The Corvette C8.R has received its first official balance of performance adjustment ahead of the 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona – but before you get your pitchforks out, Corvette Racing fans, you should know that these changes will improve the car’s overall performance.
In a bulletin sent out this week, IMSA indicated the Corvette C8.R would receive a 0.33-mm larger air restrictor along with an additional five liters of fuel capacity. That means Corvette Racing’s two new mid-engine entries will be racing with an air restrictor size of 44.3 mm and a 94-liter fuel tank.
The Corvette C8.R isn’t the only GTLM car that had its performance adjusted ahead of this weekend’s IMSA season opener. The Ferrari 488 GTE of Risi Competizione has been slowed with less turbo boost and a four-degree wing angle increase. It also lost fuel capacity, having been scaled back by one liter to 87L.
Meanwhile, the always-competitive Porsche 911 RSRs were handed an additional 10 kg of weight ballast, but the German manufacturer also received a significant seven liters of additional fuel capacity – giving it the largest fuel load in the GTLM field at 97L. The BMW M8 GTE entries of Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan, meanwhile, remain unchanged.
Casual fans of the IMSA WeatherTech series may only now be noticing that the two Ford GT entries of Chip Ganassi Racing are absent from the GTLM field. Ford pulled its backing for the program at the conclusion of the 2019 season and CGR elected to end the program rather than run it without factory backing. That leaves just seven cars in GTLM this year: two Corvettes, two BMWs, two Porsches and one Ferrari.
Practice for the Rolex 24 at Daytona will kick off on Thursday, with qualifying set to be held later that day. The qualifying session will be the first time Corvette Racing will be able to truly compare its new mid-engine car against its GTLM rivals – though the team’s drivers expressed confidence in the car’s raw pace following the Roar Before the 24 test earlier this month.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Corvette Racing news, Corvette news, Chevrolet news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Photos: Michael Levitt and Jake Galstad via IMSA
Comments
This is when BOP works for you.
Now GM needs to not stink up the show so they get the penalty back.
It is not sand bagging it is Performance Management.
The Corvette C8.R would receive a 0.33-mm (((increase in))) air restrictor (((diameter)))
After all, you can’t produce much HP breathing through (two) 0.33-mm holes! 🤔 thou Sam was being singular! 😜
Stick it to’em Jake!
In 2019 the C7.R #3 – Garcia – Qualified 2nd at 1:42.583, #4 – Milner – Qualified 9th at 1:43.239
Milner did a 1:42.793 in the C8.R during the ROAR Qualifying for Pit and Garage location, back on January 5th
Yesterday, with BoP larger intake rule change = more power, the C8.R Qual lap times were
#3 – Garcia – 1:42.545, #4 – Milner – 1:42.801
I truly expected low a 1:42, maybe as good as a high 1:41 lap time
So much for the C8.R being a better handling racer
Garcia in the #3 C7.R would have been in 2nd pole position, all things being equal
This crap ‘we are still learning about the C8.R’, for crying out loud, the C8.R has been in development
as long as the production C8……since the C7 was introduced
They SHOULD know everything there is to know by now
I hope they are sandbagging
The car is better handling per the drivers as it is easier to drive but power and weight are still limiting factors and both are controlled by the series.
Also this is a new car that has really not done many laps at many of the tracks so this year will be a lot of learning of what settings work the best with each car and drive.. In other words they are only at the beginning of the learning curve. The C7R was at the end of the learning curve.
Finally no team wants to go out and stink up the show if they have any new major advantage. It has gotten harder to hide sandbagging but it still goes on as many cars in a race will run a pace and only speed up as fast as they have to. In a sprint race there is little time to pace so they have a harder time hiding the extra speed.
We will see the C8R focus on durability in this race and in each and every race after they will focus on speed. As they find it adjustments will be made to keep them in check as happens wish all cars. We have already seen the 911 and Ferrari penalized already.
Development at Pratt and Miller is always an ongoing process. But the real test is when you enter the race as that is the real test. There has not been any 24 hour testing at Daytona and that is where you find the cooling issues and if something will break under heavy G forces on the banking.
The reality is they will run this race and still not know everything. If racing was that easy then there would not be continual testing and development.
To be honest qualifying third is good for a first time out. Now they need to focus on finishing and if they can do that and remain in contention they will have a good race.
To win you must first finish.
The BOP has kept them competitive in qualifying already.
With Pratt and Miller and Dan Binks I think they will do well. If they do not get crashed out I expect they will have a respectable finish for a first race. Never count them out.
Note the #4 car has been slower in all the testing. They may be just a bit behind on this car as it is the newest one. Plus all cars are a little different.
They just want to hold the Corvette down which is why the Corvette team has to play these games.
They don’t want to hold Corvette down, the object is to keep the cost down and all the cars competitive and remaining in the series.
The truth is the C7 Corvette remained competitive vs the mid engine cars mostly due to the BOP.
The fields are hard to keep up as cost are out of control. This year only 38 cars the lowest since 1962 are racing.
Road racing is hard to support as sponsores are not easy to get. Now racing in general has been on a decline so keeping MFGs involved are key.
IMSA has died before and came back. These drastic measure are unfortunately needed,
NHRA is in trouble, NASCAR is in decline,
The next key is to bring the rules for prototypes from Europe and America to race together. This will help fields and draw more MFGs. They have a new rules package for next year that will permit it.
C8.R and Brian, thank for your comments and replies, truly appreciate them, albeit, I get all that. I’ve been a Corvette racing fan, no fanatic, for not only the past 20 years of Corvette Racing, but the past 63 years, I’m 73.
Look, there is no doubt in my mind that…..
The new-for-this-year Flat Plane Crank-DOHC engine has been studied, scrutinized, homogenized, pasteurized, analyzed, inspected, dissected and trisected to the N°.
It has been run on dyno-simulators replicating Daytona&Le Mans 24s – to – Lime Rock’s short 7 turns, and to destruction. They have measured and validated everything; from piston-to-cylinder wall clearance, to main bearing clearance for wear, reliability and durability. They already know it will last, or at least they should, cause that’s what I would have done.
Same is true for the new X-Trac Tranny they have in it.
Ditto the chassis and suspension, on a 7 post shaker, replicating every undulation and decreasing radius turn from, again, Daytona&Le Mans 24s – to – Lime Rock’s short 7 turns.
Every reciprocating part: axles and constant velocity joints; to wheel bearings; to alternator & a/c compressor; down to the water pump, etc., has been examined, validated for reliability and durability, wear and frictional / parasitic losses.
Lee has been part of the equation, too, wielding his Michelin Magic Wand on tire engineering, design and development, from the get-go of C8 / C8.R.
I agree, they have not only the SIGNIFICANT 20 years of cumulative knowledge depth of Corvette Racing Team/Pratt&Miller, but the past 63 years, from 1957 when Corvette really got into racing [Corvette SS]. The technology that Corvette Racing Team has at their disposal today, especially with Pratt&Miller’s brain trust, means to me the C8.R should be a no-brainer winner.
[THE EXCEPTION OR QUESTION ALWAYS BEING, TO WHICH WE AGREE, NOT KNOWING WHAT FREAKING IMSA WILL DO WITH BoP!!!!!]
So, yea, I’m all-in with everything you guys wrote, albeit, I’m still truly disappointed with race qualifying on Thursday.
I have heard, in person, Doug state they don’t hang back during practice and qual because they don’t want the wrath of IMSA to come down on them having held back during practice and qual, only to out perform beyond their BoP parameters and then get a big negative BoP ruling. Just look at Watkins Glen last year. Porsche had 3 wins going in, Antonio is driving the wheels off the #3 during the last stint, catching the Porsches, only to have run out of laps. Porsches 4th win. And for Canada IMSA penalized Corvette with a weight gain BoP adjustment because Antonio ran out of Corvette’s performance box. It’s like bracket drag racing.
Enough bench racin’, we’ll know shortly…..5 1/2 hours to Green Flag. Stay tuned!
Mike 8TY4SPD & MNL13GS
Mike you can test, prob and shake it all but till you run laps you really don’t have it all.
Today they will be reacting to the track vs having a log being proactive.
I am in the racing industry so I get to see this stuff from all sides.
There is still much to learn.
Note too Porsche has a new car here but it raced in Europe last year. That gives them a big advantage. They have a log to draw from for adjustments a Corvette is just now compiling.
Qualifying 3-4 is good for the first time out. If they can find to podium in the first race that will be a very positive result.
As for BOP they all gain and lose to it. It is a royal pain but it is what keeps cost down and teams coming back. Even with that this years field is so small as cost are still too high for many to keep coming back.
As the old joke was How do you make a million dollars in IMSA? You star with 5 million dollars.
I will be at mid Ohio and generally spend time in the Corvette team garage and a couple GTD teams. It is fun catching up with some people and learning what they don’t say in public.
If you are a Corvette fan check out the Trans Am series. I love the racing there. I have a couple local teams here and friends that crew. Very open friendly teams and very hard and bitter racing On track. Amy has done well with her Corvette with two championships.
Thanks C8.R,
I’m the Corvette Racing Activities Reporter for the 2 Corvette clubs my wife and I belong to.
We frequent WGI-many years, our go-to-place, VIR, too, where we will be this year in the Corvette Corral, and LRP.
NJMP, too, when TA was there, past tense.
T/A; we support all – Amy, Simon, Vinny, Andretti-when he is in a Corvette. Paul Fix when he is in a Corvette.
We’ve organized a Amy fan club in one of our Corvette clubs. Visit with her, Bob, every chance we get.
And Callaway in ADAC GT Masters.
TA is great, for some reason, though, the Fords of Tyson and Francis really out pace the field, by 2+/- sec/lap.
Katech builds terrific engines for Francis’ team. Ruman Racing’s 3rd Place in the TA Championship was due to Amy’s significant driving skills and her father, Bob’s, mechanical engineering, team management, and their car’s reliability and durability. Bob and I have discussed the issue of Francis and Tyson often.
But between TA and ADAC, I prefer ADAC, great stuff. We’ve been to Callaway, touring their CT facility. I keep in contact with Reeves as part of my racing reports.
C8.R, the car not you, they’ve had a year running laps all over the place, per Doug. They should know the car by now!
This will be my last post. Enjoy the race.
My contact is Dan Binks on the team. He is really a super guy. He does so much for the team and his charities while restoring vintage race cars for fun. If you have not read his book get it. He says it is dry but for a true race fan it is great.
Amy and Krieder Racing are close to home. I am only a couple miles from Reid’s shop. They were Corvette but rebodied as a Cadillac.
I am in a good area as I work for a racing supplier and we have most of the rubber company tech centers here making race tires. My buddy was one of the leads on the original Gatorback and oversaw the Corvette tire program when Goodyear was involved. He is still mad they gave it up. He is the one who got me in a my first C8.
We also got to know Adam Andretti and his wife at the races. He even come out and sits with us watching some of the other races. We were impressed how much of a wrench his wife is on the car. I miss his dad Aldo. He has not been to the race of late with health issues. He is really a nice guy. I would ask him for his autograph to make him smile. I told him a Mario said you were the better driver.
I have Greg Picketts Trans Am Jag hood hung up on the wall. I would rather have a Pratt and Miller but you take what you are given. At least he was a a Corvette driver at one time.
Ernie Frances woul win Nobel matter what he is in. He will would be great in open wheel and IMSA. I would love to see him in Europe.
I am watching the race end now. The Corvette is doing well. If they finish 4Th or better that is a very good start. They just need to get to each track and learn the adjustments.
The computer sims and shakers only get you competitive out of the box. Time on the track is were you learn the fine details.
I still think we could get on the podium. That in my book for the first race and 24 hours is a win.
They will win a lot of races with this car once they learn it.
I don’t have a Vette right now but as soon as my son is out of school I will change that. I already C5 Corvette billboard on the wall of the garage and Corvette Racing banner.
4th on the lead lap of a record 24 hour race is not a bad start.
They should be caught up. It’s #4 car at the next race and can apply some of the things they have learned.
The tires and temps are not what you can really test in computer sims or even testing as compounds change.
I expect a win before too many races.
Unfortunately the #3 C8.R was one lap down at the finish.
https://sportscarchampionship.imsa.com/schedule-results/current-results?eventid=138&sessid=1156
Great effort and debut for the future of Corvette.
That is misleading a bit as they only went down a lap in the very end of the race in the last hour. They were on the lead lap in the last hour and even were in the lead once in the final few hours.
Just stating the facts.
There is only one difference between being 90+ seconds down with the leader just behind you, and being 90+ seconds down with the leader just in front of you.
Your a lap down, (not on the lead lap), if the caution comes out you don’t get to run around the track to the end of the pack! would the driver of the second place car be as excited to be just behind the leader, but (a lap down)?
Unless they are going to throw a yellow flag so everyone can pit at the same time (not racing) your going to have (position changes) on the track during fueling, driver and tire changes.
Just stating the facts.
There is only one difference between being 90+ seconds down with the leader just behind you, and being 90+ seconds down with the leader just in front of you.
Your a lap down, (not on the lead lap), if the caution comes out you don’t get to run around the track to the end of the pack!
Unless they are going to throw a yellow flag so everyone can pit at the same time (not racing) your going to have (position changes) on the track during fueling, driver and tire changes.