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|  | | August 29 2017 10:14:33 AM EST | Michelin |
| Corvette Racing returned to VIR as defending pole setters and winners. The team was aiming to repeat to extend their points lead in the championship.
In Qualifying Tommy Milner in the #4 Corvette C7.R set a lap time 1.3 seconds quicker than the 2016 pole time, yet it was only good enough for 5th on the grid, with the #3 in 6th.
As soon as the race started, the #25 BMW took off and was in a class of it's own. It at one point had nearly a 30 second gap to 2nd.
Risi Competizione came back to competition after a couple races off and rolled off the truck fast. The Ford vs Ferrari battle was fast and furious seeing those cars trading paint on several occasions.
The top of the field was also the top contenders in the championship points, so every position was crucial. The Corvettes were fast, but not fast enough to catch the leaders so the sat back and saved fuel while the others battled at the front and pit early. The #3 Corvette was able to stay out the longest and came out and split the 2nd place #62 Ferrari and 3rd place #66 Ford to take 2nd place.
The #66 Ford could not keep up with the #3 Corvette with fresher tires and slowly faded away. Tommy Milner caught the #66 Ford and made a move to pass when the Ford blocked the pass and the cars came together and both slid off track.
Near the end of the race, craziness broke out. The 2nd place Ferrari ran off track, and the race leading #25 BMW had a tire puncture and had to pit for emergency service, moving the #3 Corvette into the lead of the race and ultimately gave Corvette Racing the victory.
VIDEO: Chris's Post Race Review: 2017 VIR
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:
ALTON, Va. (Aug. 27, 2017) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen won for the second straight year at Virginia International Raceway on Sunday as the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R claimed victory in the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. Garcia crossed the finish line to win by 12.031 seconds.
The victory increased the pair’s lead in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Le Mans (GTLM) Driver’s standings. The result also moved Chevrolet back into first place in the Manufacturer’s Championship with two events left. It also marked Corvette Racing’s 106th all-time victory dating back to 2000 – three of those coming at VIR.
Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin appeared set to join their teammates on the podium of the GT-only race before late contact knocked the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R from second-place. Milner drove a storming final stint and had just moved up from third with pass going into the braking zone of the track’s long backstretch, but the two cars went off track and briefly stalled.
Milner was able to rejoin the field, but a punctured tire as a result of the collision added insult to injury. He and Gavin eventually finished sixth.
Out front, both Magnussen and Garcia drove measured stints after starting sixth on the grid. Magnussen drove the first 51 minutes and weathered several close calls with slower competitors. He pitted from third to hand over to Garcia, who rejoined fifth.
The final stop for the No. 3 Corvette saw Garcia rejoin in third place and directly ahead of his closest championship competitor. After two stellar laps on cold tires to build up the grip on the Corvette, Garcia set sail for the lead two cars. The No. 62 Ferrari went off-track from second place with 32 minutes to go, and the lead BMW was forced to pit for a late-tire change with 10 minutes left.
Up until that point, Garcia had taken impressive chunks of time out of the lead as the lead car was questionable to make it to the end of the race on fuel without a yellow flag period.
ANTONIO GARCIA:
"It was another long day at the office, but it was a good one. It is definitely good to have competitive pace and remain up front. That was something we weren’t used to in the last few races. We had a really, really tough middle stint where Ferrari and Ford were strong, but I was able to keep up with them. I didn’t know how much fuel they were saving, so I didn’t know what pace we were doing. I think the key was stopping one or two laps longer than the Ferrari and the Ford because I had really clear laps from those two, in the low 1:42s that made me so close to the Ferrari and especially to be ahead of the Ford coming out of the pits. That was 90 percent of the race… that pit stop and being able to get in front of them. It was a very hard two laps coming out of the pits on cold tires but I knew if I was able to do that most of the race would come down to that. It was keeping the pressure up on the Ferrari to force a mistake, and we didn’t allow the BMW to run very slow to make it to the end. That is part of racing. I think we definitely deserve this one."
JAN MAGNUSSEN:
"It’s unbelievable for us to come away with a win. Honestly, in the middle of the race it kind of looked like a situation of ‘OK, we aren’t losing too much in the championship – a couple of points here, a couple of points there, but we would still stay in the lead of the championship.’ Then for things to turn around like they did in the last half-hour with the BMW coming up short (on fuel) and the Ferrari falling off… crazy, absolutely crazy result. This is such a fantastic result for the whole team. In a race like this with no yellows, which we kind of knew it was going to be, you can’t really take advantage of strategy. There are very few knobs you can turn in that situation. I think the crew, Antonio, just everybody on saving fuel to start with and then going at the end putting a lot of pressure on everybody… this is fantastic!"
OLIVER GAVIN:
"Today’s been another day of highs and lows for Tommy and I. It’s nice that we’re back with pace and hunting for podiums and victories. Congratulations to the No. 3 Corvette for a great win and big step in the championship. But once again it’s disappointing for us to be taken out of the running for what would have been a podium and likely a Corvette Racing 1-2. Every single weekend, someone wants to run into us; it seems like we are in the middle of incidents every weekend. Nobody wants that; we want to race hard and fair. Our season has gone like that; every slice of bad luck has come our way. On the positive side, the Corvette is fast and strong again. Hopefully it bodes well for the last two races for the championship where we can support our teammates in the Manufacturer’s, Driver’s and Team championships. That has to be our focus. We’re frustrated today, but we’re buoyed by the result for Antonio and Jan."
TOMMY MILNER:
"Another disappointing finish to a race for Oliver and I. We were judged not being a fault, which pretty much says it all about the ending. We had the potential for a Corvette 1-2. Our Corvette was so good at the end. The pit strategy was great; it really helped us at the end having me in the end for a fresh stint. I was pretty worn out after that first stint. But after getting a quick bite to eat and some liquids, I was ready to go again for that last stint. We did everything right today. We’re really not happy with how our race finished. We are happy that our teammates won, but we deserved a good finish of our own and wanted to be up there on the podium with our teammates."
DOUG FEHAN:
"This just goes on the long list of races where odds and statistics might indicate we would not have a good chance of success. But when you take our engineering, our strategy, our drivers and our crew into account, those are the reasons why we have won 106 races. Today was a demonstration of all those things coming together – as we are known for – and once again we executed according to our plan." |
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