Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Six-Hour Race Report

0
2049

Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Six-Hour Race Report


Both Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs among the GTE Pro leaders after first quarter of Le Mans

LE MANS, France (June 17, 2017) – Corvette Racing’s pair of Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs were in the top-six of the GTE Pro class Saturday after the first six hours at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Oliver Gavin was fifth in the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C7.R with Antonio Garcia sixth in the No. 63 Corvette.

Both drivers were in the early stages of their second tours in their cars one quarter of the way through the annual French classic. The opening six hours were mostly uneventful with the exception of two items: Garcia suffered a puncture early in the race and had to cut short his second stint, which put the No. 63 Corvette slightly off sequence in the pits. Meanwhile, Gavin suffered a damaged wheel when another GTE Pro competitor hit him in the first corner of the race’s opening lap.

Both Corvettes soldiered on in the opening quarter of the race and experienced no further issues. Tommy Milner followed Gavin in the No. 64 Corvette with Marcel Fässler finishing the first six hours. In the No. 63 Corvette, Jan Magnussen and Jordan Taylor rotated through before Garcia took over again. All six drivers drove two stints.

Corvette Racing’s next update will be at the halfway mark near 3 a.m. CET Sunday/9 p.m. ET Saturday.

Live television and streaming video continues between FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2 and FOX Sports GO. Live audio coverage is available from Radio Le Mans, which also will broadcast on Sirius Channel 138 and XM Channel 201.

Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Six-Hour Race Report


ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“Initially the car felt quite decent but I suddenly couldn’t quite follow the others. It appeared I had a slow puncture at the right rear, for which I had to compensate in my driving which led to the front tires getting destroyed. There was no point in continuing like that so I pitted just four laps into my second stint, which means we’re now out of sequence compared to the other competitors. But it’s still early days and anything can still happen.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“That wasn’t too bad. The car handles well, even though it has a bit of understeer. But the lap times are decent. I tried to change the car a bit to suit the track conditions. It’s a pity about the puncture Antonio picked up which shortened his second stint and puts us out of sequence compared to the others. The heat so far doesn’t cause any issues.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“That was a good stint. I quickly got into the rhythm which was easy because the car feels strong and is very comfortable and consistent to drive. It wasn’t difficult to keep the pace with the others. Everybody is really pushing, you can tell by the small mistakes they all make.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“As always, the start here was eventful. At the very first corner, a Ford hit me going into Turn One. I was really surprised. I gave him lots of room on the inside but he drove across the track and just smacked me. It was very bizarre and very unnecessary on Turn One of Lap One of a 24-hour race. Fortunately, it didn’t give us a puncture but it did damage the wheel, and I could feel that for several laps. Then it settled into a relatively stable position. The slow zones seem to be hurting our tire pressures when we go through them, particularly in the Porsche Curves. We struggled at times with the balance of the car until the pressures would come back up. It was a bit frustrated. I got the car over to Tommy with no damage – other than from the Ford. Let’s see where we go from there. I’m sure a lot will go on between now and 3 p.m. Sunday.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“It feels good to finally get your feet wet in the race and get a rhythm. I feel good. I’m hoping when the track cools down a little bit it might suit us a little better than it did in the heat of the day. All in all, the Corvette is good. I was able to catch one of the Ferraris ahead of me and had a good battle. I was catching some of the others a little bit toward the end but kind of faded a little bit at the end. Overall it was a fun first stint. As with any of these races, I’m looking forward to no problems from here on, getting into a rhythm and getting some hours out of the way.”


Source:
CorvetteRacing.com

Related:
Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Satisfied with Qualifying, Focus Turns to Race
Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Garcia Paces Corvette Effort in First Day of Qualifying
Corvette Racing at Le Mans: All Systems Go in Fight for Ninth Class Win

 



-