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Corvette Racing Closes Final American Le Mans Season With GT Driver’s Title, Manufacturer’s Title

The Petit Le Mans is a 12-hour endurance race at Road Atlanta that signifies the end of the American Le Mans Series season, but this year it marked the end of the racing series entirely, as ALMS and Grand Am racing fold together to become the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. With that, Corvette Racing‘s Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia were crowned the ALMS GT drivers champions, needing only to finish in sixth place, with the help of a third driver, Jordan Taylor, in the No.3 Corvette C6.R.

Garcia and Magnussen led all drivers in the ALMS’ GT class with three victories – Laguna Seca, Baltimore and Circuit of The Americas. They also finished on the class podium six times in 10 races, despite finishing with zero points at Sebring to start the year. Teammates Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin were the 2012 GT drivers champions.

No. 4 Compuware Corvette of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook ran in 10th place and six laps down after two lengthy stops to replace a pair of alternator belts. Gavin had moved from seventh to second in the first two laps before the telemetry showed the alternator was not charging the battery at the 30-minute mark. Gavin brought the car in for fuel, tires and driver change to Milner along with a belt replacement. That belt proved faulty, and Milner pitted again on the next lap for another replacement. This time, the belt functioned properly and the car continued with the battery fully charging. Milner and Gavin were on track for a repeat championship season, but the past three races stymied them from doing so.

Chevrolet clinched the manufacturer’s GT title two weeks ago after Virginia International Raceway. In addition, the mighty C6.R race cars will be retired, making way for the new C7.R, which will make its racing debut in January at the start of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Former staff.

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Comments

  1. Wait until they get a taste of Chevy’s FAST car – the C7R!

    Reply
  2. They and the Vette sure did deserve it, especially when competing against all the other supposedly race-bred supercar manufacturers. What a great way to end the legendary C6’s racing, you will be missed!

    Reply

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