The No. 4 Corvette C8.R of Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy took a decisive GTLM class victory in Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech Championship race from Laguna Seca, beating the No. 3 Corvette Racing sister car to the finish line by an entire lap.
Milner started the race for the No. 4 team, getting a clean start from second position and sticking with Jordan Taylor in the pole-sitting No. 3 C8.R for the duration of the opening stint. Taylor dove into the pits at the 51-minute mark, turning the reigns over to Antonio Garcia and taking fresh fuel and tires. Shortly after, Milner also came into the pits for fuel and tires and to turn driving duties over to Tandy.
Tandy then gave chase to Garcia, with the Briton and the Spaniard engaging in a spirited battle that saw the pair trade fastest GTLM race laps multiple times. Tandy emerged the victor of this dogfight, setting a new GTLM track record of 1:21.827 (98.461 mph) and pushing Garcia to use up his tires and come into the pits before him. Tandy followed suit a pitted a lap later, but his superior pace allowed him to undercut Garcia and take the lead – despite the fact he took a trip through the gravel whilst exiting the pits. Tandy then extended his gap to Garcia in the remaining hour, taking the chequered flag a full lap ahead of the No. 3 sister car and the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR of WeatherTech Racing, which was third in the three-car GTLM class.
The result was the first points-paying victory for the No. 4 Corvette C8.R squad this year, which has struggled for pace and suffered bad luck throughout the 2021 IMSA season. Prior to Sunday’s race, Milner and Tandy had only won a non-points race at Detroit this year, as well as 100-minute qualifying race ahead of the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.
“The car was fantastic all weekend,” said Tandy, who joined Corvette Racing from Porsche at the end of last year. “It gives me hope and looks good for the rest of the season. It’s been such an emotional roller-coaster. A lot of the time, you think you put the work in and you just see the result just in front of you but it just doesn’t get there. To finally get there and stand on the top step with my buddy, it feels good. We want to do it three more this year.”
Corvette Racing will look to extend its lead over Porsche at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on September 25th. IMSA then heads to Virginia International Raceway for a GT-only round on October 10th, followed by the Petit Le Mans season finale at Road Atlanta on November 12th.
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Comments
Two Corvettes and one Porsche in the three-car GTLM class — at least second place is guaranteed for one of the Corvettes.
Be that as it may. A corvette took first.
Right, John, in a field where Corvettes make up two thirds of a 3 car competition.
And its the first win.
for #4 but they are the most winningest team in the game. so your comment is irrelevant. The reason there is only Porsche and Corvette racing is because Corvette racing DOMINATED the others and they quit. So you can say that because of how amazing Corvette racing is they make other teams not even show up. That’s saying something.
Lie!
They are the most winningest team in the game. so your comment is irrelevant. The reason there is only Porsche and Corvette racing is because Corvette racing DOMINATED the others and they quit. So you can say that because of how amazing Corvette racing is they make other teams not even show up. That’s saying something.
Corvettes all the way
So much for the USA GTE class with an actual Corvette C8. R GTE which is actually a Corvette C8 GT3-R, as the C8 Z06 series and the C8.R racing car have the same technology as the mid-engine and transmission.
The body of the C8.R is also very similar to the C8 Z06. So I actually see the Corvette C8.R GTE as the C8 GT3-R.
The GM Sport responsible Ms. Klauser and Corvette Racing should develop a C8 GT3-R and lease or sell it to customers worldwide if there are many customers. Here is Callaway Competion Germany with a lot of experience, Corvette C6 GT3, C7 GT3, an experienced development and racing team. GM should generally use and support this. See ADAC GT Masters 2021 in Germany where last weekend the C7 GT3 brante and now needs support from GM and Corvette racing, because the next race is in a few weeks! Corvettes are the most successful GT3 racing cars here in Germany!
The deployment of women should also still be possible, starting in the USA, even in 2021. My suggestion would be Sophia Flörsch (German) who is currently driving an inferior Audi R8 LMS GT3 in the German DTM.
This girl would certainly be faster with a Corvette C8-R GTE! Why I mean this girl Sophia is that Corvette Racing often lets drivers from BMW, Porsche, Audi drive the Corvette C8.R. See LeMans 2021.
Important in racing is Marketing and Sale!
Which markets these are is open, but Europe is a borderline case, since GM is not really representative. Hope with BEV this will be the case again from 2022!
Great to see these new C8’s competing…and winning on the race tracks! It takes a lot of hard work, perseverance and a constant determination to not just win but to seriously compete at various tracks all over. Having to compete with the best of them, also takes a winning team of people all working together, race after race and of course sometimes the deciding factor in any race, “Lady Luck” running with you.
Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin are some of the toughest competitors you’ll ever run up against, they are all professional teams with an engineering and race team that is second to none…and so to win against these pros just makes the win that much sweeter. Until you’ve seen everyone competing on the race track, it’s be hard to understand just how much work goes into building a winning race team.
As a long time Corvette owner and a competitor (from along time ago) I’ve always enjoyed getting out there and “mixing things up” on smaller race tracks and although I never had the money or backing to go professional…you can still have fun getting your Corvette out on almost any sort of a race car event because the Corvette has always had a competitive streak built into it, and it’s easy to have fun and still feel the power of those Chevy V8 engines of all sizes plus a decent chassis and all sorts of available parts that you can add (safety first of course) and depending on the size of your bank account you can get out and mix things up and yes even win against some of the greatest competitors out there!
In closing, I’m really proud of these Corvette C8-R teams and drivers, watching these mid engine wonders competing and winning is a great feeling because “competition improves the breed” and while you may not win every race, you can still be proud as hell watching these beautifully prepared Corvette’s “kicking ass and taking names” on race tracks putting while everyone else on notice….The USA is here to race and win….GO USA…GO CORVETTE TEAM!
They are the most winningest team in the game. so your comment is irrelevant. The reason there is only Porsche and Corvette racing is because Corvette racing DOMINATED the others and they quit. So you can say that because of how amazing Corvette racing is they make other teams not even show up. That’s saying something.
Its not saying sh*t. What game are you even talking about? Have you even watched a race over the last 4 years? They quit? Really man? Just wow. Stop making results up, GM has known GTLM was done for at least 5 years now. Why would you build a car to that spec when no one else is? The best thing corvette has done this year was race at Spa and Lemans. A little secret, a 50 second lead for hours is the leader setting the pace and gap and only going as fast as needed, no one was catching anyone.
Good thing Bidet is not in charge of Corvette racing they would just pull over and let the foreign cars win and give the Porsche teams our technology . The Corvette crews would be no shows getting unemployment and if Corvette did win they would owe more in taxes then the purse.
everything okay at home buddy?
You know that handy fountain you have been drinking out of when you go on vacation?
Who is Bidet???
Really ? He lives in a big white house.
This is just a petty insult to provoke a mud slinging contest
Bidet is a man who is rumored by many to pull out early….without much care or planning but, he loves his ice cream!
The guy that has had to run around putting out the fires the dimwitted orange arsonist set before he he was handily defeated?