Taylor, Gavin put in strong showings behind wheel of mid-engine Corvette C8.R
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 1, 2020) – Corvette Racing will roll off second and third in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Sunday’s fourth round of the series at Road America.
Jordan Taylor and Oliver Gavin were the fastest qualifiers in the pair of mid-engine Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs in Saturday’s 15-minute qualifying session. Taylor set a lap of 2:00.854 (120.581 mph) in the No. 3 Corvette followed closely by Gavin in the No. 4 C8.R with a lap of 2:00.904 (120.531 mph). Both were slightly behind pole-winner Laurens Vanthoor but very much on pace around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course.
Corvette Racing is on a two-race winning streak in the class. Championship leaders Taylor and Antonio Garcia won a month ago at Daytona following a lengthy break due to the COVD-19 pandemic, followed by a victory for Gavin and Tommy Milner two weeks ago at Sebring.
The team has seven victories at Road America, and Corvette Racing held its first on-track test of the C8.R at the circuit in 2018.
The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray will serve as Official Pace Car for the IMSA rounds of the WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge at Road America. Named by MotorTrend as 2020 Car of the Year, the 2020 Stingray is Chevrolet’s first mid-engine production Corvette. It features a 6.2-liter V8 engine with an output of 495hp, goes from 0-60 mph in less than three seconds and achieves a top speed of 194 mph.
Both the Corvette Stingray and Corvette C8.R were developed simultaneously with a deeper level of technology transfer between the race car and a production Corvette than ever before, which helps contribute to many of its advancements. As a result, the C8.R shares the highest percentage of parts between the production and race car than any previous generation.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Road America is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. ET on Sunday with live network coverage on NBC plus streaming options on the NBC Sports App. IMSA Radio will broadcast the race on XM 202, SiriusXM Online 972 and at IMSA.com, which also will host live timing and scoring.
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTLM:
“It was a good day. It wasn’t the smoothest that we’ve had all year but we got good direction on the car this morning with what we wanted to do for changes ahead of qualifying. Those showed really well, and the Corvette was really nice to drive. We’re still using this as a little bit of a test session as we haven’t tested here before with these cars. There are a few more areas where we can make some improvements and gains for the race. But to be second and third today is a good start. We’re not sure where everyone is on tire strategy, and once again it looks like it could rain again. It’ll be good and it’s good to start up front. This is a tough place to race with all the traffic and how narrow it is, but that’s what makes it exciting.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED THIRD IN GTLM:
“It was a tight session. Certainly we were looking to maximize everything that we had taken from the final practice with our Corvette. We knew we needed to improve a little bit in some spots. We worked away on it and did make some improvements, but also the track conditions had changed a little so we were chasing that somewhat as well as some of the changes we made. The qualifying session was very close. Tomorrow’s race will very much be a story of tires. That will all unfold in those first few laps to see where we stack up with our competition. Plus most likely there will be some rain at some point. Whether it comes during the race or not, we will see. Everyone at Corvette Racing is quietly confident. The Corvette has been competitive the last couple of races. This race tomorrow will be hard, but we have the best team on the pitlane a great car in the C8.R. We will be ready.”
Source:
CorvetteRacing.com
Related:
IMSA Makes Minor Adjustments to the GTLM Balance of Performance Ahead of Road America
Links and Info for the 2020 IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America
Corvette Racing at Road America: Riding a Hot Streak
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It’s so exciting to be driving a mid-engine Corvette in it’s maiden year off the production line in Bowling Green, Ky. and at the same time IMSA racing has provided a couple of wins, some pole positions and now 2 & 3 on the starting grid. I’m not sure how many other first year cars are putting out this kind of results for the owner on the street and the C8r Corvette on the track. With everything else that the manufacturer has had to think about, it is a total tribute to Corvette Racing and Chevrolet Corvette that this is happening. With Balance of Performance being very prestigious and getting more so all the time, it is clear that the tire choices will likely be the determining factor of who will finish in front. The excitement along the way in incredible. We’ve got a whole lot of cheer about behind the wheels of our C8r’s and Stingrays. Go Corvette!
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