Taylor |
6th |
Corvette
C6.R |
|
|
GT |
Gavin/Milner/Westbrook |
10th |
Corvette
C6.R |
||
|
2014 |
GTLM |
Garcia/Magnussen/Briscoe |
8th |
Corvette
C7.R |
|
|
GTLM |
Gavin/Milner/Briscoe |
4th |
Corvette
C7.R |
TUDOR Championship – GTLM
Standings (After nine
events)
|
Driver
Standings |
Team
Standings |
Manufacturer
Standings |
|
1. Patrick Pilet –
279
2. Bill Auberlen/Dirk Werner –
276
3. Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen –
269
4. Giancarlo Fisischella/Pierre Kaffer –
266
5. John Edwards/Lucas Luhr –
258
7. Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner –
230 |
1. No. 911 Porsche N. America –
279
2. No. 25 BMW Team RLL –
276
3. No. 3 Corvette Racing –
269
4. No. 62 Risi Competizione –
266
5. No. 24 BMW Team RLL –
258
8. No. 4 Corvette Racing –
230 |
1. Porsche – 290
2. BMW – 287
3. Chevrolet –
274
4. Ferrari –
274 |
Petit Le Mans – GT Le Mans (all times
ET)
- TUDOR Practice 1: 11:10 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 1
- TUDOR Practice 2: 3:25 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 1
- TUDOR Practice 3: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 1
- TUDOR Practice 4: 10:05 a.m., Friday, Oct. 2
- TUDOR GTLM Qualifying: 4 p.m., Friday, Oct. 2 (IMSA.com)
- TUDOR Warmup: 9 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 3
- Race: 11:15 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 3
TV
Schedule
- 11 a.m.-noon: FOX Sports 2, Saturday, Oct. 3
- Noon-2:30 p.m.: IMSA.com, Saturday, Oct. 3
- 2:30-7 p.m.: FOX Sports 2, Saturday, Oct. 3
- 7-8:30 p.m.: IMSA.com, Saturday, Oct. 3
- 8:30-9:30 p.m.: FOX Sports 2, Saturday, Oct. 3
- Replay: 1:30-4:30 p.m.: FOX Sports 1, Sunday, Oct. 4
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