Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–CAMARO Z/28.R IN CANADA: Davis, Liddell Record Another Podium at CTMP

CAMARO Z/28.R IN CANADA: Davis, Liddell Record Another Podium at CTMP
Camaro Z/28.Rs finish third through sixth in Grand Sport class

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada (July 11, 2015) – Stevenson Motorsports’ duo of Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis led the group of Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.Rs with a third-place finish Saturday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in the fifth race of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.

The Stevenson Motorsports No. 6 Camaro Z/28.R continued its run of consecutive podium finishes to five with the result. Camaro Z/28.Rs finished third through sixth in the Grand Sport (GS) standings as Chevrolet kept its lead in the GS Manufacturer championship.

“Today was a great battle between all four Camaro Z/28.Rs at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R Program Manager. “It was tough and fair competition between all four cars. The strategy and execution of Robin, Andrew and the Stevenson Motorsports crew was critical to secure their fifth consecutive podium and help Chevrolet retain our lead in GS Manufacturer points. The pace of the first- and second-place cars was very strong and very fast. Our four Camaro Z/28.Rs did well to stay close and competitive throughout. I don’t think we could have expected a better result today.”

Davis and Liddell also held their advantage in the GS Driver standings. The duo of Matt Bell and Lawson Aschenbach in Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 9 Camaro Z/28.R placed fourth and pressured their teammates throughout.

The two Mantella Autosport Camaro Z/28.Rs finished well at their home event with Mark Wilkins and Anthony Mantella were fifth in the No. 8 Gulf Camaro Z/28.R followed by the No. 80 MBPR Camaro Z/28.R of Kyle Marcelli and Martin Barkey.

Both the Mantella Camaros caught a bit of good fortune late in the race when both Wilkins and Marcelli pitted for fuel and two tires with 46 minutes left. The race’s fifth full-course caution flew while the service was ongoing, which gave the two Camaros a free pass back to the rear of the GS field.

It was a remarkable comeback in particular for the No. 8 Camaro Z/28.R, which crashed in the Friday’s first practice session and was repaired just prior to qualifying.

The next round of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge is set for Saturday, July 25 from Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn. Live coverage of the GS race will be available on IMSA.com at 12:15 p.m. ET.

ROBIN LIDDELL, STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS NO. 6 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28.R – FINISHED THIRD: “I’m pretty happy with the result, to be honest. It was a bit of a crazy race. We weren’t really expecting that kind of race. We thought there would hardly be any yellows but there were a lot of incidents and cars stopped. We were happy to finish third and maintain a good position in points. We didn’t have anything for those guys ahead of us. We were lucky in a sense that the No. 15 car went out. We’re sorry for those guys because they were quite strong and it looked like quite a nasty wreck. But the good thing is that Scott (Maxwell) is OK. As for the rest, we definitely optimized the result today for Stevenson Motorsports and Chevrolet, so I’m happy with that.”

MATT BELL, STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS NO. 9 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28.R – FINISHED FOURTH: “First of all, congratulations to the No. 6 Camaro. They’re forever on the podium. It was a pretty uneventful race for us, considering how many cautions there were, and the constant mayhem. Our Camaro Z/28.R was good. The fact that we were behind the No. 6 car was kind of my fault. I didn’t get it done in qualifying quite as well as I should have. I could have pushed a little harder. I was only a couple hundredths off the No. 6 car. It’s one of those things you beat yourself up over, because you know if you just did that one thing, you’d probably be that one spot closer to the front.”

MARK WILKINS, MANTELLA AUTOSPORT NO. 8 GULF CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28.R – FINISHED FIFTH: “Anthony did an awesome job today. He gave me a clean car and a perfect car to go out and just run. The yellows sort of helped and sort of didn’t. They definitely got us in the game. We took two tires on the last stop toward the end, and we knew we had plenty of fuel. We knew the guys in front of us would be close (on fuel). We were strong today, for sure. It’s just so hard to pass here at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. All in all, it’s a good day for Mantella Autosport, the Camaro Z/28.R and Team Chevy.”

KYLE MARCELLI, MANTELLA AUTOSPORT NO. 80 MBRP CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28.R – FINISHED SIXTH: “It was a good showing for Mantella Autosport for both cars to be up front for a good portion of the race. I had a lot of fun. It was tough. We had a lot of work to do going into the race. To lead a good portion of it was a lot of fun and was a good show for the home crowd. It proved to myself that I’m capable and proved to the team that we are capable. Our strategy was a bit different from the leaders so we were always a bit off-sequence. The difficult thing here is passing. It’s such a fast track and there are two brake zones, and if you’re defensive through there it’s like follow the leader. I threw a ‘hail mary’ and got side-by-side with our sister car a couple of times. But overall it was a good showing and I’m happy with our result.”