CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: Looking for the Way Forward

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Press Release;

CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: Looking for the Way Forward

Fifth in GTD PRO, ninth in GTD category for No. 3 Corvette


WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 24, 2023) – Corvette Racing will roll off from the third row of the GTD PRO grid Sunday for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen – the fifth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – following a challenging qualifying session Saturday.


Jordan Taylor drove the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in the 15-minute session and posted a best lap time of 1:46.168 (115.288 mph) to start the race fifth in class and ninth among all GTD cars. He’ll drive Sunday with Antonio Garcia as the duo looks for its second victory in the Six Hours in three years.


It was a tough qualifying in a couple of ways. The ultimate pace of the Corvette has it nearly two seconds off the overall GTD pole-winning Lamborghini, which took three of the top six positions. The track also was partially dry and partially wet with rain impacting both prototype sessions after the GTD qualifying concluded.


The No. 3 Corvette team and its drivers sit fourth in GTD PRO points after four rounds. They are second, however, in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup standings following long-distance races at Daytona and Sebring. The IMEC is a four-race championship made up of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, Watkins Glen and the 10-hour Petit Le Mans to end the season.


At The Glen, points are earned at three and six hours with strategic decisions factoring in for both points in the IMEC as well as the regular class championship.


The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen is scheduled for 10:40 a.m. ET on Sunday, June 25 and airs live on USA from 2 to 5 p.m. ET with full streaming coverage on Peacock beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET. 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: “You always want to be competing at the front. I feel like we haven’t qualified well here in a couple of years now, so it’s all down to race pace, strategies and pit stops. It’s a good thing our guys are always strong at that, but it’s always a little demoralizing leaving a qualifying session almost two seconds off the pace. I don’t think we’ve forgotten how to drive or set up a car. It felt good, there’s just no laptime in it.”


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

Driver Standings

1. Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 1,415

2. Daniel Juncadella/Jules Gounon – 1,374

3. Klaus Bachler/Patrick Pilet – 1,324

4. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1,297

5. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 1,136

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Team Standings

1. No. 14 Vasser Sullivan – 1,415

2. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 1,374

3. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 1,324

4. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 1,297

5. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 1,136

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Manufacturer Standings

1. Lexus – 1,415

2. Mercedes-AMG – 1,374

3. Porsche – 1,324

4. Chevrolet – 1,297

5. Aston Martin – 1,146



CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: By the Numbers

• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 25 years of racing: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette

• 2: Wins at Watkins Glen International in 2021 for Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor: the Sahlen’s Six Hours and the WeatherTech 240 in consecutive weeks

• 2: Wins and pole positions in the Sahlen’s Six Hours for Antonio Garcia. He won GTLM in 2014 and 2021 and was the GTLM pole-sitter in 2019 and 2021

• 3: Victories at Watkins Glen for Corvette Racing since its debut there in 2014: 2014 and 2021 Sahlen’s Six Hours, and 2021 WeatherTech 240

• 5: Consecutive podium finishes for Antonio Garcia at Watkins Glen from 2017-2021

• 9: Class victories for Corvette Racing at Le Mans – all since 2001. Ben Keating and Nico Varrone from this year’s GTE Am-winning Corvette are entered in separate entries at Watkins Glen

• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001

• 18: Victories for Chevrolet in the Sahlen’s Six Hours, ranking second among all manufacturers

• 27: 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, Monza, Portimão, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen

• 34: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999. Ben Keating and Nico Varrone joined that list with their participation – and victory – in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring for the World Endurance Championship.

• 125: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America, nine at Le Mans – including two weeks ago – and three in the FIA WEC.

• 274: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.

• 8,976: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its nine previous trips to Watkins Glen. That represents 2,640 laps… or 1,360 laps around the original Watkins Glen historic circuit.

• 357,522.73: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon… and then some!

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Corvette Racing at Watkins Glen (wins in bold)

2014

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GTLM (Team’s first race at Watkins Glen)

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM


2015

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 4th in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM (Ret., Accident)
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2016

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 7th in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM


2017

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 3rd in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM


2018

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM

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2019

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GTLM (Garcia pole, fastest race lap)

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM (Accident on first lap)

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2021

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM (Garcia pole)

No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 4th in GTLM (Tandy fastest race lap)

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2021*

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM (Taylor pole, fastest race lap)

No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 2nd in GTLM

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2022

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 6th in GTD PRO


* Two-hour, 40-minute sprint race




Ryan Smith

Judy Kouba Dominick