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|  | | July 30 2017 07:40:56 PM EST | Team Chevy |
| One year ago, Corvette Racing celebrated their 100th victory at Lime Rock Park. Unfortunately 2017 would not fair as well.
The #4 was out of the race early after an accident caused broken suspension and time behind the wall to fix.
The #3 drove a perfect race but only managed 4th. After many lamps of battling with a slower BMW, Antonio Garcia just did not have an opportune spot to make a clean pass. That is one of the downsides to the small but fast characteristics of Lime Rock Park. Fortunately, the #3 still managed to extend it's points lead.
Drivers:
1st place: Garcia/Magnussen 211 points
2nd place: Sims/Auberlen 204 points
Teams:
1st Place: #3 Corvette Racing 211 points
2nd Place: #25 BMW 204 points
3rd Place: #66 Ford 196 points
Manufacturers:
1st Place: #3 Corvette Racing 223 points
2nd Place: Ford 219 points
3rd Place: BMW 216
4th Place: Porsche 209
VIDEO: 2017 Lime Rock Qualifying
VIDEO: 2017 Lime Rock TV Broadcast
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:
LAKEVILLE, Conn. (July 22, 2017) – Corvette Racing extended its lead in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Le Mans (GTLM) standings Saturday with a fourth-place finish for Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen in the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park.
The pairing – in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R – now lead the Driver’s Championship by seven points, and Chevrolet increased its lead in the Manufacturer’s standings to four points after seven of 11 events. Garcia also set the fastest lap of the race to earn one critical bonus point.
The No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner finished eighth after early-race contact on the rough-and-tumble circuit. The No. 4 Corvette was forced to return to the paddock twice for repairs – an example of the never-give-up attitude that defines Corvette Racing.
Magnussen started sixth and drove the first 51 minutes before handing off to Garcia from fourth place. Garcia rejoined in fifth and eventually cycled through to the lead as different pit stop strategies emerged into the final hour. The No. 3 Corvette pitted from first with 47 minutes left and was one of the final GTLM cars to stop for fuel and fresh Michelin tires.
The strategy very nearly paid off with a podium finish, but the tight confines of Lime Rock and traffic stymied Garcia’s changes.
ANTONIO GARCIA:
"The points situation was in my mind at the end. I fought hard to get by the No. 24 car but I also knew that wasn’t the car we are fighting for in the championship. There were some moments where he cut me off late and almost spun himself out. Luckily nothing happened. I tried everything I could. Their car for sure was out of tires at the end and the car was very wide. The way the strategy worked, we had better tires on lighter fuel. I’m very happy with today. A podium was possible but we did all we could. It is great to get the fastest lap and the bonus point. Having that made me think a little bit how aggressive I needed to be at the end."
JAN MAGNUSSEN:
"It was a great job by the team on strategy. Antonio gave it everything he had. It was a fantastic race at the end between he and the 24 car. Fourth place is good for the points as the 25 and 66 were behind us. It would have been great to be on the podium but it wasn’t in the cars. Now on to Road America and hopefully a return to the podium.
"My stint was a tough one. I didn’t really have the pace to keep up. I got really held back in traffic with people fighting for every inch out there. That really cost some time so we fell back quite a bit. Other than that it was pretty uneventful!"
OLIVER GAVIN:
"After the second time behind the wall, Tommy mentioned the car was pretty good, and when I got in the first number of laps were pretty solid. We had decent balance. I struggled too with tire pickup, then tried to be kind to others and not get too involved with anyone else on the circuit. So I put myself in positions to pick up some junk on the tires. It was so difficult to clean them off afterward. We just want to have a clean weekend. It seems like every weekend we run into some issue or problem… you name it and it’s happened this year."
TOMMY MILNER:
"I’m pretty disappointed to have another race where we don’t finish. It would be nice for us to have a clean race here for once. It’s hard to tell what happened there. It looked like the Ford checked up earlier than I expected; I tried whatever I could to not hit him but that probably caused more problems. I’m sorry for those guys. I never want to be involved in an accident like that and take somebody else out of the race. Looking at the data, I was slower than I had been going in there. But that’s racing. We’re trying to make split-second decisions. Most of the times they are the right ones, but every now and then they’re the wrong ones." I certainly would like to take back what happened there, and I’m sure he would a little bit as well. But again, that’s racing."
DOUG FEHAN:
"Today was a very atypical Lime Rock race where there were no cautions, but at the same time typical in the amount of close-quarters racing and a premium on strategy and luck. Fourth place today is a solid result for us in the GTLM Championship, where we have grown our lead in the Manufacturer’s, Driver’s and Team standings. It just shows again how anything can happen at Lime Rock! Now we regroup and ready for another great challenge and great track at Road America."
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