The two Corvette Racing C6.R cars will start the two-hour, 45-minute race at Lime Rock Park from fourth and sixth in the ALMS GT class after making it through a rainy qualifying session.
The no.3 and no.4 cars were entrusted to Dane Jan Magnussen and Oliver Gavin respectively both cars went out early in the 20-minute during a spate of light drizzle. This fortunate decision saw both drivers set their fastest lap, Magnussen lapping the 1.5 mile track in 1:04.563 on his fourth lap. Gavin had set his best time one lap earlier – his time (1:05.011) nearly half a second slower than his teammate.
The weather at the Connecticut track then deteriorated, accompanied by a red flag that prompted Gavin to sit out the remainder of the session. “We made some changes, and unfortunately they didn’t go in the right direction, so we’ve ended up a little way back,” he said. “I did three or four laps and realized that I needed to come in and have the crew make some adjustments. As soon as I went back out, the red flag flew, and when the track went green, it was raining harder. We weren’t going to improve the time so I came in rather than risk bending the car.”
The no.4 car had already encountered one set back after a problem with a wheel nut had cost them track time during the second practice session for the event.
Naturally Magnussen was the happier sounding of the two qualifying drivers; “All in all, I’m happy with our qualifying result. I would have liked to have been a little closer to the pole time, but it’s very easy to go for that last tenth of a second, and then the crew ends up working all night if you go off.”
“Conditions were very tricky with the rain and not knowing how bad it was at the start of a qualifying run,” he said of the difficult conditions. “Here you need quite a big gap between cars because you can’t see anything in the spray.”
Forecasts ahead of the Saturday race vary from more rain to hot, humid conditions, promising the potential of a lottery as teams try to second guess the weather.
“If we have a race in rain like this, it’s anybody’s guess,” Magnussen said. “Luck will play such a big part of it. I love driving in the rain, but racing should be in the dry where it’s not down to what everybody else does, but rather what you do yourself. If we’re racing in the wet, then so be it. We’ll try to race smarter than everyone else.”
