Now that the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech Championship Series has come to a close, we are finally getting some answers as to how the driver’s lineup for Corvette Racing will be filled for the 2021 campaign which starts in just two months.
Following the retirement of Oliver Gavin after a 19-year career with Corvette Racing, Sportscar365.com is reporting that long-time Porsche driver Nick Tandy will be taking over Gavin’s seat in the No. 4 C8.R with Tommy Milner as his driving partner.
Tandy is a 36-year-old Englishman who has an overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 and 13 wins over the seven years as a driver for Porsche in the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship Series. His most recent win came on Saturday at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
After the announcement of Porsche’s withdraw from IMSA for the 2021 season, Tandy became available and SportsCar365 says he had been in the mix for the open seat at Corvette Racing with a deal recently finalized. Corvette Racing has declined to comment on the addition of Tandy, stating that they will announce their 2021 driver line-up at a later date.
In addition to Gavin leaving Corvette Racing, Sportscar365 also tells us that Marcell Fassler will not be back for the endurance races in 2021, and that ex-BMW driver Alexander Sims may be in line for the 3rd seat of the No.4 C8.R.
Meanwhile, the 2020 championship-winning No.3 C8.R will be back with Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, along with endurance driver Nicky Catsburg as the team looks to duplicate the success of the new mid-engine sports car in its sophomore year.
Source:
SportsCar365.com
Related:
Corvette Racing at Sebring: Respect to the Bumps
Corvette Racing at Sebring: Pole, Track Record for Garcia
Garcia, Taylor, No. 3 Corvette C8.R Clinch GT Le Mans Championships
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Porsche is leaving the GTLM class of racing so you will have one less manufacturer that has to wreck your Corvette or one of their cars to win races. If you put the C8Rs in the shop or put the race under caution when you are ahead to win makes you a very poor winner against all of Porsche’s years of winning!
GTLM. No Ford or Porsche and BMW running a 4 race schedule. Ferrari?
Penske leaving prototype. Has Daytona reduced prices for the Rolex 24?
Awww, poor baby…
Tandy will be a great addition to the team!
Tandy masterly won the last 24H of Spa!
Two thoughts:
1- It would seem the rumors that Olly would be the 3rd driver for the #4 long distance races is not so. What will his Corvette Ambassadorship position entail? Corvette Corrals? NCM events? He wants to be home to spend more time with his family.
2- GTLM, as any Corvette racing enthusiast knows and realizes, is in serious trouble. Ferrari only dabbles in GTLM, their presence is in GTD, where they seem comfortable. Aston, BMW, Porsche all have a presence in GTD, along with Lambo & MB. I can only imagine what the budget must be for a GTLM two-car-team just to race in the US, never mind a LeMans entry. The prize money is paltry in comparison to overall expenses. Worse yet, the prize money is half the published amount if less than 7 cars race. If a manufacturer already has a presence in GTD, why double-down with a GTLM entry? Same audience! Albeit, the business case to justify Corvette GTLM is no GTD entry, yet. We all remember what happened in the ALMS; Corvette had to go to GT2 to have competition. So let it be written, so let it be done with IMSA.
https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2019/11/2020_prize_money_-_iwsc.pdf
And then we have Callaway Competition, with a single entry C7 GT3 competing, very successfully, in ADAC GT Masters series, against basically the same competitors, in 30-35 car fields. If you’ve never watched the ADAC, you should give it a try. Really great racing, if you can get up early for the races at iconic tracks in Europe. ADAC live streams their races via their Web site; no app, no cable-only broadcast, or delayed broadcast, to satisfy NBC’s other televised sports events. Just sayin’.
https://www.adac-gt-masters.de/uk
Oh look joe the troll is back.
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