Corvette Racing has turned its focus toward raceday as it seeks to earn a 12th class victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The pair of Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs will start from the fourth row of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) field for Sunday’s Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix.
Both Jan Magnussen and Oliver Gavin were under last year’s pole-winning time in Saturday’s qualifying session. Magnussen, in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, set a best time of 1:14.844 (118.227 mph) with Gavin not far behind at 1:14.904 (118.183 mph) in the No. 4 Corvette. They were both within 0.819 seconds of the pole-winning time in class.
Magnussen and Antonio Garcia – the current GTLM Driver’s points leaders in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – claimed Corvette Racing’s most recent victory at CTMP in 2014. They placed third in the GTLM class last year at the track with Gavin and Tommy Milner second. The pairing in the No. 4 Corvette teamed for a victory in 2012.
The Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at CTMP is Corvette Racing’s second event as part of back-to-back race weekends for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The race is set for 12:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 9. FOX Sports 1 will air the race live starting at noon with live audio coverage from IMSA Radio and a Corvette Racing In-Car feed available on IMSA.com.
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED SEVENTH IN GTLM: “The balance of the car was quite nice. We got out a little late, but the way the tire behaved during the run and the way the balance came to the car was quite nice. We just aren’t fast enough. I don’t know where we are missing to the other cars. I’m not happy with the result but I’m happy with how the car behaved. We’ll go back and see if we can find out where are giving up to everyone. It’s still super-close and in the hunt.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED EIGHTH IN GTLM: “It was a fun qualifying session, as it always is here. You’re pushing to the max and trying everything we can. Reed (Sullivan), our engineer, did a good job. There’s a half-tenth between Jan (Magnussen) and myself, but we’re seventh and eighth. It’s frustrating and disappointing. But we started in a similar spot last year and ended up finishing second. So we have to look forward to the strategy we have for the race, how our Michelin tires are lasting, if everyone else will be able to have the same longevity on their tires… I’m sure there are various different strategies out there. You have to keep working away. At Watkins Glen, we weren’t the fastest by any means and we’re the same here. We’re fighting a lot of the same problems.”
