Corvette Racing at Le Mans: The drivers in their own words

Le Mans, France (June 15, 2016) – Corvette Racing drivers and team management met with members of the media at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Wednesday. The topics included last year’s GTE Pro victory for the No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette of C7.R, the team’s strong history in sports car racing’s endurance events with eight wins in 16 Le Mans starts, and the outlook for the weekend.

Antonio Garcia, No. 63 Konica Minolta/Mobil 1/Xm Sirius Chevrolet Corvette C7.R

You and Jan have been very competitive in the U.S. this year, despite final results. What is the biggest key to getting the result the 63 team deserves?

“We’ve been very strong over the last year. Last year it was our turn to win Daytona and Sebring, and this year it was the No. 4 car’s turn to do that. We just need to execute, stay on track and stay out of trouble. In racing there are always things that you cannot control. We need to do our part, and if everything goes to plan we will be in a very strong position to win.”

Jan Magnussen, No. 63 Konica Minolta/Mobil 1/Xm Sirius Chevrolet Corvette C7.R

Why has this team been so successful at Le Mans and in the endurance events for so long?

“It’s continuity within the team - the drivers, team, mechanics, engineers. We usually come away from every endurance race having learned something new. We can use that to be better every time we arrive at Le Mans, which is the most important race for us. Our record and 50 percent win rate speak for itself. It’s impressive for any team that has been here. Hopefully we can carry on learning and carry on winning.”

Ricky Taylor, No. 63 Konica Minolta/Mobil 1/Xm Sirius Chevrolet Corvette C7.R

How has your first experience around Le Mans with Corvette Racing been thus far?

“Coming to Le Mans is obviously a big deal. My other two starts with Pro-Am teams, so the expectations weren’t always to win. The goal was to finish the race and be on the podium. But when you come to Corvette Racing, this is a team that always expects to win. You have to adjust your own expectations a little bit. It’s a real honor to be a part of this group. Very rarely do you have the chance to come to such a big event like Le Mans with a team that has a record like Corvette Racing. For me it’s about seizing the opportunity and doing the best I can to support Jan, Antonio and the rest of the Corvette Racing team.”

Oliver Gavin, No. 64 Konica Minolta/Mobil 1/Xm Sirius Chevrolet Corvette C7.R

Last year was LM win No. 5. Given the circumstances, where does that rank for you personally?

“Certainly the victory last year was hard-fought and hard-earned. I was very fortunate to share the 64 Corvette with two fantastic teammates in Tommy and Jordan. We had a fantastic team at Corvette Racing that rallied around us after the extremely unfortunate incident with the 63 car. The way it turned out and being in the car at the end was a quite exceptional moment. To get my fifth win was fantastic and amazing, but crossing the line and seeing all the guys hanging over the wall in celebration, then doing the slow-down lap was special and then to come back around by the pitfall and do a little burnout in front of everyone was very cool! I did a little practice out back on the circuit to make sure I didn’t screw it up! I didn’t want to make a fool of myself! It was a great and amazing victory for Corvette Racing and one I’ll always remember.”

Tommy Milner, No. 64 Konica Minolta/Mobil 1/Xm Sirius Chevrolet Corvette C7.R

How satisfying has it been for the 4/64 car to continue Corvette Racing’s run of success in the endurance rounds?

“Starting with this race last year and carrying over to the first two endurance races of 2016 has been a bit of a turnaround for the No. 4 car. We had about a year there of some bad races and unlucky races. It was frustrating for us as a group on the No. 4 Corvette. We were able to buckle down even after Le Mans and really wanted to prove our game. We’ve seen the fruits of those efforts so far this year with the victories at Daytona and Sebring. We still working hard to improve ourselves. This class is so competitive year and it manages to get even more competitive each season. There’s a lot of work to do for this race to have a good result again but this is a team that’s up to that challenge.”

Jordan Taylor, No. 64 Konica Minolta/Mobil 1/Xm Sirius Chevrolet Corvette C7.R

Does being back at Le Mans as defending class winner change your mindset and the mindset of everyone on the No. 64 Corvette this year?

“I don’t think so. It was obviously great to win last year. But you can come to Le Mans 50 times and never win it because there are so many little things that can go wrong. Everyone has a chance this year. There are 14 cars in this class and everyone is starting from zero. So you have to rely on experience, trust everyone around you and attack it the same way we always do: have a clean race and be there at the end. Having Oliver and Tommy win at Sebring shows that the new car is as a strong as ever and compete for 24 hours flat out. We can go into this race with a lot of confidence.”

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