BRASELTON, Ga. (October 14, 2023) – The Chevrolet Corvette C8.R ended its run in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship leading Petit Le Mans on Saturday, but unfortunately that happened just past the halfway point of the 10-hour race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Corvette Racing’s mid-engine challenger retired with a yet-to-be-determined engine issue that caused Tommy Milner to lose power while leading the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class with less than five hours left in the race. He, Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor had dominated the race up to that point by leading 87 of the Corvette’s 189 laps. |
The C8.R has one more race left in the FIA World Endurance Championship, but it has compiled an impressive record of 20 victories in 80 races – including Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring – and IMSA Manufacturers, Drivers and Team championships in 2020 and 2021. It will give way in 2024 to the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which will see four cars running in the WeatherTech Championship next season. On Saturday, it appeared early that the C8.R would add a long-sought Petit Le Mans victory to the honor roll. Garcia began the race second in class but moved to the GTD PRO lead just past the one-hour mark. He drove a double-stint to open before handing off to Taylor for his own double. The Corvette ran fourth just shy of the three-hour mark, but a sterling pit stop by the Corvette crew during the race’s fifth full-course yellow leap-frogged Taylor – making his final start with Corvette Racing – back to the lead. That’s where he ran before handing over the C8.R to Milner four hours into the race. The Corvette Racing effort transitions into the Corvette Z06 GT3.R era starting with the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Saturday, Jan. 27. |
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “At the end of the day, it’s not the result we were hoping for and on track for. The car was great today. Antonio and Jordan did a phenomenal job today. The engineering guys made the right pit calls, even a little risky setup call for the race today that we weren’t totally confident in. But those guys worked hard to give us a great Corvette today, and they definitely did. So I’m disappointed with the finish but I’m super proud of what this team has achieved from the very beginning of the C8.R’s life – not just the guys here but the guys in WEC and a lot of guys in Michigan who have spent a long many years working on this car, developing the car and making it better. It’s not how we wanted to end it all, but I’ve excited for what’s to come with the Corvette GT3 racecar. It took me a little bit to get used to this car because I’ve driven the GT3 for so long, and it does so many things really well. I’m really excited for the future.” |