Team seeking ninth win at Laguna Seca; Garcia to make 100th post-merger start DETROIT (May 9, 2023) – Corvette Racing will wrap up its two-race West Coast swing this weekend with what’s been an annual stop for the last quarter-century. WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on the Monterey Peninsula will play host to America’s most successful sports car team for Sunday’s MOTUL Course de Monterey. |
The two-hour, 40-minute race, set for 3 p.m. ET and airing live on NBC, is the third race of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Full-season teammates Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor will pilot the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in the GT Daytona (GTD PRO) class as the team goes for its ninth victory at WeatherTech Raceway. | CORVETTE RACING MEDIA INFORMATION Corvette Racing media information is updated and available ahead of this weekend’s race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Materials include: · IMSA race advance and quotes· Corvette Racing stats and figures· Corvette Racing racecar comparisons· Corvette Racing Fast Facts· Driver biographies |
This is the 25th straight year that Corvette Racing has visited the 2.238-mile, 11-turn circuit just off the Pacific Ocean. The track is one of two where the program has raced in each of its previous 24 years – Sebring is the other – with Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta joining the list at the end of the season. This weekend also marks another important milestone: Garcia will become the first driver in the WeatherTech Championship to make 100 starts in the series since the start of the post-merger era in 2014 when the American Le Mans Series and GRAND-AM joined together for one American sports car championship. |
CORVETTE RACING / CADILLAC RACING MEDIA ADVISORYAhead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Corvette Racing WEC driver Ben Keating (No. 33 Corvette C8.R), Corvette Racing IMSA driver Jordan Taylor (Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro reserve driver), and GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager Laura Wontrop Klauser will be part of a GM Motorsports pre-Le Mans media availability at 2:15 p.m. PT on Friday, May 12, at the WeatherTech Raceway Media Center. Members of the Cadillac Racing Action Express team also will be available. |
Since that time, Garcia has won 20 races – including in 2014 at Laguna Seca – and four championships… all with Corvette Racing. He and Taylor hope to improve on last year’s fourth-place finish in GTD PRO. This time around, the Corvette program has a year’s worth of car and tire data to fall back on following its inaugural season in the class during 2022 with a modified version of the mid-engine Corvette C8.R. The MOTUL Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N is set for 12:10 p.m. PT / 3:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 14 and airs live on NBC with full streaming coverage on Peacock. IMSA Radio will have live audio coverage on XM 207, SiriusXM Online 992 and IMSA.com, which will have IMSA Radio coverage of all practice sessions, Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race. |
2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After three of 11 events)Driver Standings1. Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 10672. Daniel Juncadella/Jules Gounon – 9943. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 9914. Klaus Bachler/Patrick Pilet – 9895. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 844 Team Standings1. No. 14 Vasser Sullivan – 10672. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 9943. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 9913. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 9895. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 844 Manufacturer Standings1. Lexus – 10672. Mercedes-AMG – 9943. Chevrolet – 9914. Porsche – 9895. Aston Martin – 854 CORVETTE RACING AT LAGUNA SECA: By the Numbers• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 25 years at Laguna Seca: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.• 3: Tracks where Corvette Racing has competed in each of its 24 previous years: Sebring, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (later this year). • 4: Generations of Corvette Racing entries since 1999 – Corvette C5-R (2000-04), Corvette C6.R (2005-13), Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and Corvette C8.R (2020-present).• 4: Laguna Seca victories for the current Corvette Racing lineup – Antonio Garcia (three) and Jordan Taylor (one).• 8: Number of Laguna Seca victories for Corvette Racing dating back to 2004.• 12: Victories at Laguna Seca for Chevrolet in IMSA competition.• 13: Drivers who have competed for Corvette Racing at Laguna Seca. Of those, eight went on to win at Monterey.• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.• 27: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portimão, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen• 30: Number of wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014.• 34: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999. Ben Keating and Nico Varrone joined that list with their participation – and victory – in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring for the World Endurance Championship.• 124: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America and eight at Le Mans.• 271: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.• 13,534.20: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 24 previous trips to Laguna Seca. That represents 6,130 laps… or almost 800 trips around Carmel’s famous 17-Mile Drive.• 354,050.01: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon… and then some! Corvette Racing at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (wins in bold)1999No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel – 2nd in GTS 2000No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Andy Pilgrim – 2nd in GTS (Fellows pole)No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Justin Bell/Kelly Collins – 4th in GTS 2001No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GTSNo. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS 2002No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 5th in GTSNo. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS 2003No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GTSNo. 4 Corvette C5-R: Oliver Gavin/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS 2004No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 1st in GTS (O’Connell fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GTS (Beretta pole) 2005No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin fastest race lap) 2006No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 3rd in GT1No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1 (Beretta fastest race lap) 2007No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 2008No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O’Connell/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 2009No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT2 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 10th in GT2 2010No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 6th in GT2No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 3rd in GT2 2011No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 5th in GT 2012No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GT (Gavin fastest race lap) 2013No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 9th in GT 2014No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM 2015No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 7th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM 2016No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM 2017No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM 2018No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM (Gavin pole) 2019No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap) 2020No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM (Taylor pole)No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap) 2021No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM (Taylor pole)No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 1st in GTLM (Tandy fastest race lap) 2022No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 4th in GTLM |