Corvette Racing at Laguna Seca: Disappointing 6th and 7th Place Finish for Corvette C7.Rs

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Corvette Racing at Laguna Seca:  Diappointing 6th and 7th Place Finish for Corvette C7.Rs
Photo Credit: Richard Prince for Corvette Racing

It was a disappointing finish on Sunday for Corvette Racing’s two C7.Rs at the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Both Corvettes were never in contention to challenge the BMWs who would go on to finish 1-2 in GLTM.

Corvette Racing finished sixth in seventh in class with the No.4 Corvette C7.R driven by Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner edging their teammates in the No.3 Corvette C7.R piloted by Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen.

At the beginning of the race, Milner started in the No.4 Corvette C7.R and got off to a bad start at the Green Flag when a slower moving car balked and Milner had to give up two positions. Gavin drove the final 57 minutes and suffered a minor hit bay a prototype challenge car but by then the class leaders were pulling away.

Antonio Garcia started in the No.3 Corvette C7.R at the back of the grid following an engine change after qualifying. The Matador quickly made his way through the slower GT Daytona field but then he suffered damage to the right front after contact with the eventual overall winning No.90 Corvette DP.

Corvette Racing next heads to France for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 13-14.

Corvette Racing at Laguna Seca:  Disappointing 6th and 7th Place Finish for Corvette C7.Rs
Photo Credit: Richard Prince for Corvette Racing

CORVETTE RACING GTLM QUOTES

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SIXTH:

“It was a tough day in the office today. Tommy got balked at the start by the Ferrari. It seemed that we could get up to the back of our competitors but trying to pass people was very hard. Just the way the pit stops turned out, it was me getting in for the last hour of the race. We had a glitch getting me in the car. I had a bit of a race with Jan coming into the Corkscrew. We’ve raced each other for years and know each other very well. I thought our car was quicker at the time, so I was able to get by and pull out a gap. They had damage too. Then it was a case of reeling off the laps and staying out of trouble. Some of the driving by some of the other drivers in other classes was very creative. Clearly some people haven’t gotten very much experience in the cars they are driving or at this track. With our competition seemingly having a performance advantage over us, it feels like we’re sort of driving with one arm tied behind our backs. Hopefully by the time we come back after Le Mans, there will be a tighter rules package that will make for good, strong competition.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SIXTH:

“Right at the start, the Ferrari… I don’t know what he did, but he went and then he stopped. We can’t pass before the start/finish so we got kind of messed up there. I think I lost one or two spots. Not too bad and just a little frustrating. From there just running our race. Certainly we were not as quick at the BMWs for sure, and the Porsches and Ferraris are fast enough we can’t really on pace compete with them. I had some good battles with the Falken Porsche and one of the factory Porsches there. For as bad as the traffic was, it was just holding on, keeping the nose clean and giving Olly a car he could race with.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SEVENTH:

“It was tough today. Starting from the rear was unfortunate but necessary. Our Corvette felt well-balanced and relatively fast early as I moved up through the GTD cars. Then I had damage when one of the prototypes slowed in front of me, and that was pretty much our day. The balance and handling of the car suffered. It is tough to pass here without damage but with it, passing is nearly impossible. It was frustrating for sure for both Jan and I because we couldn’t fight with other cars in our class. We definitely lost out on a couple of positions. But now we have to regroup and focus on Le Mans.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SEVENTH:

“Antonio had a fantastic start and got through the GTD cars. Unfortunately he got caught up in the DP lead battle and had a little bit of damage on the front. It really deteriorated the handling of the car and made it compromised. So when I got in the car, I was just trying to hold on to it. It was a handful. It is hard to give any good feedback to the engineers with the setup so compromised from the damage. We salvaged a few points. We now have a break from IMSA as we test and head to the biggest race of the year in Le Mans. Hopefully we can come back from France and resume the battle for the championship.”


Source:
CorvetteRacing.com

Related:
Corvette Racing at Laguna Seca: Milner Qualifies P4 While Engine Problem Hits No.3 C7.R
Corvette Racing at Laguna Seca: Going for Fourth Straight Monterey Win
Corvette Racing Building a Second Generation C7.R for 2016′s Rule Changes

 



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