Corvette Racing took another step on its road to the the Rolex 24 at Daytona following a successful three-day test at the Roar Before the 24.
Oliver Gavin took the new Chevrolet Corvette C7.R to second in the GT Le Mans class with a time of 1:45.743 seconds, while Jan Magnussen took the sister car to third in class, just 0.049 seconds slower than Gavin’s best time. Both cars set their fastest time in the first session of the weekend.
“This has been a pretty good test,” said Gavin. “It was a little unusual in that the conditions were very cold for the first two days. That was a little bit of a challenge trying to get the car right. We’ve managed to get it comfortable and nice to drive. Every driver has been through in the car and got to a good level of comfort. We are still looking to improve it in areas, but I think we have our base setup for here. Let’s see what the weather does for that week at the end of the month. You’re never really too sure how that’s going to turn out. Today, it was a good 10-15 degrees warmer than anything we saw the first two days.”
The three days gave the Corvette Racing teams plenty of time to work on a baseline setup for the Rolex 24 at the end of the month, where the two C7.Rs will make their competition debut. Gavin will race the #4 machine alongside Tommy Milner and Robin Liddell, while Magnussen shares the #3 Corvette with Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe.
Corvette Racing last competed at the Daytona 24 Hours in 2001, when its two Corvette C5-Rs completed a 1-2 finish in the GTS class.
“Coming into the Roar, Corvette Racing had a very comprehensive test program in place,” said Corvette Racing programme manager, Doug Fehan. “The constant change in weather conditions was a challenge, as was dealing with the number of on-track incidents. However that is the nature of endurance racing. We are satisfied with the work that the team accomplished and feel like we are on solid ground for the race in three weeks.”
