CORVETTE RACING IN CANADA: Garcia Second in GTLM to Lead Qualifying Efforts
Gavin fourth in GTLM; Westbrook third in Prototype qualifying
· Garcia, Magnussen on GTLM front-row for shot at fourth straight win
· Westbrook third overall in Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP
· Chevrolet leads both Prototype, GTLM manufacturer championships
BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada (July 12, 2014) – Corvette Racing’s two Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs qualified second and fourth for Sunday’s Mobil 1 Sports Grand Prix presented by Hawk Performance at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Antonio Garcia was second-quickest Saturday in qualifying with a lap of 1:15.278 (117.596 mph) in the No. 3 Corvette C7.R he drives with Jan Magnussen.
The Garcia/Magnussen pairing enters the race as the championship leaders in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, and Chevrolet leads in GTLM manufacturer points. The No. 3 Corvette is on a three-race winning streak in GTLM – Long Beach, Laguna Seca and Watkins Glen.
Oliver Gavin was fourth Saturday in the No. 4 Corvette C7.R with a lap of 1:15.470 (117.297 mph). He and teammate Tommy Milner won last year’s race in a thrilling finish.
Kuno Wittmer was the fastest qualifier in GTLM at 1:15.206 (117.709 mph).
Westbrook, Spirit of Daytona to Start on Second Row
Spirit of Daytona Racing led the Corvette DP contingent in Prototype qualifying Saturday, thanks to Richard Westbrook’s time of 1:09.642 (127.113 mph) in the No. 90 Corvette Daytona Prototype. This is the first time at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for Westbrook and a number of the Corvette DP drivers.
Westbrook and Michael Valiante won the most recent round of the TUDOR Championship two weeks ago at Watkins Glen. It was the second straight race victory for the Corvette DP and third of the season.
Christian Fittipaldi was fifth in qualifying in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP with a lap of 1:10.298 (125.927 mph). Gustavo Yacaman was the fastest qualifier at 1:09.167 (127.986 mph).
Live television coverage of the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Hawk Performance starts at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday on FOX Sports 1.
GTLM QUOTES
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED 2ND
“We definitely wanted to get pole again. But the track was really different to what we found in practices. It was very difficult to interpret how the car would behave. It was probably warmer and different rubber was down, and probably we were expecting something else on the track. It was very tricky to modify your driving style to the conditions. I think probably I didn’t do a particularly super good lap and probably putting together a good lap I think we could have gotten pole. But that probably happened to everybody, not just me. They were tricky conditions for everybody, but tomorrow is another day. I think it’s going to rain. We just need to concentrate on that. We will see if it rains in warm-up so we can get some information on this track in the wet and if not just do what we always do at Corvette Racing – just try to get in front and interpret what the conditions are going to be like and just try to get the most out of the C7.R.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED 4TH
“I think that we have worked away at it this weekend. Tommy, I and our car have had a difficult few races. We have managed to get to the bottom of it – the chassis imbalance – so now the car is a lot more predictable. We have fixed a lot of that, but now we are playing catch-up with running a setup that is a little bit alien to us. But the car was pretty fast and pretty good. We took a bit of a stab at the setup for qualifying, again because we are still playing a little bit of catchup. It wasn’t bad in some areas but by no means perfect. I think everybody has got one eye on the weather. Thinking about, ‘OK well how was the car in qualifying and really how is it going to be in the rain tomorrow.’ I think nearly every single weather forecast we have looked at has given us like 90 percent chance of rain. I think that at some point in the race tomorrow it will be wet. This place in the rain it’s going to be fun.”
PROTOTYPE QUOTE
RICHARD WESTBROOK, NO. 90 SPIRIT OF DAYTONA CORVETTE DP – QUALIFIED 3RD
“When you first get out of the car and they say P3, you feel a bit miserable because when you are out and qualifying and racing, you want to be at the front and starting on the front row. But when I reflect on it we have to be happy with that. It’s not necessarily a track that is perfect for our car, so to be that close I’m delighted. It shows how far we have come in a short space of time. We seem to be consistently at the sharp end of the grid now. We need to continue that for the rest of the season.”