CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: By the Numbers

[cor123]

Press Release:

Facts and figures ahead of program's 20th straight Le Mans appearance

CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: By the Numbers


DETROIT (June 6, 2019) – This year’s running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a
landmark one for Corvette Racing. It is the 20th consecutive appearance for
the program at the famed race dating back to 2000 – the longest current
streak for a single entrant. With eight class victories in 19 starts,
Corvette Racing is one of the most successful teams in the history of Le
Mans. Below is a handful of notes and statistics ahead of this year’s race…


• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 20 years at
Le Mans: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.
• 3: Generations of Corvette Racing entries since 2000 – Corvette C5-R
(2000-04), Corvette C6.R (2005-13) and Corvette C7.R (2014-current).
• 3: Number of wins for the Corvette C5-R – 2001, 2002, 2004.
• 4: Number of wins for the Corvette C6.R – 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011.
• 8: As in Chevrolet’s small-block V8. More than 100 million units have been
sold worldwide and is the most successful engine in American motorsports.
• 8: Class victories for Corvette Racing at Le Mans – all since 2001.
• 9: Number of drivers who have won races at Le Mans for Corvette Racing –
Olivier Beretta, Ron Fellows, Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen,
Tommy Milner, Johnny O’Connell, Scott Pruett and Jordan Taylor.
• 12: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since
2001.
• 16: Number of GT Le Mans wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014. That’s tied for
the most among manufacturers and entrants in GTLM.
• 19: Number of victories for Corvette Racing’s lineup at Le Mans.
Oliver Gavin: 5 Jan Magnussen: 4 Antonio
Garcia: 3
Marcel Fässler: 3 Tommy Milner: 2 Mike
Rockenfeller: 2
• 21: Number of drivers to compete for Corvette Racing at Le Mans. Oliver
Gavin leads with 17 Le Mans starts for the program while Jan Magnussen has
15.
• 21: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, COTA,
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna
Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Road
America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois
Rivieres and Utah.
• 107: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 99 in North America and
eight at Le Mans.
• 218: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
• 95,221.25: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 19
previous trips to Le Mans. That represents 11,299 laps… or nearly four full
trips around the Earth at its equator. The two Corvettes need to complete
4,778.75 miles to reach the 100,000-mile mark at Le Mans.
• 104,671: Approximate pounds of freight sent by Corvette Racing to Le Mans
by air and by sea!
• 289,913.28: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing
since its inception. To put that in perspective Apollo 13 – the longest
manned spaceflight in history – covered “just” 248,655 miles.

Corvette Racing at Le Mans (Wins in bold)
2000
No. 63 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel/Justin Bell – 4th in GTS
No. 64 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Franck Freon – 3rd in GTS


2001
No. 63 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Scott Pruett – 1st in GTS
No. 64 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Franck Freon – 2nd in GTS


2002
No. 63 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GTS
No. 64 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Franck Freon – 2nd in GTS


2003
No. 53 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Franck Freon – 3rd in GTS
No. 50 Corvette C5-R: Oliver Gavin/Kelly Collins/Andy Pilgrim – 2nd in GTS


2004
No. 63 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Max Papis – 2nd in GTS
No. 64 Corvette C5-R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 1st in
GTS


2005
No. 63 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Max Papis – 2nd in GT1
No. 64 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 1st in
GT1


2006
No. 63 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Max Papis – 7th in GT1
No. 64 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen - 1st in
GT1


2007
No. 63 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in
GT1
No. 64 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin/Max Papis – 14th in GT1


2008
No. 63 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in
GT1
No. 64 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin/Max Papis – 3rd in GT1


2009
No. 63 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O'Connell/Antonio Garcia – 1st in
GT1
No. 64 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin/Marcel Fässler – 4th in
GT1


2010
No. 63 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O'Connell/Antonio Garcia – 12th
in GT2 (DNF)
No. 64 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin/Emmanuel Collard – 10th
in GT2 (DNF)


2011
No. 73 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner/Antonio Garcia – 1st in
GTE Pro
No. 74 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen/Richard Westbrook – 14th in
GTE Pro (DNF)


2012
No. 73 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 5th in
GTE Pro
No. 74 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Richard Westbrook - 6th in
GTE Pro


2013
No. 73 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 4th in
GTE Pro
No. 74 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Richard Westbrook – 7th in
GTE Pro


2014
No. 73 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in
GTE Pro
No. 74 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Richard Westbrook – 4th in
GTE Pro


2015
No. 63 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Ryan Briscoe – DNS
(Qualifying crash)
No. 64 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTE
Pro


2016
No. 63 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Ricky Taylor – 7th in GTE
Pro
No. 64 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Jordan Taylor – 10th in GTE
Pro (DNF)


2017
No. 63 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 3rd in
GTE Pro
No. 64 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 8th in GTLM


2018
No. 63 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 4th
in GTE Pro
No. 64 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 15th in GTE
Pro (DNF)

[John]

Thank you cor123 for keeping us highly informed. Very appreciated!

[Plasboy]

More background info.

Countdown to Le Mans 2019: The LM GTE Pro Class
written by Alice Holloway

Credit: Race Photography

The LM GTE Pro class for the 24 Hours of Le Mans is made up, predominantly, with factory entires, as it is in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Single entries are allowed, but due to the driver regulations of the pro class, only works drivers with manufacturer backing usually have GTE Pro drives.

The exception to this rule for the 87th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the Risi Competizione #89 entry. Although the team is backed by Ferrari, the trio of drivers – Pipo Derani, Jules Gounon and Oliver Jarvis – are not works Ferrari drivers. Gounon is a works Bentley driver, but the 2019 Le Mans race marks as his first race around the famous Circuit de la Sarthe.
Credit: Race Photography

The usual WEC competitors of Ford Chip Ganassi, Porsche GT Team, AF Corse, Aston Martin Racing and BMW Team MTEKall take to the GTE Pro grid, with Ford and Porsche being the only teams fielding four cars for their outfit rather than two. Ferrari usually follows suit in this for Le Mans, but it was announced earlier this year that they would only field their two WEC cars due to a ‘lack of opportunity’ with their sponsors at the blue-riband event.

For Aston Martin, Jonny Adam and Darren Turner return to the WEC Pro cars after being moved out of them after last year’s Le Mans. The will join the usual WEC #97 and #95 crews respectively. AF Corse follow the same suit of retaining drivers from last year, with Daniel Serra returning to the #51 and Miguel Molina back in the #71.

• Credit: Race Photography
• Credit: Race Photography

BMW also sees Philipp Eng return to the #81 car with Nick Catsburg and Martin Tomczyk whilst new BMW junior Jesse Krohn gets his first call up from DTM to complete the trio in the #82 sister car.
Credit: Race Photography

Coming into their 20th Le Mans race with what has been assumed to be the final Le Mans for the now five-year-old Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, Corvette Racing has retained the same driver trios that is has had at the wheel of its two entries for the last few years. Coming from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen, Mike Rockenfeller, Marcel Fassler Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner will be pushing for a strong race for the team.

Rockenfeller set the GTE Pro pace in the Le Mans Test Day ahead of the event, and with minimal adjustments having been made to the GTE Balance of Performance ahead of the event it looks like Corvette may have the, albeit slim, advantage.
Credit: Race Photography

Both Ford and Porsche bring their IMSA cars over from America to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA line ups also come across with their cars, making for a fairly star-studded ensemble of drivers.

American racers Billy Johnson and Jonathan Bomarito join the two full-season WEC cars for this race, with Johnson on board the 1966 Le Mans winner livery wearing #66 and Bomarito joining the British duo of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell in the #67. The Team USA cars will see Sebastian Bourdais, Joey Hand, Dirk Muller, Ryan Briscoe, IndyCar star Scott Dixon and Richard Westbrook back in the European endurance paddock.
Credit: Race Photography

Porsche come into this race knowing that one of their WEC cars will claim the GT Drivers’ Endurance Championship, which puts pressure on those cars. Porsche have not discussed whether or not they will use team orders or if the IMSA cars will be used or left out of the championship fight, but with a 36-point lead over the sister car, Kevin Estre and Michael Chirstensencertainly go into Le Mans with the advantage in the #92. They will be joined by Laurens Vanthoor, who will attempt to help them secure the title.

Frederic Makowiecki joins the challenging #91 car with Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz who will need a serious issue to befall the sister car to stand any chance of taking the title from their grasp.

Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber, who were both in the Porsche LMP1 Team car when it took its first overall Le Mans victory in 2015, will be partnered with other Porsche factory driver Patrick Pilet in the ‘Brumos Racing’ livery-running #93, whilst the identical #94 will have Mathieu Jaminet, Sven Muller and Dennis Olsen in the cockpit.
Credit: Race Photography

Of all of the classes, GTE Pro looked to be the most competitive at the end of the Le Mans test day. Although the championship may be pretty much tied up, there is still Le Mans glory to race for. If the other classes don’t provide entertainment, it has been suggested by early indicators that the ACO/FIA have done well with the pro class BoP, and we could be in for a 24-hour wheel-to-wheel treat.

Car Number	Team	Driver 1	Driver 2	Driver 3
51	AF Corse	James Calado	Alessandro Pier Guidi	Daniel Serra
63	Corvette Racing	Antonio Garcia	Jan Magnussen	Mike Rockenfeller
64	Corvette Racing	Marcel Fassler	Oliver Gavin	Tommy Milner
66	Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK	Billy Johnson	Stefan Mucke	Olivier Pla
67	Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK	Jonathan Bomarito	Andy Priaulx	Harry Tincknell
68	Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA	Sebastien Bourdais	Joey Hand	Dirk Muller
69	Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA	Ryan Briscoe	Scott Dixon	Richard Westbrook
71	AF Corse	Sam Bird	Davide Rigon	Miguel Molina
81	BMW Team MTEK	Nick Catsburg	Philipp Eng	Martin Tomczyk
82	BMW Team MTEK	Antonio Felix da Costa	Augusto Farfus	Jesse Krohn
89	Risi Competizione	Pipo Derani	Jules Gounon	Oliver Jarvis
91	Porsche GT Team	Gianmaria Bruni	Richard Lietz	Frederic Makowiecki
92	Porsche GT Team	Michael Christensen	Kevin Estre	Laurens Vanthoor
93	Porsche GT Team	Earl Bamber	Patrick Pilet	Nick Tandy
94	Porsche GT Team	Mathieu Jaminet	Sven Muller	Dennis Olsen
95	Aston Martin Racing	Marco Sorensen	Nicki Thiim	Darren Turner
97	Aston Martin Racing	Jonathan Adam	Alex Lynn	Maxime Martin

https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2...gte-pro-class/


*********************************

Charley Robertson

[John]

Great post Plasboy. Thank you very much.

[Plasboy]