The No. 4 Corvette C8.R of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner overcame a series of setbacks to secure a runner-up finish in this past weekend’s 6-hour WeatherTech Championship endurance race from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The day started out perfectly for the No. 4 Corvette C8.R crew, with Milner taking the class lead on a race restart just past the 30-minute mark. Milner held position for 34 minutes, but was forced to limp the car into the pits after suffering a flat tire – an incident that also brought out the caution flag for debris.
This caused Milner and Gavin to slip back to sixth in class, but the duo fought hard to stay on the lead lap and caught the back of the field GTLM back up when another caution came out with two hours to go. Milner started moving through the field when the green flag came back out and took the lead with 55 minutes remaining. A quick pit stop for fuel with 51 minutes remaining helped keep Milner in second after the final pit sequence, allowing him to maintain a comfortable gap in the closing stages and secure yet another IMSA podium position for the American team.
“I’ve never had to push so hard,” Milner exclaimed after climbing out of the car. “The last two stints were such big, big pushes and giving it all we had. It didn’t look so great there for a little bit. We were unlucky with the puncture early on, and that set us back quite a bit. Ultimately all we needed was that one yellow, and we got it to get us back in the hunt again. Our Corvette today was super fast. I’m really happy with it. The balance was really, really good all day long”
The No. 3 Corvette C8.R sister car of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor had a more difficult day, with the pair experiencing various handling and balance issues due to the immense heat on race day. The team says a “chassis adjustment with less than three hours left helped the balance of the No. 3 Corvette for a final push,” but the late-race dash for a podium was thwarted by a tire issue.
“This was a tough day,” said Taylor. “My stints in the heat were some of the most challenging conditions I think I’ve faced this year. The combination of the heat in the track and the tire compound made it difficult, but we tried to hang in there as best we could.”
Corvette Racing and the IMSA WeatherTech series head to Mid Ohio next for the Acura Sports Car Challenge on September 25-27.
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