Chevy Racing–CAMARO Z/28.R AT VIR: Pole Position for Jordan Taylor

CAMARO Z/28.R AT VIR: Pole Position for Jordan Taylor, CKS Autosport
Three Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.Rs in top-five of GS class

· Taylor fastest qualifier in first Continental Tire race since 2012

· Davis fourth, Lally fifth in Stevenson Motorsports Camaros

· Chevrolet hoping to extend lead in GS manufacturer standings

ALTON, Va. (Aug. 22, 2014) – Jordan Taylor led another strong qualifying effort Friday for the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R with pole position for Saturday’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race at Virginia International Raceway. Taylor, driving CKS Autosport’s No. 01 Camaro Z/28.R, set a track record with a best lap of 1:58.204 (99.591 mph).

Taylor is driving with Eric Curran in place of Lawson Aschenbach, who has another racing commitment. Curran and Aschenbach were winners two weeks ago in the Grand Sport (GS) class at Road America. It was the fourth straight victory for the Camaro Z/28.R and fifth in its first season of competition. Those results have Chevrolet leading the GS manufacturer standings with three races left in the season.

Chevrolet holds a 19-point lead in the manufacturer standings with 105 points available over the balance of the season.

Stevenson Motorsports’ two Camaro Z/28.Rs qualified fourth and fifth in class Friday. Andrew Davis set a best lap of 1:59.078 (98.860 mph) in the No. 6 Camaro Z/28.R. Andy Lally in the No. 9 sister car was just 0.011 seconds behind.

“Congratulations to Jordan Taylor on today’s pole-winning lap for CKS Autosport,” said Lisa Talarico, Chevrolet Program Manager for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. “Having all three Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.Rs in the top-five is a great way to line up for tomorrow’s race. We are in good shape to continue building our points lead in the GS manufacturer championship.”

Davis and Robin Liddell stand second in the GS driver championship thanks to three victories on the season. All three Camaro Z/28.Rs will start Saturday ahead of the class-leading BMW.

Developed alongside its production counterpart, the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R incorporates the same performance elements that make the 2014 Camaro Z/28 the most track-capable Camaro ever. To enhance grip, for example, the Z/28.R’s body shares the same downforce-generating aero package as the production model including: the front splitter, rear spoiler with wickerbill, and hood extractor vent, among other items. The Z/28.R is also powered by the same LS7 7.0L V-8 engine as the production Z/28 and employs the unique, helical-gear limited-slip rear differential found on the production model. It is standard in the Z/28, helping the driver put down more power to the pavement when exiting corners.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 01 CKS AUTOSPORT CAMARO Z/28.R
“We skipped two practices because we knew we had a good car. When you have so much practice, you can often lose yourself and we didn’t want to lose the car. We knew what we had and did a long run setup work for the race; there was only one sticker run we did the whole of practice. So we knew how good it was but I think we still shocked ourselves. The Camaro Z/28.R must really suit VIR quite well. The guys put together a great car and it’s great to have CKS on the pole and go for a repeat from Road America.
“The track has a number of great improvements since I was last here to runoff areas and exit curbs. The exit at Turn 10 and how they have the curbing that drops off onto the asphalt is the best thing I’ve ever seen! I don’t know why anyone else hasn’t done it before. You can use the curb and go to the limit of the track without consequence. I love VIR. I had first pole and first win here so I’m happy to be back.”

ANDREW DAVIS, NO. 6 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO Z/28.R
“We’re in a good spot. I realized after the test day yesterday that it was going to be very close and come down to hundredths of a second. The field is very strong and the balance of performance from the series is very good. The Camaro Z/28.R is running awesome. We made good progress on it. It was by far the fastest I’ve been around here. It wasn’t quite enough and congrats to Jordan to putting a mega lap together. That gap is a bit baffling to me but we’ll look to see how we can make our car faster. What’s important is that we have a really good race car; the Stevenson Motorsports crew has been working as hard as they could to give us a car that’s better each session. It’s about the race. We’re obviously racing the 46 car (for the GS championship). We’re starting ahead of them and the goal is to stay ahead and let the race come to us.”

ANDY LALLY, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO Z/28.R
“We’ve got a much better race car than a qualifying car. I had a pretty good lap going until I caught another car and made a mistake when I did on my first lap. We finally got another clean lap three laps later but we were struggling a little bit by that point. I’m happy with how the car is in race trim and I think we can run with anybody. We’ll see if that holds true tomorrow.”