Fourth-row GTLM start for pair of Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs.
ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin (Aug. 5, 2017) – Corvette Racing will go for a repeat at Road America on Sunday from the fourth row of its class following qualifying for the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase. The pair of Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs will furiously battle to work their way toward the front with the goal of maintaining Corvette Racing’s and Chevrolet’s lead in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Manufacturer’s, Driver’s and Team points standings in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Corvette Racing is a three-time winner this year in GTLM and has won seven times at the historic 4.048-mile, 14-turn Road America including last season.
Oliver Gavin qualified the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R seventh at 2:03.358 (118.134 mph), just ahead of Jan Magnussen and the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R at 2:03.581 (117.920 mph).
Saturday’s results weren’t unlike last year’s qualifying efforts – sixth and seventh – but Gavin and Tommy Milner parlayed a seventh-place starting position to a dramatic victory on their way to the GTLM Championship.
There may be more drama in store for Sunday. The weather forecast calls for an increased chance of rain – similar to Friday’s conditions that saw the two Corvettes much closer to the GTLM front-runners.
The Continental Tire Road Race Showcase is set for 1:35 p.m. CT on Sunday, August 6. FOX Sports 1 will air the race live starting at 2:30 p.m. ET with live audio coverage from IMSA Radio and a Corvette Racing In-Car feed available on IMSA.com.
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED SEVENTH IN GTLM:
“After today’s result in qualifying, maybe changeable conditions would suit us. We’ve been surprised by qualifying. I genuinely thought we were closer than that. The Corvette isn’t terrible… certainly not. We made some progress over the weekend. But everyone made such massive gains today. If that’s our competition’s pace in the race, we will certainly be looking for some changeable weather to spice things up. In mixed conditions, I think we have a good, solid car. It has been a theme this year where there has been some wild qualifying pace from some people, then come the race comes everyone comes back to the same point. So that is what we are focusing on – what we can achieve for the race tomorrow. P7 isn’t the end of the world. We started there last year for this race, and we won it. We have to stick to our strengths and execute. I know our team can do that; I’ve seen them do it all year. Even with our luck this year, we have kept soldiering on and staying focused on what our strong points are: executing in the pit lane, strategy, good driver changes and smart driving. That’s what Tommy and I will be completely focused on tomorrow.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED EIGHTH IN GTLM:
“This was not part of the plan. It wasn’t very enjoyable. The handling of the Corvette was pretty nice; it was just slow. We have some serious work cut out for us from now through the race. We will see what that can get us. I am a little bit surprised that we are that far off the pace; that’s the first time this year. I’m obviously not satisfied with this result. It was a close qualifying between the two Corvettes, but that was about it from our side.”
Source:
CorvetteRacing.com
Related:
Corvette Racing at Road America: Return to The National Park of Speed
Corvette Racing at Lime Rock Park: No. 3 Corvette Extends GTLM Points Lead
Corvette Racing at Lime Rock: Third-Row Start for Pair of Chevrolet Corvettes
-
The Vettes were really second tier cars today. The 4 car chased the 3 car all during qualifying, but must have turned one good lap to qualify ahead of the 3. The Vettes better pray for rain, cuz’ they are not fast enough to win. Local weather around Elkhart Lake is calling for rain to begin during the race.
Well, looking at qual times, we are in deep caca. Round numbers, we are 2 seconds off pace with the #66 Fd GT in 1st qual position, and 0.6 and 0.9 seconds behind the #911 Porsches in 6th qual position.
Those are HUGE GAPS for a 2 hr 40 min race.
Were there any BoP changes since Lime Rock? Haven’t read anything about any changes.
Looking at qualifying all year, we have been significantly off pace. Only thru good race/pit strategy have we been able to squeak out three wins. In the last 2 races #4 has been involved in crashes; that doesn’t help the Teams chances.
Trust they have been able to makes some last minute set-up changes to decrease the gap.
Mike
First State Corvette Club Racing Activities Reporter
Comments are closed.