CORVETTE RACING AT DAYTONA: Promising Showing in C7.R Debut
01-27-2014, 07:38 PM
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
CORVETTE RACING AT DAYTONA: Promising Showing in C7.R Debut
CORVETTE RACING AT DAYTONA: Promising Showing in C7.R Debut
New Chevrolet GT race cars display competitive balance in 2014 opener
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 26, 2014) – In its return to the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Corvette Racing experienced the highs and lows of the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic. In their competitive debut, both of the team’s Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs led the opening round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The new racing Corvette showed promise with impressive speed and economy ahead of its full-season campaign in North America’s new sports car racing championship.
The No. 4 Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Robin Liddell led the Corvette Racing effort placed a disappointing fifth in the GT Le Mans class following a problem with the car’s gearbox with less than three hours to go. Milner, running second at the time, was chasing the eventual race-winning car when the Corvette’s gearbox temperature rose dramatically. Milner went directly to the garage where the team diagnosed the problem as a transmission bearing failure. The Corvette Racing crew switched out the gearbox in 30 minutes and sent Milner back to the race.
Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Ryan Briscoe each had impressive drives to take the No. 3 Corvette C7.R from the rear of the grid at the start to the class lead at the six-and-a-half hour mark. The balance and stability of the Corvette was evident in the track’s infield section and allowed all three drivers to cut through slower traffic. Unfortunately the engine began to overheat during Garcia’s stint near the halfway mark. He handed over to Briscoe, who was called first to the pits then to the garage on more than one occasion to try and solve the cooling problem – a task that ultimately proved unsuccessful.
“This is an example of how difficult the Rolex 24 can be,” said Mark Kent, Chevrolet’s Director of Racing. “On one hand, we are very encouraged with the initial showing of the new Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. The promise the car displayed was evident on both the No. 3 and No. 4 side. Unfortunately these things happen in a race as long and grueling as this one. Hats off to the efforts by everyone at Corvette Racing and Team Chevy for their efforts. We will examine these issues, find the root causes and resolve them prior to the next race at Sebring.”
The next round of the TUDOR Championship is the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 15
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
"I had quite a good couple of stints. Luckily both the yellows came two-thirds or three-quarters into each of the stints so it wasn’t easy to make decisions on pit strategies and tires. We just did fuel on the first one and chose just right-side tires and fuel on the second one. I got out again with no problem. The Porsche had four tires so he had an advantage. In the end, I was having some issues with some sudden oversteering. I thought there was oil on the track but it was me that was leaking water from the engine so I spun on my own water. It got worse and worse and we decided to stop to check everything.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
"This definitely wasn't the result everyone was looking for. All in all, the car was quite fast. We weren't the fastest car out there but a podium was definitely in the cards. I feel really sorry for all the guys who worked so hard to get us here. We will come back to Sebring stronger. For me the opening stint was about me staying out of trouble and trying to make up as much of the ground as possible. I really thought I would get by all the GT Daytona cars and then have a big gap up to the GTLM cars but it wasn't that big when I finally came through. I thought I needed a safety car to bunch everyone up but we were right there at the end of my first double-stint. After that, we all had a good couple of stints to get into the lead. It all went downhill from there, unfortunately. It's a new car with a ton of potential. We are just scratching the surface. It already is a great car. We just need to iron out the bugs."
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
"I was having a great time driving the Corvette C7.R The car was really good to drive. It was the best-handling car as far as I could see. We were really good and really strong, and we were definitely contenders until we started having some overheating issues. It was a real honor to be part of Corvette Racing for the first time. I'm looking forward to more."
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It was great to finally race the Corvette C7.R. I really enjoyed my stints in the car and racing against the competition in our class. It was building up to a really grandstanding finish between us, the Porsche and the BMW. Unfortunately both Corvette Racing and the fans were robbed of that due to our transmission problem. But that is the nature of endurance racing. The C7.R is a brand new race car, and for it to go 22.5 hours with a major problem is a real testament to the team, Chevrolet and Pratt & Miler. Kudos to the Corvette Racing team for working as hard as they did to get the gearbox changed; it was a massive effort by everyone involved. So while the result is frustrating, I can’t thank everyone enough for all they gave this weekend.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
"I got warnings on the dash coming out of NASCAR Turn 4 that the gearbox was hot. Then it got real hot real fast. As I worked down the gears at Turn 1, it was very rough-sounding at the back of the car and was getting worse. The car was running OK. I could still go very quick. I did about half a lap. But when I got to Turn 6, there was a lot of smoke out of the back of the car so I pulled down to the inside."
ROBIN LIDDELL, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“Your expectations change in a race like this depending on how you’re doing. When you’re in a position suddenly with three hours to go and the potential to win it, suddenly your expectations ramp right up. Then when something happens, you feel like you’ve been robbed. But stepping back from that, overall we had a pretty good showing with a brand new car. It was a particularly hard race with the lack of class disparity between the speeds of the classes. In the end, the car performed very well. It’s clearly a contender. Once the season gets under way and everything settles down, it will all start to come together. I’m really happy to be part of this team and be part of this first race.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“Our return to the Rolex 24 At Daytona proved once again that Corvette Racing never gives up. It was a phenomenal effort by the drivers and crews of both the No. 3 and No. 4 Corvette C7.Rs to get both cars to the front under difficult circumstances. The potential of the C7.R package is clear. As we witnessed today, Daytona gives so much but can just as easily take it away. The results maybe not be what we wanted but, the excitement we generated today will be carried right over to Sebring!"
New Chevrolet GT race cars display competitive balance in 2014 opener
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 26, 2014) – In its return to the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Corvette Racing experienced the highs and lows of the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic. In their competitive debut, both of the team’s Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs led the opening round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The new racing Corvette showed promise with impressive speed and economy ahead of its full-season campaign in North America’s new sports car racing championship.
The No. 4 Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Robin Liddell led the Corvette Racing effort placed a disappointing fifth in the GT Le Mans class following a problem with the car’s gearbox with less than three hours to go. Milner, running second at the time, was chasing the eventual race-winning car when the Corvette’s gearbox temperature rose dramatically. Milner went directly to the garage where the team diagnosed the problem as a transmission bearing failure. The Corvette Racing crew switched out the gearbox in 30 minutes and sent Milner back to the race.
Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Ryan Briscoe each had impressive drives to take the No. 3 Corvette C7.R from the rear of the grid at the start to the class lead at the six-and-a-half hour mark. The balance and stability of the Corvette was evident in the track’s infield section and allowed all three drivers to cut through slower traffic. Unfortunately the engine began to overheat during Garcia’s stint near the halfway mark. He handed over to Briscoe, who was called first to the pits then to the garage on more than one occasion to try and solve the cooling problem – a task that ultimately proved unsuccessful.
“This is an example of how difficult the Rolex 24 can be,” said Mark Kent, Chevrolet’s Director of Racing. “On one hand, we are very encouraged with the initial showing of the new Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. The promise the car displayed was evident on both the No. 3 and No. 4 side. Unfortunately these things happen in a race as long and grueling as this one. Hats off to the efforts by everyone at Corvette Racing and Team Chevy for their efforts. We will examine these issues, find the root causes and resolve them prior to the next race at Sebring.”
The next round of the TUDOR Championship is the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 15
EDITORS: High-resolution images of Corvette Racing are available on the Team Chevy media site for editorial use only.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
"I had quite a good couple of stints. Luckily both the yellows came two-thirds or three-quarters into each of the stints so it wasn’t easy to make decisions on pit strategies and tires. We just did fuel on the first one and chose just right-side tires and fuel on the second one. I got out again with no problem. The Porsche had four tires so he had an advantage. In the end, I was having some issues with some sudden oversteering. I thought there was oil on the track but it was me that was leaking water from the engine so I spun on my own water. It got worse and worse and we decided to stop to check everything.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
"This definitely wasn't the result everyone was looking for. All in all, the car was quite fast. We weren't the fastest car out there but a podium was definitely in the cards. I feel really sorry for all the guys who worked so hard to get us here. We will come back to Sebring stronger. For me the opening stint was about me staying out of trouble and trying to make up as much of the ground as possible. I really thought I would get by all the GT Daytona cars and then have a big gap up to the GTLM cars but it wasn't that big when I finally came through. I thought I needed a safety car to bunch everyone up but we were right there at the end of my first double-stint. After that, we all had a good couple of stints to get into the lead. It all went downhill from there, unfortunately. It's a new car with a ton of potential. We are just scratching the surface. It already is a great car. We just need to iron out the bugs."
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
"I was having a great time driving the Corvette C7.R The car was really good to drive. It was the best-handling car as far as I could see. We were really good and really strong, and we were definitely contenders until we started having some overheating issues. It was a real honor to be part of Corvette Racing for the first time. I'm looking forward to more."
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It was great to finally race the Corvette C7.R. I really enjoyed my stints in the car and racing against the competition in our class. It was building up to a really grandstanding finish between us, the Porsche and the BMW. Unfortunately both Corvette Racing and the fans were robbed of that due to our transmission problem. But that is the nature of endurance racing. The C7.R is a brand new race car, and for it to go 22.5 hours with a major problem is a real testament to the team, Chevrolet and Pratt & Miler. Kudos to the Corvette Racing team for working as hard as they did to get the gearbox changed; it was a massive effort by everyone involved. So while the result is frustrating, I can’t thank everyone enough for all they gave this weekend.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
"I got warnings on the dash coming out of NASCAR Turn 4 that the gearbox was hot. Then it got real hot real fast. As I worked down the gears at Turn 1, it was very rough-sounding at the back of the car and was getting worse. The car was running OK. I could still go very quick. I did about half a lap. But when I got to Turn 6, there was a lot of smoke out of the back of the car so I pulled down to the inside."
ROBIN LIDDELL, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“Your expectations change in a race like this depending on how you’re doing. When you’re in a position suddenly with three hours to go and the potential to win it, suddenly your expectations ramp right up. Then when something happens, you feel like you’ve been robbed. But stepping back from that, overall we had a pretty good showing with a brand new car. It was a particularly hard race with the lack of class disparity between the speeds of the classes. In the end, the car performed very well. It’s clearly a contender. Once the season gets under way and everything settles down, it will all start to come together. I’m really happy to be part of this team and be part of this first race.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“Our return to the Rolex 24 At Daytona proved once again that Corvette Racing never gives up. It was a phenomenal effort by the drivers and crews of both the No. 3 and No. 4 Corvette C7.Rs to get both cars to the front under difficult circumstances. The potential of the C7.R package is clear. As we witnessed today, Daytona gives so much but can just as easily take it away. The results maybe not be what we wanted but, the excitement we generated today will be carried right over to Sebring!"
01-28-2014, 06:56 AM
#2
Safety Car
Two things we have to keep in mind here. Porsche showed up with a brand new car and won. I think that surprised everyone since they weren't strong in testing. New cars can and do win races. Are you listening Doug?
Secondly, none of this will matter by the time of the Sebring race. The rules are going to change. We don't know how much but they will be different. I think NASCAR did a pretty decent job with the rules package but now they'll fine tune it.
One interesting item is that the top 3 cars at Daytona all used Ernhardt Childress engines. These are basically 5.5 liter LS9 engines. People are talking about 600 bhp. That's about 70 more than the DP cars had last year.
Over the past four years, ECR has created a designated department to service the six sports car teams. There are currently six employees who travel the circuit and oversee the 23 engines currently in rotation.
I'm pretty sure that the Corvette team builds their own engines. We have no clue about the horsepower. You can be pretty sure it's less than the DP cars.
Richard Newton
Race Car Images
Secondly, none of this will matter by the time of the Sebring race. The rules are going to change. We don't know how much but they will be different. I think NASCAR did a pretty decent job with the rules package but now they'll fine tune it.
One interesting item is that the top 3 cars at Daytona all used Ernhardt Childress engines. These are basically 5.5 liter LS9 engines. People are talking about 600 bhp. That's about 70 more than the DP cars had last year.
Over the past four years, ECR has created a designated department to service the six sports car teams. There are currently six employees who travel the circuit and oversee the 23 engines currently in rotation.
I'm pretty sure that the Corvette team builds their own engines. We have no clue about the horsepower. You can be pretty sure it's less than the DP cars.
Richard Newton
Race Car Images
01-28-2014, 03:54 PM
#4
Melting Slicks
With all due respect to the spin from the drivers, Corvette Racing got it handed to them. In endurance racing, job one is reliability. The cars did not have that at Daytona.
01-28-2014, 06:12 PM
#5
Team Owner
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I wouldn't call this 911 a "brand new car." Very similar cars are running in European series and they have lots of data on how the components would perform. I don't think they started as nearly from scratch with their chassis and aero as Corvette did.
01-28-2014, 07:07 PM
#6
Melting Slicks
Two things we have to keep in mind here. Porsche showed up with a brand new car and won. I think that surprised everyone since they weren't strong in testing. New cars can and do win races. Are you listening Doug?
Richard Newton
Race Car Images
Richard Newton
Race Car Images
01-28-2014, 08:31 PM
#8
Le Mans Master
I was standing by the Vette garage Sunday morning when the last Vette pulled into their garage. A few of the mechanics quickly removed the rear panels, and we saw Binks give the broken sign with his hands and knew it was all over.
Here's a picture of the demise:
Here's a picture of the demise:
01-29-2014, 09:19 AM
#9
Jeez... can we give the C7-R team at least ONE weekend to come up to speed??
01-29-2014, 01:09 PM
#10
Safety Car
Ok, you have a $25 to $30 million dollar annual budget and you're not ready for the first race of the year?
It only costs about $15 million to run a DP car and they finished 1,2 and 3. Chevrolet just totally dominated the Rolex - except for GT.
It helped that Ford stayed home though. That won't last for too long. Jamie Allison was at the race and he was thinking Mustang. Now that would be fun. Let's add a Mustang to this mix. This isn't going to get any easier.
Richard Newton
It only costs about $15 million to run a DP car and they finished 1,2 and 3. Chevrolet just totally dominated the Rolex - except for GT.
It helped that Ford stayed home though. That won't last for too long. Jamie Allison was at the race and he was thinking Mustang. Now that would be fun. Let's add a Mustang to this mix. This isn't going to get any easier.
Richard Newton
Last edited by rfn026; 01-29-2014 at 01:10 PM. Reason: sp
01-29-2014, 02:22 PM
#11
BMW in the 90's, Audi in the 2000's and Porsche in LMP2 in the 2000's (and that with Roger Penske at the helm no less!) all spent multiple times that amount and struggled their first year... Look at Aston, Flying Lizard and others in GT over the years... it's countless. Even at the upper levels of F1 -- Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes....
Only until they get into the heat of battle with multiple drivers all hammering away in different ways are teams going to button up the issues.
A bit too hopeful to "expect" a team to take the podium first ever time out no matter how much they spend, much less get angry about it as a fan. Nice if it happens and that's what they strive for, but to expect it I think unrealistic.
01-29-2014, 02:35 PM
#12
Race Director
Let's not forget that in addition to both breaking during the race itself, 1 of them didn't even manage to make a qualifying run...
01-29-2014, 02:45 PM
#13
Safety Car
I suggested the Mustang in a different thread and I think it makes a lot of sense for them when they come out with the IRS'd 2015 model. If Roush is running the show, buckle your seatbelt for an even more golden era of GT racing.
01-30-2014, 03:43 PM
#14
Melting Slicks
Corvette Racing has been uber--successful since 2001 and has a ton of experience. While this is a "new" car, they used the 5.5L NA DFI motor last year in ALMS and the Xtrac box is a carry-over. I can understand these guys not having aero and weighting sorted on the new body, etc., costing them some speed, but the lack of reliability didn't seem much like this team....