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WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans test day
Corvette Racing satisfied with Le Mans test pace
After seeing the Corvette C7.Rs finish the Le Mans test first and fourth fastest in GTE Pro today, Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan praised the quality of his team’s preparation.
David Malsher-Lopez
Edited: Jun 5, 2016, 6:32 PM
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Corvette Racing is gunning for its ninth Le Mans 24 Hour victory, with Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor heading for the French classic as defending race-winners. Today their #64 Corvette finished the official test day fourth fastest, while Antonio Garcia popped in fastest GTE Pro time of the day in the sister #63 car.
Fehan commented: “We come to Le Mans each year with our list of items and settings to work through to put us in the best possible position for when we come back for the race. That is what we accomplished today with both our Corvette C7.Rs.
“Antonio going quickest in the class is a good indication of the quality of the effort our engineers and crew have put forward. Although we are pleased with today's results, we realize we still have more work to do. Preparation, strategy and execution are what we have used to win eight times at Le Mans, and it’s what we will count on again this year.”
Garcia lapped in 3min55.122sec, an average of 129.68mph around the 8.469-mile course. That was three tenths quicker than Nick Tandy’s best in the Porsche 911 RSR.
Commented Garcia: “It's been a while since we've had such a clean test day with no worries. That helped us a lot in going through our test program.
“We're happy with where we are, and we're well prepared for the race. Now we have a ton of data to go through, but it looks like it will be a great race with a very competitive field in GTE Pro."
Full-time teammate Jan Magnussen and third man Ricky Taylor, hot off IMSA Prototype victory in Detroit, concurred. Magnussen commented: "We had a problem-free test and tried some different possibilities for the race. It's always a bit of a guess to know how much grip the track will gain throughout the race week, but we're in good shape."
Taylor stated: “It was great to be in Le Mans with the Corvette Racing team for the first time! The balance of the car was very good, so I could take my time to get up to speed.”
His brother Jordan Taylor, who shared the victorious Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP yesterday, stated: “It was good to be back. It always takes some ten laps to get back into the rhythm of things, but the car felt very good, so I'm happy.
“You do feel a little bit better aero. At Le Mans you’re completely trimmed out so any additional downforce you can get without the drag is important, and I think that’s what Corvette has done with this new C7.R – increased the level of downforce and reduced the drag.”
Milner, who already this year has shared the winning C7.R with Gavin at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and the Sebring 12 Hours, commented: “: "It's nice to come here with a car that's a bit different from what we had here in last couple of years with the new aero package. We were trying to make sure we ticked all the boxes, and we did that. We also tried some different things and learned a lot from that.”
A Corvette C7.R also topped the GTE Am category, with Nicky Catsburg fastest for Larbre Competition.
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