Corvette Racing Fifth At 6 Hours Of Fuji After Drive-Though Penalty
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Corvette Racing struggled for pace in Sunday’s running of the 6 Hours of Fuji, with driver Nick Tandy declaring the visit to the Japanese circuit as the team’s “least competitive” outing of the FIA World Endurance Championship season.
Tandy qualified the No. 64 Chevy Corvette he shares with American driver Tommy Milner fifth and last in GTE Pro during Saturday’s qualifying session, a significant 0.756 seconds down on the pole-sitting Porsche 911 of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre. The Vette struggled for pace the rest of the weekend, with Tandy and Milner lurking at the back of the GTE Pro field throughout the six-hour endurance race.
“Really since Friday morning, it’s been a struggle,” Tandy said after the race on Sunday. “I think the characteristics of this track and the track surface just don’t suit our car.”
Chevy’s miserable day only got worse when Tandy was handed a drive-through penalty for violating track limits. The team also ran out of fuel as Tandy was trundling down the pit lane for his first stop, forcing the crew to push it the rest of the way to the pit box. The team lost a full lap in the pits as a result of the miscalculation and eventually finished two laps down from the race-winning No. 51 Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado.
While Chevy struggled in its first trip to Fuji, Tandy acknowledged that the team’s inexperience at the track relative to its rivals was a disadvantage.
“You’re never going to have the fastest car at every track you go to; that’s not how racing works,” he said. “So what we have done is learned a lot. If we could start the race again tomorrow, there are things we absolutely would change but you only learn things from experience. This is something we can take forward. We’re not going to win every race.”
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Corvette Racing seems to have lost itself this year, totally in a deep dive from the heights attained in the previous year. What is going on? And what will it take to get back up on top?
They should have and still need to get Corvette Racing involved with LMDH racing, I know that new Cadillac race car will kick ass, but Corvette needs to be in LMDH
This car should never have a hard time with keeping pace, again Chevrolet, General Motors, Corvette Plant in Kentucky, Tadge, and Mark Ruess it’s time to go all carbon fiber and monocoque!!!! Please please get the weight down, as a lifelong CORVETTE GUY I am disappointed in the top speed of the new Z06, I hope ZR1 and ZORA will not only break 200 but blow past it!!!!
I think there are several reasons for the drop in success for the Corvette Racing team this year. With both cars not running together on a consistent basis, much of the testing and experimental time has been lost. In the past, there was always a reference to how the crews of both cars would work together and get things sorted out in the few days leading up to the actual race. Also, each team is now faced with working within new rules with regard to the WEC and the new class in IMSA (GTE Pro?). This is definitely a year of discovery and adjustment. If you look back at the successes in the past years, you’ll notice that the classes Corvette Racing was competing in dwindled and finally went away. So, in a way, Corvette Racing was a victim of its own success. I know I’ll probably take alot of heat, but I hate the BOP, and the continuous adjustments throughout the season. It’s like having to dumb down in order to make the others more competitive.