No. 3 Corvette C8.R begins another full-season championship challenge in GTD PRO
CORVETTE RACING AT DAYTONA: 25th Year Starts at a Familiar Place No. 3 Corvette C8.R begins another full-season championship challenge in GTD PRO
DETROIT (Jan. 17, 2023) – Corvette Racing is back where it all started a quarter-century ago as the team returns to Daytona International Speedway for its two-week, season-opening event in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
First up is the Roar Before the 24 – three days of official testing that culminates in qualifying for the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The Roar runs from Friday through Sunday with practice starting for the Rolex 24 on Thursday, January 26.
This season marks the second for Corvette Racing in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO category. This year’s lineup features the two-time IMSA championship-winning pair of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor – challenging for another full-season title – and fellow Corvette Racing veteran Tommy Milner in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
While this is the first race together for the trio, one has shared the cockpit of a Corvette with the other on multiple occasions. While Garcia and Taylor are full-season teammates, Milner was a full-time Corvette driver in 2011 with Garcia as his long-distance teammate. Coincidently, they went on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year.
Fast-forward to 2015 and Taylor was the third driver at Le Mans with Milner and Oliver Gavin as the trio won their class in a storybook ending for Corvette Racing.
Daytona was the site of Corvette Racing’s first event in 1999. In its 12 Rolex starts since then, the program has won the race four times – the most recent coming in 2021 when Garcia, Taylor and Nicky Catsburg led a 1-2 Corvette Racing finish in the final Rolex 24 for the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category.
There are eight entries from seven manufacturers in GTD PRO for this year’s Rolex 24. Combined with the regular GTD field, Corvette Racing will be in a fight among 23 production-based cars around the 3.56-mile, eight-turn circuit that combines Daytona’s super-speedway oval with its infield road course.
The Roar Before the 24 is set for Friday-Sunday with GTD qualifying for the Rolex 24 scheduled for 1:25 p.m. on Sunday. The session will stream live around the world on IMSA.com.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Going for the second time in GTD PRO at Daytona will be a little bit different. We have a year of experience now. A year ago, it was hard for us and hard for IMSA to know what to expect from the performance of our car. I hope we are in a better position this time around, especially at Daytona. We were lacking a ton of performance and we were not competitive and couldn’t fight for wins. I hope things change. The team has one year of experience in this category. We know our weaknesses and where we are strong. I hope we have a chance to win.”
“For Corvette Racing, Daytona is a key part of our season. We’ve been lucky enough to win it a few times. Last year wasn’t a great year for us but I hope we have a chance to be up there, work for it and maybe win the Rolex again.”
“It’s great to have Tommy back. I was still a third driver when he joined the team and I was able to be in the car with him for a year. We won Le Mans together, so I think it’s a good moment to get together again and win all the other big races we can win. I haven’t won Daytona or Sebring with him, so this is a good chance to try for that.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Heading into the season, the motivation is win as much as we can. That starts with the Rolex 24. Last year we had a tough race in our first event in GTD. Getting an understanding about what the car needs and what the drivers need is a lot to learn. Having done the whole season a year ago, we can take what we learned into practice and hopefully we can hit the ground running strong at Daytona.”
“With the GTD PRO class growing as much as it has, Daytona will be such an important event for us. We’ve got so many manufacturers from around the world, and it’s a big deal to represent Corvette and Chevrolet on our home turf. We won the race in 2021 and hopefully we can come back with a strong car in GTD after learning what we did a year ago. We’re definitely hoping for another watch this year.” “It was kind of sad not having Tommy in the IMSA field last year. He’s been a staple in this sport for so many years. I know he enjoyed WEC and exploring the different tracks. For us, it’s nice to have him back home. The last time we drove the same car, we won Le Mans back in 2015 so we have a lot of good history and good memories. We had a good battle back in 2021 around Daytona. He’s one guy you’d rather have in your car than racing against. Hopefully we can go win some more races together.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “The team had a pretty tough year last year. They won at Sebring and were competitive at some places, but for the most part the first year bringing a GTLM car down to GTD was challenging, for sure. I would say expectations for Daytona, we go there to win. That’s why we race. Last year was a big challenge for us. We were very slow in a straight line, hopefully that will be better. The goal is to win the race and winning a championship.
“Daytona itself is a huge part of the IMSA championship and endurance racing around the world. It kicks off the racing season around the world. The track itself is not crazy difficult, but the race itself is challenging. You have to have a car that is good in all kinds of conditions. It can get pretty hot in the daytime and also super cold at night. The oval itself poses its own challenges. It’s one car from each manufacturer and great driver lineups with great teams. So it’s a challenge for all of us as drivers and a team to compare ourselves to some of the best in the world. It’s a challenge that Corvette Racing is always up for. No matter what hand we’re dealt, we’ll work our magic to get our Corvette up front.”
“I enjoyed my time last year in WEC to go all around the world and represent Corvette Racing. To go around the world and show off this Corvette to a lot of fans who have never seen the car before was special. As an American kid, being at home is quite nice and the chance to race the three major races in the IMSA championship is fantastic.”
Photos: Richard Prince, Chevrolet Racing
CORVETTE RACING BY THE NUMBERS AT DAYTONA • 0.034: As in seconds – the winning margin of victory in Corvette Racing’s 1-2 finish at the 2016 Rolex 24. It is the closest finish in race history. • 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car going on 25 years: Corvette Racing and Chevrolet. • 2: Number of the overall winning Corvette C5-R in the 2001 Rolex 24. Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell, Chris Kneifel and Franck Freon completed 656 laps for 2335.36 miles in the winning effort. • 4: Rolex 24 wins for Corvette Racing: 2001 overall, 2015 GTLM (Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen/Ryan Briscoe), 2016 GTLM (Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler) and 2021 GTLM (Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg) • 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001. • 24: Drivers who have driven for Corvette Racing at Daytona – Justin Bell, Ryan Briscoe, Nicky Catsburg, Kelly Collins, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Marcel Fässler, Ron Fellows, Franck Freon, Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin, John Heinricy, Chris Kneifel, Robin Liddell, Jan Magnussen, Tommy Milner, Simon Pagenaud, John Paul Jr., Andy Pilgrim, Mike Rockenfeller, Scott Sharp, Alexander Sims, Marco Sorensen, Nick Tandy and Jordan Taylor. • 27: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Fuji Speedway, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen • 32: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999. • 70: Years since Corvette was introduced to the world on Jan. 17, 1953 in New York City. A total of 300 cars were produced that year. • 122: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America, eight at Le Mans and one in the FIA WEC • 266: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999 • 54,436.60: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing at Daytona. That’s more than two full trips around the Earth at its equator (approx. 24,900 miles). • 348,756.01: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles.
Corvette Racing at Daytona 1999 No. 2 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel/John Paul Jr. – 3rd in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Scott Sharp/John Heinricy – 12th in GTS
2000 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel/Justin Bell – 2nd in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Franck Freon – 10th in GTS
2001 No. 2 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Chris Kneifel/Franck Freon – 1st in GTS (overall win) No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Dale Earnhardt/Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 2nd in GTS
2014 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Ryan Briscoe – 10th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Robin Liddell – 5th in GTLM
2015 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Ryan Briscoe – 1st in GTLM (Magnussen fastest race lap) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Simon Pagenaud – 3rd in GTLM (Gavin pole)
2016 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 2nd in GTLM (Garcia fastest race lap) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 1st in GTLM (Winner by 0.034 second)
2017 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 4th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 9th in GTLM
2018 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 3rd in GTLM (Magnussen pole) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 4th in GTLM
2019 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 6th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 8th in GTLM
2020 (Rolex 24 – January) No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 4th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 7th in GTLM
2020 (WeatherTech 240 – July) No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM
2021 No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 1st in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy/Alexander Sims – 2nd in GTLM
2022 No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 6th in GTD PRO No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy/Marco Sorensen – 10th in GTD PRO
Corvette Racing Rounds Out FIA WEC Lineup in No. 33 C8.R
Nico Varrone joins Keating, Catsburg for seven-round GTE Am championship
DETROIT (Jan. 13, 2023) – Corvette Racing is completing its lineup for the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship with young Argentinian driver Nico Varrone joining Ben Keating and factory driver Nicky Catsburg. The trio will team together in the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in the GTE Am category.
It’s the second straight full-season program in the FIA WEC for Corvette Racing, which celebrate its 25th season of competition in 2023. The campaign will be the first for the Corvette program in GTE Am, where the sporting rules require at least one Bronze-level driver, as rated by the FIA. One professional-level driver is allowed along with a second Bronze or Silver-rated driver.
The combination of Catsburg, Keating and Varrone will contest the full seven-race WEC calendar including the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. The season begins with the 1,000 Miles of Sebring on Friday, March 17.
Although he’s new to Corvette Racing, the silver-rated Varrone got an early taste of the mid-engine Corvette C8.R during testing following the 2022 WEC finale at Bahrain and in a private test at Sebring in December.
Although his early racing focused on karting and single-seaters, Varrone’s most recent success has come in sports cars with victories in both prototype and GT cars. Among them are wins in the GTE Am category of this year’s European Le Mans Series along with a victory in the 24H Series’ round in Barcelona earlier this season.
This is the second consecutive year that Corvette Racing will compete in multiple GT championships around the world. Its campaign in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship begins in two weeks with the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I’m really, really happy and over the moon for this opportunity. It always was my dream to be at this level and be on a team with a magnificent brand like Corvette Racing. To be paired with two legendary drivers like Ben and Nicky also is very special. I have to say a big thank to you to Jeroen Bleekmolen for recommending me. He is close to both Ben and Nicky so it’s quite a nice feeling. I can’t wait for us to start with this program.”
“It’s really special at Corvette Racing. I’ve never been inside a factory team, and I was expecting things to be kind of quiet and different. But it’s such a nice feeling because Corvette Racing is a big family. You have fun with the crew guys, the engineers and the drivers. They are so open to talking about things that it’s really special. Nicky and Ben also are guys who have always watched on TV. To share a car with them is something I never could have imagined.”
“I’ve driven other GT cars but the Corvette is one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in a racecar. It’s a natural and proper racecar, for sure. The confidence it gives in the high-speed corners, the traction and the braking of the car is amazing. It fits me just right. I felt comfortable almost right away. I was expecting it to be like other GT cars I’ve driven, but to me it’s more similar to a prototype. It’s a mega sensation for the drivers. I enjoyed every lap I’ve done so far. I can’t wait for more.”
FIA WEC test in Bahrain sees Keating, prospective drivers behind wheel of C8.R
CORVETTE RACING AT BAHRAIN: Straight Into 2023 Prep FIA WEC test in Bahrain sees Keating, prospective drivers behind wheel of C8.R
SAKHIR, Bahrain (Nov. 16, 2022) – Shortly after closing its season with a heroic runner-up class finish in the Eight Hours of Bahrain for the FIA World Endurance Championship, Corvette Racing was back on-track for a one-day test ahead of the team’s 2023 campaign.
Ben Keating, already confirmed to drive the Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R next year in the WEC, got his first laps in the mid-engine racer Sunday along with two prospective teammates: Axcil Jefferies and Nicolas Varrone. Once a final decision comes, the three will focus on winning races and a championship in the GTE Am category – the first season for Corvette Racing in the class after a decade-plus as part of GTE Pro.
The sporting rules of the GTE Am category require at least one Bronze-level driver – Keating in this case – as rated by the FIA. One professional-level driver – Catsburg – is allowed along with a second Bronze or Silver-rated driver. That trio will contest the full seven-race WEC calendar including the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
Corvette Racing ended its first full FIA WEC season with a runner-up finish by Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy in the No. 64 Corvette. The team will open the 2023 season with the 1,000 Miles of Sebring on March 17.
LAURA WONTROP KLAUSER, GM SPORTS CAR RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: "First off, thanks to Nick Tandy for the two years he spent with Corvette Racing and what he did to elevate the team and our program in both IMSA and the WEC. Having he and Tommy Milner as part of our lineup for our first season in WEC was a great experience with some fantastic results." (On 2023): "We're really excited based on the results of our preliminary testing for 2023. Ben got in the car and was strong right off the bat, which is exactly what we expected. We know Nicky (Catsburg) does well based on his history with us. The pace of the silver-rated drivers we tested was good. We’re eager to decide on the right fit to complete our lineup. There is a lot to look forward to in our return to the WEC next year with a competitive team and car in a new class. I feel like we are off to a good start."
BEN KEATING: "Those first laps were really good. The feel of this car is significantly different than the Aston Martin that I've been driving the last two years and the last three days. I don't know how many laps I did... maybe 10 laps this morning and I'm still learning a lot about the car. It's very impressive. It's fun for me as a driver. I think I've driven almost every single GTE car now, and they're all a little bit different in the way you find speed. Obviously the Corvette is no different. You have to learn where to find the speed and how to work the car. It's been really interesting. In looking at the data, and as an example I was one gear too low in every single corner; I was over-slowing the car in every single corner than what I needed to because my brain isn't calibrated to how quickly the Corvette can go through a corner. That's just an example of the things I need to learn, and I'm excited to do that.”
(Outlook for 2023): "I'm really looking forward to running in the Corvette. I pay for all of this racing by selling cars, and I'm super excited to get back into racing a car that I sell back in Texas at my Chevrolet dealerships. I'm super excited to race for an American manufacturer with an American team. Almost everyone in the garage sounds like I do! When we win a race next year, we'll get to hear the American national anthem. That'll be special. I'm very excited about what next year holds for us as we learn to gel and as Corvette Racing learns what it's like to be in GTE Am for the first time."
NICOLAS VARRONE: "I'm really delighted. Thanks to Ben Keating and Corvette Racing for the opportunity. It's just an amazing car... a pure racecar that I enjoyed driving. It's really fun. The brakes surprised me. The braking efficiency is really amazing. There was a learning experience because I'm used to other cars, but the team helped me a lot during the day to try new things and improve every time I went on track. It was good and I enjoyed it a lot."
AXCIL JEFFERIES: "Honestly the car feels great. Not only that but the team is fun to work with. It's a really nice group of guys. It was nice getting up to speed with the car. I expected quite a lot from the car. Obviously it's a factory program and I expected everything set to the highest level, and it really delivered. It would be great if this opportunity could happen in WEC. Let's see what how it works. I tried my best, and now the decision will be up to the team and Ben."
PRESS RELEASE Second place for Milner, Tandy, No. 64 C8.R in season, class finale
CORVETTE RACING AT BAHRAIN: What a Run to GTE Pro Podium! Second place for Milner, Tandy, No. 64 C8.R in season, class finale
SAKHIR, Bahrain (Nov. 12, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s never-give-up mindset came to the forefront again Saturday as a total team effort led to a runner-up GTE Pro class finish in the Eight Hours of Bahrain and the final race of the year in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy came home second in the last race for the GTE Pro category with the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. It marked the pairing’s third podium finish of the season and second runner-up result, the first coming in the season-opening 1,000 Miles of Sebring.
Milner, Tandy and Corvette Racing captured the Six Hours of Monza earlier this year as part of the team’s globe-trotting first season in the WEC. Saturday’s result provides a nice springboard to the 2023 season and a GTE Am campaign with the mid-engine Corvette C8.R.
Saturday, the Corvette team’s fortunes took a dramatic change just past the one-hour mark. After starting fifth in class – and sitting at the bottom of the GTE Pro timesheets throughout practice and qualifying – Milner gained track position by going a lap longer than three other GTE Pro cars in his opening stint and made his first pit stop during the race’s first full-course caution just past the one-hour mark.
Going long gained Milner 30 seconds and – more importantly – three positions to second place by the time the race went green again with 75 minutes running. From that point on, Milner masterfully managed his pace and tires on a hot and slippery surface for the next hour before handing off to Tandy for a double-stint under another yellow period.
The C8.R continued to show life with changes from the Corvette Racing engineers and crew following Friday’s qualifying. Tandy was able to fight and overtake one of the two Porsches and challenge eventual race-winner Ferrari despite behind handfuls of seconds behind throughout practice.
Milner got back in in the Corvette just past the halfway point – again, under a full-course yellow – and held second position throughout his 70-minute run before a final swap back to Tandy for the final 2.5 hours.
As much as the pre-race adjustments to the C8.R paid off, the pit work by the Corvette Racing crew and engineering strategies – both fuel and tire usage – kept the team in contention throughout. That bore out in the pit stops with the C8.R crew nine seconds quicker in its cumulative pitlane time throughout the race than the other two podium cars in GTE Pro.
The end of the WEC season brought to an end an iconic era of GTE Pro racing. Corvette Racing, naturally, has been part of GTE Pro in the WEC – including the 24 Hours of Le Mans – since the first year of the class in 2011. Its participation in GTE-rules racing was amplified in 2014 with the birth of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category in IMSA, which used the same technical rules that existed for GTE.
Taking into account both championships, Corvette Racing has an exemplary record in GTE/GTLM competition with 32 victories at racetracks around the world to go along with five Drivers and Team championships and four Manufacturers crowns in IMSA
Corvette Racing will return to FIA WEC competition in 2023 with Ben Keating and Nicky Catsburg teaming in a GTE Am Corvette C8.R. The season begins March 17 at Sebring International Raceway.
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTE PRO: “That was definitely a lot better than we were anticipating! It’s great to be back on the podium in the last race of the year and the last GTE Pro race. It’s a little bittersweet. If you look at our season as a whole, we had a great year. There was still a lot to be had. If Le Mans had gone the way it was going for us, Nick and I would be World Champions as drivers so that’s a bit of a bummer. But that’s racing. I’m happy to end this class on a high note and be back on the podium for Corvette Racing. I’m super-proud of the work that all these guys have done this year. We realistically had a championship season, and everyone should be super-proud.”
(On the race): "We were really lucky with the timing of that second full-course yellow and to be in position to take advantage of that. That catapulted us back in the race. Ultimately we didn't have the pace to run with the Ferrari. The plan from the beginning was to run our own race and be smart on the strategy to see where we end up. The engineers had me save quite a bit of fuel. We did whatever we could do to be as perfect as possible and let the result be determined by everybody else and not by us. Our goal was to drive our own race and see what happened."
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTE PRO: “What a great way to finish the season. It shows again that in a long endurance race, all the pieces and parts of the puzzle – most of those being the people involved – make a huge difference. From a team point of view, we ran an absolute faultless race from start to finish. We got lucky with strategy but we put ourselves in position to get that luck. From then on, we made the Corvette the best that it’s been to drive all week. We had pace in the race when others saw theirs drop. From the pit crew to the engineering group, everyone who has been looking after the team, getting us and the car here and ready, it’s been a great day for Corvette Racing. We finished probably three places further up than we should have, and that’s due to great execution from every single team member. It’s a great way to end this season.”
(On the race): “We got lucky with the early yellow. Actually we had looked at it early and said maybe the only chance we'd have is to try and play something on the fuel strategy game. That worked out well for us and the 51 Ferrari. We gained about 30 seconds on the other three cars when we pitted. Then we were looking to see where we were in the meat of the race when the sun came down. We weren't too bad on pace, and I had a great fight with Michael (Christensen, No. 92 Porsche) for a few laps. It was a good run out there."
(On the full season): “I think you can see that all of us at Corvette Racing have enjoyed it. It's been good fun. It's been frustrating at times but overall everyone is pleased with what we've done by coming in for the full season. We've won a race and been competitive at most events. We've got experience not just for Corvette Racing but also for all our partner teams at General Motors. Everything we've done and learned will help not only this teams but hopefully others in the future. It's good to come here and see everything and bring people to these events and tracks with regulations we haven't seen before.”
LAURA WONTROP KLAUSER, GM SPORTS RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: "We're really proud of all the accomplishments by everyone on the Corvette Racing program this year in the World Endurance Championship. It was our first time in this series, and we knew it was going to be a learning season. To win at Monza, to lead as many laps as we did at Le Mans, and to finish second at Sebring and now here at Bahrain... I'd say we did pretty well! There is a lot we can and will take from this into the 2023 season. A huge thanks to everyone at Chevrolet, GM Performance, Pratt Miller and many, many more who supported us and made this possible. We're already looking forward to Sebring next year!"
No. 64 Corvette continuing to make progress ahead of season, GTE Pro finale
CORVETTE RACING AT BAHRAIN: Closing the Gap No. 64 Corvette continuing to make progress ahead of season, GTE Pro finale
MANAMA, Bahrain (Nov. 11, 2022) – Corvette Racing will start the final race for the GTE Pro class in the FIA World Endurance Championship fifth in the category. Nick Tandy set a lap of 1:57.539 (103.023 mph) around the Bahrain International Circuit on Friday evening in the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he will share with Tommy Milner.
It’s the first trip to Bahrain for the Corvette Racing and the mid-engine C8.R as the team and its fellow WEC competitors close the season in the Middle East.
The single-car team worked throughout Thursday and Friday’s practice sessions to try and come to grips – literally and figuratively – with the circuit layout and racing surface. The high temperatures in the desert present a challenge to tire life with high levels of degradation expected to factor in Saturday’s race.
Corvette Racing’s two manufacturer competitors – Porsche and Ferrari – have the benefit of multiple years of experience at Bahrain, especially having contested a doubleheader a year ago at the circuit. As a result, the gap to the front is considerable – nearly 1.4 seconds – but Corvette Racing engineers were hard at work after the session pouring over data to make further improvements before Saturday’s race.
The goal is to add one more victory in GTE Pro competition to its tally of 32 around the world, taking into account the category in the WEC as well as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, which ran from 2014-2021.
The Eight Hours of Bahrain for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 2 p.m. Arabian Standard Time (AST) / 6 a.m. ET Saturday from the Bahrain International Circuit. The race will air live on MotorTrend with live streaming coverage of the race on the MotorTrend Plus app and Radio Le Mans’ online audio coverage.
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED FIFTH IN GTE PRO: “Obviously the point staring us in the face is that we are slowest in the class, which is sad for everyone. We did a lot of work from Free Practice Three to qualifying, and actually the car was fantastic. My lap in qualifying was one that I was pleased with and probably was one of the best I’ve done this season. The gap to the front, while at almost 1.5 seconds, is the closest we’ve been all weekend. So as a team, we’ve done a terrific job. It doesn’t take away from the fact that we’re going to start from the fifth position. To end qualifying in GTE Pro like this is frustrating. But we can all be proud as a team for continually progressing and making the car better for us drivers. It was really pleasurable to be out there again in this C8.R in qualifying trim and driving fast.”
WEC FIA has offered an app to you can download. You can also purchase the race for a premimum package Program: https://www.fiawec.com/en/official-fia-wec-app/45 or download Google Play Store or Apple store.
Looking back on an incredible era of manufacturer racing in WEC, IMSA
CORVETTE RACING AT BAHRAIN: Farewell to GTE Pro Looking back on an incredible era of manufacturer racing in WEC, IMSA
DETROIT (Nov. 9, 2022) – This weekend’s Eight Hours of Bahrain marks the last race for the GTE Pro class in the FIA World Endurance Championship, the end of a fantastic decade-plus of manufacturer vs. manufacturer competition.
Corvette Racing, naturally, has been part of GTE Pro in the WEC – including the 24 Hours of Le Mans – since the first year of the class in 2011. Its participation in GTE-rules racing was amplified in 2014 with the birth of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category in IMSA, which used the same technical rules that existed for GTE.
Taking into account both championships, Corvette Racing has an exemplary record in GTE/GTLM competition with 32 victories at racetracks around the world to go along with five Drivers and Team championships and four Manufacturers crowns in IMSA. That number could increase next year with the team’s move to GTE Am in WEC with Ben Keating and Nicky Catsburg confirmed as the first two drivers for the full 2023 season.
Coincidentally, the first GTE rules victory for Corvette Racing came in 2011 at Le Mans with its No. 73 Corvette C6.R. Current Corvette WEC driver Tommy Milner was part of the lineup with IMSA regular Antonio Garcia alongside Olivier Beretta.
Milner also was part of the most recent GTE Pro win with Nick Tandy and the No. 64 Corvette C8.R at Monza in this year’s GTE Pro championship.
The Eight Hours of Bahrain for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 2 p.m. Arabian Standard Time (AST) / 6 a.m. ET Saturday from the Bahrain International Circuit. Qualifying is set for 4:50 p.m. AST/8:50 a.m. ET on Friday. The race will air live on MotorTrend with live streaming coverage of the race and qualifying on the MotorTrend Plus app. Radio Le Mans will broadcast qualifying and the race.
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “This class has been a huge part of my career… actually it’s been my career realistically! It even goes back to my first at Le Mans in 2006 in GT2. The rules have changed slightly over the years, but it’s been roughly the same for the last 15 seasons. It’s been fantastic and some of the best racing we’ve seen around the world, whether it’s been at Le Mans or in IMSA. In the short term, we’re losing a professional GT class at Le Mans, but I don’t think that will be the case for very long. It seems like in many ways both in IMSA and Le Mans, the class has run its course and had its great years and some down years as well with lower car counts. So from that side of things, you understand the need to start fresh. But I think things will pick up where they left off soon in terms of professional GT racing.”
“Those years where we had 16-17 cars at Le Mans… it was just a remarkable with the competition level for the show. It shows what that class could have been in many cases. While you see many people dwell on low car counts – at least compared to the amateur classes – the racing was always super good and competitive. It seemed to get more intense and competitive each year with the usual suspects. It’s an era of sports car racing where people can look back on and most will settle on and dwell on those years from 2016-19 with how good those cars were. I don’t think that we’re losing something; I think it’s a chance to refresh the formula for professional GT racing as IMSA has continued with a professional GT class.”
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “With this class of GTE Pro and GTLM racing… the first experience I had with these types of cars and what I started my factory racing career was in GT in the American Le Mans Series. This was in 2013. The class effectively launched the rest of my career. It’s been a huge part of my life for the last years. So it is very sad to see the end of an era. I’ve been through the heartbreak of losing GTLM, and luckily I’ve been able to carry on racing GTE Pro cars this year. But it’s the end of this era and car specification, which is sad. But for me personally, I’m so happy I was able to be part of it. It has been the class that has provided me with great racing and the life I’m lucky enough to live and do.”
“The racing was spectacular on both sides of the world. The cars always looked awesome. They typified a souped-up sports car that you would draw up or dream of when you’re growing up as a child. They looked spectacular and sounded spectacular. All the cars in the class were different, of course. But the way the class was managed, the racing was always close. You’ve only got to look at different series when there were five factory teams racing at one time. The racing was absolutely the best in the world that I had seen or experienced. It’s been a great time for our sport. It’s given me so many lasting memoires, even dating back to 2011. It’s been my life. Good times...” “I’ve been lucky to race in other cars and in other classes. When the heyday of LMP1 ended in 2017, we went to Le Mans in 2018 and GTE Pro was headlining. There were 17 proper factory-affiliated entries and all with a chance to win. The class has been ever-present and ever-popular while other classes had been up and down. That’s a testament to the regulations and the manufacturers who wanted to join in and go racing.”
LAURA WONTROP KLAUSER, GM SPORTS CAR RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “GTE Pro in WEC – and GT Le Mans in IMSA – have provided some of the best racing between manufacturers that sports car racing has seen in a generation. The teams and the technology have been top-notch. Some of the most exciting races I've personally seen – as a fan and as part of the program – involved Corvette Racing in GTE Pro or GTLM. As a manufacturer, you can't ask for better competition than against four, five and six other marques like we saw in 2017, 2018 and 2019. As we all look forward to the next chapter of production-based racing worldwide with GT3, I hope we can see more of the great battles between teams and manufacturers for years to come.”
Final GTE Pro race in WEC sees Milner, Tandy going for second victory of season
CORVETTE RACING AT BAHRAIN: Let’s Go Out with a Bang! Final GTE Pro race in WEC sees Milner, Tandy going for second victory of season
DETROIT (Nov. 8, 2022) – Corvette Racing will put a cap on its first full year in the FIA World Endurance Championship with its initial trip to the Middle East for the season-ending Eight Hours of Bahrain.
As they have all season, Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy will pilot the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in Corvette Racing’s first trip to the Middle East. A new venue doesn’t intimidate the team as it has a victory at Monza in its Italian debut. Bahrain will be the 33rd different track for the Corvette program.
Another victory not only would close out the WEC season in the best way possible, but it also would put Corvette Racing in the history books as the winner of the final GTE PRO race in the championship.
The category has been part of the WEC since the 2011 season, and the technical regulations matched the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship from 2014-2021. In the GTE/GTLM era, Corvette Racing has recorded 33 victories across WEC and IMSA competition.
The 3.363-mile, 15-turn Bahrain International Circuit is unique in multiple ways. It features less than 17 meters of elevation change over the course of a lap, and the entire lap – all but the exit of Turn Four – is run below sea level.
As expected, it’s a very arid circuit with desert sands and rocks bordering the racing tarmac and runoff areas. In many ways, Bahrain is similar to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on the IMSA calendar. There, sand and dust constantly blow across the track surface which puts a premium on generating grip and maximizing tire life.
While the track surface at Bahrain is much smoother and less destructive to tires compared to Laguna Seca, the significantly warmer air and track temperatures at Bahrain compared to the Monterey Peninsula will make it a challenge to prevent sliding of the tires across the track surface. To that point, tire performance will play a significant role in the outcome of Saturday’s race.
The No. 64 Corvette opened the WEC season with a strong second-place showing at the rain-shortened 1,000 Miles of Sebring. Things were trending the right way for the Tandy/Milner pairing at the Six Hours of Spa before a red flag just past the one-hour mark wiped out the team’s first planned pit stop and effectively put the Corvette a lap down before finishing fourth.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans was a cruel blow with the No. 64 C8.R eliminated while leading just shy of the 18-hour mark. Spirits lifted within the team following a thrilling class victory at Monza where the team won a fuel-mileage race for its first WEC win outside of Le Mans. Milner and Tandy finished fifth on a challenging weekend at Fuji in September.
The Eight Hours of Bahrain for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 2 p.m. Arabian Standard Time (AST) / 6 a.m. ET Saturday from the Bahrain International Circuit. Qualifying is set for 4:50 p.m. AST/8:50 a.m. ET on Friday. The race will air live on MotorTrend with live streaming coverage of the race and qualifying on the MotorTrend Plus app. Radio Le Mans will broadcast qualifying and the race.
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “The track surface at Bahrain is pretty unique in general. To simplify it, you have big stones and little stones, polished and unpolished. It’s totally different than anywhere else we go. From the sim work we’ve done, it feels like there is a lot of grip. From what other drivers and teams have said, it’s a track that is aggressive on tires. That correlates pretty well with what we’ve seen in the simulator. I’d imagine the first practice session will be quite difficult as we dust off the track a little bit. It’s a circuit that is a little bit like Fuji with some long-duration corners and medium- and high-speed stuff. There are lessons we took from Japan that can apply here. The track surface being unique and its characteristics will play a big role in the strategy for the race.”
“I’ve raced in the Middle East once before at Dubai, so I have a little bit of understanding of the culture. It sounds like Dubai and Bahrain are similar in some ways. The fans were awesome when I went and it was a cool place to go see, and I’m sure Bahrain is similar in many ways. I’m excited to get there.”
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I raced at Bahrain for the first time in 2010 and went there twice before in WEC. I’ve never driven a GTE car around there so this will be fun. The effect of the sand on the tire and how the tire interacts with the surface… how each car reacts to the sand blowing around – and it does quite a lot – can affect things quite a lot. It’s one of the challenges. It can be very gusty and windy, and the direction can change. This is another factor with the high-downforce cars that we have. When it’s windy, it does have an influence on the race and it can change lap by lap.”
“It’s an interesting circuit and good for racing and good to drive. Bahrain rewards consistency because you see the highest level of tire wear of any track we go to. You have to have consistent and clean driving, and the track punishes overdriving. This is good because you always want to influence a race as a driver.”
“One of the good things there is that you have linked corners… corners where what you do in the first corner influences what happens in the next. You have places like turns One and Two and then you have the Esses in the middle of the track, and the fastest section is in the middle. You have to figure out how to best get time out of them, whether you give up time in the first part to improve the second section or second corner. That’s always nice as opposed to have a straight, a hairpin and then another straight. Those races are kind of car-defined whereas with these types of corners, you can as a driver affect more of what’s happening and affect the laptime.”
Corvette C8.R to feature in GTD PRO stateside, GTE Am in FIA WEC
CORVETTE RACING RETURNING TO IMSA, FIA WEC IN 2023 Corvette C8.R to feature in GTD PRO stateside, GTE Am in FIA WEC
DETROIT (Oct. 18, 2022) – In its 25th season of top-level endurance racing, Corvette Racing will continue its long-running commitment to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2023 as part of the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class while taking on a new challenge by transitioning into GTE Am competition in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
For the second year in a row, Corvette Racing will enter one car in each of sports car racing’s most prestigious championships. The premier races in the world will be part of the schedule for the Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R including the Rolex 24 At Daytona, 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, among others.
“We learned a great deal this year about running dual programs in both IMSA and the FIA WEC – all of which will benefit the Corvette brand going forward,” said Laura Wontrop Klauser, GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager. “In IMSA, we will return to GTD PRO against a very competitive group of manufacturers while laying the groundwork for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Similarly, Corvette Racing’s FIA WEC program allows us the opportunity to continue growing the global presence of Corvette in a world championship.”
FIA WEC: Catsburg, Keating form partnership in GTE Am The Corvette C8.R will again join the grid in the World Endurance Championship as a full-time entry, this time in GTE Am. The C8.R will be driven by Nicky Catsburg, who moves to full-time duty in a Corvette for the first time, and highly successful Bronze driver Ben Keating – widely considered one of the world’s best privateer drivers.
The sporting rules of the GTE Am category require at least one Bronze-level driver, as rated by the FIA. One professional-level driver is allowed along with a second Bronze or Silver-rated driver. Corvette Racing will confirm the final member of the WEC lineup at a later date.
The trio will contest the full seven-race WEC calendar including the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
Keating is a past winner at Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring and many of the other premier races in WEC, IMSA and Intercontinental GT Challenge. The personable Texan began racing in 2006 and quickly established a reputation as one of sports car’s fastest and most reliable amateur drivers in both prototype and GT categories. He races with the support of Four Horsemen Racing and Wynns.
While Keating will race a Corvette for the first time, Catsburg has established himself as a fixture with the marque. Since joining the program in 2020, Catsburg recorded a victory at Daytona in 2021 and Sebring this year alongside Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor.
The 2023 campaign will be Catsburg’s first in the World Endurance Championship since 2019. He also has wins in long-distance races at the Nürburgring, Spa and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, among other venues.
Garcia, Taylor back in IMSA GTD PRO full-time With two championships in three years together, the aforementioned Garcia and Taylor will reunite for another run at the GTD PRO title in 2023.
Like this year’s effort, the familiar yellow Corvette will run in a modified state to fit the C8.R in the performance window of GT3 cars that make up both the GTD PRO and regular GTD entries in the WeatherTech Championship. The 2022 season was a learning experience for both Corvette Racing and IMSA as the two groups work together on balancing the C8.R and the rest of the GTD category from technical and competitive standpoints.
The victory at Sebring for Garcia, Taylor and Catsburg was the highlight of the 2022 season, which also included runner-up finishes at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and VIR.
Garcia is a five-time IMSA champion dating back to 2013. He has made 136 starts with the program since joining as a long-distance driver in 2009. Among his career highlights include two Rolex 24 wins, two Le Mans wins and five victories at Sebring.
Taylor is a four-time IMSA champion with two coming in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) ranks with Garcia in 2020 and 2021. He joined Corvette Racing in 2012 as a long-distance third driver and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015. He moved to a full-time role in 2020 – the same season the C8.R made its competition debut.
Milner back to IMSA, focusing on GT3 development Tommy Milner, currently contesting the full WEC for Corvette Racing, will take over the endurance driver role in the WeatherTech Championship for 2023. He will drive with Garcia and Taylor at Daytona, Sebring and the 1,000-mile Petit Le Mans.
Milner also will serve a key role as the primary testing and development driver for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which will be available to customer racing teams starting in 2024.
Milner made his 130th start with Corvette Racing at the most recent WEC round at Fuji and has been part of the program as a full-time driver since 2011. He is a two-time IMSA champion, claimed a pair of victories at Le Mans and scored his first WEC race victory – outside of Le Mans – in July at the Six Hours of Monza.
Chevrolet is in the midst of an extensive development program for the Z06 GT3.R using both on-track testing and the manufacturer’s Driver-in-the-Loop simulator. The latter has been the focus for more than a year as Corvette Racing continues to refine items such as chassis platform, traction control, ABS and other tools that are features of GT3 racing.
The Corvette Z06 GT3.R will leverage the strong foundation provided by the mid-engine Corvette Z06 supercar. The Z06 GT3.R will share the same aluminum chassis, a production engine modified for use in the racecar, and similar aerodynamic features.
At the heart of the Z06 GT3.R is a 5.5-liter, DOHC LT6 V8 engine with the same flat-plane crankshaft architecture that powers the Corvette C8.R and the production Corvette Z06.
Corvette Racing’s 2023 IMSA campaign kicks off with the Rolex 24 At Daytona on January 28-30, while the FIA WEC season begins with the 1,000 Miles of Sebring on March 17.
NICKY CATSBURG, CORVETTE C8.R FOR FIA WEC IN 2023: “It’s been my goal from the get-go when I joined the team to be a full-time Corvette Racing driver. It’s super-cool to do races like Daytona, Sebring, Le Mans and Petit Le Mans. But I knew that I always wanted to do something full-time with the team. I’m super happy and proud that it’s happening and that I can call myself a full-time Corvette driver. It’s super-nice. It’s a dream come true and I can’t wait to get this going.”
“WEC is a cool program. You get to travel around the world and race at some of these great tracks. Ben is the best Bronze driver out there right now and consistently performs very well. I will miss GTE Pro because it was great fun being part of factory racing at Le Mans. But I’m excited to start working with Ben. I’ve been seeing him around for a number of years and he always does a fantastic job. I’m looking forward to this. This is a place that any driver wants to be.”
BEN KEATING, CORVETTE C8.R FOR FIA WEC IN 2023: “I really love the format of the World Endurance Championship and GTE Am. I’ve really wanted to race a Corvette for a long time and have been chipping away at this to make this happen because I want to race what I sell. I’m in the unique position of enjoying cars as a vocation and a recreation. This is something I’ve been dreaming of for a long time. I’m incredibly excited for this opportunity.
“I know that Corvette Racing is really excited about the program and I am too. There’s just something special about the 100th anniversary of Le Mans, the last year of GTE-spec cars and something special with an American driver racing for an American team. I’m excited that when – not if! – we win a race that we will hear the U.S. National Anthem. I haven’t had that because I’ve driven for British and German teams. So this will be awesome. The Corvette fans are crazy and fanatical! Getting to represent a brand that I sell and be part of that community is something that’s important to me and I’m excited about it all the way through.
“My number one thing about teammates is that I’m doing this for recreation and for fun, so I really want to enjoy who I’m racing with. Having been teammates with Jeroen Bleekemolen for a number of years and both of them being Dutch, Nicky was kind of always around! So I’ve always felt a good connection with Nicky. Even though we’ve never been teammates, I’ve paid attention very closely to him. I remember him testing a Corvette for the first time at Le Mans, and I wasn’t surprised when he went out and set the fastest GT lap of anyone in the field on the Test Day! So he is fun to watch. He’s extremely quick and is someone who knows all the tracks in the WEC and is someone I get along with extremely well. I’m super excited to be teamed with him.”
ANTONIO GARCIA, CORVETTE C8.R FOR IMSA IN 2023: “America has become a second home for me since I started with Corvette Racing in 2009. I enjoy the people, I enjoy the racing and I enjoy this Corvette. IMSA has a lot of great events and tracks – all of which I’m very familiar with now! “I have to say that this season was very difficult and challenging, maybe more than previous years. Still I think we learned a lot as drivers and as a team about a new category that we can use to make us better in 2023. Hopefully Jordan and I can get back to winning races and being in the championship fight. It also will be an important year as we get closer to finishing testing and development of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which will be a big deal. I’m happy that Tommy will be part of that and with us for the big races in America. We were teammates in his first year at Corvette and we’ve raced against each other in previous versions of the Corvette since then. I’m glad to be able to race with him again.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, CORVETTE C8.R FOR IMSA IN 2023: “It’s great to be back with Corvette Racing for its 25th year. I remember as a kid watching my dad race, and Corvette already had a strong reputation for being competitive and winning big races. So it means a lot to be able to continue on with Antonio, Tommy and the rest of the team in 2023. “We definitely want to be back stronger at Daytona than how we left Petit Le Mans. We had some decent races – winning Sebring in a Corvette was unreal – but I think we all were frustrated with how things went as a whole. We have an opportunity to improve on some things that we can control, which is what this team is so good at doing. By the time we get back to Daytona in January for the Roar, I’m confident we’ll be in a position to succeed to a greater level than a year ago.”
TOMMY MILNER, CORVETTE C8.R FOR IMSA AND Z06 GT3.R DEVELOPMENT DRIVER IN 2023: “I’ve not driven a lot in my career with Jordan or Antonio. But when I have, we’ve had success. I’m always excited to drive with those two guys. They’re obviously great drivers and great teammates, and they have been for a long time. I’ve raced against them quite a bit in my time so it’ll be fun to be teammates with them for a change. “The process of developing the Corvette Z06 GT3.R will be an interesting one. I did quite a bit of this with the C7.R and C8.R. It’s different from racing of course, but it can be a rewarding process in its own right. This year was fun because it was something totally different. Next year will be something different again, and that’s a good thing to do different things every now and then. It’s an honor to be a part of this racing team and program. Having been part of testing many of the previous Corvettes, we’ve seen how fast and competitive those cars are. I’m excited and looking forward to keeping that lineage going.”
Fifth-place GTD PRO finish for Garcia, Taylor, Catsburg in No. 3 Corvette C8.R
CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD ATLANTA: What Might Have Been Fifth-place GTD PRO finish for Garcia, Taylor, Catsburg in No. 3 Corvette C8.R
BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 1, 2022) – Corvette Racing closed its season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday with a fifth-place finish in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class after the 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg entered Saturday hoping to replicate their victory from earlier this year at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Ultimately, two separate incidents of contact didn’t help the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R’s quest for its second victory of the season.
The result was enough for Garcia and Taylor to take third in the GTD Drivers Championship and Chevrolet to finish third in the final Manufacturers standings.
The day began strong with Garcia moving forward from the green flag. He picked up two positions to third on the opening two laps of the race and moved to the lead just past the hour mark. He drove the first 92 minutes before handing off to Taylor, who ran first or second for the first 90 minutes of his time in the Corvette.
The day’s first setback came near the three-hour mark when Taylor’s right-rear Michelin went down while leading on a restart following contact with the No. 9 Porsche. He was able to dive directly into the pits for four fresh tires but fell down to sixth.
The march back toward the front came over the next two hours as two more full-course yellows and penalties to some of its competitors allowed the Corvette to make up track position. By the time Catsburg took over near the four-and-a-half-hour mark, the No. 3 was back with the lead back in GTD PRO and ran as high as second before Garcia returned to the driver’s seat near the seven-hour mark.
Things came undone for the No. 3 Corvette with a little more than two hours to go as Garcia spun at Turn 11 after contact with the 62 Ferrari. He dropped from third to fifth and then down to sixth as Corvette Racing engineers immediately went on an alternate pit strategy in hopes of a yellow to get the C8.R back into contention.
The race’s final yellow came with 52 minutes remaining and brought Garcia to within five seconds of the lead inside the final 30 minutes but couldn’t draw closer at the end.
Corvette Racing closes its 2022 program with the Eight Hours of Bahrain and the final race of the FIA World Endurance Championship on Nov. 10-12.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “It’s difficult when you have GTD cars fighting for the same thing as you and their performance is completely opposite of yours. It’s impossible to race when one car achieves a lap time in one way and the rest do it another. I must say it’s the story of the season. We showed at the beginning of the race that if we are up front and can do our own pace, we’re good and we can race. As soon as you have someone in front of you that you can’t pass and another car gets to you, they will go past because you have nothing to help you defend. That’s been the thing this year. Frustrating day, frustrating season… but the effort from everyone at Corvette Racing has been great all season. We couldn’t ask for more from the team. That’s 110 percent.”
On the start: “The start of the race was easy and relaxed in a way. We had good pace to the other cars in front of those and managed to jump most of those in the pits. Then the pace was really good. I had to catch the 79, which seemed doable and got into the lead. But one more year where I’ve won many stints at Petit Le Mans but never the whole race.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “I feel like we put ourselves in some good spots today. At the end of it, we just didn’t have the pace to battle guys. After that last restart we were kind of in a position to fight again but got motored by. That was pretty much our season in one race. Hopefully we can go into the offseason, figure out what all we learned and come back stronger next year.”
Opening stint: "Our car was decent. We had a little bit of contact, which was unfortunate. It kind of cycled us to the back but we were still in a good position. It's really hard to pass around here with the traffic. I wasn't going to give the position (to the 9 Porsche). I was trying to be aggressive and hold him off. We were racing for the Endurance Cup so I think that's why we were racing that aggressively that early on.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “It was a tough race. We didn’t have the pace at the end. It seems like everyone else had something left and we didn’t. I had fun but unfortunately this was the maximum we could do.
"Honestly there wasn't a lot of crazy action. It was quite fun. Unfortunately on both pit entries, I got held up by a couple of stints and lost some time. But that didn't mean so much for our pace. It just means that all the effort you put in during the stint is then lost for no reason, which is very annoying.”
Garcia takes fifth in GTD PRO ahead of 10-hour Petit Le Mans finale
CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD ATLANTA: Getting Closer to the Front Garcia takes fifth in GTD PRO ahead of 10-hour Petit Le Mans finale
BRASELTON, Ga. (Sept. 30, 2022) – Antonio Garcia and Corvette Racing will start on the third row of the GT Daytona (GTD) category and fifth in GTD PRO on Saturday for the 10-hour Petit Le Mans – the final race of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Garcia set a best lap of 1:19.444 (115.099 mph) around Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. He will team with Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg as the race goes green at 12:10 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock, XM 207).
Garcia was 0.609 seconds off Jack Hawksworth’s pole-winning time in GTD PRO. However, there is only a 0.165-second margin from third to fifth.
As has been the case at every IMSA round this season, it’s the first event for Corvette Racing at Road Atlanta in the GTD category after eight years in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. Compared to previous years, the GTD-spec Corvette runs with more weight, less power, an anti-lock braking system and a spec Michelin tire.
This year’s Petit Le Mans is the 25th running of the endurance classic with Corvette Racing looking for its ninth class victory since its first race there in 1999… but first since 2010. That long-awaited victory would help Garcia and Taylor secure second place in the GTD PRO Drivers Championship and also go a long way toward winning the Michelin Endurance Cup – a collection of the four premier long-distance races for the WeatherTech Championship.
The season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona and Petit Le Mans bookend the Endurance Cup, which sees Chevrolet second in the Manufacturers standings entering Road Atlanta. Garcia, Taylor and Catsburg won the Endurance Cup’s second round – the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring – in March to move into contention.
The 10-hour Petit Le Mans is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 1. The race will air live on NBC from noon-3 p.m. ET and from 7-10:30 p.m. ET on USA. Peacock will have live flag-to-flag streaming from noon-10:30 p.m. ET. IMSA Radio will provide live audio coverage Saturday on IMSA.com, XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED FIFTH IN GTD PRO: "I wouldn’t consider that decent. My lap was probably decent but I feel like I had a tiny bit more. It was difficult to put together with how the car behaved and how bad traffic was. Traffic interaction wasn’t great, and that killed a little momentum. That’s the same for everyone. “When you come to these kind of races where the car count is big and Road Atlanta is only an 80-second lap, your chances of getting in the way of someone or someone getting in your way are higher. It’s difficult to really gauge when you have to push and when do you have your time to go and try for a quick one. When I decided to go, it wasn’t a great moment. I had two cars coming out of the pits and because of that it snowballs into bigger problems. It’s never easy and never easy here. We’re up there (in the GTD order). It’s still a 10-hour race, which is a long way so qualifying doesn’t mean a lot. For sure we have some extra feedback on how the car behaves and I’m sure we’ll have a better Corvette tomorrow.”
Endurance Cup title also in play in final race of first GTD PRO season
CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD ATLANTA: Just Win It Endurance Cup title also in play in final race of first GTD PRO season
DETROIT (Sept. 28, 2022) – Winning races is the goal every time out for Corvette Racing. There’s a bit more “want” coming from the team this weekend, however.
The 10-hour Petit Le Mans is the final round of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It’s the 25th running of the endurance classic at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with Corvette Racing looking for its ninth class victory since its first race there in 1999. That doesn’t tell a complete story, unfortunately.
It’s been 12 years – 4,378 days for those counting – since Corvette Racing last won Petit Le Mans. It’s the longest stretch between victories at any event for the program… a situation the team plans to rectify Saturday. CORVETTE RACING MEDIA INFORMATION
Corvette Racing media information is updated and available ahead of this weekend's Petit Le Mans. Materials include:
Full-season teammates Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor welcome Nicky Catsburg back to the driver’s seat of the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class. The two seek their second long-distance victory of the season, having won the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.
That triumph plus a strong showing at June’s Six Hours of The Glen have propelled Garcia, Taylor and the No. 3 Corvette squad to the lead of the Michelin Endurance Cup – a collection of the four premier long-distance races for the WeatherTech Championship.
The season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona and Petit Le Mans bookend the Endurance Cup, which sees Chevrolet second in the Manufacturers standings entering Road Atlanta.
The best way to secure the championship is to win the race. Taylor is the one member of the driver trio to accomplish that, having won overall in 2014 and 2018 as part of the Prototype class.
Not that there haven’t been close calls. Corvette Racing has finished second four times and recorded a pair of third-place finishes since 2010. In many of those seasons, the team’s focus was on wrapping up either the American Le Mans Series’ GT championship or the IMSA GT Le Mans (GTLM) title instead of going for outright race wins – 2013, 2016-18 and 2021.
Petit Le Mans sees the end of the first season for Corvette in the new GTD PRO category, and as such is the first at Road Atlanta for the GTD Corvette – which runs with more weight, less power, an anti-lock braking system and a spec Michelin tire compared to the GTLM class. Aside from a win at Sebring in March, the No. 3 Corvette finished second in class at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and VIR with third-place showings at Long Beach and Road America.
Chevrolet On Display at Road Atlanta In addition to the many series and events competing during the Petit Le Mans weekend, race fans will have plenty to see and experience from Chevrolet. The Chevrolet Motorsports Display will be full of Chevy vehicles that spectators can learn more about throughout the weekend.
The Chevrolet Motorsports Display opens at 8 a.m. Thursday and Friday plus 8:30 a.m. Saturday and is located in the Fan Zone above the Road Atlanta main paddock. Numerous Chevrolet vehicles and other highlights include:
• The 2023 Corvette Z06 convertible • Additional Chevrolet products such as Equinox RS AWD, Camaro 2SS coupe, 2023 Blazer RS AWD, 2022 Silverado 1500 Crew ZR2 4WD, 2023 Tahoe 4WD RST and a SEMA-edition Corvette Stingray • A Corvette C8.R showcar, a Corvette Stingray cutaway chassis and the Chevrolet Corvette LT6.R engine • An opportunity to receive a 2022 Corvette Racing t-shirt
In addition, a white Chevrolet Corvette Stingray coupe will lead the Petit Le Mans field to the green flag and serve as the official pace car.
The 10-hour Petit Le Mans is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 1. The race will air live on NBC from noon-3 p.m. ET and from 7-10:30 p.m. ET on USA. Peacock will have live flag-to-flag streaming from noon-10:30 p.m. ET. IMSA Radio will provide live audio coverage Saturday on IMSA.com, XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: "It's both puzzling and frustrating that I haven't won Petit Le Mans. Of all the big races I've done with Corvette, that's the only one left and I'm reminded of it year after year. The race will be different in many ways so hopefully that's good for us. Although we are leading the Endurance Cup standings, we are effectively out of the season championship. It's not a familiar position for us but now we can just go and race for the win this time.
"I'd like to win Petit Le Mans not just for myself but for the team. This has been a very challenging year moving to GTD PRO. It took a lot of work to get the C8.R ready for Daytona. Since then we've been in some races and not competitive in others. That's how it goes with the car we are running. I would say though that the team has worked has hard as it ever has to get whatever results we've been able to achieve."
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: "Petit Le Mans is always a highlight of the year. It brings an amazing crowd and the race itself is always great. I think after our strong showing at VIR and being back in contention for wins, it’s given us a lot of motivation and confidence heading into the weekend. It hasn’t been the easiest year for us. Obviously winning the Sebring 12 Hours was great, but since then we’ve had some tough events. We were able to find a little bit of footing in Canada earlier in the summer, and VIR was the first race in a while where we felt like we could contend. We're hoping we can keep that up and close this year out on a high.
"I'm fortunate to have won Petit Le Mans multiple times. There are a lot of really good engineers and crew guys on our team - plus Antonio and Nicky - who haven't won there yet. There has been a lot of effort and preparation put into this race to get them that first win at Petit Le Mans. There wouldn't be any better way to close this year than Corvette Racing finally winning there."
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: "Honestly this is probably the race everyone wants to win the most! Antonio has never won it and he’s won pretty much every other single event in the States. I’ll add myself to that, especially since last year I didn’t get to drive. For me, this is a big event and one that I want to win. It’s a great event and I’m looking forward to getting back to Corvette Racing. It’s been a long time since I was in the GTD version of the car in March at Sebring, so I’m sure I’ll need some time to get back up to speed. But I can’t wait to be back with the guys and try to win this race.
"This race will be quite a tough one. Road Atlanta doesn’t present the most overtaking opportunities. In the past, there was a clear difference between GTLM and GTD so you had a natural way to overtake. Now every single GTD car you find is potentially just as quick or just a little bit slower than you depending on tire situations. So everything is going to be a fight, plus you have the DPi cars that are so much faster in the high-speed sections. It will be very tough but it’s another reason I love multi-class racing. It’s another aspect where you can make a difference as a driver by being smart in traffic. We will have to stay on our toes the entire time.”
2022 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After nine of 10 events) Driver Standings 1. Mathieu Jaminet/Matt Campbell – 3,173 2. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2,908 3. Ben Barnicoat – 2,892 4. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 2,791 5. Connor De Phillippi/John Edwards – 2,522
Team Standings 1. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 3,173 2. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 2,908 3. No. 14 VasserSullivan – 2,892 4. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 2,791 5. No. 25 BMW Team RLL – 2,522
Manufacturer Standings 1. Porsche – 3,173 2. Lexus – 2,922 3. Chevrolet – 2,918 4. Aston Martin – 2,861 5. BMW – 2,607
CORVETTE RACING AT MICHELIN RACEWAY ROAD ATLANTA: By the Numbers • 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 24 years: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette. • 3: Tracks where Corvette Racing has competed in each of its 24 years: Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Sebring International Raceway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. • 4: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Road Atlanta since 1999 – Corvette C5-R (1999-04) Corvette C6.R (2005-2013), Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and the new-generation Corvette C8.R (2020-current), which made its Road Atlanta debut at September’s six-hour IMSA race in 2020. • 10: Number of Road Atlanta victories for Corvette Racing dating back to 2000 – eight of those at Petit Le Mans. • 10: Petit Le Mans wins for Chevrolet – eight in GT and two in Prototype. That ranks third among manufacturers in event history. • 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001 • 27: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Fuji Speedway, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen • 32: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999 • 122: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America, eight at Le Mans and one in the FIA WEC • 264: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999 • 40,845.98: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 25 previous trips to Road Atlanta. That represents 16,304 laps or more than 638 trips around Interstate 285 – Atlanta’s Perimeter. • 347,052.77: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon and more than halfway back!
Corvette Racing at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta 1999 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel/John Paul Jr. – 5th in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Scott Sharp – 4th in GTS
2000 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel/Justin Bell – 3rd in GTS (Fellows pole) No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Franck Freon – 1st in GTS
2001 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Scott Pruett – 9th in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Franck Freon – 1st in GTS (Pilgrim pole)
2002 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Franck Freon – 3rd in GTS (Pilgrim fastest race lap)
2003* No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 3rd in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Oliver Gavin/Kelly Collins – 1st in GTS
2003 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Franck Freon – 5th in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Oliver Gavin/Kelly Collins/Andy Pilgrim – 3rd in GTS
2004 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Max Papis – 2nd in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GTS (Gavin pole, fastest race lap)
2005* No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 1st in GT1 (O’Connell pole, fastest race lap) No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1
2009 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O'Connell/Antonio Garcia – 6th in GT2 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin/Marcel Fässler – 4th in GT2
2010 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Johnny O’Connell/Antonio Garcia – 6th in GT No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen/Emmanuel Collard – 1st in GT (Magnussen fastest race lap)
2011 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner/Antonio Garcia – 17th in GT No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen/Richard Westbrook – 4th in GT
2012 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GT No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Richard Westbrook – 12th in GT
2013 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 6th in GT (Garcia/Magnussen ALMS GT title) No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Richard Westbrook – 10th in GT
2014 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Ryan Briscoe – 8th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Ryan Briscoe – 4th in GTLM
2015 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Ryan Briscoe – 6th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Ryan Briscoe – 3rd in GTLM
2016 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 4th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 3rd in GTLM (Gavin/Milner clinch GTLM title)
2017 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 2nd in GTLM (Garcia/Magnussen clinch GTLM title) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 4th in GTLM
2018 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Marcel Fässler – 8th in GTLM (Garcia/Magnussen clinch GTLM title) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 2nd in GTLM
2019 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 4th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 7th in GTLM
2020** No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 5th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTLM
2020 No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 2nd in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 4th in GTLM
2021 No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 6th in GTLM (Garcia/Taylor clinch GTLM title) No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy/Alexander Sims – 4th in GTLM (Sims fastest race lap)
IMSA Monitoring Hurricane Ian Situation for Petit Le Mans
No change in Motul Petit Le Mans event schedule as of Monday ahead of likely Hurricane Ian impact… By John Dagys
IMSA will “act accordingly” should Hurricane Ian impact the running of Saturday’s Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale, scheduled for Oct. 1, could be affected if current projections on the storm’s path prove accurate.
While currently a Category 1 hurricane in the Caribbean Sea, meteorologists expect Ian to strengthen to Category 4 over the Gulf of Mexico later this week prior to making landfall in Florida between Wednesday night into Thursday morning, then moving north into Georgia.
Current forecasts call for more than 1.2 inches of rain in Braselton, Ga. on Friday, with a similar amount of precipitation on Saturday.
As of Monday, there are no changes to the event schedule, which sees the two-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race and WeatherTech Championship qualifying on Friday afternoon, and the ten-hour Petit Le Mans enduro slated to get underway Saturday at 12:10 p.m. ET.
“We are monitoring the situation and will act accordingly as needed,” an IMSA spokesperson told Sportscar365. Sportscar365 understands that the sanctioning body has a contingency plan in place should Saturday be a washout, with the track believed to be available for running on Sunday, which is currently scheduled to be a rest day prior to a three-day IMSA-sanctioned LMDh test that kicks off on Monday.
There is, however, a two-hour quiet period between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. ET on Sundays per a Hall County ordinance.
Try as it might, Corvette Racing couldn’t replicate its Monza magic on Sunday
CORVETTE RACING AT FUJI: No Monza Repeat in Japanese Debut
OYAMA, Japan (Sept. 11, 2022) – Try as it might, Corvette Racing couldn’t replicate its Monza magic on Sunday as it finished fifth in the GTE Pro class of the Six Hours of Fuji for the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy, coming off a victory together in the previous WEC race in Italy, soldiered through a difficult day in the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R during the team’s first race at Fuji Speedway.
Milner, Tandy and the rest of the team had a tough time coming to grips – figuratively and literally – with the unfamiliar Fuji circuit and track surface.
The Corvette team found itself in a hole early as the No. 64 had to serve a drive-through penalty for exceeding track limits just shy of the 30-minute mark. Tandy rejoined the track undeterred and managed to gain a spot up to fourth with an inside dive on the No. 91 Porsche – which also was called in for a similar penalty – at the first corner just shy of the one-hour mark.
The tire management of the Corvette progressed nicely for the remainder of Tandy’s stint compared to the other GTE Pro runners. Another stroke of misfortune struck, however, as the Corvette ran out of fuel on pitlane as Tandy headed for his first stop. After some assistance from the Corvette Racing crew, the No. 64 took on fuel and left-side tires for Tandy’s second stint.
The struggles continued with Tandy reporting a severe lack of rear grip and a tire issue through the back half of his run.
Milner drove the middle two stints and took on four tires for each run in an effort to claw back into contention. Unfortunately the continuing struggles with pace and grip plus a caution-free race limited any ground that he and Tandy could make up at the end.
Corvette Racing closes its first-year WEC campaign with the Eight Hours of Bahrain on Nov. 10-12.
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Today was not our best day on many fronts, for sure. It was a frustrating day I think for Nick, frustrating for our engineers and frustrating for me all in our own ways. We’ll give ourselves some time after the race to decompress and think about those lessons and take them with us to Bahrain. In general, we had some struggles through practice and we improved the car for Nick through FP3 and qualifying. We were still behind the eight-ball a little bit, and in the race we saw some residuals from that. I was pretty slow the first couple of laps of my stint just because I was realistically driving a new car from what I had from the practice sessions. The second stint was a bit better but for me not as good as it needed to be. In the grand scheme of things, no thing that one person did or one group did had an ultimate effect on today; it was a collection of many things. We’ll isolate the mistakes and at the same time highlight the positives and find the things we did well. We’ll take our lumps from today and focus on Bahrain to be more prepared, be faster and make less mistakes. Hopefully that’s enough and we can have a good race there.”
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “The story of the race wasn’t so great. Really since Friday morning, it’s been a struggle. I think the characteristics of this track and the track surface just don’t suit our car. You’re never going to have the fastest car at every track you go to; that’s not how racing works. So what we have done is learned a lot. If we could start the race again tomorrow, there are things we absolutely would change but you only learn things from experience. This is something we can take forward. We’re not going to win every race. What we need to do is capitalize on days where the car is competitive. We had some issues but this was the one take because this was our least competitive showing from a pace perspective. This shows again the things we need to focus on in practice and in simulation when we are coming to a new track. And it shows that racing is difficult. It shows that the day we had Monza is just as big as we thought it was at the time. This weekend shows just what a good job we did there and how tough it can be if the stars don’t align.”
Team will dig into its bag of tricks to work forward in Six Hours of Fuji
CORVETTE RACING AT FUJI: Trying to Close the Gap Team will dig into its bag of tricks to work forward in Six Hours of Fuji
OYAMA, Japan (Sept. 10, 2022) – Corvette Racing will start fifth among GTE Pro runners Sunday morning in Japan as it tries for a second straight victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Nick Tandy set a lap of 1:37.127 (105.074 mph) in the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he will share with Tommy Milner in the Six Hours of Fuji. Only 0.756 seconds separates all of the GTE Pro entries, an interesting prospect for another thrilling race in the category.
Tandy and Milner won in their last time out at the Six Hours of Monza, which was the first victory for Corvette Racing as a full-time FIA WEC entrant.
With Fuji being a much more technical circuit that Monza – another new track for the Corvette program – the bulk of the three practice sessions were spent developing and fine-tuning chassis and aero setups, plus evaluating different tire compounds with an eye toward the race.
Both Milner and Tandy were happy with the long-run prospects of the Corvette after the final practice leading into qualifying.
Fuji is the Corvette program’s 32nd venue during its nearly 25-year run of racetracks around the world with Bahrain still to go in the WEC’s season finale.
The Six Hours of Fuji for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 11 a.m. JST Sunday /10 p.m. ET Saturday from Fuji Speedway in Japan. The race will air live on MotorTrend from 9:30-11 p.m. ET on Saturday and the final hour and post-race from 3-4:30 a.m ET on Sunday. Live streaming coverage of the race an on-board feed from the No. 64 Corvette will be available on the MotorTrend Plus app. Radio Le Mans’ RS1 channel will stream play-by-play and race commentary from 9:30 p.m. ET on Saturday through 4:30 a.m. ET on Sunday.
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED FIFTH IN GTE PRO: “Since Free Practice One, we’ve been at a pace deficit that has been similar throughout all the sessions. We’ve been improving the car, but it seems like something fundamentally with the circuit, how the car is working on the tires and other factors aren’t suiting us on single-lap performance. Looking at qualifying, things were better again from Free Practice Three, which was better from Free Practice Two. But of course, everyone else also is going faster. It’s kind of frustrating because we are improving and the Corvette is better to drive, but we are lacking a little bit of single-lap pace. “Of course this a new track to us and the one where Tommy and I have the least amount of experience on the WEC calendar. There’s something else kind of happening where our car and the tire combination isn’t working with the track surface. We can look again and come up with a few ideas for the race.
“Typically we are better in race pace in this WEC season than we’ve been in qualifying. We haven’t had a pole outside of Le Mans, but we manage to run at the front once the race gets going. There is still a long race to come. The thing with WEC is that you do have to double-stint tires, and up to two hours on a set of tires here is going to be a challenge for every team. Let’s see what happens.”
6 HOURS OF FUJI RACE SCHEDULE: Septembr 9-11, 2022 Monza, Italy Track NameAutodromo Nazionale di Monza Track Length2.84 miles Corners16 Race Distance6 Hours
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TV Broadcast:
TV: Motor Trend Channel and Velocity Channel (Canada) September 11, 2022 Saturday: 9:30 pm-11:00 pm EDT part 1 Sunday ending: 3:00 am -4:30 pm EDT part 2
A live stream will be available on the Motor Trend + app with all 6 hours start: Saturday: 9:30 pm EDT end: 4:30 am EDT
WEC FIA has offered an app to you can download. You can also purchase the race for a premimum package Program: https://www.fiawec.com/en/official-fia-wec-app/45 or download Google Play Store or Apple store.
6 Hours of Fuji: Dates and start time in the US Friday 9 September 2022 Free Practice 2: 2:30 am-4:00 am (ET) Free practice 3: 9:20 pm-10:30 pm (ET)
Saturday 10 September 2022 Qualifying 2: 1:40 am-1:50 am (ET) Qualifying 2: 2:00 am-2:10 am (ET) Race: 10:00 pm
Milner, Tandy, No. 64 C8.R aim to keep momentum from Monza class win
CORVETTE RACING AT FUJI: Far East Beckons for First Time Milner, Tandy, No. 64 C8.R aim to keep momentum from Monza class win
DETROIT (Sept. 6, 2022) – The last time Corvette Racing visited a ‘new’ track, it resulted in its first victory as an entrant in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
It’s time again for the team to venture to a new venue as the WEC resumes with the Six Hours of Fuji at historic Fuji Speedway. It’s the fourth round of this year’s GTE Pro championship with Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy the most recent winners at Monza in the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
The 16-turn 2.84-mile Fuji circuit has a good blend of technical and high-speed sections that will put a premium on engineering setup and strategy.
As is the case at the majority of circuits on the WEC calendar, Corvette Racing can lean on the knowledge of past experience of Tandy at Fuji, where he has made two career WEC starts albeit in prototype machinery.
While Fuji will be new to Milner, he does have experience racing in Japan as part of the Asian Le Mans Series more than a decade ago. That doesn’t mean that he and Corvette Racing will go in blind as the engineering team has spent many days in Chevrolet’s Driver in the Loop simulator to explore and establish baseline setups with Milner assisting and getting to know the circuit.
Fuji will be Corvette Racing’s 32nd venue during its nearly 25-year run of racetracks around the world with Bahrain still to go in the WEC’s season finale.
The No. 64 Corvette opened the WEC season with a strong second-place showing at the rain-shortened 1,000 Miles of Sebring. Things were trending the right way for the Tandy/Milner pairing at the Six Hours of Spa before a red flag just past the one-hour mark wiped out the team’s first planned pit stop and effectively put the Corvette a lap down before finishing fourth.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans was a cruel blow with the No. 64 C8.R eliminated while leading just shy of the 18-hour mark. Spirits lifted within the team following a thrilling class victory at Monza where the team won a fuel-mileage race for its first WEC win outside of Le Mans.
The Six Hours of Fuji for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 11 a.m. JST Sunday /10 p.m. ET Saturday from Fuji Speedway in Japan. Qualifying is set for 2:40 p.m. JST/1:40 a.m. ET on Saturday. The race will air live on MotorTrend with live streaming coverage of the race and qualifying on the MotorTrend Plus app. Radio Le Mans will broadcast qualifying and the race.
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: : “I’ve done four days in the sim on Fuji. We’ve done quite a bit of work on it so far. It’s a super cool track. It’s really fast in a lot of places. It’s unique in some ways in that there are a lot of long-duration corners there. Car balance and tire life will be super important. There are things we can do on the setup side to help us put all of those things together. The sim also gives us a chance to take some really big swings at it and experiments so to speak with setup to find something with the car that we haven’t tried before. While it’s nice for me to be able to drive these tracks on the sim beforehand, I feel like it’s definitely a big help to go to these tracks and get in the car and get going right away. It’s for sure speeding up the learning process for me and but it’s also helping us quite a bit on car setup as well. I think we’re pretty happy with our simulator program and the benefits that it offers us. Continuing momentum from Monza: “Just because we won Monza doesn’t mean we are on a streak or a roll or whatever. We have to work as hard as we have to be as competitive as we possibly can to get the most out of the car. Focusing on yourself is always the best strategy to get the most out of package. While it’s nice to think we were owed something, we did a good job to get the car where we wanted it to be. The Corvette basically from the first practice was already really good; we were able to just tweak it a little bit throughout the weekend. We have to continue on that path – working really hard on the simulator and in engineering as they always do to figure out ways to get more out of it, which we’re doing. If we continue putting in the hard work, the results will continue.”
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Fuji is an F1-type of circuit where the surface is pretty smooth. It’s on quite a flat area. But it’s a track where it’s difficult to know the best way to go about setup philosophy. There’s this huge straight where you need obviously straight-line speed, but there are a couple other high-downforce corners. Turn Three there is a long right that is one of the fastest and most committed sections of racetrack anywhere in the world. Of course you want to trim your car out to be fast on the straight, but you can’t afford to give up downforce in these areas. It lends itself to good racing because there is a slipstream effect if you can stay close to the cars in front of you through the last sector and down the start/finish straight. There’s also the weather aspect. Fuji in September can see very changeable conditions and the rain can come in quickly. I’ve only been there twice but it’s the track where I have the least level of experience personally. It will be one of our toughest challenges as a team, I expect, being new to the circuit for the first time.” Motorsport culture in Japan: “Japan is a motorsport country and they have a huge following. There always is a massive turnout for the World Endurance Championship. They want to see the cars, and they want to see the racing. I’m sure having Corvette Racing for the first time in Japan will be a big thing for the Japanese who have never come to America or come to Le Mans to see the Corvettes. They’re always super excited about seeing the cars, and the people are super nice and respectful for everyone who comes over to race in front of them. I’m looking forward to being in the car and with the team to show them about Corvette Racing.”
Behind the scenes from this weekend's IMSA race at VIR. Let us know what you'd like to see more of next time now that we have a proper video man in Mark Urban!
PRESS RELEASE: No. 3 Corvette C8.R nearly claims third straight overall VIR victory
CORVETTE RACING AT VIR: Garcia, Taylor Take Hard-Fought Second No. 3 Corvette C8.R nearly claims third straight overall VIR victory
ALTON, Va. (Aug. 28, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor finished second in the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR on Sunday, their second consecutive podium finish this year in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Taylor made a last-lap charge to finish 0.823 seconds behind the race-winning Pfaff Motorsports entry. He and Garcia were going for their second overall win at Virginia International Raceway in three years and Corvette Racing’s third consecutive victory at the fast and flowing 3.27-mile, 17-turn circuit. The runner-up result was the second for the No. 3 Corvette on the season.
Garcia began second but ran third after the opening lap as fuel-savings began almost immediately for the top three cars. He ran anywhere between 0.3-0.6 seconds behind second-place Matt Campbell before the No. 3 Corvette team called in Garcia for the first time at 48 minutes running.
The No. 3 Corvette was the first GTD PRO car to stop and took fuel and four fresh Michelin tires as Garcia handed off to Taylor. The call and stop were perfect, as was Taylor’s outlap, as the C8.R went from third and nearly two seconds back to a nine-second advantage after the first pit cycle completed.
Taylor maintained that gap while saving fuel up to the race’s first full-course yellow near the 80-minute mark. It wasn’t what the team was hoping for as the Corvette needed more fuel than the rest of the GTD PRO field due to its early stop.
The race went back to green with 66 minutes to go and Taylor fourth in class - seventh overall. He picked up one spot in the overall standings at the start and diced his way through the regular GTD field to challenge for third in class 10 minutes later.
He moved to second overall with 55 minutes to go before stopping for a final splash of fuel to get to the end of the race. He trailed Mathieu Jaminet by as much as five seconds before running down the fuel-starved leader late. Slower GTD cars impeded Taylor in the closing laps but he charged back to finish within an eyelash of the No. 3 Corvette’s second victory of the season.
Corvette Racing closes its IMSA season with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans on Saturday, Oct. 1 from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND: "I think we had a good race. We didn't get lucky with the yellow, for sure. We were the ones taking the gamble on the earliest first stop. From that point on, that 10-second lead we had didn't last. Over the last few years, I don't think we had a yellow here. It was the right choice to get up there with that strategy. It's a shame in that respect. But we showed more pace and performance today. Great job by Jordan and the team. Let's take this on to Petit Le Mans."
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND: "I knew Antonio wanted an easy day today! He's had a lot of long days this year! The Corvette was so good. The team did a great job with the strategy. That first call was the right one. At the time, we jumped ahead and had a nice lead. We were controlling it at the front but that yellow was really unfortunate; otherwise I think it would have been an easy day. Once that came out, we had to battle back past and passed some guys on track. After the last stop, I was trying to take care of the tires as long as possible, knowing it was going to be a long stint. Some of the Am cars lapping through there made it difficult to pass. That was frustrating or else I think we could have had a shot to win, especially seeing how close it was at the end. It was a tough day but it was nice to be back in a competitive spot. Hopefully we can go to Petit Le Mans with similar performance."
Team eyeing three straight Michelin GT Challenge victories from second-place grid spot
CORVETTE RACING AT VIR: Front-Row Start for Garcia, No. 3 C8.R Team eyeing three straight Michelin GT Challenge victories from second-place grid spot
ALTON, Va. (Aug. 27, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia qualified second in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class and overall Saturday for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, an event that Corvette Racing has won the previous two years at Virginia International Raceway.
Garcia’s time of 1:44.677 (112.470 mph) in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R put him only behind Ross Gunn’s pole-winning time ahead of Sunday’s 2:10 p.m. ET race (CNBC, Peacock). Garcia will start the No. 3 Corvette and will share driving duties with Jordan Taylor.
Oppressive heat and humidity were major themes from practice sessions Friday and Saturday, plus the afternoon’s qualifying. Air temperatures climbed into the low 90s and humidity levels crept into the 60s, which sent track temperatures well above 105 degrees for qualifying.
As a result, maintaining life and performance out of the Michelin tires will be key to Sunday’s race, which will be run in nearly identical conditions. That is an area where Corvette Racing has excelled this season, including at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March – the program’s lone IMSA victory this year.
A Corvette Racing entry has claimed overall wins four times at VIR in IMSA competition. Garcia and Taylor were victors in 2020 in the now-extinct GT Le Mans (GTLM) category. They were second a year ago to Corvette teammates Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy, who are partnering this season in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
This year is the first for Corvette in the new GT Daytona (GTD) PRO category, and as such is the first at VIR for the GTD Corvette – which runs with more weight, less power, an anti-lock braking system and a spec Michelin tire compared to the GTLM class.
Corvette Racing’s love affair with VIR goes back to 2012. This will be the team’s 11th appearance at the 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course. The configuration of the circuit – two long straights and a mix of low- medium- and high-speed corners – creates opportunities for a number of engineering and strategic decisions. That’s an area where Corvette Racing has a distinct advantage given its 24-year history of competition.
The Michelin GT Challenge at VIR is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 28. The race will air live on CNBC and stream live on Peacock beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED SECOND: "I feel like I got a lot out the car but not all of it. It was a decent first laps with a few mistakes. Track conditions were tricky. We had to kind of guess where the track would develop. I think I was expecting more grip overall. At the end of the day, it's the first row. I don't think we had anything for pole, but looking at tomorrow I think a lot of things will happen. The conditions will be tricky again, and the track can bite you. It will be the same for everybody so we need to see as much of the data as possible so we can fine-tune and be as prepared as possible for the race.
"I'd say qualifying was more like what we will have for the race (compared to Friday practice). Warmup (on Sunday) can give us a direction but that will be at eight in the morning. I'm sure the car will feel great then. We'll focus on what we have and we did yesterday and today to get our Corvette to where it should be for the race. Generally over the long run, we've been more competitive on pace in the race than in qualifying. Let's see if that's that case again tomorrow. This is still a new race and new track for this spec of car. Having said that, I think we are in good shape. Let's see if we can keep it up."
CORVETTE RACING AT VIR: Going for Another Overall Win Program seeking fourth overall win at GT-only weekend in Virginia
DETROIT (Aug. 23, 2022) – Corvette Racing seeks to win overall for the fifth time and sixth in class at Virginia International Raceway as the team returns to the track this weekend for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR.
It’s the second of two GT-only races on the calendar for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The event, scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, is one that Corvette Racing has dominated since it went to its current format in 2014.
A Corvette Racing entry has claimed overall wins four times at VIR in IMSA competition, including each of the last two years. Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor, who share the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, were victors in 2020 in the now-extinct GT Le Mans (GTLM) category.
They were second a year ago to Corvette teammates Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy, who are partnering this season in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
This year is the first for Corvette in the new GT Daytona (GTD) PRO category, and as such is the first at VIR for the GTD Corvette – which runs with more weight, less power, an anti-lock braking system and a spec Michelin tire compared to the GTLM class.
Aside from a win at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, the season has been mostly frustrating with a runner-up finish at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and third-place showings at Long Beach and Road America.
Corvette Racing’s love affair with VIR goes back to 2012. This will be the team’s 11th appearance at the 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course. The configuration of the circuit – two long straights and a mix of low- medium- and high-speed corners – creates opportunities for a number of engineering and strategic decisions. That’s an area where Corvette Racing has a distinct advantage given its 24-year history of competition.
The Michelin GT Challenge at VIR is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 28. The race will air live on CNBC and stream live on Peacock beginning at 2 p.m. ET. IMSA Radio will broadcast Saturday’s final practice and qualifying with the race call Sunday at IMSA.com, on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: "VIR has everything... nice flow, especially. This should be a good weekend for us. It's another 'first' weekend for the GTD Corvette. We don't know where we will stand. There are some long straightaways, so we will have to decide on the best aero package to see what is most beneficial. It's a track where we always have fun at and have a ton of success. Hopefully it's the same way this year again. "There are a few tracks where we have to find aero balance like what we need at VIR. I would consider this track like Canadian Tire Motorsport Park or Watkins Glen where there are fast speeds and slow sections, but you probably need to take care of your top speed. At times, it pays to be a little lighter on downforce and being fast on the straights. We will figure out what's best.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: "In terms of enjoyment of driving around, VIR is probably in the top-three of the tracks we go to. It's one of those natural-terrain tracks that still feels like an old-school track. There's not much margin for error... high speeds and lots of elevation changes. It's just a lot of fun to drive. It's one of the ones we always look forward to going to. "It's a place where you can get caught out pretty quickly with a lot of blind corners that are high-speed. So you do have to be careful. It's one of the better tracks we go to because it's an all-GT race. If we had prototypes there, it would be pretty difficult because of how narrow it is. Every time we go there, the racing is always tough and tight. We saw that last year in the GTLM class with only three cars. Going back there this year with a little bit bigger grid, the racing should be super good."
2022 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After eight of 10 events) Driver Standings 1. Mathieu Jaminet/Matt Campbell – 2,793 2. Ben Barnicoat – 2,566 3. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2,566 4. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 2,476 5. Connor De Phillippi/John Edwards – 2,234
Team Standings 1. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 2.793 2. No. 14 VasserSullivan – 2,566 3. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 2,566 4. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 2,476 5. No. 25 BMW Team RLL – 2,234
Manufacturer Standings 1. Porsche – 2,793 2. Lexus – 2,596 3. Chevrolet – 2,566 4. Aston Martin – 2,546 5. BMW – 2,319
CORVETTE RACING AT VIR: By the Numbers • 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 24 years: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette • 3: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at VIR since 2012 – Corvette C6.R (2012-2013) and Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and the mid-engine Corvette C8.R, which is 2-0 at the circuit since debuting there in 2020 • 4: Overall VIR race wins for Corvette Racing – 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2021. Antonio Garcia was part of the first three • 5: Class wins at VIR for Corvette Racing, the most among IMSA entrants. Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin won in ALMS GT competition in 2012, and Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen won overall in 2016 and 2017. Garcia and Jordan Taylor drove the C8.R to a win in 2020 with Milner and Nick Tandy victorious a year ago • 9: Number of VIR victories for Chevrolet since 2002 covering both ALMS and the Rolex Series; that’s the most among manufacturers • 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001 • 26: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen • 32: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999 • 122: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America, eight at Le Mans and one in the FIA WEC • 262: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999 • 5,902.35: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its eight previous trips to Virginia International Raceway. If all goes to plan, the team will surpass 6,000 miles after 30 laps in this year’s race • 346,160.95: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon and more than halfway back!
Corvette Racing at Virginia International Raceway (wins in bold) 2012 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 8th in GT (Garcia fastest race lap) No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GT (Clinched ALMS GT title)
2013 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GT (Clinch GT team, manufacturer titles) No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GT
2014 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 7th in GTLM (Taylor replaced Magnussen – injury) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 9th in GTLM
2015 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 6th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM
2016 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLM (Magnussen pole) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 9th in GTLM (Gavin fastest race lap)
2017 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM
2018 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM
2019 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM
2020 No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM
2021 No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 1st in GTLM
Challenges with weather, pace work against Garcia and Taylor in GTD PRO
CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD AMERICA: No. 3 C8.R Back on Podium Challenges with weather, pace work against Garcia and Taylor in GTD PRO
ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. (Aug. 7, 2022) – Corvette Racing came home third in class Sunday at Road America in the IMSA Fastline SportsCar Weekend. Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor finished on the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO podium in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R for their second straight top-three finish at the circuit in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Garcia started third and drove the first 40 minutes in mostly dry conditions, although track conditions grew more treacherous on his slick Michelin tires toward the end of his stint.
The Corvette Racing crew got the No. 3 Corvette and Taylor out at the head of GTD PRO after the first stop. Unfortunately, Taylor had the worst of the conditions as he rejoined the race on wet-weather tires. Even more frustrating was the No. 3 Corvette’s lack of straight-line speed also started to rear its head as Taylor went from first to third on the restart in a matter of two corners.
He fell down to fourth behind the No. 23 Aston Martin, but more than once he took back the position into one of Road America’s brake zones only to fall back again on the long runs between corners. Meanwhile, the rain was somewhat consistent at the start of Taylor’s stint but moved to drying conditions as the second of three full-course yellows flew with 78 minutes remaining. Garcia got back in on slick tires and restarted fourth in class.
He finally got the No. 3 Corvette back onto the podium with less than hour to go while a number of GTD cars were in a fuel-savings mode to try and make the end in case the race went green the rest of the way.
That didn’t happen as a third yellow came out with 54 minutes to go. Corvette Racing engineers elected to keep Garcia out to try and gain an advantage in track position, but a number of GTD cars had the same idea – including the eventual race-winning Lexus.
The race went green with 36 minutes to go but Garcia was swallowed up and passed by two more lapped GTD cars on the run from the final corner to the start-finish line. He was able to hold on to the third position in GTD PRO before a final yellow ended the race with eight minutes left.
Corvette Racing’s next event is the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR from Virginia International Raceway on August 26-28.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED THIRD IN GTD PRO:“The way to you get laptime in our car is completely different to everyone else. On every restart we lost at least one or two positions. So you feel helpless and frustrated. There’s nothing we can do to make our car faster. Hopefully the next race at VIR is better.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED THIRD IN GTD PRO: “It was a frustrating day as a whole. It seems our pace over a lap isn’t too horrible, but where our pace is made against everyone else makes it almost impossible to race anyone. It’s the same story on a different weekend from the last five or six races. It’s frustrating overall, so hopefully we can go to Virginia and be a little more competitive than this.”
Garcia, Taylor looking to build on team’s eight previous Road America wins
CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD AMERICA: Happy Garcia Third in GTD PRO Qualifying No. 3 Corvette C8.R on inside of second row in chase for ninth Road America win
ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. (Aug. 6, 2022) – Antonio Garcia qualified third in GT Daytona (GTD) PRO as Corvette Racing’s No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R will start on the inside of the second row for Sunday’s IMSA Fastlane Sports Weekend at Road America.
Garcia set a time of 2:05.829 (115.814 mph) Saturday around the spacious 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit in scenic eastern Wisconsin. That put him 0.464 seconds off Jack Hawksworth’s pole-winning time in the class.
Garcia qualified at Road America for the first time since 2018 but knows how to go fast around the track with a pair of fastest race laps in 2018 and 2020. The contrast in weather between Saturday’s ideal conditions and predicted rain Sunday will play a major role in the race’s outcome.
Garcia and Taylor are seeking their second win of the year and second victory at Road America as a tandem following a GT Le Mans class in 2020. After seven races, the pairing sits second in the Drivers Championship.
Road America and the Corvette brand have a lengthy history dating back nearly 60 years. Chevrolet routinely used the track to test and validate the performance of early-generation Corvettes with that tradition continuing into the present day.
Road America was the site of the first on-track running of the Corvette C8.R in 2018, and the mid-engine Corvette continues to write new chapters each weekend.
The IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend from Road America is scheduled for 10:40 a.m. CT on Sunday, August 7. The race will stream live on Peacock and air same-day beginning at noon ET on USA. IMSA Radio’s race call Sunday also will be available on IMSA.com, XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED THIRD IN GTD PRO:"That definitely was the maximum. I must say that I had really good prep so the tires were where they needed to be. Even I improved fractionally on the second lap, I thought my first was probably it. Maybe if you put together both, you could shave off a tenth. I'm happy with how the car felt and how I approached the actual qualifying session and how I built up temperature and pressure on the tires. Now we're focused on the race. It's good we are on the second row where yesterday we didn't know where we would be. We are ready for tomorrow. Let's see what the weather brings. From that point on, we can see the leaders right there so we need to stay in contact with them and do the job. "I qualified once or twice on pole here but it's been awhile since I qualified at Road America. It's always very enjoyable. You feel like you have the track to yourself. Traffic didn't play a part; it was perfect. This is the best track to have low fuel, new tires and space. It's the best part of the weekend for sure."
IMSA SPORTSCAR WEEKEND-ROAD AMERICA August 4-August 7, 2022 Elkhart Lake, WI Times posted below are Eastern, Race track is on Central time Track: Road America Race Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes Circuit Length: 4 miles Entry by Class: DPi - 6 LMP2 - 6 LMP3 - 9 GTD PRO - 5 GTD - 11
Sunday, August 7, 2022 Television & Online Broadcast TV LIVE: USA: 12:00 pm-2:30 PM ET ONLINE STREAMING: Peacock Streaming: 11:40 am -2:20 pm ET IMSA.com (for live images, in-car cameras and announcers) http://imsatv.imsa.com/
Garcia, Taylor looking to build on team’s eight previous Road America wins
CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD AMERICA: Drive for Nine in Elkhart Lake Garcia, Taylor looking to build on team’s eight previous Road America wins
DETROIT (Aug. 3, 2022) – Corvette Racing is going from the shortest track on the IMSA schedule to the longest when the team and the rest of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship return to spacious Road America for the IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend.
The 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course is one of the most revered on the IMSA calendar with high speeds, big braking zones and heavy g-loads under cornering. It also is one of Corvette Racing’s most successful venues with eight victories for the program and 14 IMSA wins for Chevrolet as a manufacturer.
In the two-hour, 40-minute race, Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor will continue their push for their third straight IMSA Drivers Championship in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
After seven races, the pairing have one win on the season – at Sebring – and sit second in the Drivers Championship in the new GT Daytona (GTD) PRO category.
Garcia and Taylor were GT Le Mans (GTLM) winners at the circuit in 2020 – the first year of the C8.R. With the class discontinued for 2022, this is the first time for Corvette Racing in GTD PRO at Road America. There are a number of differences – more weight and less power, for example – but the biggest change will be the GTD-spec tire from Michelin on the Corvette instead of the “confidential” Michelins that were designed specifically for the C8.R over the course of two-plus years.
Road America is usually notorious for eating up tires with high levels of degradation. Despite a lack of overall pace throughout the season, the No. 3 Corvette has remained in championship contention due in large part to its tire management, engineering strategy and crew execution.
Road America and the Corvette brand have a lengthy history dating back nearly 60 years. Chevrolet routinely used the track to test and validate the performance of early-generation Corvettes with that tradition continuing into the present day. Road America was the site of the first on-track running of the Corvette C8.R in 2018, and the mid-engine Corvette continues to write new chapters each weekend.
Chevrolet Motorsports Display On-Site at Road America In addition to the many series and events on the racetrack at Road America, fans will have plenty to see and experience from Chevrolet. The Chevrolet Motorsports Display will be full of Chevy vehicles that spectators can learn more about throughout the weekend.
The Chevrolet Motorsports Display opens at 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday plus 7:30 a.m. Sunday and is located in the Fan Midway in the Road America main paddock. Numerous Chevrolet vehicles and other highlights include:
• The 2023 Corvette Z06 convertible • Additional Chevrolet products such as Blazer RS, Silverado ZR2, TrailBlazer Activ, Camaro 2SS and Colorado ZR2 • A Corvette Racing C8.R showcar • An opportunity to receive a 2022 Corvette Racing t-shirt
The IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend from Road America is scheduled for 10:40 a.m. CT on Sunday, August 7. The race will stream live on Peacock and air same-day beginning at noon ET on USA. IMSA Radio will broadcast all on-track sessions beginning with Friday afternoon’s practice at IMSA.com. The race call Saturday also will be available on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: "This will be a little different Road America than we're used to with the GTD Corvette and the cars are racing now – both GTD and GTD PRO. You have to think about attacking the track in different ways given weight, power and other differences that are part of the GTD configuration versus GTLM. We also don't know about tire degradation, which was quite severe there in past years. We don't know how it will be this year on this tire but it can open up several different strategies for the race and can play a big role in the outcome. So we'll see. One thing that hasn't changed is how enjoyable it is to drive around Road America and in the area. It's a highlight visit every year, but hopefully this year that includes a good result or win for us."
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Road America will be an interesting one for us. Knowing where our car’s strengths and weaknesses are, this could be a tricky one for us from a pace point of view. From a tire degradation point of view, that has been our strength this season. Hopefully that will suit us. We have some ideas in the works for car development for that race, so I think we’ll go there with a little bit of a stronger package and hopefully be contending up front. We’ve been to simulator since Lime Rock, so we’ve done some running with some big swings of changes to see what comes alive. That’s been the tough thing this season with just one car on track each weekend. You don’t have the opportunities to take big risks on setups. That’s where the simulator has brought big value to us.”
2022 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After seven of 11 Events) Driver Standings 1. Mathieu Jaminet/Matt Campbell – 2,441 2. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2,226 3. Ben Barnicoat – 2,181 4. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 2,170 5. Connor De Phillippi/John Edwards – 1,946
Team Standings 1. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 2.441 2. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 2,226 3. No. 14 VasserSullivan – 2,181 4. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 2,170 5. No. 25 BMW Team RLL – 1,946
Manufacturer Standings 1. Porsche – 2,441 2. Aston Martin – 2,240 3. Chevrolet – 2,236 4. Lexus – 2,211 5. BMW – 2,031
CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD AMERICA: By the Numbers • 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 23 years: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette. • 4: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Road America since 2002 – Corvette C5-R (2002-2004), Corvette C6.R (2005-13), Corvette C7.R (2016-19) and Corvette C8.R (2020-21). This year’s race is the first at the track for the GTD-spec, mid-engine racing Corvette. • 4: Number of cars Tommy Milner passed in the final 15 minutes of the 2016 Road America race. He and Oliver Gavin went on to win in class and capture the GTLM Drivers Championship. • 8: Number of victories at Road America for Corvette Racing, the most of any entrant in IMSA. • 8: Pole positions at Road America for Corvette Racing by four different drivers. • 10: Number of drivers who have won races at Road America for Corvette Racing – Gavin (four); Olivier Beretta (three); Johnny O’Connell (two); and Kelly Collins, Ron Fellows, Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen, Milner, Andy Pilgrim and Jordan Taylor (one each). • 12: Fastest race laps for Corvette Racing drivers at Road America. That includes the last three seasons: Tommy Milner (2019 and 2021) and Antonio Garcia (2020) • 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001 • 14: Number of IMSA victories at Road America for Chevrolet, the second-most of any manufacturer in IMSA • 21: Number of Road America events for Corvette Racing counting this year’s IMSA race. • 26: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen • 32: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999 • 122: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America, eight at Le Mans and one in the FIA WEC • 261: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999 • 12,148.10: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 20 previous trips to Road America. That represents 2,993 laps or more than 102 trips across Lake Michigan. • 345,914.02: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon and more than halfway back!
Corvette Racing at Road America 2002 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GTS (Fellows pole; Gavin fastest race lap) No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins – 1st in GTS
2003 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 2nd in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Oliver Gavin/Kelly Collins – 5th in GTS (Gavin pole, fastest race lap)
2004 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 2nd in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GTS (Beretta pole, fastest race lap)
2005 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 2nd in GT1 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin pole, Beretta fastest race lap)
2006 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 1st in GT1 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1 (Gavin fastest race lap)
2007 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O'Connell – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap) No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1
2008 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O'Connell/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GT1 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 3rd in GT1 (Gavin pole, fastest race lap)
2009 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O'Connell – 3rd in GT2 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 6th in GT2
2010 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Johnny O’Connell – 4th in GT2 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 3rd in GT2 (Gavin pole, fastest race lap)
2011 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 14th in GT No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 5th in GT
2012 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 6th in GT No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GT
2013 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GT No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GT
2014 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 6th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM
2015 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM
2016 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 6th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM (5th to 1st in final 15 minutes)
2017 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM
2018 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLM (Garcia fastest race lap) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTLM
2019 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM (Gavin pole, Milner fastest race lap)
2020 No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM (Garcia fastest race lap) No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTLM
2021 No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM (Taylor pole) No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap)
Taylor stymied in qualifying, No. 3 Corvette to start fifth on grid for GT-only sprint race
CORVETTE RACING AT LIME ROCK: Tough Job in the Race Taylor stymied in qualifying, No. 3 Corvette to start fifth on grid for GT-only sprint race
LAKEVILLE, Conn. (July 15, 2022) – Corvette Racing will start Saturday’s Northeast Grand Prix from the inside of the third row after qualifying Friday at Lime Rock Park.
Jordan Taylor set a best lap of 51.302 (103.715 mph) in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. He’ll start fifth Saturday in the mid-engine Corvette that he shares with Antonio Garcia in a race where track position is key.
Taylor looked set to contend for the front row until a slower GTD car exited the pitlane and interfered with the Corvette going into the first corner. The Corvette’s Michelin tires were coming to their peak before Taylor had to abort the lap and regroup. By that time, however, the tires were past their optimum operating window and Taylor finished 0.223 seconds behind the pole-sitting No. 9 Porsche.
Corvette Racing used the first two practices to acclimate the GTD-spec Corvette to Lime Rock through a series of chassis and tire pressure adjustments.
The work paid dividends in the second practice at Taylor led the session late before ending second – just a half-tenth of a second behind the No. 9.
Corvette Racing’s history at Lime Rock dates back to 2004 with the fifth-generation racing Corvette, and the C8.R is the fourth different version of Corvette Racing entry to compete at the venue. The team has six previous victories to its credit to lead all IMSA entrants, and Chevrolet ranks second among manufacturers with 13 race victories.
The FCP Euro Grand Prix from Lime Rock Park is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 16. The race will stream live on Peacock and air same-day at 5 p.m. ET on USA. IMSA Radio will broadcast all on-track sessions beginning with Friday afternoon’s practice at IMSA.com. The IMSA Radio call of the race Saturday also will be available on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED FIFTH IN GTD PRO:“Really frustrating session. We made good progress from the first practice. It took some time for us to balance the car and the tire this morning, but this afternoon we made a good step forward. I think a front-row start was a possibility until I got blocked. After that, I couldn’t get the tire pressure and temps back up and that was it. Overall I think our Corvette is good for tomorrow and we should have good race pace. We’re just going to have to work that much harder to make up positions either on the track or in the pitlane. We can do it but it’ll take patience and some luck at this track.”
Northeast Grand Prix Lakeville, CT July 15-16, 2022 Track: Lime Rock Park Race Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes Circuit Length: 1.5 miles Entry by Class: GTDPRO - 6 GTD - 9
Garcia, Taylor looking for back-to-back wins at sports car racing’s bullring
CORVETTE RACING AT LIME ROCK: Short Track, Big Fight Garcia, Taylor looking for back-to-back wins at sports car racing’s bullring
DETROIT (July 12, 2022) – After racing at the wide-open spaces of places like Daytona and Le Mans, Corvette Racing this weekend travels to sports car racing’s version of a bullring: Lime Rock Park for Saturday’s Northeast Grand Prix.
Saturday’s two-hour, 40-minute race is one of two GT-only events for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor, teammates in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, are the defending winners from a year ago and aim to replicate that success in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO category around the 1.474-mile, seven-turn road course in northwestern Connecticut.
Close-quarters racing is usually the name of the game at Lime Rock. It’s a circuit that features one left-hand turn and laps of around 50 seconds. Heat and humidity also typically play a role, and higher track temperatures place a higher importance on tire management for all GTD cars.
That’s been the biggest adjustment for the Corvette Racing team in 2022. In GTD PRO – and the regular GTD class as well – all cars must use the same Michelin customer tire instead of tires specifically designed for each racecar… as was the case in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) categories in recent years.
That tire management is what helped Garcia and Taylor finish as runners-up two weeks ago at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and move back into second place in the GTD PRO Drivers, Manufacturers and Team championships.
Corvette Racing’s history at Lime Rock dates back to 2004 with the fifth-generation racing Corvette, and the C8.R is the fourth different version of Corvette Racing entry to compete at the venue. The team has six previous victories to its credit to lead all IMSA entrants, and Chevrolet ranks second among manufacturers with 13 race victories.
The FCP Euro Grand Prix from Lime Rock Park is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 16. The race will stream live on Peacock and air same-day at 5 p.m. ET on USA. IMSA Radio will broadcast all on-track sessions beginning with Friday afternoon’s practice at IMSA.com. The race call Saturday also will be available on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: "Lime Rock always gives us a unique challenge, especially in this part of the schedule. It's always a big difference between there and places like Le Mans and Watkins Glen. This year will be a tough fight with six cars in our class going for an overall win. We've had to fight for every position in the last two races to get back to second in the championship. We need to start winning races to make gains in the points. That will be everyone's goal this weekend."
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “After our strong run at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, I’m excited to get back to fighting at the front at Lime Rock. We had a great weekend there last year with the pole and win, so hopefully we can replicate that this year. Lime Rock is always tough on tires and tire degradation, and that seemed to be our strength at CTMP. Hopefully that will work to our favor this weekend.”
2022 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After six of 11 Events) Driver Standings 1. Mathieu Jaminet/Matt Campbell – 2,056 2. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1,918 3. Ben Barnicoat – 1,849 4. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 1,820 5. Cooper MacNeil – 1,701
Team Standings 1. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 2.056 2. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 1,918 3. No. 14 VasserSullivan – 1,849 4. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 1,820 5. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 1,701
Manufacturer Standings 1. Porsche – 2,056 2. Chevrolet – 1,928 3. Aston Martin – 1,890 4. Lexus – 1,879 5. Mercedes-AMG – 1,809
CORVETTE RACING AT LIME ROCK PARK: By the Numbers • 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 24 years: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette • 4: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Lime Rock Park since 2004 – Corvette C5-R (2004), Corvette C6.R (2005-13), Corvette C7.R (2016-2019) and Corvette C8.R, which made its Lime Rock debut last year • 7: Pole positions at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing, the most of any entrant in IMSA. Jordan Taylor (2021) is the most recent • 6: Number of victories at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing, the most of any entrant in IMSA • 7: Number of drivers who have won races at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing – Oliver Gavin (four), Olivier Beretta (three), Jan Magnussen (two), and Johnny O’Connell and Tommy Milner (one each). Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor joined the list with last year’s victory • 7: Fastest race laps for Corvette Racing drivers at Lime Rock. Antonio Garcia (2017) was the most recent • 13: Victories for Chevrolet at Lime Rock – second among all manufacturers • 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001 • 26: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen • 32: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999 • 100: As in Corvette Racing’s 100th program victory at Lime Rock Park in 2016 • 122: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America, eight at Le Mans and one in the FIA WEC • 260: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999 • 6,451.76: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 14 previous trips to Lime Rock Park. That represents 4,312 laps or 61 trips from the Empire State Building in New York City to the track • 345,664.91: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon and more than halfway back!
Corvette Racing at Lime Rock Park 2004 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 2nd in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GTS (Beretta pole, fastest race lap)
2005 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 2nd in GT1 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Beretta pole, fastest race lap)
2006 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 2nd in GT1 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 4th in GT1 (Beretta fastest race lap)
2007 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O'Connell – 2nd in GT1 (O’Connell fastest race lap) No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1
2008 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O'Connell/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GT1 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1 (Gavin pole, Beretta fastest race lap)
2010 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Johnny O’Connell – 12th in GT2 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 5th in GT2
2011 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 9th in GT No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 10th in GT
2012 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GT No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GT
2013 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GT No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GT
2016 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM (100tth Corvette Racing win; Gavin fastest lap)
2017 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM
2018 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLM (Garcia pole) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM
2019 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 5th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Marcel Fässler – 6th in GTLM
2021 No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM (Taylor pole) No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 2nd in GTLM
No. 64 Corvette C8.R claims maiden win in FIA WEC on Monza debut
CORVETTE RACING AT MONZA: Celebrazione for Tandy, Milner! No. 64 Corvette C8.R claims maiden win in FIA WEC on Monza debut
MONZA, Italy (July 10, 2022) – VITTORIA for Corvette Racing at Monza!
Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy drove the No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to a thrilling win in the Six Hours of Monza. It was the program’s first victory of the season in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the maiden win in the series for the mid-engine Corvette.
Tandy crossed the finish line first in GTE Pro after the leading Ferrari had to stop for a late-race splash of fuel with two laps to go. The No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette was close on fuel as well, but engineering strategy and Tandy’s fuel-saving made all the difference in the end.
The result was a welcomed one following a crushing retirement at the 24 Hours of Le Mans a month ago.
"This was a long time coming, but this team performed and executed so well today,” said Laura Klauser, GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager. “Tommy and Nick drove their hearts out in this Corvette. Even if we had a couple of setbacks, we found our way around them. We did what Corvette Racing always does: we never gave up!"
The victory was Corvette Racing’s first in the WEC since the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans and its first as a full-time entrant in the series. Milner and Tandy came close with a runner-up finish to open the year at the 1,000 Miles of Sebring.
Tandy started from second but ceded the position in the tight first corner and carried on the fight from there. Differing early strategies moved the Corvette back to second ahead of its first call to the pits. A long stop dropped the Corvette down to fourth in class, but Tandy continued to drive steady until the third full-course caution of the race just shy of the two-hour mark.
He stopped and handed off to Milner, who rejoined fourth but made up track position with a safety car period near the two-and-a-half-hour mark. The No. 64 continued to match the pace of the leaders, and Milner – making his first career start at Monza – moved the Corvette back into podium position just prior to another round of pit stops with two hours to go.
Tandy went the rest of the way and moved up to second after a five-second penalty to the leading No. 51 Ferrari with 90 minutes to go. A final full-course caution period with 70 minutes to go opened up the pit window for the final stop, and Corvette Racing engineering called him in with 67 minutes to go and a full tank of fuel.
Tandy got within four seconds of the No. 52 for the class lead inside 40 minutes to go before backing off to save fuel and get to the finish without another stop.
After seemingly settling for second, Tandy and the rest of Corvette Racing were astonished and ecstatic when both Ferraris peeled off into the pitlane. Minutes later, yellow-and-black clad team members were at the pitwall celebrating as Tandy crossed the line.
Corvette Racing’s next event in the FIA WEC is the Six Hours of Fuji on Sept. 9-11.
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTE PRO WINNER: "I can't believe it. The Ferraris seemed to have a lap better than us on fuel than what we could do. The team gave Nick a fuel number that seemed impossible to me, but he was just barely making it. At some point, I guess they thought they couldn't go and we were sitting here thinking they had it in the bag. Obviously that wasn't the case!
“You could see on the faces of the crew guys underneath the podium how unexpected this win was. We could see early on in the race that a podium was possible. But based on the pace of the Ferraris and them going a lap longer than us on at least one occasion while we were trying to save fuel… it looked like during the last run that second place was really going to be it. Nick was given a fuel number and told to push quite hard to close the gap if possible. There was a combination of things, I’m sure. Us putting pressure on them early on in that last stint made it so they couldn’t save a lot, so here we are P1! “For me, it’s super special to be here at Monza for the first time. It’s a track that I’ve always wished I could race on. To be here for the first time and stand on the top step of that podium – which is quite historic – to see the fans and our crew guys just below us there was very cool.”
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTE PRO WINNER: "With two laps to go, I saw a red car coming in and didn't know which one. I asked if it was the 52 and the team said it was. Like Tommy said, we basically gave up with about 30 minutes to go because we had to hit a stupid number to make it. But we did! “We had no idea really what cars could make it. I think there were four of the five cars that pitted under a safety car with basically three hours left, so it was going to be a stretch for all those cars to make it on two more stops. From then on it became a fuel mileage race. When the last full-course yellow came out, it made it worse for all those cars because everyone needed to pit for fuel because firstly we needed it. It also made the last stint another couple of laps longer. In the end, we were the car to make it.
“We fully expected the Ferrari to be able to go to the end. They had already done a stint under green to start the race and went a lap longer than what we could do even when we were saving earlier. We knew we had to be super-aggressive with the fuel numbers. After the full-course yellow, the guys gave me a fuel number… I did laugh a bit when they said it at the start but I knew that if we stopped then it was going to be game over. So we had to run at that pace. The good thing is that at the end, the track came to us and the tires were definitely working really nicely toward the end of the race. So the car had good pace and we could take a bit of margin down the straight and keep the speed in the corners to put the pressure on the Ferrari. I could see that they picked up the pace and that’s when I guess they said they couldn’t make it. We didn’t know that at the time, so when they came in with two laps to go, it was happy days! Corvette’s first time in Monza and Corvette’s and Tommy’s first win! “I didn’t want to save anything. We were catching them quite quickly on the final stint and I thought things were looking really good. Then all of a sudden we had to start really making the fuel number they’d given me rather than trying to make it while still going quick. We didn’t really drop any pace but they suddenly seemed to start pulling away from us. I thought at the time and hoped that they had given up on their fuel savings. We just assumed they were safe and they could run the pace they wanted. As it turned out, they couldn’t. Everyone went from, ‘OK, good race and good podium’ to ‘We’re about to win the Monza Six Hours!’ So it was pretty cool!”
GTE Pro front-row start for No. 64 C8.R in Corvette Racing’s debut at Monza
CORVETTE RACING AT MONZA: Tandy Takes P2 in Qualifying GTE Pro front-row start for No. 64 C8.R in Corvette Racing’s debut at Monza
MONZA, Italy (July 9, 2022) – Nick Tandy put Corvette Racing on the front row of the GTE Pro class in qualifying Saturday ahead of the Six Hours of Monza for the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Tandy qualified the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R second in class around the 3.6-mile, 11-turn Autodromo Naztionale Monza circuit. His time of 1:45.324 (123.031 mph) was only 0.054 seconds off the pole-winning time of the No. 51 Ferrari.
Tandy will start Sunday’s race and team with Tommy Milner in Corvette Racing’s first appearance at Monza.
Tandy set the fastest lap in class during Saturday’s final practice and was the only driver under the 1:46.000 mark ahead of qualifying. The competitiveness of the Corvette is a testament to the prep work on Chevrolet’s Driver in the Loop simulator and the efforts of the engineering team and crew to get the C8.R in an optimal spot for qualifying at a new circuit.
The team hopes to get back on the WEC podium, having started the season with a runner-up finish at the 1,000 Miles of Sebring. Misfortune while leading at both Spa and Le Mans dashed promising chances for victories at each.
The Six Hours of Monza for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for noon CET/6 a.m. CET on Sunday, July 10 from Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy. The race will air live on MotorTrend with live streaming coverage of the race on the MotorTrend Plus app. Radio Le Mans also will stream live audio coverage of the race.
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTE PRO: "That was very close but I'm obviously really happy with a front-row start. The Ferrari looks very quick. It's nice for them to be on pole for their home race. Qualifying is always a situation where as a driver you push the limits. We had a fast lap but unfortunately I ran out of bounds of the track and we had the lap deleted. Luckily the car was still strong for the next two laps, which is a good omen for the race; it's not one lap of qualifying but an endurance race. So yeah, I'm glad we could get back in it and get this Corvette back on the front row. The first corner and first chicane at Monza... who knows whether it's better to start on the inside or the outside! But this was a good session, and it's overall been a good day and good weekend so far for Corvette Racing."
WEC FIA has offered an app to you can download. You can also purchase the race for a premimum package Program: https://www.fiawec.com/en/official-fia-wec-app/45 or download Google Play Store or Apple store.
Qualifying: Saturday July 9th, 2022 1:30 pm EDT to 1:40 pm EDT Watch live FIA WEC app, MotorTrend + app ( app purchases)
Milner, Tandy seek to rebound from heartbreaking Le Mans in C8.R’s Italian debut
CORVETTE RACING AT MONZA: Visiting The Temple of Speed Milner, Tandy seek to rebound from heartbreaking Le Mans in C8.R’s Italian debut
DETROIT (July 5, 2022) – With the heartbreaking memory of Le Mans in the rearview mirror, Corvette Racing is looking to regroup as it heads to Italy for the first time ahead of the Six Hours of Monza in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
As they have for the previous three WEC races, Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy will share the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, which is on its maiden globe-trotting tour in 2022. It’s the first “new” event for the Corvette WEC program, having previously been to Sebring, Spa and – of course – Le Mans.
The 3.60-mile, 11-turn circuit is one of the fastest in the world with multiple long straights and huge braking zones for the four WEC categories. Even without having set foot inside Monza Park – where Autodromo Nazionale Monza sits – there already is data from the long straights and slow corners at Le Mans that Corvette Racing engineers can refer to when establishing a baseline for this weekend.
Input also will come from Tandy, one of the few Corvette Racing team members who has previous experience at the circuit. This will be the case for Fuji and Bahrain to close the WEC season, although Milner has accumulated several hours of simulator work ahead of his first race at the Italian circuit.
The No. 64 Corvette opened the WEC season with a strong second-place showing at the rain-shortened 1,000 Miles of Sebring. Things were trending the right way for the Tandy/Milner pairing at the Six Hours of Spa before a red flag just past the one-hour mark wiped out the team’s first planned pit stop and effectively put the Corvette a lap down before finishing fourth.
Le Mans was the cruelest blow with the No. 64 C8.R eliminated while effectively leading just shy of the 18-hour mark.
The Six Hours of Monza for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for noon CET/6 a.m. CET on Sunday, July 10 from Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy. Qualifying is set for 5:30 p.m. CET/11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, July 9. The race will air live on MotorTrend with live streaming coverage of the race and qualifying on the MotorTrend Plus app. Radio Le Mans will broadcast qualifying and the race.
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It’s another classic track that we’ve never had a chance to compete at before and it’s one I’m looking forward to. Based on what Nick has said about the area and especially the history of the track makes it something special to compete there. So I’m excited for that opportunity. I’ve had a chance to do some laps in the simulator. Looking at the track layout, it seems fairly simple in some ways but driving it has its own unique challenges. It’s fun to drive, too. The corners are quite different where you have some very slow chicanes and some pretty quick third- and fourth-gear corners. There is a wide variety of track sections. The slowest part of the track is preceded by a very long straightaway, which will be great for racing. It’s exciting. I enjoy the historic part of the sport so the chance to see the old Monza banking is something I can’t wait to see.”
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Monza is another classic place. When anyone speaks of Monza, it’s one of those iconic names and venues. The word just strikes passion into motorsport. Any series that races there is a top event, and it’s a privilege to race at the circuit and in Monza Park. It’s not a normal setting for a racetrack near a city but in an actual park. Even from driving into the circuit, it’s a different experience. When you get to the track, it’s unlike any other circuit. It’s short but it’s so defined by the fast straightaways. It’s a bit like Daytona in that sense. It’s fun.”
More Monza: “It’s a normal lap time but there are effectively six corners – three corners and three chicanes. From that point of view, it’s not the most technical circuit for a driver. On the other hand, for the car and engineering crew, trying to get a window where your car operates is critical. Of course you have to be fast in a straight line but the car has to be really good under braking. This is a huge thing about Monza. ... It’s a real tricky one to kind of figure out for what is best for ultimately making laptime out of your car. Of course, we are new as it will be the first time that Corvette Racing has been to Monza. I’ll be relaying my experience from previous years to the team and try to help out. Past that, we’ve already started our prep and started running on the sim before Le Mans. We’ve figured out a few options we can take with us to find what’s best. But I’m also looking forward to seeing everyone’s faces and the people who have never been and have a chance to go to Italy and have a look around this amazing facility and amazing town.”
PRESS RELEASE: Garcia, Taylor take runner-up GTD PRO finish in return to Canada
CORVETTE RACING AT CTMP: No. 3 Corvette Back on Podium Garcia, Taylor take runner-up GTD PRO finish in return to Canada
BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (July 3, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor made their way back onto the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO podium Sunday as the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R placed second at the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
It’s the first podium for the Corvette duo since April’s race at Long Beach for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The result boosted Garcia and Taylor back into second place in the GTD PRO Drivers Championship, with Chevrolet moving to second in the Manufacturers Championship with four races left in the season.
The No. 3 Corvette finished 1.115 seconds behind the winning No. 9 Porsche, which led all but nine of 111 laps.
A couple of early-race caution periods Sunday forced Corvette Racing engineers to alter the team’s pre-race plan. Starting fourth, Taylor drove a double-stint and moved up a spot at the start when one of the front-row GTD cars went around at the first corner. The No. 3 Corvette was on the inside line and got through the incident unscathed.
For the next hour and 40 minutes, Taylor was part of a three-car train of GTD PRO leaders that rarely were separated by more than one second. Taylor expertly saved fuel and his Michelin tires while at the same time maximizing the performance of the C8.R to remain with the leaders.
His persistence paid off when he made a lunge on the far end of the circuit to take second with 75 minutes to go. The No. 3 Corvette stopped for the second time with 64 minutes left as Garcia took over with full fuel and four fresh Michelin tires.
Two more yellows interrupted Garcia’s charge, which hampered what Corvette Racing hoped was an advantage on long runs. But every time Garcia got close to the Porsche, it would pull away again to about a lead of one second to the end of the race.
Corvette Racing’s next event in IMSA is the Northeast Grand Prix on July 15-16 from Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTD PRO: "We gave it our all. It was a perfect race for us. We finished second, and that's all we had. We pushed the winning car, but it wasn't enough. Next race, we'll try to go a little faster and do something different. This is what it also takes to win championships. So we need to stay in contact, and I'm sure the wins will come." Dealing with traffic: "It wasn't easy. With the prototype traffic being so much faster than us, it was difficult to really get a chance to get close to the Porsche. Whenever the prototypes would pass, they would go and there would be another one pretty soon. Maybe with more LMP3s there would have been more of a chance to do something different. With the DPis being so much faster than us - especially with their cornering - it wasn't ideal to try to work traffic in your favor. Now that we are in the slowest category instead of GTLM, you don't have those opportunities to use traffic. All the traffic you're in is going by. It's difficult to use that in your favor." The last 20 minutes: "I think it felt like the Porsche was showing what they had to show. Whenever we would stop saving fuel or tires, it felt like they had some in reserve. We thought that without those two yellows and a more consistent stint, maybe we would have had a chance. Up until the last yellow I was saving the tires, but on the last yellow we knew it would be a race to the end. We both went 100 percent. They just had more. Every second I lost in traffic, it took five or six laps to get that back. It was difficult but in general we did a perfect race. We started fifth and finished second, so we gained a lot today."
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTD PRO:"It was action-packed! The start was hectic. I got a bad start, actually, but there were some cars in front of me that saved my start. I thankfully was on the right line to cycle through up to third. Once we went to green and settled in, we were saving fuel. I could see the Aston Martin was struggling but it was going to be so hard to pass him without traffic. So I was saving as much as I could, and every time we go traffic I would try to stay close and make something happen. Once I got in clean air our car seemed to come alive a little bit. It had surprising pace, and I was quite happy with it. The Porsche was struggling a little bit toward the end of their stint. Hopefully it stays green. Tire degradation seems to be to our advantage so a long stint is what we are hoping for." Dealing with the traffic: "You just kind of hope and pray that they get the same bad luck every now and then. I think every P3 car that passed me was into Turn Eight; I had only one pass me into Turn One. I would see the other guys get held up every now and then. It comes and goes. We had a bunch of bad ones but we got some good ones, too." Overall thoughts: "It was a great day back at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and at the Chevrolet Grand Prix. We maximized what we could today. It's not great for the overall points, but considering where we started the day we can be pretty happy with where we ended up. We'll move on to Lime Rock and hopefully be a little more competitive there and move up in the championship as well."
Corvette C8.R feeling good but struggling for pace in Canadian debut
CORVETTE RACING AT CTMP: Steep Hills to Climb Corvette C8.R feeling good but struggling for pace in Canadian debut
BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (July 2, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R will start from the third row of the GT Daytona (GTD) category Sunday for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motosport Park – the first race for the mid-engine Corvette in Canada.
Jordan Taylor set a best lap of 1:15.955 (116.547 mph) in the Mobil 1/SiriusXM C8.R to qualify fourth in the GTD PRO category. He was 0.487 seconds behind the pole-winning Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet.
A performance deficit left Taylor and Antonio Garcia starting similarly down the GTD PRO order a week ago at Watkins Glen International. With no significant changes to the Corvette on the performance side, the key will be gaining positions through strategy and execution – just like at The Glen.
Corvette Racing – and the rest of the WeatherTech Championship – is back at CTMP for the first time since 2019. The C8.R is the fourth generation of Corvette to compete around and over the elevation changes at CTMP since the Corvette Racing program first competed there in 2000 with the Corvette C5-R.
Since that time, the team has claimed 11 victories at the track – second-most among all venues behind only Sebring. Three of those came in Corvettes driven by Canadian and Corvette Racing legend Ron Fellows, who is co-owner of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 3. The race will air live on NBC and stream live on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.com outside the U.S. IMSA Radio will broadcast the race at IMSA.com with the call also on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED FOURTH IN GTD PRO: "The car is good. We're just slow. It's frustrating. I felt like the lap was pretty good but we're off the pace. It's nothing we're doing wrong. We've improved the car through the weekend, and it's the best it's been since we've been here. Hopefully we can play some strategy in the race, jump ahead of some guys and hopefully hold them off. "I think the only hope for us is big tire degradation or traffic. On speed alone, we won't be able to pass anyone I don't think. We'll have to hope for some other guys to make mistakes and hopefully our guys in the pitlane can make some passes for us."
Corvette Racing back at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with C8.R for the first time
CORVETTE RACING AT CTMP: Oh… Canada!! Team back at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with C8.R for the first time
DETROIT (June 28, 2022) – For the first time since 2019, Corvette Racing and the rest of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is back at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for Sunday’s Chevrolet Grand Prix.
Absent from the team’s calendar since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course just outside of Toronto will see the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R for the first time. It will be the fourth generation of Corvette to compete at CTMP since the Corvette Racing program first raced there in 2000 with the Corvette C5-R.
Since that time, the team has claimed 11 victories at the track – second-most among all venues behind only Sebring. Three of those came in Corvettes driven by Canadian and Corvette Racing legend Ron Fellows, who is co-owner of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor are part of a six-car field in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO category, which is part of a 14-car grid in the overall GTD category. The pairing will look to rebound from a disappointing race in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen two days ago. The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R finished sixth in the GTD PRO class and 11th among GTD category runners.
Both drivers have victories to their credit at CTMP in Corvette racecars. Garcia won the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category in 2014, driving a Corvette C7.R with Jan Magnussen. Taylor was victorious the following year in a Corvette Daytona Prototype for Wayne Taylor Racing.
Garcia also is a former pole-winner at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (2016) and set the fastest GTLM race lap in 2015.
The Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 3. The race will air live on NBC and stream live on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.com outside the U.S. IMSA Radio will air on-track sessions beginning with Saturday morning’s practice at IMSA.com with the race call also on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I would have loved to go to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and raced the C8.R in full GTLM spec. That would have been really good to feel and see how the C8.R was around that track. We knew the C7.R was so good, and I believe this car would have been even better. This is always a track I’ve always loved. It’s always tight racing, and traffic is intense. Strategy is important with such a short lap time because it’s very fast. You need to be on top of things, play it smart and be ready to react to everything around you. It can go either way. But CTMP always brings a really good show and good racing. We’re looking forward to getting back there. It’s a track where I’ve done many, many laps in the past. I don’t think things will be way different. Coming from The Glen, I think we’ll be ready to get right into things at CTMP.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Going to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is something we’ve missed. Canada always has an amazing group of fans who are so passionate. The last time they saw Corvette Racing, it was with the C7.R. So they haven’t seen our new car, and we’re excited to show it off there. What we’ve seen so far with the C8.R is that it suits every type of racetrack. We saw last year at Watkins Glen how successful it was at a high-speed track, and that’s kind of what CTMP is. I think our car will suit the track well, and I know we bring an amazing amount of Corvette fans there. They’ll definitely love seeing it.”
2022 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After five of 11 Events) Driver Standings 1. Mathieu Jaminet/Matt Campbell – 1,671 2. Ben Barnicoat – 1,573 3. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1,570 4. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 1,488 5. Cooper MacNeil – 1,396
Team Standings 1. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 1,671 2. No. 14 VasserSullivan – 1,573 3. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 1,570 4. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 1,488 5. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 1,396
Manufacturer Standings 1. Porsche – 1,671 2. Lexus – 1,603 3. Chevrolet – 1,580 4. Aston Martin – 1,558 5. Mercedes-AMG – 1,504
CORVETTE RACING AT CTMP: By the Numbers • 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 24 years of racing: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette • 3: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at CTMP since 2000 – Corvette C5-R (2004), Corvette C6.R (2005-13) and Corvette C7.R (2016-2019). The Corvette C8.R will race at the track for the first time this week. • 7: Number of drivers who have won races at CTMP for Corvette Racing. Johnny O’Connell (six), Jan Magnussen (five), Oliver Gavin (four), Ron Fellows (three) and Olivier Beretta (two) each have multiple wins there with the team. • 7: Pole positions for Corvette Racing drivers at CTMP. Oliver Gavin leads with three with Antonio Garcia (2016) being the most recent. • 11: Class victories at Corvette Racing at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – all since 2001. • 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001 • 25: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen • 121: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America and eight at Le Mans • 258: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999 • 11,080.25: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 20 previous trips to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. That represents 4,506 laps • 344,740.36: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon and more than halfway back!
Corvette Racing at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (wins in bold) 2000 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Andy Pilgrim – 2nd in GTS (Fellows pole, fastest race lap)
2001 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 1st in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS
2002 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 1st in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins – 2nd in GTS (Pilgrim fastest race lap)
2003 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 1st in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Oliver Gavin/Kelly Collins – 7th in GTS (Gavin pole)
2004 No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 2nd in GTS No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GTS (Gavin pole, fastest race lap)
2005 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 2nd in GT1 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1
2006 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell – 4th in GT1 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1
2007 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O'Connell – 1st in GT1 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1 (Gavin pole, fastest race lap) No. 33 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Andy Pilgrim – 3rd in GT1
2008 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O'Connell/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GT1 (O’Connell pole) No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1 (Beretta fastest race lap)
2009 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O'Connell – 1st in GT2 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 3rd in GT2
2010 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Johnny O’Connell – 5th in GT2 No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 4th in GT2
2011 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 6th in GT No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GT
2012 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GT (Magnussen pole) No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 10th in GT
2013 No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GT No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GT
2014 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM
2015 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLM (Garcia fastest race lap) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM
2016 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLM (Garcia pole) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTLM
2017 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM
2018 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GTLM
2019 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 7th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Marcel Fässler – 8th in GTLM
Late-race contact foils hard charge toward GTD PRO podium, possible win for Garcia, Taylor
CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: No Late Luck at All Late-race contact foils hard charge toward class podium, possible win for Garcia, Taylor
WATKINS GLEN, NY (June 26, 2022) – Nearly all the late-race luck went against Corvette Racing on Sunday in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R finished sixth in GT Daytona (GTD) PRO after the class’s fifth round in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
It was the first GTD PRO race since early May for Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor, who were coming off a similarly disappointing result at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Corvette had crossed the line Sunday seventh in class but the class-winning car was sent to the back of GTD PRO due to a post-race drivetime violation.
The race’s first two hours saw five full-course caution periods which prevented any sort of rhythm. It wasn’t all bad for Taylor and the No. 3 Corvette team, though. Fuel savings and the crew’s usual sterling pit work gained Taylor two spots to fourth place on the first stop for fuel and tires.
Taylor stayed in the car for just shy of three hours. The fuel-saving strategy from Corvette Racing engineering offset a performance deficit and continued to provide benefits in terms of track position, as did a decision to take fuel only during a full-course caution period 90 minutes into the race. It netted the No. 3 C8.R another spot, and Taylor ran second as the halfway point approached.
Unfortunately things went south just shy of the three-hour mark when Taylor had to serve a drive-through penalty for exceeding track limits. Without the outright pace of the pursuing cars, Taylor had to maximize the boundaries of the track and hence the call from race officials.
Garcia drove the rest of the way and continued saving fuel while trying to produce as much pace as possible. The plan was working as Garcia was slowly but surely reeling in the class leaders who were on the same pit strategy until the severe weather warning stopped the race with 88 minutes to go and Garcia running fifth – still a positive gain from the Corvette’s starting position.
The race started back with 35 minutes on the clock. With the fuel situation dicey for a majority of the GTD PRO field, Garcia set out in search of a podium spot but was hit almost immediately by the No. 25 BMW, which was trying to overtake on the outside of the first corner. The contact caused one of the Corvette’s rear tires to go down and relegated the No. 3 to seventh.
The slow drive to the pitlane for four fresh tires grew more frustrating as the four GTD PRO cars ahead of Garcia had to stop for fuel inside the final five minutes, leaving the Corvette Racing team to wonder what might have been.
There is no rest as Corvette Racing immediately moves to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the Chevrolet Grand Prix, which is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 3. The race will air live on NBC and stream live on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.com outside the U.S. IMSA Radio will air on-track sessions beginning with Saturday morning’s practice at IMSA.com with the race call also on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SIXTH IN GTD PRO: "We deserved better today. We had a chance for a good result after the last restart until the 25 hit me right away. Without that, I think we definitely were on the podium and had a good chance to steal a win with most everyone else pitting late. The car felt really good and consistent. Full credit to the team for the improvements from practice and qualifying. I think we had maximized the car's performance. But the result... none of us are happy at all."
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SIXTH IN GTD PRO: "We started toward the back and were able to pass some guys on some of the restarts. Plus we saved a lot of fuel and made up some positions in the pits; the guys really made some good calls and stops. So we were kind of maximizing where our strengths are. On track, we don't have many strengths. We can hold guys off but can't really drive forward on pace. That was frustrating, and the penalty was unfortunate. The only way to hold some guys off was to drive off the track a little. I was trying to maintain track position knowing that and not thinking they'd give us a penalty for it."
Garcia, Taylor start sixth in GTD PRO for Sahlen’s Six Hours
CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: Tough Going in Qualifying Garcia, Taylor start sixth in GTD PRO for Sahlen’s Six Hours
WATKINS GLEN, NY (June 25, 2022) – Corvette Racing will roll off from the seventh row of the GT Daytona (GTD) category and in sixth position among GTD PRO entries for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday.
Jordan Taylor set a qualifying lap of 1:46.259 (115.190 mph) in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R around Watkins Glen International during Saturday afternoon’s 15-minute session. He will start Sunday’s race – the first for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTD PRO class in nearly two months – as the pairing of Taylor and Antonio Garcia go for a second straight Sahlen’s Six Hours class victory and third straight at The Glen.
The No. 3 Corvette was 1.5 seconds off the GTD PRO pole time.
Garcia and Taylor arrived at The Glen second in GTD PRO points and first among GTD PRO competitors in the Michelin Endurance Cup – a championship made up of the WeatherTech Championship’s four long-distance races. The No. 3 Corvette already has an endurance victory this year to its credit: the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.
Corvette Racing has three victories at Watkins Glen since 2014 – including two last year. Garcia and Taylor won in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category in last year’s Sahlen’s Six Hours as well as the WeatherTech 240 sprint race a week later.
Garcia is one of nine drivers to win more than once in the Sahlen’s Six Hours and has five podium finishes in his last five races at The Glen, while Taylor won for the first time in the event a year ago. Chevrolet has a strong history of success in the race with 18 victories – second among active manufacturers.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen is scheduled for 10:40 a.m. ET on Sunday, June 26. The race will stream live on Peacock with USA’s live television coverage beginning at 2 p.m. ET. IMSA Radio’s streaming audio coverage begins at 9:55 a.m. ET on IMSA.com along with XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED SIXTH IN GTD PRO:“Frustrating… the car actually feels pretty good. We’ve made some improvements and picked up time from the practices. But it wasn’t enough to gain 1.5 seconds around a place like this. We have a few things we can try for the warmup tomorrow but the track conditions won’t be anything like what we’ll have in the race. Strategy might be our way to gain track position. It’s gotten us out front before this year when we were down on performance, but you can’t plan for that at every race.”
Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen Race Info Jun 23 to Jun 26, 2022 Watkins Glen, NY Track: Watkins Glen International Race Duration: 6 hours Circuit Length: 3.4 miles
Entry by Class: Entry by Class: DPi -7 LMP2 -7 LMP3 -11 GTD Pro -7 GTD -17
Qualifying Saturday June 25, 2022 11:45 am to 1:20 pm EDT
Garcia, Taylor hope to rebound from Le Mans with Six Hours repeat
CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: Road to Redemption Garcia, Taylor hope to rebound from Le Mans with Six Hours repeat
DETROIT (June 22, 2022) – While their run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans ended with disappointment, Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and the rest of Corvette Racing’s squad in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship are back stateside for another shot at a long-distance race victory.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen is the first race in the U.S. since May 1 for Corvette Racing and the rest for the field of competitors in the new GT Daytona (GTD) PRO category. Through five races, Garcia and Taylor stand second in Drivers points as does Chevrolet in the Manufacturers standings on the strength of a class victory at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
The No. 3 Corvette also arrives at The Glen leading GTD PRO in the Michelin Endurance Cup – a championship made up of the WeatherTech Championship’s four long-distance races. Given recent success at The Glen, there’s a better than average chance that advantage remains going into the weekend.
Corvette Racing has three victories at Watkins Glen since 2014 – including two last year. Garcia and Taylor won in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category in last year’s Sahlen’s Six Hours as well as the WeatherTech 240 sprint a race a week later.
Garcia is one of nine drivers to win more than once in the Sahlen’s Six Hours and has five podium finishes in his last five races at The Glen, while Taylor won for the first time in the event a year ago.
Chevrolet has a strong history of success in the race with 18 victories – second among active manufacturers.
The GTD PRO Corvette differs in several ways from the C8.R that ran at Watkins Glen in 2021. Chief among the differences are additional weight, restricted power and customer Michelin tires that are mandated for all GTD entries as opposed to Michelins specifically designed for the C8.R in GTLM trim.
Chevrolet Motorsports Display On-Site at The Glen In addition to the many series and events on the racetrack at Watkins Glen, fans will have plenty to see and experience from Chevrolet. The Chevrolet Motorsports Display will be full of Chevy vehicles that spectators can learn more about throughout the weekend.
The Chevrolet Motorsports Display opens at 8 a.m. Friday through Sunday and is located in the Fan Midway at Watkins Glen International. Numerous Chevrolet vehicles and other highlights include:
• The 2023 Corvette Z06 convertible • Additional Chevrolet products such as Blazer RS, Silverado ZR2, Camaro 2SS 1LE and Colorado ZR2 • A Corvette Racing C8.R showcar and LT6.R engine • An opportunity to receive a 2022 Team Chevy t-shirt
Fans should also be on the lookout for an additional Corvette on the racetrack. A Corvette Stingray will serve as Official Pace Car for the two-hour Tioga Downs Casino race for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge starting at 3:45 p.m. ET on Saturday.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen is scheduled for 10:40 a.m. ET on Sunday, June 26. The race will stream live on Peacock with USA’s live television coverage beginning at 2 p.m. ETIMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions beginning at IMSA.com along with XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I really, really like this race. I enjoy the track a lot. I believe it was my very first race in America in GRAND-AM. We’ve generally been strong there. Being a six-hour race, there always is something going on. It might be a super-hot race, there may be rain storms… you never know what’s a race at Watkins Glen is going to be like. That’s why experience is a good thing to have there. I think I’ve run in every different condition there so I’m looking forward to going back in this new class and see how this spec of the C8.R fits in there.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Winning last year’s race was a big deal. It was always on my dad’s bucket list of races to win as a driver. I think it was the only endurance race that he hadn’t won. He won Daytona, Sebring, Petit Le Mans and Le Mans, so the one he always talked about was the Six Hours. The same was happening for me. I had gone all these years without winning it. I finished second a couple of times, I think, and it was always something little. To finally have everything click and work out was pretty special. It really kicked off our season last year with a good run of success.” “Watkins Glen was always a cool race for me from obviously watching sports car racing but also being a fan of motorsport. It was one of the few natural-terrain road courses that Formula One used in America. Seeing old footage of Formula One cars around there and still having the classic blue guardrails to pay homage to the history is pretty special. To win at those types of tracks is really nice.”
2022 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After four of 11 Events) Driver Standings 1. Mathieu Jaminet/Matt Campbell – 1,345 2. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1,295 3. Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 1,265 4. Cooper MacNeil – 1,112 5. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 1,106
Team Standings 1. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 1,345 2. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 1,295 3. No. 14 VasserSullivan – 1,265 4. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 1,112 5. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 1,106
CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: By the Numbers • 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 24 years of racing: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette • 2: Wins at Watkins Glen International in 2021 for Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor: the Sahlen’s Six Hours and the WeatherTech 240 in consecutive weeks • 2: Wins and pole positions in the Sahlen’s Six Hours for Antonio Garcia. He won GTLM in 2014 and 2021 and was the GTLM pole-sitter in 2019 and 2021 • 3: Victories at Watkins Glen for Corvette Racing since its debut there in 2014: 2014 and 2021 Sahlen’s Six Hours, and 2021 WeatherTech 240 • 5: Consecutive podium finishes for Antonio Garcia at Watkins Glen dating back to 2017 • 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001 • 18: Victories for Chevrolet in the Sahlen’s Six Hours, ranking second among all manufacturers • 23: Number of drivers to compete for Corvette Racing at Le Mans. That number grew in 2021 with Nick Tandy, Nicky Catsburg and Alexander Sims joining the lineup. • 25: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen • 121: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America and eight at Le Mans • 257: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999 • 8,476.20: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its eight previous trips to Watkins Glen. That represents 2,493 laps… or more than four full trips around the Earth at its equator. The two Corvettes combined to go over the 100,000 mile mark in the 2021 race. • 344,240.56: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon and more than halfway back!
Corvette Racing at Watkins Glen (wins in bold) 2014 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GTLM (Team’s first race at Watkins Glen) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM
2015 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 4th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM (Ret., Accident)
2016 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 7th in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM
2017 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 3rd in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM
2018 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GTLM No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM
2019 No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GTLM (Garcia pole, fastest race lap) No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM (Accident on first lap)
2021 No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM (Garcia pole) No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 4th in GTLM (Tandy fastest race lap)
2021* No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM (Taylor pole, fastest race lap) No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 2nd in GTLM * Two-hour, 40-minute sprint race
Both Corvettes retire early in final GTE Pro race at 24 Hours
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: No Words Both Corvettes retire early in final GTE Pro race at 24 Hours
LE MANS, France (June 12, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s GTE Pro run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans ended with retirements of both Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs on Sunday.
Alexander Sims in the No. 64 Corvette was fighting to regain the class lead just before the 18-hour mark when a prototype competitor moved into him on the Mulsanne Straight. The contact, with Sims on the far-left with two LMP2 cars going by, pitched the Corvette hard left into the guardrail nose-first.
Sims exited the car unassisted and was fine upon his return to the paddock. He, along with FIA World Endurance Championship teammates Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy, took turns leading in the pole-winning Corvette. Sims earlier set the fastest GTE Pro lap of the race.
Only moments earlier, Corvette Racing had retired the No. 63 Corvette due to significant mechanical damage – seen and unseen – at the rear of the car. It was unclear if this was a continuation from an earlier suspension issue in the race’s first six hours. Every effort was made to get the car back into the race, but due to safety concerns for the team’s drivers and fellow competitors, the decision was made to retire.
“This isn’t how we wanted our Le Mans race to end,” said Laura Klauser, GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager. “We’re all proud of the dedication of everyone on the Corvette Racing team to give us the absolute best chance for our ninth class victory. At the end of the day, we’re all proud to be part of the One Team effort that is Corvette Racing. We’re glad Alexander is OK and that the C8.R kept him safe. Our focus now is on our two full-season efforts in the WEC and also the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.”
No. 64 Corvette remains in contention into final 12 hours
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Halfway Report No. 64 Corvette remains in contention into final 12 hours
LE MANS, France (June 12, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R made it back into podium position at the halfway mark of the 24 Hours of Le Mans after an up-and-down, roller-coaster ride in the second quarter of the race.
Nick Tandy was aboard the No. 64 Corvette that ran second in GTE Pro after a couple of early-race setbacks, including an unscheduled stop to change front brakes just shy of the seventh hour. Alexander Sims, driving with Tandy and Tommy Milner, had the class’s fastest race lap in his second time through the rotation.
Four cars were on the lead lap in the class. Unfortunately, the No. 63 C8.R wasn’t one of those following a lengthy stay in the garage to repair a broken left-rear suspension. Just past halfway, Nicky Catsburg switched over to Antonio Garcia, who was at the wheel when the Corvette suffered its major issue.
Corvette Racing’s next update will come after the 18-hour mark.
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: "Things are good at the moment. The car feels nice and is hooked up. The tires stayed very nicely throughout the two stints. The feedback I was getting from the engineers is that the pace was sensible. The gap to the leader is still quite substantial but we're still in this race. After a couple of hiccups, it could be better but it also could be a lot worse." Staying in contention: "The first thing is to not have any major hiccups, any penalties, any contact or anything like that. That in itself is always a huge challenge. We're pushing flat-out. We know we're on the back foot so we have to take some risks. But at the same time, we have to stay in this race. Any contact and that's probably it. We've got a bit of step to make already, which might be doable. We'll see... we have to be smart."
Six C8.R Le Mans drivers reflect on past week’s running ahead of 24 Hours
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: The Final Words Six C8.R Le Mans drivers reflect on past week’s running ahead of 24 Hours
LE MANS, France (June 10, 2022) – All the testing, practice and qualifying sessions are in the rear-view mirror. Now it’s time for Corvette Racing to take on the 24 Hours of Le Mans and go for a ninth victory in the great endurance race.
The two Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs will roll off first and second from the GTE Pro grid for the first time since 2010. Nick Tandy put the No. 64 Corvette on pole position in the class Thursday, followed closely by Antonio Garcia in the No. 63 C8.R.
With the race beckoning and final prep work being completed, all six Corvette Racing drivers took stock of the week with outlooks heading into Saturday’s green flag…
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Now you need to put everything together… all the laps you’ve done. The last two hours of practice last night was the real warm-up of the race; that’s when you normally go and decide things about the car you will race. We have a good car, for sure. Now we have to see where the others are.”
The outlook and starting at the front: “I’m not nervous. I was way more nervous last year when we weren’t in Hyperpole and were behind seven Am cars. Last year, the pressure was up. The rain at the beginning helped as we were P2 after Lap One. But I prefer it this way! We know how well the car is running. We can’t ask for a better starting point. This is the good thing about having two cars here. We have two shots in the race, and we need to capitalize on this. It would be great if we could keep it 1-2 all the way, but now there’s not much else we can do and nothing else we can ask for.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Every year, this race starts and it’s just a dogfight from start to finish. I’m excited to get things started because I know the car is quick and comfortable to drive. All of the drivers in our car are happy with it. We’ll be in a good spot, I think. For us, the name of the game is staying out of trouble, but at the same time you don’t want to lose too much time throughout. We have a good, competitive car. It feels stronger than it did last year when we finished second, so that makes things exciting.
Can you control a race this long from out front? “The big thing with this race is that it’s always important to be at the front. You never know when you’re going to get a slow zone or safety car that can separate the field. In America, you can drop back and hope for a yellow to get things back. Here, you always try to maximize track position. Starting up front, you want to be up there in case one of those things happen. Looking at where we qualified, we definitely want to stay up there as long as possible to control things as much as we can and hope nothing out of our control takes that away.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I was already more confident at the beginning of this week than last year. Now after my first days of driving, I’d say my confidence level is high. It all feels really good. I can feel the team is better prepared, and I can feel that the car is in a better window. But you can never be too comfortable. Let’s see what happens in the first few hours of the race, and then we will have a better picture of what’s going on. So far, we can only focus on ourselves and I feel like what we are doing is good. The car is good. The team and drivers are well-prepared. But it’s still a 24-hour race and lots of crazy stuff can happen. Even when you have a car that is able and capable of winning, you still need to do it. People sometimes underestimate that; they think that if you have an advantage or you have the car to win, then just win it. But it’s not like that. You still have to negotiate traffic and the race for 24 hours. Let’s see, but I’m confident.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “To me it feels like we are the best prepared we’ve ever been with a car that is the best I’ve ever had at Le Mans. From that side of things, I’m excited for the race. Now saying all that, there are years where we didn’t have the best preparation and won, and there are years where we had great preparation and didn’t get the win. We’ve done everything we needed going into this. Like Le Mans always is, the race is its own separate beast. Having success will require using all the things we’ve learned so far, putting those to the test, not making mistakes and having a good, clean race. We’ve been fast in the practice sessions but performance in the race is what matters.”
Preparation leading up to the race: “It’s easy to say that the WEC program has helped in the current state because we’ve had a good week. There are a few areas where you could definitely say, ‘Yes having done the WEC, we are better.’ Things like pit stops and having the chance to put those to the test at Sebring and Spa.. we saw there was room to improve there, and the team did a great job to figure out how to make them faster. That’s one area. There’s a case to be made for a lot of other areas as well, but I hesitate to say that it’s necessary to do WEC to be successful here. In a lot of ways, things feel just like they always have. The attention to detail is the same, but nothing beats experience. In my view, the team is in a good place. The crew guys are happy with where things are. It’s a good place to start from.”
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “This year does feel different to last year. We’ve obviously taken a step forward with what we know about this car and this racetrack. But also the basic preparation of the team being in this WEC paddock with this Corvette and these regulations, there is a bit of pressure off. It’s not a new environment anymore. It’s a familiar environment. We can really concentrate on the job. We have the experience of how to make the most out of the pitstops and with the way the sporting regulations work, which is different from how we normally choreograph pitstops. We have had it pre-organized and practiced. We know what to do with heated tires – these sorts of things with the WEC-specific tire compounds. It’s all these kinds of things that we’d normally experience for the first time. Now it’s in our pocket. You can see from the Test Day onward that it’s been much better preparation than in the past.”
Preparation leading up to the race: “I’m pretty sure we’re the team that has done the most laps and done the most quality running. The race is still to come. Anything can happen. But looking at how the build-up has been the last week, we couldn’t ask for more. With qualifying both cars on the front row and having really good knowledge through practice about all the different conditions as we can experience. There isn’t a great deal extra that we could have done as a team as prepare us. We have all the basics covered. Now we need to go into the race and perform and hope for a bit of luck. The drivers are ready. The car and the team are ready. Now let’s go out and win a 24-hour race.”
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “The preparation has been really good. From the first moment I drove the car Sunday, I could tell there have been improvements in some places over last year. I would say the Corvette feels more hooked up in the Porsche Curves this year, for example. Last year it was already pretty good so it’s not like there were massive areas to improve, but that was one area where it feels a little more hooked up. The running so far has gone very smoothly. We’ve got through a lot of test items and setup work to get to a point where we are pretty happy having optimized what we can. I’m looking forward to getting into it in the race, seeing how the pace develops into the night and into Sunday.”
Can you control a 24-hour race from the front: “With a relatively small field and a 24-hour race, it may make a little less of a difference than a longer race with a bigger field. But hopefully we can stay in front for at least a few stint. There’s always a chance that a safety car comes out in the middle of the pack, and suddenly being at the front or the back makes a huge difference. You don’t rely on that scenario, but that can happen and being in the front can only put you in a better situation. It’s always better to be at the front.”
Corvette Racing will contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 11-12 with the green flag set for 4 p.m. CET and 10 a.m. ET. MotorTrend TV and MotorTrend Plus will air the race live. Live audio coverage will be available from Radio Le Mans starting with Wednesday’s first official practice session.
Press Release: Pair of C8.Rs to start 1-2 in class at 24 Hours for first time since 2010
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Hyperpole for Tandy, No. 64 Corvette Pair of C8.Rs to start 1-2 in class at 24 Hours for first time since 2010
LE MANS, France (June 9, 2022) – Nick Tandy led a 1-2 result for Corvette Racing in the Hyperpole session Thursday night ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Tandy set a lap of 3:49.985 (132.538 mph) the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to give the team its first pole since 2010.
That also was the last time Corvette Racing started Le Mans with two cars on the front row. Antonio Garcia sealed the effort in the No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R with a time of 3:50.177 (132.414 mph). It continued a solid pre-race program for the mid-engine Corvettes, which are at Le Mans for the second time.
Tandy, driving with FIA WEC full-season teammate Tommy Milner and Alexander Sims, claimed his first pole position at Le Mans. He was only 0.192 seconds clear of Garcia, who is driving with IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teammate Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg.
The two Corvettes have shown impressive form since Sunday’s Test Day with the full benefit of running the WEC with the N. 64 Corvette being realized. The next goal is add another 1-2 finish… this time Sunday afternoon for the team’s ninth class win and first since 2015.
Corvette Racing will contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 11-12 with the green flag set for 4 p.m. CET and 10 a.m. ET. MotorTrend TV will air the race live with the MotorTrend Plus adding on-board footage. Live audio coverage will be available from Radio Le Mans.
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTE PRO HYPERPOLE WINNER:"What a fantastic day and a fantastic car. It's great to see so many Corvette flags around the track. This is for everyone who is here to support us and here to watch us. Hopefully we can keep these two yellow Corvettes up front for 24 hours. It was great out on track. The car feels fantastic. These GTE cars are so much fun to drive when you're out there with fresh tires and low fuel around this circuit... it's a real privilege." "The practices have been really good. Corvette Racing knows how into and race these events. It's been a long time since they've been on the top step at Le Mans. The plan is always to keep it clean, keep it fast and have a great race. The ultimate thing though is still to end up still on the track and first on Sunday afternoon."
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTE PRO HYPERPOLE: "You can't get much closer than that. It's the first pole and first 1-2 for Corvette in quite a while. They were good runs. It was pretty difficult to know what the track was going to be like. This new format for qualifying here is just different for us. It's the first time I did this, so I'm happy. I'm happy with how the car is running, for sure. Yesterday we were up front and we're still up front now. It's a nice place to start the race for sure."
Garcia, Tandy among GTE Pro leaders in first official practice, qualifying sessions
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: C8.Rs Advance to Hyperpole Garcia, Tandy among GTE Pro leaders in first official practice, qualifying sessions
LE MANS, France (June 8, 2022) – Both Corvette Racing entries advanced Wednesday to the Hyperpole final qualifying session for the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the pair of mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs continuing their strong showing from Sunday’s Test Day.
Antonio Garcia, driving the No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, was the second-fastest driver in an ultra-competitive GTE Pro category with a lap of 3:51.132 (131.855 mph). A three-time Le Mans winner, Garcia was only 0.133 seconds off the class-leading pace of Laurens Vanthoor.
Nick Tandy wasn’t far behind in the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette. His best lap of 3:51.491 (131.669 mph) put him comfortably inside the top-six, as the six fastest cars in each class from Wednesday qualifying advance to Thursday’s 30-minute Hyperpole session.
Wednesday’s five hours of practice saw all six Corvette Racing drivers cycle through the C8.Rs. Aside from a brief heavy shower during the qualifying session and a couple of slow zones in the two-hour night session, neither of the Corvettes lost significant running time due to technical or mechanical issues.
Corvette Racing will contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 11-12 with the green flag set for 4 p.m. CET and 10 a.m. ET. MotorTrend TV will air the race live with the MotorTrend App adding coverage of official practices and qualifying Thursday. Live audio coverage will be available from Radio Le Mans starting with Wednesday’s first official practice session.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTE PRO QUALIFYING: "It was a good day and so far the car is good. We had a clean run in free practice to validate a few things we had in mind and putting things together from the Test Day. You always get a little nervous with this new qualifying format because in an hour, anything can happen. We saw that last year when I got caught with a ton of red flags and slow zones. I knew we had the speed but you had to put down a lap or two, to be sure. We did it and did it early enough with the unexpected rain. I couldn't believe that after I went out for my second run that the team told it was raining hard. Even at Pit-In, there were zero drops. It was another Le Mans qualifying, and tomorrow is the real one. The important thing was to run as much as we could tonight and again tomorrow. We have five more hours of free practice left. Let's see if we can improve things even more."
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FOURTH IN GTE PRO QUALIFYING: "Raceweek is always a little bit different from the Test Day. That's always the first day when the public roads are opened up to us and the rubber from the tires start going down. We're pleased to see that the car is still in really good shape from the test. We're continuing to work through and figuring out what tire compounds we want to be running at certain times. So far, the practice is going well. In qualifying, the key aim of course was to get both cars into the Hyperpole. We managed to get some idea of what we need to do to gain a bit more performance for Hyperpole. From our side, it's been a pleasing day. Everything that we have worked on has made sense with what we hoped would happen with the car. Hopefully the rest of the week will go as smoothly as today."
Corvette Racing and the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R are back at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in search of the program’s ninth class victory at the historic French enduro. The race also will be made available to viewers and listeners in the United States and around the world on multiple platforms. MotorTrend Network will provide full coverage of Le Mans on Saturday and Sunday with full, live coverage for viewers in the U.S. On the MotorTrend+ app and online service, content will be available from each of the free practice and qualifying sessions, which start Wednesday, plus Thursday’s Hyperpole session. As an added bonus for Chevrolet and Corvette fans, MotorTrend+ will stream multiple on-boards during the event – including the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R of Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims. Live coverage isn’t limited to video. Radio Le Mans will broadcast every on-track session for the 24 Hours of Le Mans with many of the voices that Corvette Racing fans will recognize from previous Le Mans events. Fans can view live timing and scoring and other content on the 24 Hours of Le Mans app and the race's official web site. MotorTrend+ Le Mans U.S. Video Coverage Schedule (all times ET) Wednesday · Free Practice 1: 7:45 a.m. · Qualifying: 12:45 p.m. · Free Practice 2: 3:45 p.m.
Thursday · Free Practice 3: 8:45 a.m. · Hyperpole: 1:45 p.m. · Free Practice 4: 3:45 p.m.
MotorTrend+ live streaming Thursday, June 8, 2022 start 9:30 am ET
TV Race Broadcast:
Motor Trend Channel and MotorTrend +-showing all 24 hours Saturday June 11, 2022 start: 9:30 am ET Sunday June 12, 2022 ending: 9:30 am ET
A live stream of 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans also will be available on the Motor Trend app.
International:
Canada: Live on Velocity Channel
Le Mans has offered an app to you can download. You can also purchase the race for a premimum package Program: https://www.fiawec.com/en/official-fia-wec-app/45 or download Google Play Store or Apple store. (note-cannot purchase the race in the US)
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