JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.RYOU ARE WORKING WITH SOME OF THE HENDRICK DRIVERS AT THE CHEVY SIMULATOR. ARE THERE ANY SPECIFIC ELEMENTS TO THIS TRACK YOU ARE HELPING THEM WITH?“Mostly letting the guys know some of the little nuances that come with the Daytona Road Course. When you look at it on a track map, it looks pretty basic but each corner has little tricks that can help you. They’re going into this race with zero practice and zero laps on this track, so they need as much preparation as they can get. From my side, I bring some experience from that track that I can give him – little tips that maybe would take them a session or two to figure out. Hopefully they can hit the ground running when they show up for raceday.” YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE DRIVEN THE CORVETTE C8.R ON THE CHEVY SIMULATOR ON THIS TRACK. WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE WITH THE CAMARO ZL1 1LE ON A LAP AROUND THERE?“The two cars are very different. The Corvette C8.R is designed more for this type of racing where the Cup car is obviously designed for the ovals. So when it comes to a road course, it doesn’t handle that quite as well with braking performance, traction and overall grip level. From a driving point of view, it was fun to drive both. It was eye-opening to see what the Cup guys go through on a road course. They really have to throw it around a bit. There are no driver aids so it’s all up to them on how they get around there. There aren’t too many similarities in driving style, but the way you drive the track is going to be similar – the tendencies, the trail-braking, which curbs you want to use and which ones you want to avoid.” THIS RACE IS 325 MILES AS OPPOSED TO 24 HOURS OF RACING THAT YOU GUYS NORMALLY DO ON THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE. WHAT KIND OF RACE DO YOU EXPECT FOR THE CUP DRIVERS? “The NASCAR Cup race will be exciting. Having no practice and when the green flag drops, it’ll be exciting to see what happens on those first few laps. Looking at our 24-hour race, it’s about survival and it will be the same thing for them. It will be about surviving to get to the end just because no one has experience there. They’re going to have to be a little easy at the beginning, but maintaining decent track position will be key. It’s going to be a tough track to pass on. After that last pit stop, you’re going to be want to be as far up front as possible to maintain track position.” CORVETTE RACING WILL BE PART OF AN IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE AT THE CHARLOTTE ROVAL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OCTOBER. DO YOU FORSEE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A LITTLE BIT OF A ROLE REVERSAL AND LEARNING THAT TRACK FROM THE CUP DRIVERS?“It would be great to have them come back to the simulator and help us prepare for the Charlotte Roval. None of us on the sports car side have driven the new course there, and they’ve had a couple races in the past. It would be nice to get some feedback from them and some tips and tricks they’ve learned the last couple of years. The Hendrick guys have had a lot of success there with Chase (Elliott) winning and I think Alex was top-three there a couple years running in qualifying. They know how to go quick around there. When we go there for the first time with our Corvette C8.R, they can definitely show us a few things.” |