CORVETTE RACING AT SHANGHAI: All Set for China Race Debut

[cor123]

Press Release: CORVETTE RACING AT SHANGHAI: All Set for China Race Debut Gavin, Milner pleased with progression of Redline Corvette C7.R SHANGHAI (Nov. 17, 2018) – Data collection and continued familiarization continued to be the name of the game for Corvette Racing at the SAIC International Circuit in Shanghai on Saturday ahead of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Six Hours of Shanghai. Both Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner expressed confidence and were pleased with the progression of Corvette Racing’s No. 64 Redline/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R during the last two days, including dry running Saturday for the final practice and GTE Pro qualifying Saturday. This is the team’s first race in the FIA WEC outside of June’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the program has spent the last two days collecting valuable bits of data and information from the Corvette, its Chevrolet small-block V8 and a different spec of Michelin tire from what it fields in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Nevertheless, the two drivers were happy Saturday with the performance gains of the Corvette ahead of what appears to be a soggy Sunday for racing. Friday’s two practice sessions were both run in wet conditions with the Redline C7.R among the rest of the WEC GTE Pro competitors on pace. The Six Hours of Shanghai will conclude Corvette Racing’s historic 20th season of racing around the world. Since 1999, the program has scored 107 global victories – including eight at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – 13 IMSA Team championships, and 12 Manufacturer and Driver titles. It also has completed more than 280,000 racing miles in two decades of competition. The FIA WEC’s Six Hours of Shanghai will air from 9:30-11 p.m. ET on Saturday and 3-4:30 a.m. ET Sunday on Velocity. Full live streaming coverage will be available on MotorTrend On-Demand with full audio coverage on Radiolemans.com. OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 64 REDLINE/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “It is different here coming to an FIA WEC sprint race compared to Le Mans. The mentality is very different and the qualifying procedure is very different. You effectively have one-lap qualifying for both drivers. We made a decent step in setup from the dry practice this morning to qualifying this afternoon. And if it does stay dry tomorrow, we can make another significant step to get us close to the front-runners. But all the forecasts are saying there will be significant rain tomorrow. We’re expecting mixed conditions, and that will be good for us. We were competitive yesterday in the wet sessions. Like we’ve seen in so many endurance races, we run well in these. Our team is tested. We have an excellent team with great strategy and pit stops. The Redline Corvette C7.R is really coming along a lot closer to our performance window. Everyone on this team will do all they can to get us a good result.” TOMMY MILNER, NO. 64 REDLINE/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “We anticipate wet weather tomorrow and maybe a little bit of dry for tomorrow. Mother Nature is really giving us all sorts of weather conditions to prepare us! This is all a lot of data-gathering for us plus a new qualifying format. Olly and I both learned quite a bit. Ultimately it’s about going as fast as you can. As always, the race is what really matters. We certainly made a bit step between the free practice and qualifying with the Corvette, so we’re positive about that. We feel good about the car in wet based on yesterday. We’re moving in the right direction and getting closer on pace to our competition. We’ll spend tonight looking at data and come back tomorrow with a car that we feel will be right in the mix.”

[John]

Thank you cor123! Have the race set to be recorded tonight.