Corvette Racing at Road Ameria: Back to the Holy Grail

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Corvette Racing at Road Ameria: Back to the Holy Grail


Program seeks eighth victory at favorite stop for many drivers

DETROIT (July 30, 2019) – Across the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule, no track may be as revered as Road America. That is especially true for everyone at Corvette Racing, which will attempt for another victory this weekend at “America’s National Park of Speed”.

Sunday’s IMSA Road Race Showcase will mark Corvette Racing’s 13th appearance at Road America with seven wins and a like number of pole positions since 2002. The team will look to improve – albeit slightly – on last year’s double-podium finish in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class.

The biggest item for Corvette Racing is the return of Tommy Milner to the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R alongside Oliver Gavin. Milner suffered an injury to his left hand during an opening-lap crash at Watkins Glen, forcing him to miss the two most recent rounds at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Lime Rock Park as Marcel Fässler subbed in the No. 4 Corvette.

Corvette Racing at Road Ameria: Back to the Holy Grail


With the full-season lineup restored, Corvette Racing can press on for a second-straight, double-podium finish and a chase for its fourth consecutive GTLM Drivers Championship. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen, in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette, stand third in GTLM points heading to Road America in their attempt for a championship three-peat.

They were third last year at Road America to their No. 4 teammates. A victory Sunday would not only help their championship cause, but it would be their first Road America win together since becoming teammates in 2012.

Besides placing second in class a year ago, Gavin and Milner scored Corvette Racing’s most recent Road America triumph in 2016. It was an epic finish that saw Milner go from fifth to first in the final 15 minutes and winning on the final lap.

A solid points haul Sunday would be one of many highlights for the program. Garcia and Milner are set to make their 100th career starts with Corvette Racing this weekend, a month following Magnussen’s 150th career team start at Watkins Glen. But there also is another key focal point for Corvette fans to keep their eyes on during the weekend…

Corvette Racing at Road Ameria: Back to the Holy Grail


2020 Corvette Stingray on Display at Road America

The IMSA Road Race Showcase at Road America will have the distinction of being one of the first sites in the world to host the 2020 Corvette Stingray – the first mid-engine Corvette in Chevrolet’s history. Following its highly anticipated reveal July 18, the Corvette Stingray will be on-site at the Chevrolet Motorsports Display in the Road America main paddock near Victory Circle.

The 2020 Stingray’s exterior has a bold, futuristic expression with mid-engine exotic proportions, but it is still unmistakably Corvette. It’s lean and muscular, with an athletic sculptural shape conveying a sense of motion and power from every angle.

Corvette has always represented iconic American design, performance, technical ingenuity and attainability. The entry 2020 Stingray continues that tradition as a no-compromise value proposition, as it will start under $60,000. The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray goes into production at GM’s Bowling Green Assembly in late 2019. Additional pricing and packaging information will be shared closer to launch.

A number of additional vehicles will be on-site for visitors to view and learn from a team of product specialists. Vehicles and attractions include:

  • Production vehicles like the Silverado 1500 Trailboss, Blazer RS, Traverse Redline, Colorado Crewcab Z71, Equinox Premier and an SS Camaro SEMA Concept.
  • A Corvette C7.R show car
  • Samples of Chevrolet engines, performance parts and accessories available to fans for purchase from their local Chevrolet dealer
  • A variety of Chevrolet and racing related activities for adults and kids
  • Corvette Racing t-shirts for fans who sign up with Chevrolet Motorsports

Chevrolet’s activation during the Road America weekend also includes the role of pace vehicle with a yellow Chevrolet Corvette Z06.

The Corvette Racing Display will be open at 9 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 8 a.m. on Sunday.

The IMSA Road Race Showcase at Road America is August 2-4. It will be streamed live on the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com at 2:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 4 and aired later Sunday on NBC Sports Network at 6 p.m. ET. Live audio coverage will be available on IMSA Radio, Sirius 138, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 972.

Corvette Racing at Road Ameria: Back to the Holy Grail


ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“I love Road America, and I think every driver does. It has every single kind of corner you can find. What I like most is the old-school style – super-fast but no place to make a mistake. Car setup and tire degradation will be keys there. If you can make your car work there from the start, you have most of the race in your favor. You not only need to be fast there but consistent. If the car is working well, you really enjoy it. If it doesn’t then it can be a nightmare! Last year we came really close to victory, so let’s hope we can be there again.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“I think every driver enjoys Road America. If not then I question their career choice! In all seriousness, Road America is a super-fun experience, especially when you have a good car like we usually do with Corvette Racing. There’s a lot of speed, a lot of hard braking and great flow around the track. If we raced multiple times each year in Elkhart Lake, I wouldn’t complain. We tested for Le Mans here in May and all of us have looked forward to coming back. Both Corvettes were on the podium last year in GTLM. Our goal is to have one on the top step. It would be great if it were me and Antonio to make up ground in the championship.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“I genuinely think Road America is one of the great tracks in the world at which we can race. Everyone at Corvette Racing gets a thrill of being there as it’s not too far from our shop. Our Corvette is fast and good, so we hopefully will be in a good spot to go there. There are so many things that can happen in a race at Road America. It can turn on a knife edge there, as it did for us in 2016. It should be another good race.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

“I get really excited to go to Road America each year. It’s one of those classic, old-school circuits on our schedule. We’re super-lucky in IMSA to have such cool tracks to go to. These circuits are what every driver wants in a race track. The long straights, the big brake zones and the challenge of the circuit… it promotes great competition especially in multi-class sports car racing. I hesitate to say we’re spoiled or we take them for granted but the Europeans who come over always talk when they come over about how super these tracks are, and they are that good.”

Corvette Racing at Road Ameria: Back to the Holy Grail


2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTLM Standings
(After Seven of 11 Events)

Driver Standings
1. Earl Bamber/Laurens Vanthoor – 218
2. Nick Tandy/Patrick Pilet – 210
3. Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 201
4. Richard Westbrook/Ryan Briscoe – 195
5. Dirk Mueller – 191
8. Oliver Gavin – 170
11. Tommy Milner – 122

Team Standings
1. No. 912 Porsche GT Team – 218
2. No. 911 Porsche GT Team – 210
3. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 201
4. No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing – 195
5. No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing – 191
8. No. 4 Corvette Racing – 170

Manufacturer Standings
1. Porsche – 237
2. Ford – 213
3. Chevrolet – 210
4. BMW – 209


Source:
Corvette Racing

Related:
[VIDEO] Corvette Racing: Pioneering Innovation
Corvette Racing at Lime Rock: Weathering the Weather
Corvette Racing at Watkins Glen: Runner-Up Finish for No. 3 Corvette

 



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1 COMMENT

  1. Now..if IMSA will not play games with the, BoP nonsense , Corvette Racing might have a good chance of winning this race

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