The racing debut for the Corvette C7.R could have gone better, with the Corvette Racing team managing just a fifth-place and a tenth-place finish in the GT Le Mans class with the No. 4 and No. 3 cars, respectively, at the end of the 52nd Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.
At one point (hour seven), Jan Magnussen had the No. 3 car in the lead, but mechanical issues crept up on the team, first claiming the No. 3 car with overheating issues, forcing the car to retire. In the 22nd hour, the No. 4 car was in the garage for 30 minutes after the car began smoking and set the team too far back to recover the lost ground by the time the checkered flag waved. Just as Oliver Gavin was close to capturing the lead. But it was the consistency of Porsche North America that ultimately secured the victory in GT Le Mans, running a practically flawless race in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR race car, despite not having the speed of the C7.R. BMW took second in the class. At least the team wasn’t involved in the hair-raising crash that shut the race down for an hour.
Overall, Corvette Daytona Prototypes took the top four spots, with the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP winning this year’s Rolex 24 after João Barbosa edged Max Angelelli and the Wayne Taylor Racing No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP. Angelelli shared driving time with Wayne Taylor and his sons Ricky and Jordan, the latter of which will be driving for Corvette Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Comments
Well, I won’t lie and say I’m not disappointed; but at east Chevy won overall. It would have been sooo sweet if the new C7R took a 1-3rd position on its debut race. Oh well there’s the rest of the season to dominate!
new car new race, didn’t have all the bugs worked out, wait until next race.
In actuality The C5R Corvette Racing Team participated in the 1999 and 2000 Daytona 24 (note the Rolex 24 at that time). On both occasions they started in the pole position and did not win either race. In the 1999 race they finished 2nd & 12th then 2nd & 10th. By 2001 they figured it out and won the 24 hour endurance race. The team won no races during the 1999 season and won 2 during the 2000 season. In after winning the Daytona in 2001 the team won 7 races including Lemans and won the championship for the year. Let’s hope that 2014 racks up a few more victories than they did in either 1999 and 2000. Interesting in light of the performance of the Viper which finished third. In 1999 and 2000 the Viper team won the championship while the Corvette team finished 5th and in 2000 3rd.
I’m a bit surprised by the mechanical failure because the C7-R is not using the new C7 LT1 engine, it is using the same engine they used last year in the C6-R.
This was my first race of this type. I enjoyed it, despite the outcome. That should have been expected for the first run with a model. It was FAST though.