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Corvette Racing Team Qualifies 2nd, 3rd In ALMS GT Class At COTA

Corvette Racing earned both the  second- and third-place starting spots in the GT field for Sunday’s two-hour and 45-min American Le Mans Series race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, after a rainy qualifying session. Live coverage will begin on ESPN3 at 4:30 p.m. ET this afternoon. ESPN2 will replay the race starting at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Antonio Garcia (No. 3 Compuware Corvette) qualified on the outside end of the front row with a lap of 2:17.442 (averaging 89.056 mph) around the 3.4-mile, 20-turn layout. Driving with Jan Magnussen, they set their best time on the final lap to overtake teammate Oliver Gavin for the second starting spot.

Gavin posted a best lap of 2:17.594, averaging 88.957 mph in the No. 4 Corvette. He and seatmate Tommy Milner come to Circuit of the Americas with a two-point lead in the GT drivers’ standings as they try to repeat as class champions. Garcia and Magnussen are second in the championship and sit just two points back from first.

During the practice rounds, the ‘Vette team saw fourth and seventh places, and fifth and eighth in the second session of the day. Needless to say, the team wasn’t satisfied, so changes were made.

Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing Program Manager spoke of their troubles, “We saw earlier in the week the challenge that Circuit of The Americas can present. Those were amplified today with periods of heavy rain and a wet track. The improvements our engineers – both from Corvette Racing and our partners at Michelin – and crew made between practice and qualifying was the stuff of champions. Baltimore proved how critical your starting position can be, and having our Corvettes second and third on the grid gives us a great chance to secure important championship points.

As far as the manufacturer teams go, Chevrolet is king of the hill, besting BMW by 20 points. Corvette Racing also looks to finish on top for the season, as they’re in first place with only three rounds left.

We’ll find out tomorrow what the team bring to the tarmac. and based on what they’ve done thus far, it’ll be nothing short of awesome.

Update: Corvette Racing won GT Class. Stay tuned for more details.

A metro Detroit native, Alex Sizeland is GM Authority's staff writer with a focus on covering GM culture and performance cars.

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