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cor123 CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: A Chevrolet Corvette Comeback Victory
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Press Release:

 

CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: A Chevrolet Corvette Comeback Victory

Gavin, Milner, Taylor Give Chevrolet, Corvette Racing an eighth class win at Le Mans

 

LE MANS, France (June 13, 2015) – Corvette Racing stood atop the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Sunday as Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor wrote the final chapter of a storybook comeback that ended with the team winning the GTE Pro category in their No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.

 

The trio in their No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R completed 337 laps for 2,864.50 miles in a frantic battle that eventually saw the Corvette win in class by five laps. Sunday’s victory goes along with Corvette Racing’s wins earlier this year in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

 

It also marked a significant turn in the fortunes for Corvette Racing in the span of four days. The No. 63 Corvette C7.R of Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Ryan Briscoe was withdrawn from the race following a hard crash with Magnussen driving. A small piece of debris inside the pedal box caused a throttle malfunction and the Corvette to skid and spin out of control. Magnussen – part of the winning lineup at both Daytona and Sebring with Garcia and Briscoe – was uninjured.

 

Instead of folding, Corvette Racing marshaled all its effort around the remaining Corvette C7.R. In addition to the eighth victory for the Corvette brand and Corvette Racing in France, Gavin won at Le Mans for the fifth time, Milner the second, and Taylor for the first time.

 

“I am proud of how the No. 63 and No. 64 drivers, engineers and crew came together to rally around a single Corvette C7.R entry for the race after Thursday’s unfortunate incident,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “They prepared thoroughly and had each others’ back all race long. Perseverance, teamwork and execution were keys to the winning effort.

 

“It was very emotional to be in the garage with the entire team when the checkered flag dropped,” he added. “The Corvette Racing team simply never gave up.”

 

Gavin set the tone early in the race Saturday by move up three spots from seventh on the GTE Pro grid to as high as fourth in his first two stints. Milner followed with a triple stint on his Michelin tires that saw he and the Corvette move from sixth – where he slotted into the field after the leaving pit lane on his first laps – to the class lead.

 

From that point, the three Corvette Racing drivers figured prominently in a lead battle that saw the Corvette go up against multiple competitors in the race’s top production-based class.

 

The climatic moment came with less than two hours remaining. Running second at the time, Gavin caught and then quickly passed Toni Vilander, who eventually lost five laps in the garage with a mechanical issue. Victory in sight, Gavin drove a smooth final stint with no issues – a fitting end to drama-filled four days.

 

“This victory adds to what already has been a terrific year for Corvette Racing and the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R,” said Mark Kent, Director of Chevrolet Racing. “Today’s win at Le Mans goes alongside our successes in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. It shows the depth of our strengths and determination of everyone at Corvette Racing, GM Powertrain Performance and Racing team, and Pratt & Miller. I’d like to commend all of our partners who contributed to our eighth Le Mans victory.”

 

Said Campbell: “The enthusiasm of the Corvette and Chevrolet owners was overwhelming, and we received messages of support from around the world. The team even did multiple Skype sessions with National Corvette Museum members that were watching the race at the NCM theater. It was also great to see a full Corvette Corral here at Le Mans.

 

“Racing enables us to transfer learnings from the track to design, engineer and build the best and safest Corvettes for the showroom.”

 

The next event for Corvette Racing’s two Corvette C7.Rs is Sahlen’s Six Hours At The Glen from Watkins Glen International on Sunday, June 28. It is the seventh round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and will air on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2 starting at 10 a.m. ET. IMSA Radio also will have live flag-to-flag coverage.

 

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 64 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“Winning Le Mans is always a fairy tale story. The way everything turned out over the week, with the No. 63 Corvette having its issues and not being able to start the race… the way the team all came together and led us into the race and enabled us to have this fantastic result today, it’s just amazing. It’s just been one of those days where you’re waiting for something to spring up, like another hurdle to come in your way to stop you from taking a victory. It was a spectacular race for Tommy and Jordan and myself – one of those events where you’re having great races with Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche but in the end we were the strongest car and we ended up coming away with victory. This is my fifth victory here at Le Mans, and I’m absolutely thrilled to come back here with Corvette Racing. I’m a very happy man.”

 

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: "Where do you start? It’s unbelievable to be here with Corvette Racing and to represent the U.S., Chevrolet and Corvette at the biggest race in the world. It's one thing to race but it's another thing to actually achieve that.  It is something that has happened twice now, but you don't expect that for one thing. It is just an amazing feeling… a sense of accomplishment. All the hard work that goes into coming here, and I only see part of it.  The guys at the shop... when you look at all the people here to make this happen, to achieve victory is incredible. I’m just super happy to be here and be a part of it.

“Then you look at the storyline for us for the week. You have the one car that goes out in qualifying. Typically after many accidents you can fix it, but that one was big enough that there was nothing we could do here. To have the whole team band together and work together throughout the weekend and throughout the race to do exactly this and get a win... I know all the No. 3 guys are disappointed a little bit with what happened after qualifying. But this was definitely a team victory.  It’s very cool to be a part of it. I can't thank those guys enough to be here in what is a difficult scenario. I've been there. It is difficult to be at a track and not racing. But for them to do whatever they can to help us, help the team, help Chevy and help Corvette achieve victory, this was a team win for sure."

 

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 64 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “I’m obviously a little speechless about the whole thing. The goal in sports car racing and almost any kind of in motorsports in general is to win Le Mans.  To win with Chevrolet and Corvette Racing as an American driver doesn't get any better than that. Being with the team for four years now, and the last two years only being able to do Le Mans with the team is tough. I have to thank them and Chevrolet for still believing in me and just to come and do this one-off race with them. So in one way I am happy for the team, but in another way it is a good way to say thank you to them."

 

Posted on: 2015/6/15 19:25
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bogus Re: CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: A Chevrolet Corvette Comeback Victory
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The modern incarnation of Corvette Racing has made LeMans its bitch. In GT1, GT2 and now GTE Pro.

With that said, this was the best win of them all. Totally on the ropes. Team car broken, 2nd car mid-pack. I feel the opposition figured they were done... and to come from behind and win like this is a genuinely special event.

Well done, lads!

Posted on: 2015/6/17 16:07
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cor123 Re: CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: A Chevrolet Corvette Comeback Victory
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Fehan (Corvette): “Adversity is Just Opportunity Dressed a Different Way”
By John Dagys



By Thursday evening, Corvette Racing’s chances of victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans was in doubt, following a heavy accident that resulted in the withdrawal of its No. 63 car and leaving only one factory Corvette C7.R to fly the flag.

While the odds were stacked against them, the Pratt & Miller squad persevered, with Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor not only driving a flawless race, but taking their Corvette to GTE-Pro class honors, breaking a four-year dry spell at LeMans.

For Corvette Racing Program Manager Doug Fehan, the team’s 16th consecutive trip to the French endurance classic was one of the most memorable yet, based on how well they performed under pressure.

“It creates adversity,” Fehan told Sportscar365. “As I said to the crowd, on several of the speeches I gave following that, for us, and for me and for the team, we’ve tried to develop an attitude that suggests that adversity is just opportunity dressed a little different way.

“That huge amount of adversity caused us to do our normal thing. The normal response is that we gather up, and rather than dwell on the fact that we have a car that’s severely damaged and we’re not going to be able to race it, let’s look at what that entails.”

Fehan credited the safety features of the production-based C7.R for allowing Jan Magnussen to walk away from the massive accident in qualifying, which was triggered by a pebble that got into the foot box and caused the throttle to stick wide open.

With no spare chassis, the team went to work focusing entirely on its No. 64 car, which has historically struggled in terms of performance in recent years, both at Le Mans and in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

“The eyes were upon us because we were down and out,” Fehan said. “We only had a single car, one bullet in the chamber, what were our chances?

“But I said, ‘Guys, there’s only one step on the top of the podium.’ We only needed one car to do this and we were the only team there that I thought was truly capable of pulling together.”

As arguably the most experienced and successful team in the modern era at Le Mans, Corvette went to work to ensure that every aspect of its now single-car entry was perfected, with the crew from the fallen No. 63 car also lending a helping hand.

“That was the attitude we took going into the whole deal,” Fehan said. “We’re going to show the world we can do this with a single car.

“All of the guys pitched in on Friday and went over that thing with a fine-tooth comb. They took their time, every inch of that thing was massaged. Then we put it on the grid.”

While having started second-to-last due to a disappointing qualifying effort, Fehan knew they’d be in a solid position if they kept to their plan.

“The guy who spends the least amount of time in pit lane is going to win and that’s exactly what we did,” he said. “Fuel, tires, driver [change]. One brake change. That was it. The hood or rear deck never came off the car.

“We’ve done that several times before and each time we have done that, we’ve won.”

That proved to be key, as the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia, which the No. 64 car had battled all race, suffered gearbox failure in the closing hours, giving Gavin, Milner and Taylor clear sailing to take the win.

It was a special day for Corvette, with Ed Welburn, GM’s VP of Global Design, in attendance at Le Mans for the first time, where he witnessed the factory squad’s eighth class victory thanks to a perfect execution of the race.

For Fehan, it’s a weekend he’ll never forget.

“You only get the first win once, which is always the most emotional,” he said. “Then the rest of them group together because any win at Le Mans is incredible.

“But I would say for me, this would be the second-most important win we’ve had, just because what we had to do to pull it together to make it happen.

“We were also coming off a dry spell. We had never gone three years in a row without winning. That hadn’t happened in our history.

“That’s kind of imposing, that level of pressure. Especially when you lose a car, you think, ‘Man, my luck has turned to s*** here.’

“We needed this win. We needed this win for ourselves internally. We needed this win for our drivers. We needed it for Jan, for Olly, Jordan and Tommy.”

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans ... d-a-little-different-way/
Posted on: 2015/6/17 16:11
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