IMSA Street Fight at Grand Prix of Long Beach Saturday

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Corvette C8.Rs & Porsche 911 RSR-19 Will Race on the Street Course for the First Time on Saturday

Porsche returns to the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach this week as the defending GT Le Mans (GTLM) winner but will be challenged by the two-headed monster known as Corvette Racing.

Porsche captured class honors in the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on the famous street circuit.
The 2020 Long Beach race was canceled and this year’s event postponed from its original April date by the pandemic. Much has changed since cars last competed there.

Corvette Racing is running a completely redesigned car, the Corvette C8.R featuring a mid-engine design.
Porsche no longer has a factory team, placing its trust in the WeatherTech Racing team operated by Proton Competition to field the No. 79 Porsche 911 RSR-19 that will also be making its Long Beach debut.

“We are now running the RSR-19 which debuted in 2020, so it’s a completely different car,” said Cooper MacNeil, who will drive with Mathieu Jaminet.
Corvette will counter with the No. 3 entry wheeled by Jordan Taylor & Antonio Garcia, and the No. 4 with Tommy Milner & Nick Tandy.
Milner has three previous Long Beach wins, two coming with Corvette in GTLM (2017, ’18). Garcia won with Corvette in 2014 and Tandy with Porsche in 2016. Taylor has three prototype victories, while MacNeil took GT Daytona (GTD) honors in 2017 driving a Mercedes.

Jaminet is the lone Long Beach newcomer.
“I am really looking forward to Long Beach,” Jaminet said.
“It will be my first time racing there. I have been watching the IndyCar and IMSA races for a couple of years and have always wanted to compete there.”

Milner and Tandy won in their first street-course outing this season in the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Detroit, when the Corvettes were allowed to use ABS (anti-lock braking system) since they were the only GTLM entries in the non-points race. They won’t have that option this time around.

“I don’t think it will be much of a difference,” Taylor said.
“We are used to running as-is with the normal GTLM regulations. Detroit was kind of a one-off to gather some data.
For us, it will be the same car we’ve been racing these last two seasons.”

Taylor and Garcia have four points-paying victories this season.
Tandy and Milner won the most recent race, the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sept. 12. The Corvette drivers know they have an advantage on the single-entry Porsche and leverage it.

“We can follow them with one car and do a different strategy with the other car,” Taylor said.
“We will have them covered from both sides, so it definitely opens options for us.”

That doesn’t faze MacNeil, who points to the No. 79 Porsche’s two wins this season, including the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts in March.

“Anytime you race a single-car effort against a two-car effort, you are at a disadvantage, but our WeatherTech/Proton team combined with Porsche minimizes that delta,” MacNeil said.
“We have proven twice this year we can beat a two-car factory effort and will be pushing hard next weekend to do the same.”

Drivers from both camps think the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is special for a variety of reasons, including its history, proximity to the Pacific Ocean and star power of being located in Southern California.

“It’s a different type of event,” Tandy said. “There is that strong history of race cars at Long Beach. Why is Le Mans so revered, and why does it have that mystique?

“Part of that is what has happened in the past there. And Long Beach is just like that. It’s on a beach, on a street track, and the fans are closer to us than probably anywhere else we go.”

Practice and qualifying take place Friday at Long Beach.
The 100-minute race airs live at 5 p.m. ET Saturday on NBCSN and IMSA Radio.
 

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CORVETTE RACING AT LONG BEACH: Southern California Street Fight

· First race in southern California for mid-engine Corvette C8.R
· Milner, Tandy coming off GTLM victory at Laguna Seca
· All four Corvette Racing drivers with previous Long Beach victories

Corvette Racing’s mid-engine Chevy Corvette C8.R has been on a global tour since its debut in January 2020.
It has raced at racetracks throughout North America, plus Belgium and France since then.

Now the Corvette Racing program is set to make its return to southern California this weekend for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach postponed from its traditional spring date due to COVID-19.

Long Beach is the second street circuit event of the season for Corvette Racing, following the Chevrolet Sports Car Challenge in June at Detroit’s Belle Isle. Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy teamed for a GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory there in a non-points outing in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R, and the pair is coming off a win at Laguna Seca two weeks ago up the coast in Monterey.

Second went to GTLM Drivers Championship leaders Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette. The duo has four wins on the season and five pole positions, plus a runner-up finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The combined efforts have Chevrolet in the Manufacturers Championship lead.

All four drivers have previous victories at Long Beach. Milner and Taylor each of three while Garcia and Tandy have one each.

Chevrolet on Display at Long Beach
The return of Corvette Racing and Chevrolet to Long Beach will carry extra flare with the inclusion of the Chevrolet Motorsports Display to the event weekend. Located inside the Long Beach Expo Center, the Chevrolet Motorsports Display will be open to fans throughout the weekend and will be full of Chevrolet vehicles that spectators can learn more about during a busy event.

The Chevrolet Motorsports Display opens at 8 a.m. Friday through Sunday. Numerous Chevrolet vehicles and other highlights include:

• A 2022 Corvette Stingray IMSA GTLM Championship Edition coupe
• A 2022 Corvette Stingray convertible
• Additional Chevrolet products such as the 2020 Blazer, 2021 Camaro 1LE and 2021 Silverado Trail Boss
• A special display with various Corvette Racing artifacts
• An opportunity to receive a Corvette T-shirt

Corvette Racing will contest the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sept. 24-25 from the Long Beach Street Circuit in Long Beach, Calif.
Live television coverage will air live on NBCSN at 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 25 with live streaming coverage on TrackPass and NBC Sports Gold. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio will be available on IMSA.com, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992.

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

“I think there are a few things we can transfer from Detroit to Long Beach. In a way, there are some similarities and those are mainly the walls! The track surface and the way the circuit is laid out is a little different. We need to work a little bit and look at some past race data.
I’m sure we will come up with a good setup to start. It won’t be the first time for the C8.R on a street circuit, so that’s a good start. We can learn a lot from that.

“I’ve led in the Hairpin two years in a row and didn’t win either time! Those are memories that you sometimes have which races you’ve won and which ones you’ve lost. Especially the way we lost those races will probably stick in my head for a long time!
A win there would definitely help forgetting about those moments.”

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

“Detroit was a good lesson for us to have that weekend and understand what the C8.R is going to be like on a street course. Long Beach is always a different animal. It’s always difficult there with how limited the track time is and keeping up with the track evolution.

The Corvette guys have had so much history there that we can understand how the track will develop so focus on the car itself and what the drivers need. I have a lot of confidence. Long Beach is always super-intense. I’ve been there many times in a prototype but this is my first time in a GT class.
It’s always looked like a proper street fight in the GT classes so I’m sure it will be like that again this year, as well.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“Both Detroit and Long Beach have track surfaces that are comparable. I think Long Beach is a little more difficult because it used more as a public road throughout the rest of the year, so it is quite dirty. As seems always the case, it’s very dirty and dusty, and we spend an hour of the first two-hour practice cleaning the track. With Detroit under our belt the first street race for the C8.R we can take some of those lessons, setup options and things we tried to see how they carry over to Long Beach.
Hopefully we can make the most of an already compressed schedule and limited track time to get our Corvette in a place that is comfortable for Nick and I.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“Long Beach is always one of the events I look forward to most of the season. The actual race is different in that it’s a short race, a single stop and different to what we normally do. The track is what I personally look forward to most.
It’s a street circuit, yes, but it’s quite different to some other street tracks I’ve raced on before. You have that long open blast down Shoreline Drive and some fast stuff in the middle sector as well. It’s an enjoyable track to try and get the car to the limit.
We did have a good run at Detroit in the No. 4 Corvette. We know the cars work well in this configuration.
It’s been something I’ve looked forward to since our success at Detroit.”

2021 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTLM (After Seven of 10 Events)
Driver Standings
1. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2,562
2. Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 2,375
3. Cooper MacNeil – 2,314
4. Matt Campbell – 1,702
5. Augusto Farfus/Jesse Krohn/John Edwards – 1001

Team Standings
1. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 2,562
2. No. 4 Corvette Racing – 2,375
3. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 2,314
4. No. 24 BMW Team RLL – 1,001
5. No. 25 BMW Team RLL – 966

Manufacturer Standings
1. Chevrolet – 2,615
2. Porsche – 2,460
3. BMW – 1,052
4. Ferrari – 330

CORVETTE RACING AT LONG BEACH: By the Numbers

• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 13 appearances at Long Beach: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.
• 2: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Long Beach since 2007 Corvette C6.R (2007-13) and Corvette C7.R (2014-2019). That number increases to three this year with the first Long Beach appearance for the mid-engine Corvette C8.R
• 3: Number of Long Beach race victories for Corvette Racing teammates Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor.
• 6: Number of drivers who have competed at Long Beach for Corvette Racing – Olivier Beretta, Antonio Garcia, Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Johnny O’Connell and Tommy Milner. That number will grow to eight this week with the additions of Jordan Taylor and Nick Tandy
• 7: Number of Long Beach victories in 12 appearances for Corvette Racing more than any other IMSA entrant at the circuit.
• 9: Number of Long Beach sports car victories for Chevrolet. Throw in 11 IndyCar wins, and Chevrolet has claimed 20 victories in the event’s two premier races.
• 13: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.
• 18: Number of street circuit victories for Corvette Racing more than any other IMSA entrant at the circuit.
• 25: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen.
• 27: Number of GT Le Mans wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014.
• 118: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 110 in North America and eight at Le Mans.
• 247: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
• 3,650.62: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 12 previous trips to Long Beach. That represents 1,855 laps around the 1.968-mile street circuit.
• 330,966.34: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history – covered “just” 248,655 miles when it went it orbited the moon. Simply put, the program has raced to the moon… and then some.
 

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C8.R starts on pole for the race
Jordan Taylor stormed to pole in GT Le Mans, thanks to a 1:16.801 lap time in his No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R he will share with Antonio Garcia.
Taylor outpaced the sister No. 4 entry of Tommy Milner by 0.297 seconds.

The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Cooper MacNeil will start third in class, having qualified amid the GT Daytona class pack.
 

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Corvette Racing continued its perfect run of pole positions in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as Jordan Taylor earned fastest-qualifier honors Friday ahead of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Taylor, in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, set a time of 1:16.801 (92.248 mph) around the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street course in Southern California. It’s his fifth consecutive pole position in GT Le Mans (GTLM) this season ahead of Saturday’s 100-minute race.

Taylor and teammate Antonio Garcia enter Saturday leading the GTLM Drivers Championship on the strength of four wins and six pole positions this year.
The No. 3 Corvette C8.R duo also won five races in 2020 en route to the class title.

Taylor was 0.297 seconds clear of teammate Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. He and Nick Tandy were winners in the most recent GTLM race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca two weeks ago.

Saturday’s race will be the first at Long Beach for the mid-engine Corvette C8.R as the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled last year’s race and delayed this year’s running from April.

All four drivers have previous victories at Long Beach. Milner and Taylor each of three, while Garcia and Tandy have one each.

Corvette Racing will contest the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday from the Long Beach Street Circuit in Long Beach, Calif. Live television coverage will air live on NBCSN at 5 p.m. ET with live streaming coverage on TrackPass and NBC Sports Gold. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio will be available on IMSA.com, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE-WINNER:

“Track position obviously is crucial here. It’s nice to for us to be on pole and have another 1-2 for Corvette Racing. It’s the first time we’ve brought the C8.R here. It suited the track really well. We rolled off the truck strong, so preparation-wise the guys did a good job. Looking ahead to tomorrow, it’s always a one-stop race, so it’s all about execution in that one stop and maintaining track position.

You always put an emphasis on qualifying to try to get the pole and get a good run into Turn One. Hopefully we can control the race from there and make a good call on when to make that stop. It seems like we had a couple of yellows throughout the practices, so we might be able to count on one of those at some point. Obviously, I couldn’t be happier to get another pole this year.”

SECRET TO QUALIFYING?

“I think we just made good decisions. Setup-wise, we’ve had a different setup for qualifying than the race. We put a big emphasis on that, knowing where the car needs to go in the race. We spent Practice Two adjusting for race conditions and had in the back of our mind what we wanted to do in order to extract the most lap time when the tires are fresh.
We did a long run at the end of Practice Two, and we’re pretty happy with things.”

INFLUENCE OF SIMULATOR WORK:

“It’s tough to know where the track is going to go. IndyCar only had one session today, and they’ll do more running tomorrow.
The track was a bit different when we went back out on it this evening. It will go in another different direction, I’m sure. It makes it that much more stressful.
The street courses are great, and we love coming to them.
But as a driver, it’s very stressful when you have to get the maximum out of the car in a session like qualifying. It’s always nice to get through unscathed.
We’re in a good spot. We’ve done a lot of sim work to understand what the car will do over a long run.
We made those adjustments in practice to confirm what we learned in the simulator.”

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING, DETROIT AND LONG BEACH AND DIFFERENT TIRE RUBBER:

“We did. It was our first street course race with this car. It was good and bad, I’d say.
Furthermore, it was stressful, like I said earlier, but it was even worse when you’re racing for no points and there’s no real incentive to be pushing!
But you want to push to learn lessons about the car, be on the limit of it to understand how the tire works, how it degrades and what we want from setup and development points of view. It was crucial for us to understand that. Every race we go to, we have multiple tire compounds to pick from, so understanding how that comes into play with different rubber on the track and what will suit the car best

Corvette Racing does a great job on the engineering side to log data, make notes, study it and take those notes to the simulator to confirm things. It makes our jobs as drivers a lot easier when we go to a track like this where we’ve not been to with this car.
We’re not fighting with the car in the first session; we know we can go in confidently that the car is going to be pretty well-suited already, so we only need to make fine adjustments.
Honestly, this is probably the best car I’ve ever had at Long Beach. I’ve been here a few times before, and this was the nicest car I’ve driven here.
It was stressful to drive, but it was probably one of the easier cars I’ve driven, and it was still quick. That speaks a lot to the car setup.”

CHAMPIONSHIP OUTLOOK:

“We’re in a good position. I think the 4 car and the 79 are close on points. So trying to build their gap will be more important.
Looking at the way the BoP has gone, and you compare it from this year to last year of where Porsche is, they should have a decent jump.
These sprint races suit us. We’re pushing the whole time. But when you get to an event like Petit Le Mans where you have 10 hours of racing, that’s where you can see their advantage grow. At the same time, we’ve seen races won by the slowest car on track. So we’ll never give up.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTLM:

“Realistically, I’m not completely happy. I haven’t qualified a lot in my career, but have had some good race cars. Getting beaten by your teammate isn’t ideal, but they’re the best comparison you can possibly make.
Those guys are doing a great job, and you can’t take anything away from them. Our guys are pushing super-hard, and I’m trying super-hard.
I probably threw away my last lap locking up the right-front tire on the backstretch.

That’s unfortunate, but the name of the game when you’re trying for every last little.
I think we have a good Corvette. We were fast right away in the first practice.
We can tweak on it a little bit, but I think we fundamentally have a good race car. For the entire lifetime of this C8.R, we show up to the track and the cars are perfect, and we’re never lost.
It gives us the chance to find every last little bit. Awesome job by Jordan but hopefully we can switch it around tomorrow again.”
 

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All 3 Caddy in Dpi brought their A game from the start of the race and never let the 3 ricers even close

In GTLM :
Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner picked up their second consecutive win in GT Le Mans, leading another Corvette Racing 1-2 in class.
Milner got around the class pole-sitting No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Jordan Taylor for the lead on Lap 36 prior to the mid-race pit stop.
Tandy held off teammate Antonio Garcia by 0.751 seconds.
#4 C8.R has now won the last 2 races

The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Cooper MacNeil and Mathieu Jaminet finished third.

Interesting then is Germany and Japan ended in last places in DPi and GTLM

Winners.jpg
 

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C8.R Corvette Racing secured a 1-2 finish in GT Le Mans at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.

Nick Tandy & Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette C8.R beat out Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia in the No. 3 Corvette C8.R after Milner passed Taylor near the halfway point of the race.

Taylor had started the race from pole, but Milner was always within one second of the back of his teammate. With the end of the first stint nearing, Milner made his move and passed Taylor for the lead of the race.

That pass ended up being the one for the win, as Tandy and Garcia brought the pair of Corvettes home in the same spots they were in when they assumed the controls from their teammates.

The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR of Cooper MacNeil and Mathieu Jaminet was third.

The No. 79 Porsche played no real factor in this race.
With only one Full Course Yellow in the opening minutes of the race, they had no chance to make up the time lost in the first half when MacNeil was in the car.

Some of the action :

 
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C8.R Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy won their second straight race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday a GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach with the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

Milner passed No. 3 Corvette Racing teammate Jordan Taylor near the 50-minute mark, and Tandy drove a traffic-filled final stint as the Corvette Racing program won for the eighth time at the southern California street event. It’s the second street circuit win of the year for the Milner/Tandy duo, which also won a non-points race in June at Detroit’s Belle Isle circuit.
Milner won for the fourth time in his career at Long Beach while Tandy took his second victory there.

Tandy took a 0.75-second victory over Antonio Garcia, Taylor’s teammate in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R.
The runner-up result did move Garcia and Taylor closer to their second straight GTLM Drivers Championship and a repeat Manufacturer's crowd for Chevrolet.

As is typically the case at Long Beach, traffic played a huge role throughout the 100-minute sprint. Taylor began on pole position, with Milner never more than two seconds behind. The ebb and flow of being passed by faster prototypes but passing slower GT Daytona (GTD) cars caused the gap between the two C8.Rs to fluctuate throughout.

The winning move came at the race’s halfway point as Taylor was balked by a GTD car, which allowed Milner to find some extra momentum and get alongside his teammate just before the short backstretch. The two Corvettes ran in that order before Taylor made the No. 3 Corvette’s only stop of the race with 41 minutes to go. Milner came in a lap later for the switch-over to Tandy, who rejoined the race in the lead and clear of Garcia by about two seconds.

As was the case in the first part of the race, traffic made Tandy’s lead grow and shrink over the course of a lap. But neither Corvette driver put a foot wrong for the final stint.

Corvette Racing’s next event is the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway on Oct. 8-9.

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM WINNER:

WE DIDN’T GET A GOOD LOOK AT THE PASS. TELL US WHAT HAPPENED.

“The pass was done in Turn Six. I did a 360 and then a kick-flip afterward, Nah, lap traffic is always such a huge part of this race. When you have two cars that are so close and so competitive here together, trying to find an opportunity to pass on the racetrack is difficult. My plan was to stick with Jordan as best I could and take any opportunity that arose in traffic.
That’s what happened at Turn Six. Because the GTD cars have ABS, they can brake later than we can. Jordan went for a move on the inside of that corner and it didn’t quite stick. His exit was compromised, and I was able to get outside of him on the entry, and that’s the preferred line there.
At times, it’s frustrating being stuck behind somebody. I’ve raced here for a long time, and it’s happened to me. Just using that experience worked out for us.

The pit stop was massively important here. It’s always limited by the driver change and four tires. That was the case again here, and everything lined up right. Nick did a great job. You have to make good decisions in traffic always. One bad decision can mean seconds of lap time and it can mean losing a position. He did an awesome job of managing traffic well and bringing our Corvette home.”

RACING HARD AGAINST TEAMMATES:

“It’s the age-old rule in racing: you can’t hit your teammate.
That’s kind of the rule we live by at Corvette Racing, but we are allowed to race.
We can try to pass each other on the racetrack even without traffic if the opportunity arises. Because the cars are so close, and it’s the same equipment, we know exactly where they are strong and where we are strong. We can look at the same video and data.
To find a big difference on the track in pure pace is pretty hard to do. In those situations, the traffic usually affords you the opportunity to make a pass that can be clean. I really only had the one opportunity, and thankfully I was close enough to take advantage of that.”

WINNING AT LONG BEACH:

“The atmosphere here at Long Beach is fantastic with the crowd and energy that they bring. Not that we haven’t had fans for a year-and-a-half now, but this was the first time I really felt the energy of the fans. You miss it in some ways. Before the start of the race, there were so many fans in the stands.
It’s one of the things that you get accustomed to after a long time.
Now that we haven’t had it for a long time, to feel it again here at Long Beach is fantastic. I’m not sure if that has any impact when you’re in the car, but it makes for a fun event for them and us as drivers and as a team.”

RACING AGAINST GTD CARS:

“That class has gotten super competitive the last couple of years. They’re doing the same job we are. For us at Corvette Racing, we don’t look at that class as something easy in any way. If anything, it’s more difficult. For those guys to get wins in that class is very difficult.
Whoever races in that class next year is going to have a hard time.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“I’m really happy to win again at Long Beach and with Tommy. My job was pretty simple in the end.
The stint Tommy did run up to the pit stop was crucial. Getting past the 3 car enabled us to deny them track position before the stop, was a good call.
Once we came back out in front, we knew the car coming out in front after the stop cycle would be difficult to beat. It worked out perfectly.
The team did a flawless stop, and that’s one of the key things at Long Beach.
It’s often that we are fuel-defined by the pit stop time. Here we don’t need to take a full tank, so often it’s down to the driver change time and tire change. Pretty much everything synced together. I got my belts tight and off we went.”

WINNING AT LONG BEACH:

“I’d reiterate what Tommy said. It’s awesome to be back at this event. I think I’ve seen more people here this weekend than ever.
Anytime you get to come race at Long Beach, it’s a classic event. It’s always a favorite to come to. The races are frenetic.
Getting a trophy from the Long Beach Grand Prix is always a big one.”

LONG BEACH NEXT YEAR:

“If Corvette Racing goes into GTD next year, we’ve been in the paddock with these teams and drivers.
You can see the level that the category is top professional racing. We always look to have great racing.
We always know that the best wins are when you face the toughest competition. This is what Corvette Racing wants to do.

We want to race the best competition possible, no matter where that may be. It’s great that we have all these different types of cars and classes within sports car racing that these teams and manufacturers can go racing in.”

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

“Obviously, you always want to win. The pit cycle didn’t go our way, and we lost track position right before the stop.
From that point on, we didn’t have the advantage of over-cutting, so we had to pit early. The car was perfect. Even if I had a two- or three-second deficit initially, I was able to catch back up again to Nick.

As we saw, it’s almost impossible to pass unless you hit traffic the right way. That’s the main thing. I stayed where I was and wait for a mistake and a little traffic. On a street circuit, you can’t risk it like if we were fighting another manufacturer.
You want to win, but you always know that is your teammate, too. It was fun to go flat-out around this track, and I could tell Nick was trying hard, too.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTLM:

“It wasn’t a bad race and to finish second. It definitely was tricky with traffic. Some guys did not want to lift or let anyone go, which was frustrating, but it’s part of the race. Everyone has to deal with it.
So another good day for Corvette Racing with a 1-2 finish. For us in the 3 car, I think we’re pretty close to the championship. It opens things up to take more risks in the next races, which will be fun.”
 
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