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NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R WITHDRAWN FROM EVENT AFTER QUALIFYING ACCIDENT
LE MANS, France (June 11, 2015) – The No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of Corvette Racing drivers Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe, has been withdrawn from this weekend's 83rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans following an accident during Thursday's first qualifying session.
A mechanical issue resulted in Magnussen losing control of the car in the Porsche Curves, damaging the front and rear of the Corvette C7.R beyond immediate repair.
After having been helped from the car by the ACO medical crews, Magnussen was sent to the track's medical center for the standard series of checks. The driver was given the all-clear by the ACO medical staff.
The No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R is not repairable on-site; this marks the first withdrawal of a Corvette Racing entry at Le Mans.
"We are thankful that Jan has been checked and released by the ACO medical staff," said Mark Kent, Director of Chevrolet Racing. "We are disappointed that the No. 63 Corvette C7.R will be unable to compete at Le Mans this year. The Corvette Racing team put a lot of work into preparing two C7.Rs for this event, and unfortunately only one will be in the race."
Further information will be communicated at a later time.
I had posted this on Le Mans thread somewhere (either here on in the C7 section), but since we are now looking forward, I figured I would reiterate here.
The #63 car was badly damaged and will take a month or so to fix. They are going to be using the Larbre car (#50 in the GTE-AM) class for the next one or two Tudor races. Not sure how that arrangement works, but I'm sure it will work out for both teams since the next WEC race isn't for a while.
Luckless Larbre Competition forced into early Le Mans retirement
Larbre Competition was unable to add another chapter to its illustrious GT record at the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend (June 13/14) after a warm-up incident ultimately led to retirement at 11pm local time on Saturday.
The French squad has five class victories to its name at the world’s greatest endurance race, but there would be no repeat at the 83rd edition after a gearbox issue and resulting complications led to the GTE Am-entered #50 Corvette C7.R – driven by Paolo Ruberti, Gianluca Roda and Kristian Poulsen – being withdrawn.
Having struggled to find a suitable set-up throughout Wednesday and Thursday’s practice and qualifying sessions, the squad worked feverishly during Friday’s ‘day off’ to eke out extra performance. And that was immediately evident at the start of Saturday morning’s warm-up when the car was able to lap amongst the fastest in its class.
Unfortunately, Roda’s accident at the Porsche Curves would ultimately have ramifications for the race despite the hard work of both the Larbre and Corvette factory mechanics. Their co-ordinated efforts at least ensured the car would take the start 10th in class.
But there was still no way of knowing the extent of the damage until racing began at 15:00 local time. And it soon became apparent that further repairs would be required after oil began leaking from the gearbox with an hour gone. Subsequent time spent in the garage soon dropped the Corvette five laps off the class lead and, with no way of permanently fixing the problem, the decision was made to retire on the grounds of safety.
While in some respects round three of this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship will go down as one to forget for the Val de Vienne-based squad, the camaraderie between Larbre’s customer GTE Am programme and its works counterpart, who won the Pro class, will live long in the memory. Indeed, the French C7.R now heads to America where it will race as part of the factory squad’s TUSCC programme after the second Pro-entered car was badly damaged in qualifying on Thursday.
Gianluca Roda: “I had an accident in the second part of the Porsche Curves during warm-up and made a big mess of the car. The mechanics worked really hard to repair it for the race but we still had a problem with the gearbox. After an hour we started losing oil, and then after five the gearbox was more or less broken. So it was better to stop because we had already lost a lot of laps. On top of that I had a moment with the #8 Audi LMP1 car, which at one point was going too fast under yellow flags and span off in front of me. I had a small moment as a result but didn’t hit anything and there was no major damage to the car. I was also suffering some pain from the accident on Saturday morning. I managed to drive for two hours and, although it was difficult, I would have made the finish. Unfortunately, in the end, there were just too many problems with the car.”
Paolo Ruberti: “I started the race but after only a few laps could see oil on the rear-view camera. It wasn’t a good sign, and there was even more oil coming out of the gearbox. We tried to repair it but there was just too much being lost, so we decided to stop the car to avoid risking a crash. We’d also already lost far too many laps to have a chance of salvaging a good result. It’s frustrating because the car felt good at the start and was better than in qualifying. We were certainly much faster than our best qualifying time. It’s a shame that the gearbox put an end to our race because the car was really easy to drive and feeling good.”
Kristian Poulsen: “We’d already had a difficult week and the race just got worse, which is a real shame. But this is racing and sometimes when it starts to go wrong it’s a downward spiral from there. It was the right decision to stop the race because the car must be safe to drive, especially on such a fast circuit. We came here to win our class so there was no point taking major risks for nothing. I drove a double stint and the car felt fine to drive but was losing far too much oil and, after two or three laps, the rear camera was covered in it. I knew it wasn’t good news.”
Jack Leconte, Team Manager: “We managed to find the correct set-up after looking at all the data and our performance during practice and qualifying. In fact we were 6km/h faster in the warm-up and start of the race as a result, which meant we could set comparable times to those at the head of GTE Am. I know Paolo was very happy with the car and we wanted Gianluca to have a similar chance to gain confidence before the race because he hadn’t driven at the end of Thursday night qualifying. Unfortunately he pushed a little too hard, clipped the kerb exiting Porsche Curves and hit the outside wall at high speed, which caused a lot of damage. We fixed the diff but the gearbox oil tank also suffered, and with the heat the leak increased. We tried sealing it but to no avail. And when oil started affecting other components it became unsafe to continue, especially as it could have got onto the tyres and caused a big accident. So we preferred to retire and live to fight another day.
“Obviously we are very disappointed. We came here to win, as we always do, and to retire so early is very unusual for us. If there is one positive I can take then it’s been seeing the wonderful partnership we enjoy with Corvette in action. We have both suffered this week but always been there to help each other, and I take great pleasure from seeing their #64 entry win GTE Pro. We’ve endured a tough start to this year’s championship, but with our car now heading to the States for the summer hopefully its return will bring us better luck.”
Round four of the FIA WEC takes place at the Nurburgring in Germany on August 28-30.
NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R WITHDRAWN FROM EVENT AFTER QUALIFYING ACCIDENT
The No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R is not repairable on-site; this marks the first withdrawal of a Corvette Racing entry at Le Mans.
"We are thankful that Jan has been checked and released by the ACO medical staff," said Mark Kent, Director of Chevrolet Racing. "We are disappointed that the No. 63 Corvette C7.R will be unable to compete at Le Mans this year. The Corvette Racing team put a lot of work into preparing two C7.Rs for this event, and unfortunately only one will be in the race."
Further information will be communicated at a later time.
What is "Your" take on the status of the #3 car for Watkins glen. We are heading there for the long weekend and look forward to a repeat of last years wire to wire win for Corvette!
What is "Your" take on the status of the #3 car for Watkins glen. We are heading there for the long weekend and look forward to a repeat of last years wire to wire win for Corvette!
See above. A #3 car will be there. It will be the #50 Larbre Car (last year's backup car) in disguise. Hopefully fairly competitive since they are the same cars in theory, but it will be interesting to see how well they can get the car setup and ready for Tudor duty in a short time frame.
Fehan (Corvette): “Adversity is Just Opportunity Dressed a Different Way”
By John Dagys
By Thursday evening, Corvette Racing’s chances of victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans was in doubt, following a heavy accident that resulted in the withdrawal of its No. 63 car and leaving only one factory Corvette C7.R to fly the flag.
While the odds were stacked against them, the Pratt & Miller squad persevered, with Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor not only driving a flawless race, but taking their Corvette to GTE-Pro class honors, breaking a four-year dry spell at LeMans.
For Corvette Racing Program Manager Doug Fehan, the team’s 16th consecutive trip to the French endurance classic was one of the most memorable yet, based on how well they performed under pressure.
“It creates adversity,” Fehan told Sportscar365. “As I said to the crowd, on several of the speeches I gave following that, for us, and for me and for the team, we’ve tried to develop an attitude that suggests that adversity is just opportunity dressed a little different way.
“That huge amount of adversity caused us to do our normal thing. The normal response is that we gather up, and rather than dwell on the fact that we have a car that’s severely damaged and we’re not going to be able to race it, let’s look at what that entails.”
Fehan credited the safety features of the production-based C7.R for allowing Jan Magnussen to walk away from the massive accident in qualifying, which was triggered by a pebble that got into the foot box and caused the throttle to stick wide open.
With no spare chassis, the team went to work focusing entirely on its No. 64 car, which has historically struggled in terms of performance in recent years, both at Le Mans and in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
“The eyes were upon us because we were down and out,” Fehan said. “We only had a single car, one bullet in the chamber, what were our chances?
“But I said, ‘Guys, there’s only one step on the top of the podium.’ We only needed one car to do this and we were the only team there that I thought was truly capable of pulling together.”
As arguably the most experienced and successful team in the modern era at Le Mans, Corvette went to work to ensure that every aspect of its now single-car entry was perfected, with the crew from the fallen No. 63 car also lending a helping hand.
“That was the attitude we took going into the whole deal,” Fehan said. “We’re going to show the world we can do this with a single car.
“All of the guys pitched in on Friday and went over that thing with a fine-tooth comb. They took their time, every inch of that thing was massaged. Then we put it on the grid.”
While having started second-to-last due to a disappointing qualifying effort, Fehan knew they’d be in a solid position if they kept to their plan.
“The guy who spends the least amount of time in pit lane is going to win and that’s exactly what we did,” he said. “Fuel, tires, driver [change]. One brake change. That was it. The hood or rear deck never came off the car.
“We’ve done that several times before and each time we have done that, we’ve won.”
That proved to be key, as the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia, which the No. 64 car had battled all race, suffered gearbox failure in the closing hours, giving Gavin, Milner and Taylor clear sailing to take the win.
It was a special day for Corvette, with Ed Welburn, GM’s VP of Global Design, in attendance at Le Mans for the first time, where he witnessed the factory squad’s eighth class victory thanks to a perfect execution of the race.
For Fehan, it’s a weekend he’ll never forget.
“You only get the first win once, which is always the most emotional,” he said. “Then the rest of them group together because any win at Le Mans is incredible.
“But I would say for me, this would be the second-most important win we’ve had, just because what we had to do to pull it together to make it happen.
“We were also coming off a dry spell. We had never gone three years in a row without winning. That hadn’t happened in our history.
“That’s kind of imposing, that level of pressure. Especially when you lose a car, you think, ‘Man, my luck has turned to s*** here.’
“We needed this win. We needed this win for ourselves internally. We needed this win for our drivers. We needed it for Jan, for Olly, Jordan and Tommy.”
Found this interesting. There's a video of Tommy going through some aspects of the car, but what I thought was really neat was Oliver's tour of the buttons and displays of the C7.R Always wondered what they all did.
CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: Searching for More Endurance Success
Press Release:
CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: Searching for More Endurance Success
Corvette C7.Rs already have won at Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring in 2015
· Gavin, Milner enter off thrilling class victory at 24 Hours of Le Mans
· Garcia, Magnussen back to defend Watkins Glen race victory from 2014
· Two Corvettes sit 1-2 in Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup GTLM standings
DETROIT (June 23, 2015) – Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring. Each is a premier endurance event on the global sports car calendar, and Corvette Racing has secured victory in each so far in 2015. Fresh off an eighth class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Corvette Racing returns to the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen from Watkins Glen International.
Both Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs will be part of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) field with Corvette Racing looking not just for a second straight race victory but consecutive wins at Watkins Glen.
Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner enter The Glen as Le Mans GTE Pro winners in their Corvette C7.R alongside Jordan Taylor, who is driving a Corvette Daytona Prototype in the race. Armed with that momentum, Gavin and Milner look to improve their position in the GTLM championship at a track where they were in contention for victory a year ago.
Milner was running second inside the final hour when he was assessed a stop-and-go penalty for avoidable contact despite the No. 4 car being fully by a slower car when the two touched. Milner and Gavin eventually finished fourth.
Garcia and Magnussen return to Watkins Glen to defend their 2014 victory and with hopes of competing in their first race together since early May. The pairing was set to team with Ryan Briscoe at Le Mans before the car had to be withdrawn following an accident with Magnussen at the wheel. A piece of debris in the Corvette’s throttle mechanism caused a failure in the system.
Due to damage to the Corvette’s frame, Corvette Racing has borrowed the C7.R chassis from European partner Larbre Competition to serve as the No. 3 car entry at Watkins Glen.
In 2014, Garcia and Magnussen combined to lead 154 of 185 GTLM laps, but Garcia had to withstand a final-lap charge to win by just 0.185 seconds.
Watkins Glen also serves as the third race in the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup, a four-round collection of the TUDOR Championship’s long-distance events. Garcia and Magnussen lead the driver’s standings over Gavin and Milner, while Chevrolet leads among GTLM manufacturers.
Corvette, Chevrolet on Display at Watkins Glen
In addition to the Watkins Glen on-track activities, fans can learn all they need to know about Chevrolet and Corvette by visiting the Corvette Racing Display from Friday to Sunday in the track vendor area. Among the Chevrolet attractions at the Display include:
• Chevrolet production vehicles such as the 2015 Corvette Z06 and Corvette Stingray, Impala, Malibu, Silverado 2500 Duramax Diesel and an accessorized Chevy Colorado – the 2015 Motor Trend Truck of the Year.
• A Corvette C7.R show car and a track-ready Chevrolet Camaro.
• Samples of Chevrolet engines, performance parts and accessories available to fans for purchase from their local Chevrolet dealer
• A variety of interactive games for adults and kids
• Commemorative t-shirts for fans who sign up with Corvette Racing.
The Corvette Racing display opens at 9 a.m., Friday and 8 a.m., Saturday and Sunday.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours at The Glen is the fifth race of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing. The event is set for 10:10 a.m. PT on Sunday, June 28, from Watkins Glen International. Live TV coverage begins at 10 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 with FOX Sports 2 picking up the race at 2 p.m. Flag-to-flag radio coverage also will be available via IMSA Radio.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “Le Mans obviously was a disappointment but congratulations go to Oliver, Tommy and Jordan. Coming back to Watkins Glen is always nice. Jan and I were able to win last year in the first time there for Corvette Racing. It was a very close battle after six hours, but that is how it usually goes in our GTLM class. Jan and I are looking to get back into the form we showed at Daytona and Sebring with our Chevrolet. The No. 3 crew has put in a tremendous effort to get our Corvette ready for this weekend. We want to repay them with a strong showing and the lead in the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “It’s good to get back to racing again after Le Mans. I have to say a special ‘thank you’ to our crew on the No. 3 Corvette. It hasn’t been easy getting things turned around following Le Mans, but this is the type of effort Corvette Racing is known for. It was a great race last year at the Glen, and both our Chevrolet Corvettes were strong. Antonio and I had to give 100 percent throughout the race. It isn’t easy to do that for three and four stints at a time. The Glen is extremely fast with some super-tough corners. It can really put a high physical load on the car and tires, and both a physical and mental load on the drivers. We will need to be sharp again with no mistakes - the same formula that allowed us to win at Daytona and Sebring.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “It absolutely feels like a whirlwind of emotions following Le Mans. You want to take time to enjoy it and relish it because you never know when or if it will happen again. But there isn’t much time to soak it all in as we’re right back at it at The Glen. Last year Tommy and I were in the running until we were penalized for contact stemming from an incident that we felt wasn’t our doing. That aside, our Chevrolet showed very well in the first race at The Glen for Corvette Racing. It’s a track that lends itself to a car with a good mix of speed and balance, and we’ve shown those were strengths of the Corvette in longer races. Two straight wins would be the perfect way for Tommy and I to mark our return to the TUDOR Championship.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “The win at Le Mans has pretty much sunk in. It was a great feeling and definitely something I’ll remember for the rest of my career. But it’s in the past and we have to turn our attention back to the TUDOR Championship and try to make up ground in the championship. Our Chevrolet Corvette was very good last year at The Glen, and I was able to move up through the field early and challenge our teammates for the race lead. The penalty we received was pretty harsh, and it definitely set us back and robbed us of a better result. The best thing we can do now is to go back there, use what we learned from 2014 and Le Mans. Hopefully that will be enough to keep the momentum going for Oliver, myself and the rest of the No. 4 crew.”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “Getting two cars back from France and turned around in the span of five days is a challenge; add in having to nearly rebuild a car from the frame up make is a monumental task. Nevertheless, that is what we at Corvette Racing face heading back to The Glen. We have another chance to stare down adversity and turn it into success. If there is one team that can do it, it’s Corvette Racing. We’ll do it with the same passion and dedication all our fans and Corvette owners have for our team and program.”
TUDOR Championship – GTLM Standings
Driver Standings
Team Standings
Manufacturer Standings
1. Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 128
2. Bill Auberlen/Dirk Werner – 126
3. John Edwards/Lucas Luhr – 121
4. Giancarlo Fisichella/Pierre Kaffer – 118
5. Patrick Pilet – 114
T6. Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 105
1. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 128
2. No. 25 BMW Team RLL – 126
3. No. 24 BMW Team RLL – 121
4. No. 62 Risi Competizione – 118
5. No. 911 Porsche North America – 114
6. No. 4 Corvette Racing – 105
1. BMW – 130
2. Chevrolet – 128
3. Ferrari – 122
4. Porsche – 120
Corvette Racing at Watkins Glen
Year
Class
Drivers
Result
Car
Notes
2014
GTLM
Garcia/Magnussen
1st
Corvette C7.R
Third win of 2014
GTLM
Gavin/Milner
4th
Corvette C7.R
Sahlen’s Six Hours at The Glen – GT Le Mans (all times ET)
TUDOR Practice 1: 11 a.m., Friday, June 26
TUDOR Practice 2: 4:05 p.m., Friday, June 26
TUDOR Practice 3: 10:15 a.m., Saturday, June 27
TUDOR GTLM Qualifying: 4:05 p.m., Saturday, June 27
TUDOR Warmup: 8 a.m., Sunday, June 28
Race: 10:10 a.m., Sunday, June 28 (FOX Sports 1/ FOX Sports 2)
Replay: 1 p.m., Sunday, July 5 (FOX Sports 1)
I am on their media list so you guys get to see it when they post it
Do they post all the race corral schedules? Would be nice to have it before showing up to plan the best time to get to the corral. Maybe they will send out the Circuit of the Americas later on this year in September.
Do they post all the race corral schedules? Would be nice to have it before showing up to plan the best time to get to the corral. Maybe they will send out the Circuit of the Americas later on this year in September.
COTA corral schedule is not yet out. However, they are promoting the Corvette corral tickets. Only 100 will be sold:
06-11-2015, 08:26 PM
