Corvette Racing is loving the new Corvette C8.R. The team had already taken four wins in its new-for-2020 mid-engine race cars heading into this weekend’s Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio and managed to make it five after the No. 3 car of Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia dominated the race from flag to flag.
Taylor put the No. 3 Corvette C8.R on pole position for Sunday’s race, but lost the lead to the No. 4 C8.R sister car of Oliver Gavin shortly after the green flag came out. The American eventually worked his way past his British teammate, however, with the No. 3 Corvette C8.R then remaining in the top position in GTLM for the rest of the two hour and 40-minute race.
“The 3 car has been particularly strong all weekend,” Taylor said post-race. “We led all four sessions. I think we just had a little bit of speed on them all weekend. The balance of the car was just really strong from the get-go. It says a lot for the team, coming here for the first time with the Corvette C8.R, with no testing, just simulator time and rolling off the truck so strong. I think it’s hard to complain about anything at this point.”
“Jordan did a fantastic job all day long, getting on pole and then getting a solid lead even if there were a ton of yellows,” added Garcia. “When you are in that position, you are in control of the race. The C8.R worked perfectly again today. Not only on a quick lap but the consistency through the stint was the main thing. The C7 was good as we proved over the years, but this is definitely a step forward.”
While the 1-2 result for Corvette Racing was a welcome result for the American team, it was somewhat diminished by the fact that the GTLM field only had four cars in it Sunday. Porsche pulled its factory drivers from all events this past weekend after four members of its 24 Hours of Le Mans program tested positive for COVID-19, leaving only the two Corvette Racing entries and a pair of BMW M8s in the GTLM field.
Click here to view complete results from the 2020 Acura Sports Car Challenge from Mid-Ohio.
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Comments
Good for Corvette racing. Really a great package the C8, both for the street and ProRacing. Will they ever announce a “Customer Program” ? If so hopefully better than the one off Camaro R from 2016 in GT4.
The 2020 season hasn’t allowed any team to really show their stuff other than Daytona. Let’s see how thw C8 does after BOP kick in for the upcoming ’21 season
I’ve owned several Vette’s over the years and have followed the successful Vette racing program since the latest one began. However, weren’t the usual Porsche chauffeurs ruled out of the race this weekend due to positive tests for the covid-crap ?
There may not any BOP as Porsche is gone and BMW is thinking of leaving unless they get some breaks,
I know we all hate BOP but this is a good example of just how fragile this class is and how it is important to keep all the brands competitive.
Like it or not pure racing died decades ago when the MFGs and sponsors got involved. Everyone wants and needs to be competitive to be granted the money to race. The models here are very diverse and can not go head to head without some adjustments.
This is a very expensive series with rating not as high as we true race fans wish they were. In time when money gets cut or moved it is a series like this.
The Pratt and Miller program is a legend as they have have been involved with Corvette longer than about any team grand around. GM has been good keeping this team and model together. But once again the class may die under them.
My hope is if they lose this class they can move to GTD and there I think it may be more fun as there are cars there that are closer to stock and these
The problem would be the drivers as it is a class that requires a pro with a less experienced driver. They fudge it a bit but the drivers line up we have now would need to change.
We will need to watch the next few month close and see what comes. If BMW stays the series will continue but if they go we may see a pause in the program till GM or the series decides what to do.
I do expect the LeMans program to continue for now.
Right now the virus is playing hell with budgets and plans for teams and series.
The class must be successful, If one team dominates, the class fails. Game dead.
Corvette C8.R is now competing with different teams and it would not be easy for them, as a fan of Pro racing corvette is professionally build for any race track but they don’t ever underestimate their opponents.