Corvette Racing at COTA: C7.Rs to Start Seventh and Ninth in GTLM

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Corvette Racing at COTA: C7.Rs to Start Seventh and Ninth in GTLM
Photo Credit: JanMagnussen.dk

AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 19, 2014) – Jan Magnussen was the quickest qualifier for Corvette Racing in the GTLM class in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s Lone Star Le Mans race at Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

The Dane – a winner a year ago with teammate Antonio Garcia at COTA in the American Le Mans Series – set a best lap of 2:04.847 (98.040 mph) to place seventh in the session. Magnussen will make his return to racing in the Corvette after he missed the most recent TUDOR Championship round at VIR as a precaution following a hard crash in a practice session.

There is plenty on the line for the race. Garcia leads the class Driver’s championship standings as does the No. 3 Corvette in Team points. Chevrolet ranks second in Manufacturer points.

Oliver Gavin’s best lap of 2:05.093 (97.847 mph) in the No. 4 Corvette C7.R placed him ninth in class. Gavin and teammate Tommy Milner entered COTA looking for a little redemption following last year’s race – one that saw Milner lead early before their Corvette C6.R suffered a gearbox failure.

The Lone Star Le Mans will air live starting at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2. The FOX network will present a two-hour broadcast of Lone Star Le Mans on Sunday; check local listings for times.

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R

“It was a tough qualifying session. This is the furthest we’ve been from the front all year. Something seems messed up with the speeds of the different cars. That’s what we have to deal with this on the weekend. It’s tough qualifying at the back.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R

“Both Jan and I were trying to find the maximum from our cars. We’re obviously not quite as good as some of our competition. It’s a real battle and a real struggle. We felt like we had good cars coming in here. It’s difficult starting eighth and 10th on the grid. It’s not where we want to be. We’ll go back to look at the data and work at it to see what we can find and see if there are some bits and pieces we can improve on.”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER

“Qualifying today was a definite challenge. The results certainly weren’t up to our usual standards while our class competitors seemed to keep finding speed. There is a lot of work to be done between now and the race tomorrow. We showed fairly good pace in practice so we’re optimistic that our Corvette C7.Rs will be better in the race environment tomorrow.”

Lone Star Le Mans – Watch It (all times ET)

  • Qualifying: 5:30 p.m. ET (IMSA.com), Friday, Sept. 19
  • Race: 12:30 p.m. ET (FOX Sports 2), Saturday, Sept. 20



Source:
Corvette Racing
Photo Credit: JanMagnussen.dk

Related:
Corvette Racing at COTA: Looking to Defend in Austin
Corvette Racing at VIR: Tough Going for Pair of Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs
Corvette Racing at Road America: Sixth, Seventh for Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs
Corvette Racing at Indianapolis: Corvette C7.Rs Place Fourth and Fifth in GTLM

 



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