CORVETTE DPs AT SEBRING: Action Express Racing Leads Podium Sweep
Barbosa, Fittipaldi, Bourdais lead charge for Chevy power in No. 5 Corvette DP
· First overall Sebring victory for Chevrolet-powered car since 1965
· Winning trio has completed every lap in TUDOR Championship competition
· Corvette DPs from Wayne Taylor Racing, VisitFlorida.com Racing round out Prototype podium
SEBRING, Fla. (March 21, 2015) – The Corvette Daytona Prototype wrote a new chapter in Chevrolet’s road-racing history with the manufacturer’s first overall podium sweep at Sebring International Raceway on Saturday. Action Express Racing’s Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais won the 63rd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida for Chevrolet’s first overall victory at Sebring since 1965.
The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette led 236 laps including the final 149. The winning trio placed second in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.
“What an amazing 12 Hours of Sebring,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “To have the No. 5 Action Express Corvette DP become the first Chevrolet to win the overall race since 1965 is a remarkable feat. Congratulations to Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais on their historic win.
“Then to have Corvette DP teams finish one-two-three with the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP placing second followed by the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP in third is a result of the teamwork and the never-give-up attitude of the drivers, crew chiefs and crews,” Campbell said.
Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli were runners-up in Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP. Pit work and strategy along timely driving helped the Wayne Taylor Racing trio recover from ninth in class early.
VisitFlorida.com Racing’s No. 90 Corvette DP of Richard Westbrook, Michael Valiante and Mike Rockenfeller placed third as Westbrook passed Scott Dixon to move into third with five laps to go. The VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP also led twice in the race for 16 laps and finished third for the second straight race.
Action Express Racing’s No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette DP of Eric Curran, Dane Cameron and Max Papis placed fifth in Prototype as all four Corvette DPs finished in the race’s top-five.
The results unofficially moves Chevrolet into the lead of the TUDOR Championship’s Prototype Engine Manufacturer standings. Chevrolet has won the last three Engine Manufacturer titles between the TUDOR Championship and GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.
The next round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship is the Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase from the Long Beach (Calif.) street circuit on Saturday, April 18. FOX Sports 1 will air the race starting at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 19. Live radio coverage will be available via IMSA Radio.
CHEVROLET CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE (DP)
JOAO BARBOSA, ACTION EXPRESS RACING NO. 5 MUSTANG SAMPLING CORVETTE DP – RACE WINNER
YOU THINK ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT THIS TEAM HAS DONE VICTORIES AT DAYTONA, THE RACE WINS, THE CHAMPIONSHIP, WHERE DOES THIS STACK UP?
“It’s right there. What an unbelievable race. The car ran flawlessly. These Action Express guys are really the best. The car ran no problem. It’s really good to bring Corvette back here in Victory Lane after over 50 years I think. Our Mustang Sampling Corvette was awesome the whole day, just kept improving and getting better as the night was going through. Obviously my teammates – what a phenomenal job. The car is still clean, it’s a little dirty, but all the pieces are still in there. What a tremendous result for everybody. They really deserve it they should be very proud of all the achievements they have done.”
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, ACTION EXPRESS RACING NO. 5 MUSTANG SAMPLING CORVETTE DP – RACE WINNER
I ASKED YOU ABOUT THE BROKEN FRONT SWAY BAR AND YOU SAID OBVIOUSLY IT DOESN’T REALLY MATTER BECAUSE THE CAR RAN FLAWLESSLY AND HANDLED FLAWLESSLY EVEN WITH THAT PROBLEM:
“Well it’s not that it doesn’t matter. We couldn’t fix it in the middle of the race. We had what we had and we just had to make the best of what we had. As I mentioned before the car was really great all the way through the race. I don’t know what to say. I’m unbelievably happy. In one year we had so many wins and Action Express has done an awesome job, ECR (Earnhardt Childress Racing), Mustang Sampling, Chevy – thank you very much. Joao (Barbosa), Seb. (Bourdais) like what a great team. Awesome, awesome, awesome.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, ACTION EXPRESS RACING NO. 5 MUSTANG SAMPLING CORVETTE DP – RACE WINNER
THE INDYCAR SEASON IS ABOUT TO START, BUT THESE GUYS ARE BRINGING YOU LOTS OF HARDWARE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT. YOU MIGHT WANT TO TAKE THIS TO THE INDYCAR SIDE:
“Oh yeah I mean that is a good way to start the year. Second place in Daytona and first here it was the manner obviously putting the field a lap down. That was a heck of a race. Thanks for the guys that first because it’s been a tough day. It was something like 125 degrees in the car and that blower for the helmet was pretty weak all day. We have been earning it today I think. Hats off to everybody, Chevy and Mustang Sampling, everybody thanks for the hard work it was a heck of a day.”
RICKY JORDAN, WAYNE TAYLOR RACING NO. 10 KONICA MINOLTA CORVETTE DP:
SECOND PLACE AFTER ALL YOU WENT THROUGH TODAY, WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THIS TEAM?
“This is the best recovery I have ever seen. I mean going from those braking issues on lap four thinking that our race was pretty much done because it was such an odd problem. Then and hour and a half later getting absolutely smashed by a PC car, and then fixing the brakes; fixing the car and finishing second which was kind of the best of the rest was pretty special. We finally got some points when I thought we were going to be out. Good points. Good day. I can’t believe we solved that brake issue. That was incredible.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, WAYNE TAYLOR RACING NO. 10 KONICA MINOLTA CORVETTE DP – FINISHED 2ND
AFTER ALL THE TEAM WENT THROUGH, ON PODIUM: “It is kind of the same story as Daytona. We went into both races on our back foot with problems and having to solve them in the race. At Daytona we fixed it on the first pit stop, and then this race it took us a few hours, but after six hours of trying every pit stop, the guys actually figured it out which is unbelievable after four practice sessions, qualifying, six hours of racing we got it sorted out. We look back with second, we could be a little bit disappointed, but if you would have told us four or five hours into the race we would have been on the podium, we wouldn’t have believed you. So, I think we can all be pretty proud of the effort.”
MAX ANGELELLI, WAYNE TAYLOR RACING NO. 10 KONICA MINOLTA CORVETTE DP
HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE THE KIND OF RACE WE HAD?
“Very amazing because six, seven hours ago we had absolutely no faith in finishing in the top five. But the Konica Minolta racing team just pulled out this magic and the guys in the time stand with the strategy they made it happen.”
ON THE RACE:
“I guess I was waiting for that yellow. It paid for Ricky and Jordan finishing the race. I believe that made it. We were all waiting and hoping for that yellow. But that is racing and we were happy with our Konica Minolta Corvette it performed really well especially at the end of the race. Ricky and Jordan did great supporting me and we will take second.”
RICHARD WESTBROOK, VISITFLORIDA.COM RACING NO. 90 CORVETTE DP – FINISHED 3RD
ON THE RACE:
“It was really good. It’s just a shame we had an issue with the last two pit stops where we lost a load of time. We need to find out what that was. I think it was a problem with the air jack or something. So it was really frustrating because we would have been in second. It put us down to fourth and I had a lovely fight with Scott (Dixon) and it was really good racing. He was very fair, side-by-side in (Turn) 17 and we both gave each other room. He was struggling on his tires and we came out on top. Really happy for the boys at Visit Florida to get home podium and share it with Rocky (Mike Rockenfeller) and Michael (Valiante) it is extra special.”
MICHAEL VALIANTE, VISITFLORIDA.COM RACING NO. 90 CORVETTE DP – FINISHED 3RD
ARE YOU HAPPY WITH A PODIUM FINISH?
“Yeah, I mean (Richard) Westbrook did an amazing job. Hats off to him to bring us back from the jack failure we had. After the tough week we have had we didn’t expect to be on the podium. So to regroup and make the car better and have a solid race and finish third that is fantastic.”
ON HIS RACE:
“It was great we are really happy with this third place. The engine ran fantastic. We had a few issues, but we finished third and we will move on to Long Beach.”
TROY FLIS, TEAM OWNER, VISITFLORIDA.COM RACING NO. 90 CORVETTE DP – FINISHED 3RD
ARE YOU HAPPY WITH A PODIUM FINISH?
“Yes and no. We thought we were going to be happy with a third-place finish, but how the race went I think we had a second-place car. Had a couple of issues at the end, we had an air jack hose break or something. Still think we could have raced the No. 10 car to the end there. But the last couple of pit stops really killed us. It is what it is. We just got to keep digging. The team, we keep getting these third places that is going to make championships out of us. That is what we are going to go for.”