Corvette Racing: #3 C6.R Wins GT1 At Mosport

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=Lady luck finally showed up for the number 3 Corvette C6.R after a string of bad luck has kept Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen out of the winner’s circle for much of this season. Their win today breaks a streak of four races straight by the number 4 Corvette C6.R driven by Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta. Hometown favorite Ron Fellows and Andy Pilgrim in the #33 Artic White C6.R Corvette rounded out the GT1 class. All three Corvettes went 116 laps around the 2.5 mile circuit. The race turned with an hour left when the GT1 leading #4 Corvette C6.R was struck and spun out by a prototype and went off track at Turn 3. The #3 Corvette was then able to take the lead and then extend it to a win with a quick pit stop and flawless racing. The last time O’Connell and Magnussen shared the Winner’s Circle at Mosport, it was 1999 and the pair won the LMP1 class in a Panoz prototype.

“We’ve been so snake bit this year and nothing went right for us,” O’Connell said. “We’ve been working with a new engineer (Ben Brady) and on bringing the winning chemistry back. Everything went right today. To share it with Jan having won here before was huge.” “We’ve managed to come up nearly every race to come up with a way to lose so that was in the back of my mind,” Magnussen said. “The car was good and the tires were absolutely great. Everything went according to plan. We had a mega pit stop and we opened up a gap, and Johnny made a stop and we opened it up even more.”
After Gavin’s spin, the #33 C6.R Corvette moved into second place and stayed their consistently until with 2 minutes remaining Gavin passed Fellows and held on through the checkered flag.
“It was very cool to run the white car with Andy,” said Fellows. “He did a great job, and when it was time to race, he did what he needed to do. I’m happy for my pal Johnny to win here at Mosport – it makes up for the ones that got away from the two of us!” “The fans’ attention is incredibly flattering,” Fellows reflected. “You need to cherish those moments because they’re not going to happen forever. I’ll never forget it.” “I had a blast!” Pilgrim declared. “I’m really proud to race with Ron in Canada, and I’ve had a wonderful time. The Corvette C6.R is an amazing machine. I’ve gone four seconds a lap faster around Mosport than I ever went in the C5-R.”
The Grand Prix of Mosport was likely Ron Fellows last start for Corvette. Ron took the Corvette Racing program to new heights during his service and it’s a fitting tribute to have watched him drive the Artic White Corvette C6.R at Mosport. Corvette Racing’s next event is the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix in Detroit Saturday, Sept. 1. SPEED Channel will televise the race live at 3 p.m. EDT.
Source:
CorvetteRacing.com
PaddockTalk.com
Photo Credit: Richard Prince Related:
Corvette Racing: Gavin Takes the Pole at Mosport; Fellows Second.
Corvette Racing to Field 3 C6.R’s Corvettes at Mosport Technorati Tags:
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