Corvette Racing
CORVETTE RACING AT LAGUNA SECA: Monterey on our Mind
GTD PRO points lead for Garcia, Taylor, No. 3 Corvette and Chevrolet
DETROIT (April 26, 2022) – Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Corvette Racing will complete the west-coast swing of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this weekend with an eye toward the horizon and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Sunday’s Monterey Sports Car Championship is the final IMSA round for Corvette Racing ahead of the team’s challenge for a ninth class victory at the French endurance classic. But first thing’s first: maintain the lead of the new GT Daytona (GTD) PRO championships in the Driver, Manufacturer and Team standings heading into the break.
Garcia and Taylor lead in points as they seek their third straight IMSA championship together, having taken the GT Le Mans (GTLM) titles in 2020 and 2021. This time around, they’re in the GTD-spec No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that differs from the GTLM version in a couple of key ways.
For one, the Corvette has 80 additional kilograms of mass (176 pounds) and a 12 percent decrease in air flow, per updated GTD rules. The other big difference is the use of customer Michelin tires for GTD instead of specially designed Michelins that were allowed in GTLM.
Lots of testing and hours of hard work have paid off as the team continues to understand how best to extract the maximum amount of performance from the current Michelin tire. That should come in handy given the high amount of tire degradation that typically occurs around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn circuit. What’s more, this is the first “normal” two-hour and 40-minute IMSA race of the season. The previous three events have been 24 hours (Daytona), 12 hours (Sebring, a Corvette victory) and 100 minutes (Long Beach).
Garcia and Taylor would like nothing more than to win on the Monterey coast and head into the Le Mans break with the championship lead. They placed second in GTLM the last two years, but there is a considerable amount of experience and success that they can use to challenge for a victory this year.
Corvette Racing has won eight times at Laguna Seca since 2004, and the circuit is one of two that the team has raced at in each of its 24 seasons to date. Sebring is the other, and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will join the list at the end of the season with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans.
The Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET/12:10 p.m. PT on Sunday, May 1. The race will air live on the NBC Network and stream on Peacock starting at 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT. IMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions at IMSA.com along with XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Laguna Seca always has been a track where you need to make the tire work at its best. Usually the performance window is narrower than it is anywhere else on our calendar. We’ve never run this specification of car there or this tire there. We have some information that can transfer from other tracks, so I hope we are in the right spot when we get there. Everything is so dependent there on weather conditions so we won’t know where are until we get to the track.”
Away from the circuit: “Running in the area is always great around the Monterey coast. I try to do that every time I go there… one or two training sessions while I’m there. Golf, for sure. You have so many good options in the area. The food is usually really good in the area with a lot of great places. All three make a great trip and are really, really good.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “We’ve already learned quite a bit this year about tire management and how important tire degradation will be. Sebring was a great learning experience for us in a positive way for understanding the car and tire. Laguna Seca is usually a big tire degradation race. Whoever can manage that the best is usually at the front at the end. Historically we’ve run well there so we have a good understanding of what we need to do.”
Travel tips for Monterey: “There is an Italian restaurant in Carmel with a little bar where you can watch the chefs cook right in front of you. It’s really good and most of the stuff is handmade. Running on the beach is cool there. It’s a great spot. Coming from Florida, there’s no humidity. At the track, I like going around the circuit. I always walk up to the Corkscrew and walk up turns Nine and 10. It’s great viewing up there when we have time to watch some of the other races.”
2022 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After Three of 11 Events)
Driver Standings
1. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 990
2. Mathieu Jaminet/Matt Campbell – 960
3. Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 919
4. Cooper MacNeil – 830
5. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 816
Team Standings
1. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 990
2. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 960
3. No. 14 VasserSullivan – 919
4. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 830
5. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 816
Manufacturer Standings
1. Chevrolet – 1,000
2. Porsche – 960
3. Lexus – 949
4. Mercedes-AMG – 938
5. Aston Martin – 886
CORVETTE RACING AT LAGUNA SECA: By the Numbers
• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 24 years at Laguna Seca: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.
• 3: Tracks where Corvette Racing has competed in each of its 23 previous years: Sebring, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (later this year).
• 4: Generations of Corvette Racing entries since 1999 – Corvette C5-R (2000-04), Corvette C6.R (2005-13), Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and Corvette C8.R (2020-present).
• 4: Laguna Seca victories for the current Corvette Racing lineup – Antonio Garcia (three) and Jordan Taylor (one).
• 8: Number of Laguna Seca victories for Corvette Racing dating back to 2004.
• 12: Victories at Laguna Seca for Chevrolet in IMSA competition.
• 13: Drivers who have competed for Corvette Racing at Laguna Seca. Of those, eight went on to win at Monterey.
• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.
• 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.
• 121: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 109 in North America and eight at Le Mans.
• 254: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
• 13,294.73: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 23 previous trips to Laguna Seca. That represents 6,023 laps… or more than 780 trips around Carmel’s famous 17-Mile Drive.
• 339,546.96: 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. Simply put, the program has raced to the moon and back… and then some.
Corvette Racing at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (wins in bold)
1999
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel – 2nd in GTS
2000
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Andy Pilgrim – 2nd in GTS (Fellows pole)
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Justin Bell/Kelly Collins – 4th in GTS
2001
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS
2002
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 5th in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS
2003
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Oliver Gavin/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS
2004
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 1st in GTS (O’Connell fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GTS (Beretta pole)
2005
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin fastest race lap)
2006
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 3rd in GT1
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1 (Beretta fastest race lap)
2007
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1
2008
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O’Connell/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1
2009
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT2 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 10th in GT2
2010
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 6th in GT2
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 3rd in GT2
2011
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 7th in GT
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 5th in GT
2012
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GT
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GT (Gavin fastest race lap)
2013
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GT
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 9th in GT
2014
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM
2015
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 7th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM
2016
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM
2017
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM
2018
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM (Gavin pole)
2019
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap)
2020
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM (Taylor pole)
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap)
2021
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM (Taylor pole)
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 1st in GTLM (Tandy fastest race lap)
Source: Corvette Racing
