Uncategorized

CORVETTE RACING AT WEATHERTECH RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA

Taylor Sets GTLM Record in Pole Position RunGavin to start third in another strong showing for Corvette C8.R at new track
MONTEREY, Calif. (Nov. 1, 2020) – Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor captured pole position and set a GT Le Mans track record in the process Sunday morning ahead of the Monterey Sports Car Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Taylor, driving the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, set the fastest time in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTLM category – 1:21.483 (98.876 mph) – as he and teammate Antonio Garcia look to close out the class Drivers and Team championships.
It was the fifth pole position of 2020 for Corvette Racing, fourth in a row for the No. 3 Corvette and fourth of the season for Taylor. He broke the previous GTLM qualifying record by 0.074 seconds.
Oliver Gavin will line up behind Taylor on the GTLM grid after qualifying third in class with the No. 4 Corvette. His best lap of 1:21.853 (98.429 mph) was only 0.370 from the other C8.R and barely a tenth-of-a-second from starting second with teammate Tommy Milner; the No. 4 pairing is second in GTLM points heading into today’s next-to-last round of the season.
The Monterey Sports Car Championship is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET today with same-day television coverage on NBCSN beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold will offer live streaming of the full race starting at 4 p.m. ET. In addition, IMSA Radio will broadcast the race on IMSA.com, which also will host live timing and scoring. The race also will air on XM channel 202 and SiriusXM Online 972.
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE-WINNER: “It was good. This is more of a championship-focused weekend, but we have a competitive Corvette and we saw that right out of the box. We led both practice sessions and obviously we led qualifying. The C8.R is definitely quick and has pace. The race will be a much different story with tire degradation and things like that. We wanted to get track position early on like this, so the qualifying went well for that. The year has been going incredibly well… our fourth pole in a row. We’re trying to close out the season on a strong point.”
MOOD OF THE TEAM CLOSING IN ON CHAMPIONSHIP BUT SEEING NEWS ABOUT OLIVER GAVIN IN 2021:“It’s business as usual. The news about Oliver was disappointing for everyone, but he’s in great spirits. He’s a racer and is at the track wanting to win the race. It was a small talking point at the start of the weekend, but once the weekend started with practice, it was back to business as usual, trying to work on the cars and race strategy. Sebring will be his last full-time race with the team, so that one might be a little bit different. But it’s almost more special to have that one be his final race.”
ADAPTING TO THE TRACK WITH NO PREVIOUS TESTING: “It’s similar to Mid-Ohio. The track is low-grip so the car is moving around a lot more. The tire compounds are similar for what you want to use. We were able to do a day at the simulator, which was a big help to get the setup in the window where we wanted it. I think we’ve tried two setup changes on our car and have gone back to where we started the weekend. It was crucial to have that day to get up to speed for Tommy and I. When we got here, the car was right where we wanted it and we were strongest right out of the box. This was good proof of the simulator working again.”
ON POTENTIALLY CLINCHING THE GTLM CHAMPIONSHIP TODAY: “The week off between Petit Le Mans and now, it was on my mind. But as soon as you’re in the car, you want to do the best job possible and be quickest. Now we’re on pole and our mentality is to win the race. We have a competitive car so we can race for the win. I don’t think points are going to be really at the top of our minds most of the day. It’s going to be about maximizing the results with what we have.”
2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTLM Standings (After Nine of 11 Events)
Driver Standings1. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2932. Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 2653. Jesse Krohn/John Edwards – 2614. Bruno Spengler/Connor De Phillippi – 2595. Fred Makowiecki/Nick Tandy – 2326. Earl Bamber/Laurens Vanthoor – 222
Team Standings1. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 2932. No. 4 Corvette Racing – 2653. No. 24 BMW Team RLL – 2614. No. 25 BMW Team RLL – 2595. No. 911 Porsche GT Team – 2326. No. 912 Porsche GT Team – 222 Manufacturer Standings1. Chevrolet – 3042. BMW – 2883. Porsche – 2514. Ferrari – 28
CORVETTE RACING AT WEATHERTECH RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA: By the Numbers• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for more than 20 years: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.• 3: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Laguna Seca since 1999 – Corvette C5-R (1999-04) Corvette C6.R (2005-2013) and the Corvette C7.R (2014-2019). The new mid-engine Corvette C8.R will make it four starting this weekend.• 4: Career victories at Laguna Seca for Oliver Gavin – all with Corvette Racing.• 7: Number of Laguna Seca victories for Corvette Racing dating back to 2004.• 10: Laguna Seca victories for the current Corvette Racing for the current driving lineup – Oliver Gavin (four), Antonio Garcia (three) and Tommy Milner (two) and Jordan Taylor (one).• 11: Drivers who have competed for Corvette Racing at Laguna Seca. Of those, seven went on to win at Monterey.• 11: Victories at Laguna Seca for Chevrolet in IMSA competition.• 12: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.• 21: Number of GT Le Mans wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014.• 25: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen.• 29: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999.• 113: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 105 in North America and eight at Le Mans.• 236: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.• 12,292.10: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 19 previous trips to Laguna Seca. That represents 5,575 laps or nearly 725 trips along historic 17-Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula.• 310,644.74: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is nearly halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history – at 622,268 miles.