CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD ATLANTA: Great Finishes on Challenging Day
Action Express Racing wins Prototype race and titles; Gavin/Milner third in GTLM

· Barbosa, Fittipaldi take second straight Prototype Driver’s Championship and Tequila Patrón Endurance Cup; win Prototype race with Sebastien Bourdais

· Garcia, Magnussen claim Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup in GT Le Mans

· Gavin, Milner bookend season with GTLM podium finishes in No. 4 Corvette C7.R

BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 3, 2015) – A damp Petit Le Mans ended Saturday with Corvette Racing and the Corvette Daytona Prototype program claiming titles in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

Action Express Racing’s Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais won the Prototype class of the rain-shortened race – it ran just shy of eight hours of its 10-hour duration. Driving the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP, Barbosπa and Fittipaldi also captured their second straight Prototype Driver’s Championship as well as their second straight title in the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup.

“Congratulations to Joao, Christian, Sebastien and the Action Express Racing No. 5 Corvette DP on their second consecutive championship,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “The drivers and crew demonstrated an absolute ‘Never-Give-Up’ approach throughout today’s rain-soaked conditions. Their perseverance and consistent performance resulted in the team also winning the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.

“Thank you to all the Corvette Daytona Prototype teams for their efforts to secure the Manufacturer and North American Endurance Cup championships once again for Chevrolet,” Campbell added.

Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed third in GT Le Mans after leading the race overall on multiple occasions. The No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R started the season with a podium at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and ended it in like fashion.

Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R also ended the season in championship style by winning the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup in GT Le Mans. The competition consists of the TUDOR Championship’s four endurance races: Rolex 24 At Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the Sahlen’s Six Hours at The Glen and Petit Le Mans. Garcia and Magnussen won at Daytona and Sebring with Ryan Briscoe to put themselves in control of the championship.

“For the Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R teams, the 2015 season was filled with incredible successes and a few challenges along the way,” Campbell said. “The season started strong with the class win at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and Sebring 12 Hours, and it continued with the eighth class win in the Le Mans 24 Hours – sports car racing’s Triple Crown. And after some challenging races, it was great to have the No. 3 Corvette C7.R team clinch the GTLM title in the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup championship. Having the No. 4 Corvette C7.R on the podium adds to a great close to our season.”

Gavin began from pole position in class and ran among the leaders for most of his double-stint. He recovered from a minor off in his second stint before handing off to Milner. He drove a storming double-stint to move into the class lead nearly the halfway mark and then the overall lead a couple laps later before handing back over to Gavin.

Not long after the pit stop, race officials threw a red flag to halt the race due to the deteriorating conditions. The stoppage lasted about 30 minutes before the race resumed under full-course yellow conditions. Two more yellows came out over the final hour before the race was called.

Garcia and Magnussen challenged for the class and overall lead at different points, as well. Magnussen led for two laps after the No. 4 Corvette pitted near the 4:15 mark. However a pair of unscheduled pit stops – one early and one with an hour to go hampered their chances.

The Prototype race was a back-and-forth affair with all four Corvette DPs battling for the lead throughout. Action Express Racing ended with two cars on the Prototype podium – the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP in first and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette Daytona Prototype of Dane Cameron, Eric Curran and Max Papis placing third.

In addition the results netting another title for Barbosa and Fittipaldi, VisitFlorida.com Racing’s Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante unofficially placed second in the Driver’s Championship with their No. 90 Corvette DP. Cameron and Curran, in their first season together in Prototypes, placed third in Driver’s points.

Barbosa and Fittipaldi also won the Prototype championship in the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup for the second straight season, as well.

The VisitFlorida.com Racing No. 90 Corvette DP and pole-winner Westbrook led early and were out front for most of the first two hours. The treacherous track conditions induced a pair of spins for the VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP.

The element of rain added extra drama for the other three Corvette DPs, as well. The Prototype race turned into mostly three-way battle between the two Action Express Corvette DPs and defending race winners Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli in the Wayne Taylor Racing No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP. They eventually placed fifth in class.

The 2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship opens with the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 30-31 from Daytona International Raceway.