Le Mans 2021
- Thread starter kentvette
- Start date
teamzr1
Supporting vendor
Looks nothing like the 1969 Mach 1 I had that year, or the 1970 Boss 302 I had the following year
(yea the engine that when redlined at drag strip would crack the half skirt pistons :-() and last Ford product I ever owned
as adding, the 1969 heads were crap and caused lots of engine coolant overheating at drag strip
(yea the engine that when redlined at drag strip would crack the half skirt pistons :-() and last Ford product I ever owned
as adding, the 1969 heads were crap and caused lots of engine coolant overheating at drag strip
Derek Nicol
Well-known user
Im not entirely convinced that Ford will remain in business for much longer, you may not have to be 'disgusted' for long.
teamzr1
Supporting vendor
Nick Tandy set the third-fastest time in Hyperpole qualifying Thursday to put C8.R Corvette Racing’s No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R on the second row of the GTE Pro grid for this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Tandy, who drives with Tommy Milner and Alexander Sims, posted the best lap of 3:47.093 (134.216 mph) in the 30-minute session. The day before in the first round of qualifying, Tandy turned a 3:47.074 (134.217 mph) the fastest lap for any Corvette Racing entry in its 21 years at Le Mans.
Thursday also featured the final two official practice sessions for the full field of 61 cars, including eight in GTE Pro. The two Corvettes continued to focus on race pace, with a number of adjustments and changes to many of the C8.R’s systems including suspension and aerodynamics.
Antonio Garcia set the best combined practice time for the No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R a 3:49.603 (132.725 mph) effort in the fourth and final practice session of the week. He will team with Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg as the No. 63 C8.R starts eighth Saturday.
A 15-minute warm up is set for 11:30 a.m. CET/5:30 a.m. ET. The green flag for the 24 Hours of Le Mans falls at 4 p.m. CET and 10 a.m. ET. MotorTrend TV will air the race live with the MotorTrend App adding coverage of official practices and qualifying on Aug. 18 and 19. Live audio coverage will be available from Radio Le Mans starting with Sunday’s Test Day.
Chevrolet’s YouTube page will stream the on-board feed from the No. 63 Corvette C8.R for the entire race.
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – THIRD IN GTE PRO QUALIFYING:
“At the start of the week, I absolutely would have taken a P3 start at Le Mans in the first race here for this car. We are getting experience every time we run the C8.R on this circuit in this aero kit when we don’t normally run on low fuel in qualifying trim.
So to get that peak performance out of the car is amazing. It’s such a good job of how we’ve developed, since the qualifying session in Hyperpole, the car and made it better.
Of course, we are driving for Corvette Racing and expect to follow tradition and be strong at Le Mans. That’s why come here and why we go racing. So we are pleased, but we don’t underestimate our competition. There are a lot of strong cars here with strong teams. All we can do is look after ourselves, and at the moment I’m very happy with how the week is progressing.”
IS THERE ONE AREA WHERE YOU’VE BEEN MOST PLEASED WITH HOW THE CORVETTE HAS PROGRESSED SINCE SUNDAY?
“I think honestly it’s how good the car has been since we rolled it out of the container. It validates all the development that went into the program before we got here. But it’s also how the car reacts to the setup changes that we are making to it.
That means you can tune it to track conditions and however the circuit is. This is always a good thing and shows that the car is in a good working window.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“For Nick, that was a superb run in both the qualifying session and Hyperpole. I think he got everything out of the car he could. It was certainly fun to watch. Lap times are mega-quick, and it’s cool to see for that.
Nick seemed super happy with the C8.R. Balance-wise, everything looks pretty good. For me, the best indication was the last practice session before Hyperpole. Car balance has been relatively pretty good almost the entire week of practice here.
We definitely made some changes from the Test Day, and we could see the benefits of that in the first practice.
Overall, for us in the 64 Corvette, we’re all pretty happy. We’ve spent a lot of time tweaking and trying things to improve in some areas where we still need to improve. I think we’re in a pretty good spot. We really won’t know where we’re at, probably until the first hour of the race Saturday.”
THE DAYS AND HOURS PREPARING FOR LE MANS:
“For me personally, I’ve probably spent 20 days at the simulator, something like that.
That doesn’t touch the hours and hours spent by the engineers working on aero kits for this thing for the last four or five years. It’s gotten us to where we are now, to fine-tuning little bits and pieces here and there.
Twenty days doesn’t sound like a lot of, considering this has been a four- or five-year project. Starting third for the race Saturday is a great place. It’s a lot of validation from a lot of hard work by a lot of people for a long time that we have brought a really, excellent Corvette C8.R to Le Mans.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“Today was eventful. I think our whole week has been eventful. It was good to get more laps on the car, obviously. As I said yesterday, it’s still our first weekend here with the C8.R, so every lap counts for each of us the drivers as well as the engineers and the crew working on slow zones, pit stops and all the little details that we don’t get to work on in America.
Today, we did a big setup swing; we have a lot more confidence now going into the race. We know what we want to do with the car, whereas yesterday we had a lot of big questions. I’m glad we got through today as well as we did. Now we can prepare for the big one.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“Today was not bad at all. It seems we improved the balance a little.
We were trying to figure out whether we can double-stint the tires, yes or no. It feels good.
Compared to yesterday, today was definitely better.
I think we made good steps tonight, so I’m positive.”
Tandy, who drives with Tommy Milner and Alexander Sims, posted the best lap of 3:47.093 (134.216 mph) in the 30-minute session. The day before in the first round of qualifying, Tandy turned a 3:47.074 (134.217 mph) the fastest lap for any Corvette Racing entry in its 21 years at Le Mans.
Thursday also featured the final two official practice sessions for the full field of 61 cars, including eight in GTE Pro. The two Corvettes continued to focus on race pace, with a number of adjustments and changes to many of the C8.R’s systems including suspension and aerodynamics.
Antonio Garcia set the best combined practice time for the No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R a 3:49.603 (132.725 mph) effort in the fourth and final practice session of the week. He will team with Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg as the No. 63 C8.R starts eighth Saturday.
A 15-minute warm up is set for 11:30 a.m. CET/5:30 a.m. ET. The green flag for the 24 Hours of Le Mans falls at 4 p.m. CET and 10 a.m. ET. MotorTrend TV will air the race live with the MotorTrend App adding coverage of official practices and qualifying on Aug. 18 and 19. Live audio coverage will be available from Radio Le Mans starting with Sunday’s Test Day.
Chevrolet’s YouTube page will stream the on-board feed from the No. 63 Corvette C8.R for the entire race.
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – THIRD IN GTE PRO QUALIFYING:
“At the start of the week, I absolutely would have taken a P3 start at Le Mans in the first race here for this car. We are getting experience every time we run the C8.R on this circuit in this aero kit when we don’t normally run on low fuel in qualifying trim.
So to get that peak performance out of the car is amazing. It’s such a good job of how we’ve developed, since the qualifying session in Hyperpole, the car and made it better.
Of course, we are driving for Corvette Racing and expect to follow tradition and be strong at Le Mans. That’s why come here and why we go racing. So we are pleased, but we don’t underestimate our competition. There are a lot of strong cars here with strong teams. All we can do is look after ourselves, and at the moment I’m very happy with how the week is progressing.”
IS THERE ONE AREA WHERE YOU’VE BEEN MOST PLEASED WITH HOW THE CORVETTE HAS PROGRESSED SINCE SUNDAY?
“I think honestly it’s how good the car has been since we rolled it out of the container. It validates all the development that went into the program before we got here. But it’s also how the car reacts to the setup changes that we are making to it.
That means you can tune it to track conditions and however the circuit is. This is always a good thing and shows that the car is in a good working window.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“For Nick, that was a superb run in both the qualifying session and Hyperpole. I think he got everything out of the car he could. It was certainly fun to watch. Lap times are mega-quick, and it’s cool to see for that.
Nick seemed super happy with the C8.R. Balance-wise, everything looks pretty good. For me, the best indication was the last practice session before Hyperpole. Car balance has been relatively pretty good almost the entire week of practice here.
We definitely made some changes from the Test Day, and we could see the benefits of that in the first practice.
Overall, for us in the 64 Corvette, we’re all pretty happy. We’ve spent a lot of time tweaking and trying things to improve in some areas where we still need to improve. I think we’re in a pretty good spot. We really won’t know where we’re at, probably until the first hour of the race Saturday.”
THE DAYS AND HOURS PREPARING FOR LE MANS:
“For me personally, I’ve probably spent 20 days at the simulator, something like that.
That doesn’t touch the hours and hours spent by the engineers working on aero kits for this thing for the last four or five years. It’s gotten us to where we are now, to fine-tuning little bits and pieces here and there.
Twenty days doesn’t sound like a lot of, considering this has been a four- or five-year project. Starting third for the race Saturday is a great place. It’s a lot of validation from a lot of hard work by a lot of people for a long time that we have brought a really, excellent Corvette C8.R to Le Mans.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“Today was eventful. I think our whole week has been eventful. It was good to get more laps on the car, obviously. As I said yesterday, it’s still our first weekend here with the C8.R, so every lap counts for each of us the drivers as well as the engineers and the crew working on slow zones, pit stops and all the little details that we don’t get to work on in America.
Today, we did a big setup swing; we have a lot more confidence now going into the race. We know what we want to do with the car, whereas yesterday we had a lot of big questions. I’m glad we got through today as well as we did. Now we can prepare for the big one.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“Today was not bad at all. It seems we improved the balance a little.
We were trying to figure out whether we can double-stint the tires, yes or no. It feels good.
Compared to yesterday, today was definitely better.
I think we made good steps tonight, so I’m positive.”
Derek Nicol
Well-known user
Sounds a bit more positive.
Derek Nicol
Well-known user
So handicapping the Ferraris to put the Porsches on top worked then.
teamzr1
Supporting vendor
Speaking of B0P, they did another hack job on us, few hours before the race starts
The Chevy Corvette C8.R has been given a weight reduction ahead of this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the second Balance of Performance adjustment to have been to the GTE-Pro class in the last day.
In a decision made by the WEC Committee on Friday, the pair of factory Corvettes will now run at a minimum weight of 1269 kg, marking a 7 kg reduction [Only 15 pounds] .
The Pratt & Miller-run cars will also face a 1-liter reduction in fuel capacity, with the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo losing an additional 3 liters following its BoP change made on Thursday.
The fuel reduction for the Ferrari also impacts its GTE-Am entries.
It’s unclear the reasoning behind the last-minute BoP change, made just 24 hours from the start of the French 24 hours of Le Mans
The Chevy Corvette C8.R has been given a weight reduction ahead of this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the second Balance of Performance adjustment to have been to the GTE-Pro class in the last day.
In a decision made by the WEC Committee on Friday, the pair of factory Corvettes will now run at a minimum weight of 1269 kg, marking a 7 kg reduction [Only 15 pounds] .
The Pratt & Miller-run cars will also face a 1-liter reduction in fuel capacity, with the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo losing an additional 3 liters following its BoP change made on Thursday.
The fuel reduction for the Ferrari also impacts its GTE-Am entries.
It’s unclear the reasoning behind the last-minute BoP change, made just 24 hours from the start of the French 24 hours of Le Mans
Last edited:
teamzr1
Supporting vendor
Be great if your local and go see the race and could take some photos of the engine bay with that FPC engine.
teamzr1
Supporting vendor
Race started in the rain 
Live Timing
And here is a live in-car feed of the #3 C8.R
Live audio of race out of the UK
Live Audio
Live Timing
And here is a live in-car feed of the #3 C8.R
Live audio of race out of the UK
Live Audio
Last edited:
teamzr1
Supporting vendor
C 8.R Corvette Racing’s pair of mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs spent time out front in the early running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday following a wet and chaotic start.
The No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg led the Corvette charge after six hours in third place but well within striking distance of the GTE Pro leader. Catsburg was in for his first stint at the six-hour mark with three cars within 3.5 seconds from second to fourth.
Both Garcia and Taylor led in their opening runs in the Corvette, as early-race tire and fuel strategies came into play that caused the class lead to shift depending on the pit stop cycle. Garcia had moved from seventh at the start into the lead midway through his first stint.
Alexander Sims ran fifth in the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R that he shares with Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy.
Milner was the early GTE Pro leader despite being hit from behind as the cars rolled off the starting grid for the formation lap. Nevertheless, Milner charged to the head of the category as moderate to heavy rain fell across the circuit.
The No. 64 Corvette fell back in the order due to a pit lane refueling penalty and lost additional time when it was separated from the GTE lead pack by one of the three safety cars in the opening three hours.
Corvette Racing’s next update will come at the halfway mark.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“It was a challenging start with the weather. It was difficult sometimes to see, but the car felt good, and I was able to pass people.
I got around a few cars at the first corner and then into the first chicane got by one of the Porsche's.
I just carried on and by the time I got out of Indianapolis I was P2. But it was very difficult to gauge when to pit and go to slicks.
We probably should have stopped right away when the other Corvette stopped. But other than that, I think we are fine.
We were the first cars to double-stint our first set of slicks. The C8.R is running perfectly.
The Ferraris have a bunch of speed, but we will see. But probably the biggest competition we have is Le Mans.
You never know what is going to happen in this race.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“A lot happened! For some reason, we’ve struggled to get this car moving at times. We’ve worked on improving it. I struggled a little to get it going.
For some reason, I had an impatient driver or someone who wasn’t paying attention behind me and gave me a good whack.
It doesn’t seem like it hasn’t done major damage, but there is some there.
That’s unfortunate. We’ll see what happens with that as the race progresses. After that, we had a very wet start with cars all over the place.
Those were very difficult conditions with all the spray. You just kind of have to survive that, but we did and got out in front.
There was a miscommunication on one of the pit stops, and we got a penalty. That set us back a little.
We didn’t get hurt too badly under the safety car and lose too much time to where we were before.
We still have some work to do.
Hopefully, if there is another safety car, that we can close the gap enough to where we’re back with the leaders.”
The No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg led the Corvette charge after six hours in third place but well within striking distance of the GTE Pro leader. Catsburg was in for his first stint at the six-hour mark with three cars within 3.5 seconds from second to fourth.
Both Garcia and Taylor led in their opening runs in the Corvette, as early-race tire and fuel strategies came into play that caused the class lead to shift depending on the pit stop cycle. Garcia had moved from seventh at the start into the lead midway through his first stint.
Alexander Sims ran fifth in the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R that he shares with Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy.
Milner was the early GTE Pro leader despite being hit from behind as the cars rolled off the starting grid for the formation lap. Nevertheless, Milner charged to the head of the category as moderate to heavy rain fell across the circuit.
The No. 64 Corvette fell back in the order due to a pit lane refueling penalty and lost additional time when it was separated from the GTE lead pack by one of the three safety cars in the opening three hours.
Corvette Racing’s next update will come at the halfway mark.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“It was a challenging start with the weather. It was difficult sometimes to see, but the car felt good, and I was able to pass people.
I got around a few cars at the first corner and then into the first chicane got by one of the Porsche's.
I just carried on and by the time I got out of Indianapolis I was P2. But it was very difficult to gauge when to pit and go to slicks.
We probably should have stopped right away when the other Corvette stopped. But other than that, I think we are fine.
We were the first cars to double-stint our first set of slicks. The C8.R is running perfectly.
The Ferraris have a bunch of speed, but we will see. But probably the biggest competition we have is Le Mans.
You never know what is going to happen in this race.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“A lot happened! For some reason, we’ve struggled to get this car moving at times. We’ve worked on improving it. I struggled a little to get it going.
For some reason, I had an impatient driver or someone who wasn’t paying attention behind me and gave me a good whack.
It doesn’t seem like it hasn’t done major damage, but there is some there.
That’s unfortunate. We’ll see what happens with that as the race progresses. After that, we had a very wet start with cars all over the place.
Those were very difficult conditions with all the spray. You just kind of have to survive that, but we did and got out in front.
There was a miscommunication on one of the pit stops, and we got a penalty. That set us back a little.
We didn’t get hurt too badly under the safety car and lose too much time to where we were before.
We still have some work to do.
Hopefully, if there is another safety car, that we can close the gap enough to where we’re back with the leaders.”
teamzr1
Supporting vendor
We’ve reached the halfway point of the 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours, and the field has completed the 12th hour of the race without much fanfare
A rarity in this year’s rendition of the race.
Track and air temperatures have dropped, the safety car has stayed parked, and yellow flags have remained in the pockets of the marshals.
The story is in GTE Pro where the top five runners have successfully clicked away another hour on the clock with no drama.
The No. 51 Ferrari is currently leading the race.
Nicky Catsburg in the No. 63 Corvette is within one second of Sam Bird’s No. 52 Ferrari that’s a true battle for the second position as those two cars are on the same stint cycle.
The No. 79 Porsche has also retired after Cooper MacNeil’s crash at the Ford Chicane last hour.
A rarity in this year’s rendition of the race.
Track and air temperatures have dropped, the safety car has stayed parked, and yellow flags have remained in the pockets of the marshals.
The story is in GTE Pro where the top five runners have successfully clicked away another hour on the clock with no drama.
The No. 51 Ferrari is currently leading the race.
Nicky Catsburg in the No. 63 Corvette is within one second of Sam Bird’s No. 52 Ferrari that’s a true battle for the second position as those two cars are on the same stint cycle.
The No. 79 Porsche has also retired after Cooper MacNeil’s crash at the Ford Chicane last hour.
teamzr1
Supporting vendor
`Anyone know who was the A-hole that ass end the #64 C8.R at the start of the race that has caused it to be multi laps down ?
C8.R Corvette Racing remained firmly entrenched among the GTE Pro class leaders as the 24 Hours of Le Mans reached and passed the halfway point early Sunday morning.
The No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg ran third in class as the race entered the final 12 hours. Taylor completed his second double-stint of the event just prior to halfway, handing over to Catsburg, who was next in the rotation.
All three drivers in the No. 63 C8.R drove double stints to open this year’s Le Mans the first for the mid-engine Corvette.
Each driver led for a time as well as the race began to evolve into primarily a battle between Corvette and Ferrari, although five cars remained on the lead lap in GTE Pro.
Unfortunately, the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM C8.R wasn’t one of them.
The entry of Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims was three laps down and in sixth place at the 12-hour mark.
Milner was the early GTE Pro leader despite being hit from behind as the cars rolled off the starting grid for the formation lap. Nevertheless, Milner charged to the head of the category as moderate to heavy rain fell across the circuit.
The No. 64 Corvette fell back in the order due to a pit lane refueling penalty and lost additional time when it was separated from the GTE lead pack by one of the three safety cars in the opening three hours.
The biggest blow, however, came in the fifth hour when the Corvette crew had to change the damaged diffuser, which had created a severe vibration for Sims during his second stint.
That trip to the garage cost the No. 64 team two-plus laps to the leaders.
Corvette Racing’s next update will come at the 18-hour mark.
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“We’re at the halfway point now and constantly in the top-three depending on the pit rotation, driver rotation and tire strategy.
There’s a long way to go, and a lot has already happened. We’re still trying to take care when we can and be careful.
Teams are starting to line up their driver rotations and tire strategies for the end. So far, so good.
Improvements to come:
“The car felt good in the day yesterday when the track temp was a little higher.
Obviously in the night the track temp dropped a bit, and I feel like we struggled a little more with pace, especially with slow zones.
Once the sun comes back up, I think we’ll be in a little better shape on pace.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“Unfortunately, it started raining in my first double stint, right when the sun was setting.
It was very difficult to see where the grip was with a lot of cars going off left, right and center.
I think in many ways I took it a little too easy, but we’re still in the game, and we didn’t make any mistakes.
It seems the car is quite decent, and we have some pace. So hopefully we can stay in the pack with the leaders and see here we are come Sunday morning.”
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“This is Le Mans, unfortunately. We’ve taken a setback and are a few laps behind now.
The race is still long. The things that have happened to us can happen to anyone, so we have to stay positive.
What happened before the start of the race is out of our control, of course, but damaged the car.
A mistake from another driver has cost us a lot of time for our entry. We’re very disappointed that this can happen at all.
The thing that makes it more disappointing is that the C8.R, even with the damage, was running so well.
Fingers crossed that we can work our way back into it, but it’s going to be a long night.”
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“It was quite a long time in the car.
But the beauty, the C8.R is that is actually really comfortable and really cool to drive in terms of temperature.
It wasn’t stressful from my point of view in terms of the duration. It was good.
Obviously to have the floor finally fail I don’t know the exact analysis, but I’d have to guess it’s to do with the contact in the very start was a real shame.
Aside from that, we could be in a perfect position.
That’s the way it goes in these 24-hour races. We’ll stick it out and see what we can get out of it.
Stranger things have happened, but at the moment it’s a shame.”
C8.R Corvette Racing remained firmly entrenched among the GTE Pro class leaders as the 24 Hours of Le Mans reached and passed the halfway point early Sunday morning.
The No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg ran third in class as the race entered the final 12 hours. Taylor completed his second double-stint of the event just prior to halfway, handing over to Catsburg, who was next in the rotation.
All three drivers in the No. 63 C8.R drove double stints to open this year’s Le Mans the first for the mid-engine Corvette.
Each driver led for a time as well as the race began to evolve into primarily a battle between Corvette and Ferrari, although five cars remained on the lead lap in GTE Pro.
Unfortunately, the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM C8.R wasn’t one of them.
The entry of Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims was three laps down and in sixth place at the 12-hour mark.
Milner was the early GTE Pro leader despite being hit from behind as the cars rolled off the starting grid for the formation lap. Nevertheless, Milner charged to the head of the category as moderate to heavy rain fell across the circuit.
The No. 64 Corvette fell back in the order due to a pit lane refueling penalty and lost additional time when it was separated from the GTE lead pack by one of the three safety cars in the opening three hours.
The biggest blow, however, came in the fifth hour when the Corvette crew had to change the damaged diffuser, which had created a severe vibration for Sims during his second stint.
That trip to the garage cost the No. 64 team two-plus laps to the leaders.
Corvette Racing’s next update will come at the 18-hour mark.
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“We’re at the halfway point now and constantly in the top-three depending on the pit rotation, driver rotation and tire strategy.
There’s a long way to go, and a lot has already happened. We’re still trying to take care when we can and be careful.
Teams are starting to line up their driver rotations and tire strategies for the end. So far, so good.
Improvements to come:
“The car felt good in the day yesterday when the track temp was a little higher.
Obviously in the night the track temp dropped a bit, and I feel like we struggled a little more with pace, especially with slow zones.
Once the sun comes back up, I think we’ll be in a little better shape on pace.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“Unfortunately, it started raining in my first double stint, right when the sun was setting.
It was very difficult to see where the grip was with a lot of cars going off left, right and center.
I think in many ways I took it a little too easy, but we’re still in the game, and we didn’t make any mistakes.
It seems the car is quite decent, and we have some pace. So hopefully we can stay in the pack with the leaders and see here we are come Sunday morning.”
NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“This is Le Mans, unfortunately. We’ve taken a setback and are a few laps behind now.
The race is still long. The things that have happened to us can happen to anyone, so we have to stay positive.
What happened before the start of the race is out of our control, of course, but damaged the car.
A mistake from another driver has cost us a lot of time for our entry. We’re very disappointed that this can happen at all.
The thing that makes it more disappointing is that the C8.R, even with the damage, was running so well.
Fingers crossed that we can work our way back into it, but it’s going to be a long night.”
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“It was quite a long time in the car.
But the beauty, the C8.R is that is actually really comfortable and really cool to drive in terms of temperature.
It wasn’t stressful from my point of view in terms of the duration. It was good.
Obviously to have the floor finally fail I don’t know the exact analysis, but I’d have to guess it’s to do with the contact in the very start was a real shame.
Aside from that, we could be in a perfect position.
That’s the way it goes in these 24-hour races. We’ll stick it out and see what we can get out of it.
Stranger things have happened, but at the moment it’s a shame.”
teamzr1
Supporting vendor
Only 6 hours to go
The final dice have been cast in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Corvette Racing part of what is shaping up to be a two-team battle for victory in the GTE Pro category.
Jordan Taylor ran second in the No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R at the 18-hour mark and a little more than a minute behind the class-leading Ferrari. Taylor, Antonio Garcia and Nicky Catsburg were one of three cars still on the lead lap three-quarters into the race.
Catsburg set the fastest GTE Pro lap of the race at the end of a storming triple stint, with Garcia and Taylor each running strong doubles as the sun rose on Le Mans. Taylor was in the car as the clock struck 18 hours.
More bad luck beset the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM C8.R of Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims.
After being hit by another car rolling off the grid for the formation lap, the No. 64 Corvette lost time in the garage repairing its damaged diffuser plus repairs to the gearbox, clutch and alternator. It was classified as seventh in class with six hours to go.
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“The pace during the night was quite OK. It seems like we are right there.
Let’s hope we stay close to the Ferrari and stay in touch. In the end, it’s going to be a hard battle, but the C8.R feels good.
When the fuel load is going down, the car gets quicker, and I was lucky to be out there at the right time of day.
The track is getting faster and faster. It was a nice stint to dawn. Last evening it started to rain, and it took a very long time to dry up completely.
There was a dry line, but as soon as you had to overtake, it was very difficult.
Now the track is getting drier, and it’s easier to attack, so you can push the limits and overtake.
The track is in very good shape right now.”
GTE Pro’s lead battle continues to provide intrigue too.
A slow zone and a quicker stop for the No. 63 Corvette Racing C8.R meant Nicky Catsburg went from 41s behind James Calado in the No. 51 Ferrari to 26s down.
Calado, pushing hard, did manage to respond at the end of the hour and added 10s to his advantage over Catsburg.
The gap between the two is 36s as it stands. Should it rain before the end, the margin could mean the difference between a win or second.
Behind, the Porsches are a lap back and still unable to challenge. No. 91 driver Fred Makoweicki admitted to WEC TV during the hour that the 911 RSR 19 “doesn’t have the top speed of the Ferraris and Corvettes”. BoP, he believes, has prevented a Porsche charge.
The final dice have been cast in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Corvette Racing part of what is shaping up to be a two-team battle for victory in the GTE Pro category.
Jordan Taylor ran second in the No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R at the 18-hour mark and a little more than a minute behind the class-leading Ferrari. Taylor, Antonio Garcia and Nicky Catsburg were one of three cars still on the lead lap three-quarters into the race.
Catsburg set the fastest GTE Pro lap of the race at the end of a storming triple stint, with Garcia and Taylor each running strong doubles as the sun rose on Le Mans. Taylor was in the car as the clock struck 18 hours.
More bad luck beset the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM C8.R of Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims.
After being hit by another car rolling off the grid for the formation lap, the No. 64 Corvette lost time in the garage repairing its damaged diffuser plus repairs to the gearbox, clutch and alternator. It was classified as seventh in class with six hours to go.
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:
“The pace during the night was quite OK. It seems like we are right there.
Let’s hope we stay close to the Ferrari and stay in touch. In the end, it’s going to be a hard battle, but the C8.R feels good.
When the fuel load is going down, the car gets quicker, and I was lucky to be out there at the right time of day.
The track is getting faster and faster. It was a nice stint to dawn. Last evening it started to rain, and it took a very long time to dry up completely.
There was a dry line, but as soon as you had to overtake, it was very difficult.
Now the track is getting drier, and it’s easier to attack, so you can push the limits and overtake.
The track is in very good shape right now.”
GTE Pro’s lead battle continues to provide intrigue too.
A slow zone and a quicker stop for the No. 63 Corvette Racing C8.R meant Nicky Catsburg went from 41s behind James Calado in the No. 51 Ferrari to 26s down.
Calado, pushing hard, did manage to respond at the end of the hour and added 10s to his advantage over Catsburg.
The gap between the two is 36s as it stands. Should it rain before the end, the margin could mean the difference between a win or second.
Behind, the Porsches are a lap back and still unable to challenge. No. 91 driver Fred Makoweicki admitted to WEC TV during the hour that the 911 RSR 19 “doesn’t have the top speed of the Ferraris and Corvettes”. BoP, he believes, has prevented a Porsche charge.
teamzr1
Supporting vendor
GTE Pro looked set to be dominated by the AF Corse Ferraris, but with great strategy and driving, the #63 C8.R Corvette managed to stay in the mix as the conditions began to play into the debuting C8.R's hands, Nicky Catsburg particularly enjoying the nighttime conditions during a fast triple stint.
A possible 1-2 win for AF Corse was thwarted by a left-rear suspension failure for the #52 car night, which caused it to tumble down the order. On Sunday morning, a delaminating puncture for Sam Bird cost the car even more ground.
That meant the race turned into a two-horse race between the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and the #63 Corvette C8.R.
In the warmer afternoon conditions, the #51 Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Come Ledogar gradually pulled away and took the entry's second win in three years, after winning in 2019 and finishing second last year.
It was the second GTE Pro win for Pier Guidi and Calado, who were also part of the winning crew in 2019, while Frenchman Ledogar took his first-ever Le Mans class win.
Catsburg, Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor took a solid second place in class, 41 seconds behind.
Porsche endured another character-building Le Mans, both the #92 and #91 factory cars losing ground early on and lacking the outright race pace to do much about it.
In the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19, which was rebuilt on Friday after a shunt in Hyperpole, Kevin Estre, Neel Jani and Michael Christensen beat their teammates in the #91 car to a distant podium berth, one lap down on the winning Ferrari.
Initially it was the Proton-run #79 WeatherTech car which led the Weissach marque's charge in the hands of Laurens Vanthoor and Earl Bamber, but the car retired overnight after a crash by third driver Cooper MacNeil damaged the chassis.
The other privately entered Porsche, the #72 HubAuto entry which Dries Vanthoor sensationally drove to pole, also had a troubled run. At the start Maxime Martin collided with a LMP2 car, a time loss from which the car never recovered. A broken drivetrain, which made the younger Vanthoor sibling grind to a halt, sealed the car's fate.
The second #64 Corvette bore the brunt of the reliability issues in its class. First it had to replace a broken diffuser after Nick Tandy was stunningly tapped from behind by Calado as the field left the ceremonial grid, before the race had even started.
It then lost over an hour with a nighttime clutch issue, and disappeared into the garage a third time in the morning hours with an alternator problem.
A possible 1-2 win for AF Corse was thwarted by a left-rear suspension failure for the #52 car night, which caused it to tumble down the order. On Sunday morning, a delaminating puncture for Sam Bird cost the car even more ground.
That meant the race turned into a two-horse race between the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and the #63 Corvette C8.R.
In the warmer afternoon conditions, the #51 Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Come Ledogar gradually pulled away and took the entry's second win in three years, after winning in 2019 and finishing second last year.
It was the second GTE Pro win for Pier Guidi and Calado, who were also part of the winning crew in 2019, while Frenchman Ledogar took his first-ever Le Mans class win.
Catsburg, Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor took a solid second place in class, 41 seconds behind.
Porsche endured another character-building Le Mans, both the #92 and #91 factory cars losing ground early on and lacking the outright race pace to do much about it.
In the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19, which was rebuilt on Friday after a shunt in Hyperpole, Kevin Estre, Neel Jani and Michael Christensen beat their teammates in the #91 car to a distant podium berth, one lap down on the winning Ferrari.
Initially it was the Proton-run #79 WeatherTech car which led the Weissach marque's charge in the hands of Laurens Vanthoor and Earl Bamber, but the car retired overnight after a crash by third driver Cooper MacNeil damaged the chassis.
The other privately entered Porsche, the #72 HubAuto entry which Dries Vanthoor sensationally drove to pole, also had a troubled run. At the start Maxime Martin collided with a LMP2 car, a time loss from which the car never recovered. A broken drivetrain, which made the younger Vanthoor sibling grind to a halt, sealed the car's fate.
The second #64 Corvette bore the brunt of the reliability issues in its class. First it had to replace a broken diffuser after Nick Tandy was stunningly tapped from behind by Calado as the field left the ceremonial grid, before the race had even started.
It then lost over an hour with a nighttime clutch issue, and disappeared into the garage a third time in the morning hours with an alternator problem.
stealthyflatfish
Well-known user
2nd in class ( GTE Pro ) 
great effort, just a shame we couldn't real that Ferrari in.
great effort, just a shame we couldn't real that Ferrari in.