AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 20, 2014) – It was a difficult day for the Corvette C7.Rs in the Lone Star Le Mans event at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday. Returning to the site of a victory in last year’s American Le Mans Series race, Corvette Racing aimed for a return to the GT Le Mans (GTLM) podium in the TUDOR Championship. An early charge by Antonio Garcia in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R at the start of the race raised hopes as the Spaniard moved from seventh to fifth in the opening laps.
The momentum couldn’t continue, however, for the team’s two Corvette C7.Rs. Garcia and Jan Magnussen finished ninth in GTLM, followed by the No. 4 Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in 10th place.
Garcia drove a double-stint to open the race and handed off to Magnussen with 52 minutes left. The Dane rejoined the race seventh but experienced braking issues that hindered his run.
In the No. 4 Corvette, Milner drove a single stint to open and was part of a five-car battle in the early stages. He handed off to Gavin, who drove with elevated tire pressure as the sun came out and the track warmed.
Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer were GTLM class winners with the SRT Vipers finishing first and second in class.
The final race of the TUDOR Championship is Petit Le Mans on Saturday, Oct. 4 from Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. Live coverage will be available on FOX Sports 2 and IMSA.com.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“The first part of the stint was good. I was able to challenge and overtake some of the cars that had been faster than us earlier in the week. It was obvious that we were struggling with overall pace. I tried my best to keep up during those two hours but that didn’t make much of a difference in the end. It’s disappointing result for the weekend but we need to recover at Petit Le Mans.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“This is not a pleasant feeling. The results for both cars today are not what we are used to. Antonio drove well during his double stint and made up a few positions early. But things went south for us in the second part of the race. The track conditions changed drastically in my stint as the surface got hotter, plus I had a braking issue that hampered our efforts. Now we have to focus on Road Atlanta and do what we can to move Antonio and Chevrolet back into the championship lead at the end of the last race.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“Obviously it was another tough day for us in the No. 4 Corvette. We continue to struggle with the pace of our competitors. It gets more and more frustrating. It was a challenge all weekend with the weather and track conditions. The rear tire pressures went up very high in the middle of the stint which made the car difficult to drive. Plus there was an issue with the passenger door on the driver exchange. Again it’s another example of how things have gone for us this year. Hopefully we can end on a positive note at Road Atlanta.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“We kept it close with the big pack there for awhile and that was fun racing. We were just a little bit behind the eight-ball in terms of pace. We had to keep our nose clean and hope that some of our competitors ahead of us make mistakes so we can move up that way. The car was pretty good. There was a bit of understeer for part of the stint but it got better at the end.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“We had hopes of returning to podium contention this weekend but obviously it wasn’t meant to be. Things aren’t working in our favor in a number of areas. That shouldn’t take away from the effort of Corvette Racing to control the factors we can control. Today’s race was disappointing but we still have a very important race to close the year at Petit Le Mans. We will regroup and be ready.”
Bondurant School of High Performance Driving
Source:
Corvette Racing
Photo Credit: JanMagnussen.dk
Related:
Corvette Racing at COTA: C7.Rs to Start Seventh and Ninth in GTLM
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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