CORVETTE RACING AT AUSTIN: A New Stop for ALMS GT Leaders Chevrolet, Corvette bring driver, team and manufacturer championship lead to COTA debut
DETROIT (Sept. 16, 2013) – Corvette Racing’s chase for another American Le Mans Series championship next moves to Texas for the eighth round of the ALMS season. As was the case three weeks ago in Baltimore, Corvette Racing hopes the two biggest stars of the weekend are its two Compuware Chevrolet Corvette C6.Rs.
The stars at night aren’t the only things big and bright deep in the heart of Texas. The new Circuit of The Americas is the newest and most glamorous permanent road-racing venue in the United States. In its first year of operation, the 20-turn, 3.4-mile Circuit of The Americas has played host to the Formula One United States Grand Prix along with MotoGP and V8 Supercars.
Next up is the International Sports Car Weekend – a combined event with the ALMS and FIA World Endurance Championship. Corvette Racing’s two velocity-yellow Corvette C6.Rs head an ALMS GT class that will garner much of the weekend’s attention during Saturday’s 3:45 p.m. CT race. Viewers around the country can the action live on ESPN3 and then on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Corvette Racing’s stable of four drivers comes to Austin with two victories each on the season. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, defending ALMS GT champions, lead the drivers’ standings with wins at Sebring – with Richard Westbrook – in their No. 4 Compuware Corvette to open the year and another victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia took their first victory together in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette at Laguna Seca. They won the most recent ALMS round at Baltimore to move within two points of Gavin and Milner in the championship.
With four victories, Corvette Racing heads the team standings, and Chevrolet is in control of the manufacturers’ race. There are 64 points available over the remaining three rounds.
This weekend’s race marks the first for the ALMS at Circuit of The Americas. Corvette Racing is one of the few teams that have logged test days at the venue, having spent time there in late 2012. The trip not doubt will prove beneficial as Corvette Racing can spend more time on engineering and strategy rather than establishing a baseline setup once testing starts Tuesday.
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
International Sports Car Weekend(all times CT) · Test Session 1: 1 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 17 · Test Session 2: 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 19 · Practice 1: 8 a.m., Friday, Sept. 20 · Practice 2: 12:40 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20 · GT Qualifying: 2:10 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20 · Warmup: 8 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 21 · Race: 3:45 p.m., Saturday Sept. 21
Circuit of The Americas: Watch It! Friday, Sept. 20-Sunday, Sept. 22 (all times ET) · Qualifying: Live – 2:40 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20 (ESPN3) · Race (Web): Live – 4:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21 (ESPN3) · Race (TV): 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 22 (ESPN2)
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R “It will be difficult and different. Teams in the ALMS are used to running through the same schedule of events. With new events, the team becomes a bigger part of it. It’s true we had a couple of test days late last year, but in the end we don’t know what to expect. There have been some races there and maybe the track has changed a little bit. Now it’s up to the team to judge what will be the ideal setup to start the weekend and develop a program to approach the race. (The layout) “If I were running the Formula One season or more of the European season, it would be just another track and similar to many there. I knew from the past a few of the tracks designed by the same person. When you go around COTA, it is a combination of Turkey, Bahrain and Shanghai together. But because we don’t have tracks like this, it’s different and it’s great to have. It is good for everyone. Maybe it takes away a little bit of bravery because of the run-off areas, but I think everyone will be very close because of that. It will be challenging for sure.” (What type of car should the track favor?) “I’m not sure. It has long sections of medium- and high-speed corners. Maybe Mosport is similar with very long, fast corners, and the Viper seems to be competitive there. For sure, because it’s brand new it will depend on how the teams perform before the race and leading up to the weekend.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R “Obviously it’s a fantastic facility and really shows that it is a Formula One track. The layout and all the facilities around it are absolutely top-line all the way through. It is interesting for us to go race. There aren’t that many facilities like this in the world, so I’m sure the whole team is looking forward to going there and see what we can do. We had a test there in December and obviously we can’t say how we are going to do. We will have to wait until we get to the weekend to see where we are in terms of the competition. I think with the long straights, we may encounter a little of the same issues as at Road America and Le Mans where our top speed may not be good enough.” (Finding a line) “The section from Turn 3 to Turn 10 is one long, continuous series of corners. If you mess up one, you will mess up the rest because you are now off-line for the entry to the next one. I can see a lot of scrapping going on there, especially with the prototypes and trying to stop them from passing you in a place that puts you off the line. I can see some issues running different categories but it will be the same for everyone. It is a new track and no one has a lot of experience there. I’m sure everybody will be experimenting with setups to get the most out of the cars.” (The championship chase): “I’m very happy and surprised that we are where we are. I have to say that after Sebring, we scored zero points which put us 24 behind the No. 4 car. At that point, I thought the championship was over for us. We could try for some wins and make the most of it, but I didn’t think that with three races to go we would be two points back. For us, I don’t know if it changes anything in the way we are going to approach the weekend. What we have been doing is very consistently scoring good points. We’ve won the races we can and scored as many points at races where wins weren’t on the table. That is what we need to keep doing and how we will win this championship.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R “It is the most recently built big racing facility in the United States and built to Formula One spec. It’s impressive and a great track. It has a number of challenges and a couple of different personalities. From Turn 1 to Turn 10 is all high-speed, long-duration corners. You need a car with a lot of downforce to get through there quickly. Then it goes from there to basically a circuit of very long straightaways and hairpin turns. That’s all about straightline speed and braking. Getting back to the pit area, you’ve got a very long right-hander and then a quick left-hander where you go into another hairpin to the frontstraight. You could run a low-downforce setup or a high-downforce setup and maybe make either work there. We will have to wait and see when the time comes.” (On last year’s test) “It’s a place where all the drivers when we tested there got quite a thrill from driving. It was a big challenge to figure out different ways of getting around there and different lines you could take going through turns 2, 3, 4 and 5. We were all comparing notes and found out we were doing it all differently. We need to see how that turns out and figure out the fastest way through there before raceday. It should be a great facility to race at.” (Finding balance) “You’d always err on the side of having a bit more downforce than not. You’re going to sacrifice a little too much on the first part of the track but it’s something the engineers will look at and try to figure out through assimilation. We will take the lead from them.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R “The facility is probably the best in the United States. With catering to the F1 crowd, it’s fun for us to go and race on that track. Everything about it is first-class, and it’s a joy to be there. From all the comfort side, it’s all great. As far as the track goes, it’s also a challenging venue and one that’s fun to drive. There is lots and lots of elevation change. From nearly every perspective, it’s a great track. We don’t know how it is going to race yet. We had two LMP cars that ran with us when we tested there last year and got some indication as to what the traffic will be like. There may be some areas where it will be tough to let faster cars go by. But that’s part of the challenge. We have some baseline to go off of, so we’re a little ahead of the game compared to some of our competitors. Hopefully it gives us a little bit of an edge and advantage once the race begins.” (Preparing for a new track) “With the way the modern F1 tracks are – the ones I’ve driven on, at least – they are wide enough that it allows you to play around with your line and take some unorthodox lines in some cases to find some speed in certain areas. Each of our drivers went through and tried to figure out the fastest way around. What the fastest way is by yourself isn’t always going to be the fastest way with traffic and trying to get by someone. In many places, the track just has one line like the first turn, the exit and the esses. But when you get to the last three-quarters of the track, there are quite a few lines you can take to get through the slow stuff. It allows you to play around with being faster in the first two corners while giving up the exit. It will be a challenge for anyone who hasn’t been there – to figure out what’s best for their car. But also once we get to the race, trying to figure out where we can make passes. It is a big challenge because no one in our class has raced there.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER “Circuit of the Americas ranks as one of the finest road racing facilities in the world. So to say we are excited to be part of this event would certainly be an understatement. Aside from the formidable 20-turn, 3.4-mile circuit itself, what makes this race even more difficult is the fact that no ALMS teams have raced there, as yet. I think that situation tends to accentuate a team's engineering capabilities, and I know all our guys are looking forward to demonstrating what they can do. With three races remaining in our quest to repeat as ALMS driver, team and manufacturer champions, it is paramount that we finish strongly here. It should prove to be just another epic ALMS GT battle.”
CORVETTE RACING AT AUSTIN: Second, Third in ALMS GT Qualifying Team makes massive gains from practice to qualifying on damp day in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 20, 2013) – Corvette Racing didn’t let heavy rains and an unfamiliar track deter its efforts in qualifying Friday for the inaugural American Le Mans Series race at Circuit of The Americas. The two Compuware Chevrolet Corvette C6.Rs earned the second- and third-place starting spots in the GT field for Saturday’s two-hour, 45-minute race.
ESPN2 will air at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday with live coverage available on ESPN3 beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Antonio Garcia in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette qualified on the outside of the GT front row with a lap of 2:17.442 (89.056 mph) around the 3.4-mile, 20-turn layout. The Spaniard, who drives with Jan Magnussen, set his best time on his final lap to overtake teammate Oliver Gavin for the second spot.
Gavin posted a best lap of 2:17.594 (88.957 mph) in the No. 4 Corvette. The Englishman and seatmate Tommy Milner come to Circuit of the Americas with a two-point lead in the GT drivers’ standings as they try to repeat as class champions. Garcia and Magnussen are second in the championship and sit just two points back.
In the manufacturer standings, Chevrolet leads BMW by 20 points. Corvette Racing also heads the team championship with three rounds left in the season.
Friday’s qualifying effort saw a remarkable turnaround for the two Corvettes. After placing fourth and seventh in the day’s first practice and fifth and eighth in the second session, team and Michelin tire engineers developed a sound strategy for time trials. The results spoke for themselves. Only Joey Hand qualified faster at 2:17.178 (89.227 mph).
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
International Sports Car Weekend(all times CT) · Warmup: 8 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 21 · Race: 3:45 p.m., Saturday Sept. 21
Circuit of The Americas: Watch It! Saturday, Sept. 21-Sunday, Sept. 22 (all times ET) · Race (Web): Live – 4:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21 (ESPN3) · Race (TV): 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 22 (ESPN2)
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R “We know this track appeared to be very aggressive on tires. So over 15 minutes you only have two or three shots at a good lap. My very first lap, the balance wasn’t quite there. So I knew where to push on my second run. I put together a very, very nice lap. It is great to have Corvette Racing in P2 and P3, especially after how the last session went. We knew the performance was there but couldn’t quite put it together. But I am very happy. The car was really good.” (His best lap) “On the very last lap, the tires were giving up on the last three corners. At one point I thought comparing that lap to my previous best that I could go down in the 2:16s but the tires just gave up over the last few corners. Still, it was pretty decent work and happy to be on the first row.” (Starting second and third) “Being up front is always good. We know anything can happen. In a situation like Baltimore, just being one spot or one row behind where we were would have put us out of the race. You cannot predict that but for sure being on the front row gives you the best shot in the race.” (The fight with BMW) “We are the meat in the sandwich. For sure, we’ve seeing again that the four strongest cars are from both manufacturers. They will be very strong tomorrow so we will see how it develops. We still don’t know how the weather will be. If it is part of the race, it will come down to the pits and crews again. As I’ve said in the past, Corvette Racing is the best third driver you can have. I’m glad to be in this position.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R “This is a big fill-up for us. It’s been a difficult couple of sessions for us, and we didn’t look so good in the rain early on. But we worked away at a plan. (Lead engineer) Chuck (Houghton) and the guys from Michelin worked hard together as well with the No. 3 car and us to put a plan together of how we were going to run the session. We knew that we had to do (the times) early to make it work, and it did. So we’re pleased to be second and third. My strategy after the first timed lap maybe wasn’t as aggressive as Antonio’s in terms of what he did to get the performance back for his (final) timed lap. But he did a fantastic job to get to that time. This is a very solid place for us to start the race tomorrow.” (On the race outlook) “I think it will be dry and we will just have to see. It’s a little bit of an unknown for all of us being here for the first time – seeing what tire life is like, how cars hang up in the heat and how the race evolves. The track will be washed off today and should rubber up for our race. Balance of the cars may change throughout and how cars react to certain things. Things like tire pressures and different compounds... It will be very busy on top of the timing stand to make sure we’re on top of all that.” (Adjustments from practice to qualifying) “The biggest change was our approach with the tire, understanding it and how we were going to get the lap time from that tire and which particular wet tire we were going to run. It looked like we made the right choice because we made a nice little jump. I’m pleased with that. I far prefer to start second and third than eighth and ninth.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER “We saw earlier in the week the challenge that Circuit of The Americas can present. Those were amplified today with periods of heavy rain and a wet track. The improvements our engineers – both from Corvette Racing and our partners at Michelin – and crew made between practice and qualifying was the stuff of champions. Baltimore proved how critical your starting position can be, and having our Corvettes second and third on the grid gives us a great chance to secure important championship points.”
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ACO Honoring Corvette Legend Dick Thompson on ALMS/WEC Weekend ‘Flying Dentist’ is oldest living American to race at Le Mans 24 Hours
AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 20, 2013) – Through the years, Corvette and Chevrolet have had the honor of racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A number of American sports car achievements have come from Corvette drivers over the years, and those contributions will be front and center during a special ceremony this weekend at Circuit of The Americas.
Friday evening, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), the governing body of Le Mans, will honor Dr. Dick Thompson, the oldest living American to race at Le Mans. “The Flying Dentist” won multiple SCCA national championships from the mid-1950s to early-1960s, and Thompson was part of Corvette’s initial journey to Le Mans in 1960 in one of Briggs Cunningham’s three Corvettes.
Cunningham’s trio of cars, plus a fourth entered by Camoradi USA, started a dramatic shift in the perception of Corvette as a global sports car brand. Corvette Racing’s debut of the C5-R at the great race in 2000 added to its rich history. Since that time, Corvette Racing captured seven class victories at Le Mans with the C5-R and C6.R.
As part of this weekend’s tribute, both of Corvette Racing’s Compuware Corvette C6.Rs that race in the American Le Mans Series’ GT class will feature the names of every American driver who has raced at Le Mans in the race’s first 90 years. Included on that list are seven American drivers who drove or currently drive for Corvette Racing.
The ALMS shares the COTA weekend with the FIA World Endurance Championship.
JIM CAMPBELL, CHEVROLET VICE PRESIDENT, PERFORMANCE VEHICLES AND MOTORSPORTS “We salute and honor all of the American drivers who have competed at Le Mans, including Dr. Dick Thompson for his achievements. He was inducted in the National Corvette Museum’s Hall of Fame in 2000 – a very special honor in the Corvette community. I personally had the opportunity to spend time with Dr. Thompson at the 12 Hours of Sebring a number of years ago, where we sat in the 1959 Corvette Stingray Racer. It was extra special because he had actually raced that car.”
PIERRE FILLON, PRESIDENT, AUTOMOBILE CLUB DE L’OUEST “As part of the ceremonies linked to the 90th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest is pleased to honor the American drivers who have raced at Le Mans through their most senior, Dr. Dick Thompson, a former Corvette driver. An iconic American brand, Corvette’s racing history is tied to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and there could be no more appropriate a manufacturer to carry the names of all the U.S. drivers who have distinguished themselves at the 24 Hours of Le Mans."
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