Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia were unable to hold onto their Tudor United Sportscar Championship lead after finishing sixth at Virginia International Raceway Sunday. Teammates Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner also missed out on the podium, winding up eighth after running as high as fourth at one point in the race.
The No. 3 and No.4 Corvette C7.Rs of Corvette Racing started from the middle of the GTLM pack after qualifying sixth and seventh, respectively. When the race went green, both Magnussen and Garcia got off to a strong start, with Magnussen picking up one spot on BMW Team RLL’s Bill Auburlen and Gavin successfully fending off Porsche driver Bryan Sellers. Not long after, Gavin was also able to pass Sellers after he spun trying to make a move on Magnussen.
The team elected to pit the No. 4 car of Garcia at the 49-minute mark, with Milner taking over driving duties for the closing stint. Two minutes later, Magnussen brought the No. 3 C7.R in for fresh tires and fuel and swapped dseats with Garcia.
Shortly after pitting, trouble found the No. 3 car. Garcia reported a loss of power and reset the C7.R’s systems, which successfully brought it back to life and full power. They had already lost valuable time, however, and couldn’t recover for a position better than sixth. The No. 4 car also experienced a set back after Milner spun late in the race.
Magnussen and Garcia are now second in the Tudor USCC drivers’ championship behind Porsche factory driver Patrick Pilet. Corvette Racing also trails Porsche in second in the team standings, and is third behind BMW in Porsche in manufacturer rankings.
There’s plenty of time for Corvette Racing to make up ground on its competitors before the season comes to a close. For now, they’ll be working hard towards posting a good result at Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas on September 19th.
Click here for full results from the Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR.
Comments
There is a major difference between losing and not being allowed to win, per IMSA Balance Of Power Politics (BOPP).
This is what happens in this series. Have good success early on and everyone else gets boosted past you. It’s clear that they gave the Porsches and Bimmers way too much of a boost.