Corvette Racing’s pair of Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs are in solid position for Saturday’s 10-hour Petit Le Mans following IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Road Atlanta. Antonio Garcia qualified the GT Le Mans-championship leading No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R second in class with teammate Tommy Milner just 0.109 seconds further back.
Garcia needs only to take the green flag Saturday to assure the GTLM Driver’s Championship for he and teammate Jan Magnussen. Starting the race also assures the No. 3 Corvette squad the GTLM Team’s Championship.
If Saturday’s race results mirror the qualifying order, Chevrolet also will win the GTLM Manufacturer’s Championship for the 12th time. Either of the Corvettes can score second-place Manufacturer’s points after 10 hours to clinch.
Chevrolet and Corvette Racing also swept the GTLM championships a year ago.
Garcia qualified the No. 3 Corvette, which he will share with Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller, with a lap of 1:71.714 (117.662 mph). Garcia was only 0.054 seconds from pole position. The Garcia/Magnussen/Rockenfeller lineup won earlier this year at Sebring – one of three victories for the No. 3 Corvette this season.
Milner’s best time in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R was a 1:17.823 (117.497 mph) to qualify fifth. He will share duties with Oliver Gavin and Marcel Fässler; the trio finished third in class at last year’s Petit Le Mans.
Petit Le Mans from Road Atlanta is set for 11:05 a.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 7. FOX Sports 1 will air the race live from 10:30-11:30 a.m. ET; and FOX Sports 2 from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ET and 5 to 9:30 p.m. ET. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio and a Corvette Racing In-Car feed will be available on IMSA.com.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTLM: “That’s the best qualifying effort we’ve had all year… it’s so close. Qualifying was like a repeat of the last practice. The pole lap time was probably there in our Corvette. It would have been good to be on pole and been a nice headline going into the last race of the season. But our result was good. We are competitive. It’s a good starting point for us. We’ll hope for a good result in the race.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED FIFTH IN GTLM: “It’s a little bit disappointing; we’ve been top-three all weekend, and when it does matter a little bit we’re down in sixth. But we can’t be too unhappy. The pace of our Corvette has been good all weekend. We weren’t far off at all in qualifying. The race is what matters here. I’m really happy with the pace of the car all weekend. We want to finish off the year with a good, strong result in the No. 4 car. If we do that, it plays right into our hand with what is most important and that’s the Manufacturer’s Championship for Chevrolet. Certainly that’s the No. 1 priority. We’ll do whatever we can for that good finish and be on our game.”
