Corvette Racing at Road America: Race to 200 starts now
Historic venue again welcomes GT Le Mans championship contenders
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
Detroit (Aug. 3, 2016) – Less than two weeks after adding another chapter to its already impressive record book, Corvette Racing rolls into familiar territory in pursuit of strengthening its GT Le Mans (GTLM) championship lead and resume as sports car racing’s premier GT team.
Road America is the site of this weekend’s Continental Tire Road Race Showcase – the eighth round of this year’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for GTLM teams. It’s a venue Corvette Racing knows well with thousands of miles in testing, development and competition over the years.
On the competition side, Corvette Racing has won at Road America six times since 2002. This weekend’s race will mark the second time in three months that the team and its four drivers have visited the picturesque 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit an hour north of Milwaukee. Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, and teammates Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, tested at Road America in May ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Gavin and Milner are the GTLM Driver’s Championship leaders after seven races with three victories. Their most recent (two weeks ago at Lime Rock Park) was the 100th for the Corvette Racing program and made it the first team in IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) history to accomplish the feat.
Like their teammates, Garcia and Magnussen have reeled off two consecutive podium finishes to move up to third in Driver’s points. Corvette Racing’s efforts also have put Chevrolet out front in the GTLM Manufacturer’s Championship.
For the better part of 60 years Chevrolet has used Road America to showcase the Corvette as both a production showcase vehicle and top-line racecar. That dates back to the 1960s when Chevrolet leadership would traditionally test at and use the circuit to unveil high-performance production models including the original Stingray racer as well as the 1961 Mako Shark concept.
The Corvette Grand Sport, a legendary name within the Corvette community, found numerous successes at Road America; coincidentally the newest production Grand Sport – the 2017 model that blends the best of the Corvette Stingray and Corvette Z06 – will be
The Corvette brand also has been well represented at Road America with the famed Corvette Bridge, which first appeared in 1963 and then returned in 2011. It served to reaffirm the relationship between Road America and the Cross Flags.
The Corvette Racing program made its first racing appearance in 2002 as the American Le Mans Series made its Road America debut. Not surprisingly, a Corvette visited Victory Lane… and has five times since.
The 2016-spec Corvette C7.R is an updated racecar due to changes in Automobile Club de l’Ouest regulations for top-level GT cars that compete in the IMSA GTLM class. There are a number of aerodynamic changes including a larger splitter at the front and diffuser at the rear of the Corvette. Side skirts and a repositioned wing also are among the most notable changes, along with updated safety features that are now mandated on all GTLM cars.
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