CORVETTE RACING AT LIME ROCK: Getting Back on Track . . .
A return to the site of Corvette Racing’s 100th program victory . . .
- Garcia, Magnussen seek to regain ground in GTLM points chase
- Fässler to sub for Milner in No. 4 Corvette alongside Gavin
- Corvette Racing leads all IMSA entrants with five Lime Rock victories
DETROIT (July 16, 2019) – The longest-running program in IMSA history visits the shortest venue on the calendar this weekend as Corvette Racing heads to Lime Rock Park with the rest of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The Northeast Grand Prix, set for 3:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, is a GT-only affair at the 1.474-mile, seven-turn road course in northwestern Connecticut. Corvette Racing is hoping that a return to Lime Rock – a place where it has won five times in 12 tries – will set the course right after an uncharacteristic showing two weeks ago at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
A victory this weekend in the two-hour, 40-minute race would bring things full circle for Corvette Racing. A win would be No. 100 in IMSA competition for the program… three years after Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner scored Corvette Racing’s 100th all-time victory at Lime Rock in 2016.
Hitting the fast-forward button to this week sees Milner out for the second consecutive race with an injured left hand. As a result, Marcel Fässler will sub in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R alongside Gavin. Fässler will make his first career start at Lime Rock while Gavin is tied for most victories by an IMSA driver at the circuit with four.
In the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette, Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen hope to regain ground in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Drivers Championship in their search for a third title. The pairing sit 11 points out of first place but are coming to an event where they have fared well. Garcia and Magnussen finished second in 2012, 2013, 2016 and a year ago.
Garcia qualified on pole position in the No. 3 Corvette as the duo just missed on victory but still went on to win their second straight GTLM title.
The Northeast Grand Prix from Lime Rock Park begins at 3:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 20. Live coverage will be available on the NBC Sports App and IMSA Radio, via IMSA.com. NBC Sports Network will air the race beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “Lime Rock has turned into an important race for Jan and me. We need to recover from the result in Canada and get back in the championship. I believe we know as a team what our issues were and everyone has worked to correct those. We know Lime Rock is a place where anything can happen so let’s see. We have been close to winning at Lime Rock in the 3 Corvette a lot of times – four times as runner-up. So hopefully we are due for that win.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “Lime Rock is quite a difficult challenge. It’s a short-track sports car race with typically a lot contact… almost like touring cars. It’s a style of racing I enjoy. You can make something happen for yourself at this track more than most others, and that’s what we’ll look to do. If we ever needed a win in the No. 3 Corvette, it’s this week. That’s always the end goal but we want it a little more given the points situation. We need a good weekend.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “I’ve been fortunate to win many times at Lime Rock with Corvette Racing. The lasting one will always be 2016 and the 100th win for our team. It was a day everything fell into place perfectly for us. We’d give a lot for that to happen again this weekend. This will be Marcel’s first race at Lime Rock and I know he will be well-prepared. Hopefully, this is a weekend where our luck takes a turn for the better.”
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MARCEL FÄSSLER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “Lime Rock is another track where I haven’t raced before. It’s a different type track than any other at which I’ve competed. Things will happen very quickly on such a short lap. So this will be another new challenge. It was beneficial to be with the team in Canada and have the experience in a high-downforce configuration. Hopefully, Olly and I can bring back a good result for the hard work of the Corvette Racing team.”
CORVETTE RACING AT LIME ROCK PARK: By the Numbers
• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 20 years: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.
• 3: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Lime Rock since 2004 – Corvette C5-R (2004), Corvette C6.R (2005-13) and Corvette C7.R (2016-current).
• 4: Wins at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin – tied for the most of any driver entered in the Northeast Grand Prix.
• 5: Number of victories at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing, the most of any entrant in IMSA.
• 5: Number of drivers who have won races at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing – Oliver Gavin (four), Olivier Beretta (three), Jan Magnussen (two), and Johnny O’Connell and Tommy Milner (one each).
• 5: Pole positions at Lime Rock for Corvette Racing, the most of any entrant in IMSA. Antonio Garcia (2018) is the most recent.
• 7: Fastest race laps for Corvette Racing drivers at Lime Rock. Oliver Gavin leads with three with Antonio Garcia (2016) being the most recent.
• 8: As in Chevrolet’s small-block V8. More than 100 million units have been sold worldwide and is the most successful engine in American motorsports.
• 12: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.
• 12: Victories for Chevrolet at Lime Rock – second among all manufacturers.
• 16: Number of GT Le Mans wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014. That’s the most of any manufacturer and team in GTLM.
• 21: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, 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 and Utah.
• 28: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999.
• 100: As in Corvette Racing’s 100th program victory at Lime Rock Park in 2016.
• 107: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 99 in North America and eight at Le Mans.
• 221: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
• 5,621.90: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 12 previous trips to Lime Rock. That represents 3,749 laps and approximately 51 trips from the Empire State Building in New York City to the track.
• 294,695.69: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history – covered “just” 248,655 miles.
2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTLM Standings (After Six of 11 Events)
Driver Standings
1. Earl Bamber/Laurens Vanthoor – 186
2. Nick Tandy/Patrick Pilet – 182
3. Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 175
4. Connor De Phillippi – 163
5. Dirk Mueller – 161
8. Oliver Gavin – 145
10. Tommy Milner – 122
Team Standings
1. No. 912 Porsche GT Team – 186
2. No. 911 Porsche GT Team – 182
3. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 175
4. No. 25 BMW Team RLL – 163
5. No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi – 161
8. No. 4 Corvette Racing – 145
Manufacturer Standings
1. Porsche – 205
2. BMW – 181
3. Chevrolet – 180
4. Ford – 178
Corvette Racing at Lime Rock Park
2004
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GTS (Beretta pole, fastest race lap)
2005
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Beretta pole, fastest race lap)
2006
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 4th in GT1 (Beretta fastest race lap)
2007
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1 (O’Connell fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1
2008
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O’Connell/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GT1
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1 (Gavin pole, Beretta fastest race lap)
2010
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Johnny O’Connell – 12th in GT2
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 5th in GT2
2011
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 9th in GT
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 10th in GT
2012
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GT
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GT
2013
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GT
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GT
2016
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM (100tth Corvette Racing win; Gavin fastest lap)
2017
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM
2018
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLM (Garcia pole)
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM
Check out the 2019 Corvette Racing Schedule for a list of the races to come!
For more Corvette Racing Articles visit our blog category
You may also enjoy CORVETTE RACING AT LIME ROCK PARK: 100TH VICTORY IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Corvette Racing at Lime Rock 2017
CORVETTE RACING AT LIME ROCK: Second Place for Garcia, Magnussen in 2013.
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