IMSA Laguna Seca race this weekend

[teamzr1]

DETROIT (May 9, 2023) – C8.R Corvette Racing will wrap up its two-race West Coast swing this weekend with what’s been an annual stop for the last quarter-century. WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on the Monterey Peninsula will play host to America’s most successful sports car team for Sunday’s MOTUL Course de Monterey.

The two-hour, 40-minute race, set for 3 p.m. ET and airing live on NBC, is the third race of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Full-season teammates Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor will pilot the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in the GT Daytona (GTD PRO) class as the team goes for its ninth victory at WeatherTech Raceway.

This is the 25th straight year that Corvette Racing has visited the 2.238-mile, 11-turn circuit just off the Pacific Ocean.
The track is one of two where the program has raced in each of its previous 24 years, Sebring is the other with Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta joining the list at the end of the season.

This weekend also marks another important milestone: Garcia will become the first driver in the WeatherTech Championship to make 100 starts in the series since the start of the post-merger era in 2014 when the American Le Mans Series and GRAND-AM joined together for one American sports car championship.
Since that time, Garcia has won 20 races including in 2014 at Laguna Seca and four championships, all with Corvette Racing.

He and Taylor hope to improve on last year’s fourth-place finish in GTD PRO. This time around, the Corvette program has a year’s worth of car and tire data to fall back on following its inaugural season in the class during 2022 with a modified version of the mid-engine Corvette C8.R.

The MOTUL Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N is set for 12:10 p.m. PT / 3:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 14 and airs live on NBC with full streaming coverage on Peacock. IMSA Radio will have live audio coverage on XM 207, SiriusXM Online 992 and IMSA.com, which will have IMSA Radio coverage of all practice sessions, Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“We have made good progress with our car since we were last at Laguna a year ago.
There is data we can look at for tire wear and performance, plus we have some correlation from our simulator to help.
Last year we did lead early thanks to some luck and strategy, but it was clear we didn’t have the pace to compete. I’m hoping this year is better.”

(Making 100th start post-merger): “It doesn’t seem like it should be my 100th IMSA race!
I have always said that racing in America is a lot of fun because of the tracks, the fans and the competition. It’s a lot of time away from home, but I feel like I have a second family with Corvette Racing, who I’ve been with since 2009.
I am fortunate to have had a lot of great teammates and great races with many wins and championships in this series with I hope more to come.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“I’m looking forward to Laguna Seca.
We didn’t have great pace there last year, but it was also early on in our development with this car on this tire.
I feel like since that event we’ve made some big gains, which we saw late last year and even in Long Beach and Sebring this year.
Our guys have been nailing everything in the pits and strategy the last few events, so hopefully we can be a contender for the win.”

2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO
(After three of 11 events)

Driver Standings
1. Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 1067
2. Daniel Juncadella/Jules Gounon – 994
3. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 991
4. Klaus Bachler/Patrick Pilet – 989
5. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 844

Team Standings
1. No. 14 Vasser Sullivan – 1067
2. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 994
3. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 991
3. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 989
5. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 844

Manufacturer Standings
1. Lexus – 1067
2. Mercedes-AMG – 994
3. Chevrolet – 991
4. Porsche – 989
5. Aston Martin – 854

 

[teamzr1]

Antonio Garcia will become the first driver in the WeatherTech Championship to make 100 points-earning starts in the series.
The Spaniard has achieved the feat exclusively with Corvette Racing, dating back to the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Garcia said: “It doesn’t seem like it should be my 100th IMSA race!
I have always said that racing in America is a lot of fun because of the tracks, the fans and the competition. It’s a lot of time away from home, but I feel like I have a second family with Corvette Racing, who I’ve been with since 2009.
I am fortunate to have had a lot of great teammates and great races with many wins and championships in this series with I hope more to come.”

This weekend marks the 25th consecutive year that Corvette Racing has visited Laguna Seca, which is one of two tracks where the program has raced in each of its 24 previous years, Sebring International Raceway being the other. Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will join the list at the end of the season.

But not going well as in the first practice, the C8.R only did 8 laps of the 30 laps, the others cars in class did

The No. 3 Corvette got limited running as the crew worked on a broken gearbox issue.

 

[teamzr1]

C8.R has been crap all weekend
Finished last place in qualify

 

[teamzr1]

(May 13, 2023) C8.R Corvette Racing will roll off from the last spot in the GTD PRO field for Sunday’s MOTUL Course de Monterey its 25th consecutive start at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Jordan Taylor set a lap of 1:24.907 (94.889 mph) in Saturday’s 15-minute qualifying session for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
He will start Sunday’s race behind the wheel of the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he shares with Antonio Garcia.

Taylor was seventh-fastest among all GTD cars but only four-tenths of a second off the pole time.
Compare that to being more than a second off the pace in qualifying a year ago, and there is reason to be optimistic heading into Sunday’s race, which airs live at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

A year ago, the Corvette qualified in the same position, but an early strategy call to take fresh tires early helped gain track position and allowed Garcia and Taylor to gain a spot to fourth at the finish.
A year on with a notebook full of car, tire and track data should help the Corvette program move further up the order.

This is the 25th straight year that Corvette Racing has visited the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Laguna Seca circuit.
The track is one of two where the program has raced in each of its previous 24 years, Sebring is the other with Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta joining the list at the end of the season.

This weekend also marks another important milestone: Garcia will become the first driver in the WeatherTech Championship to make 100 starts in the series since the start of the post-merger era in 2014 when the American Le Mans Series and GRAND-AM joined together for one American sports car championship.
Since that time, Garcia has won 20 races including in 2014 at Laguna Seca and four championships… all with Corvette Racing.

The MOTUL Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N is set for 12:10 p.m. PT / 3:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 14 and airs live on NBC with full streaming coverage on Peacock. IMSA Radio will have live audio coverage on XM 207, SiriusXM Online 992 and IMSA.com, which will have IMSA Radio coverage.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R QUALIFIED FIFTH IN GTD PRO:

“If you look at where we are this year in qualifying compared to last year, it’s much better.
The BoP is in kind of similar position to where we were last year, so it shows that we made some big gains on everyone else to be only four-tenths off pole.
We made some good moves in strategy last year that gave us track position, and I think being more competitive this year opens up those options even more.
I’m more excited now to go racing, and hopefully we can make some good calls and jump some guys in the pits.”

 

[teamzr1]

C8.R was leading the race most of the time and then this
They shot themselves :-( \

GTD Pro class honors, meanwhile, went to the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Jules Gounon & Dani Juncadella after the top two cars were penalized for an improper wave-by procedure.

Both the No. 23 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin of Ross Gunn and Antonio Garcia’s No. 3 Chevy Corvette C8.R GTD
were assessed stop-plus two-minute and 50 second penalties for passing the leading pack while under the fourth yellow.

The two cars had been running first and second in class at the time.

 

[teamzr1]

C8.R Corvette Racing’s 25th start at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca didn’t end the way the team had hoped as the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R finished fourth in GTD PRO in Sunday’s MOTUL Course de Monterey.

Both Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia led in class during the fourth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but a costly late-race penalty ended any chances of the team’s ninth class victory at Laguna Seca.

As it did a year ago when it led early, Corvette Racing played to its strength Sunday with a pit stop near the 30-minute mark under full-course yellow. Taylor had moved up to fourth in class at the start and brought the C8.R to the pit lane for four tires and fuel.
A quick stop gained Taylor two spots to second, which became three to first when the then-leading No. 9 Porsche was penalized for leaving pitlane with pit exit closed.

Taylor continued to lead to the one-hour mark when Corvette Racing engineers brought him in again under another full-course yellow for fuel, tires and a driver change to Garcia. Another quick stop got Garcia out second in class, only because the No. 23 Aston Martin took less fuel and no tires to leave the pitlane first.
The order remained unchanged when the final scheduled GTD PRO stops began with 67 minutes to go.

The No. 3 was the next-to-last car to pit for fuel and four more tires, as Garcia rejoined second and 3.8 seconds behind the Aston Martin.

Disaster struck during the race’s final full-course yellow inside the final hour, when Garcia screwed up by followed the GTD PRO leader around the safety car, which resulted in the penalty costing them 2 laps penalties (not the first race he did this)

Corvette Racing’s next event in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday, June 25 from Watkins Glen International.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTD PRO:

“It’s a situation where when it’s green, you’re fighting all the GTDs.
But when it comes to the safety car, we aren’t the same category. So we need to figure that out.
The safety car split the GTD field.
The GTD leader was the real GT leader, so that’s why everyone behind us moved to the right to get a pass-around, and the 23 moved to the right, as well.

But because we were the GTD PRO leaders, we should have stayed where we were.

But that’s the way the rules are. I just made a mistake and went to follow the 23 when they were wrong. I had a big queue of GTDs behind me, and all I could see behind me were GT cars moving to the right.
So that’s what confused me. If I could have seen the Mercedes or Lexus GTD PRO cars behind me staying to the left, I would have figured it out.

But there were a ton of cars between us. It’s a mistake that shouldn’t happen.
On race pace, we had a car to win. We did everything right on strategy to be in the lead. As we showed at the end, I think we had a little more on tire degradation.
We’ll review what happened, do a full analysis of the situation, and I know this won’t happen again.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTD PRO:

“With how the weekend started, we were definitely behind the eight-ball with our issues in practice.

It was a good bounce-back to be closer to the front in qualifying than a year ago, and our race pace today seemed pretty strong. We were able to get to the lead with a great pit stop after the second yellow. Once we were in clean air, the car was strong, and we could kind of control the race.

We definitely didn’t have the fastest car. But we had track position, and around here that’s so important. The guys did a good job.
All our stops were smooth and clean. It’s one of those things where one little thing where it can really impact a race.
It’s one of those things that happen, and I can guarantee you it won’t happen again. This will be a big learning lesson.”

 

[teamzr1]

What might have been a victory for the No. 3 Corvette C8.R turned to a fourth place finish in GTD-Pro at Sunday’s MOTUL Course de Monterey at Laguna Seca. With the field shaping up for a sprint to the finish, confusion during a yellow in the final hour led to Garcia inadvertently following the GTD-Pro leader in the No. 23 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 around the safety car, which resulted in a late-race penalty that ended any chance for victory.

While the incident was discussed in the team’s after-action report, they have found the need to further address the penalty. Posted on Twitter, Corvette Racing issued the following statement:

Corvette Racing Fans!

We wanted to provide further clarification regarding the unfortunate penalty we received during the recent race at Laguna Seca.

During a full course caution, the pace car is deployed to pick up the overall race leader, often causing a separation between different classes. In this particular instance, the GTD class leader found themselves in front of the pace car while most of the GTD field remained behind it.

In such cases, the GTD leader must drive around the track until they reach the back of the pack and is positioned behind the pace car and overall leader, to get the rest of the same class cars in the correct running order the rest of the class cars behind the pass car need to also circle the track, so they are position behind their respective class leaders. To accomplish this, a procedure called a “Pass Around” is implemented.

Class cars behind the pace car become eligible for the Pass Around and are allowed to overtake the pace car, rejoining the field at the rear, behind the class leader.

During the race, a similar scenario occurred, but with a twist. The GTD AM leader was positioned in front of the pace car, whereas the GTD Pro leader was not. When the “Pass Around” was announced, all GTD cars, including the GTD Pro leader, moved to the right and began to pass around.
However, the GTD Pro leader should have stayed in line, and we should not have followed him.

By the time we realized our mistake, it was too late, and we unfortunately received a penalty for an improper Pass Around.
The penalty required us to make a stop and hold for a duration equal to two race laps, resulting in a hold time of 2 minutes and 50 seconds, ultimately putting us two laps down.
Antonio is still not happy with what happened, and it’s just something that has to be chalked up to being an unfortunate racing incident that can happen to the best of racers. Following Sunday’s race, Antonio said:

“It’s a situation where when it’s green, you’re fighting all the GTDs. But when it comes to the safety car, we aren’t the same category.
So we need to figure that out. The safety car split the GTD field. The GTD leader was the real GT leader, so that’s why everyone behind us moved to the right to get a pass-around, and the 23 moved to the right, as well.

But because we were the GTD PRO leaders, we should have stayed where we were. But that’s the way the rules are. I just made a mistake and went to follow the 23 when they were wrong. I had a big queue of GTDs behind me, and all I could see behind me were GT cars moving to the right. So that’s what confused me. If I could have seen the Mercedes or Lexus GTD PRO cars behind me staying to the left, I would have figured it out.

But there were a ton of cars between us. It’s a mistake that shouldn’t happen. On race pace, we had a car to win. We did everything right on strategy to be in the lead. As we showed at the end, I think we had a little more on tire degradation. We’ll review what happened, do a full analysis of the situation, and I know this won’t happen again.”