American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 6 | Page 40

CORVETTE RACING CAPTURES

Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia kept the No. 3
Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R up front throughout
most of Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia
International Raceway, and then prevailed in a one-lap
sprint to the checkered flag to win their first IMSA
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race of the season.

27, with the lead Corvette only relinquishing the lead
for six laps during pit stops. The race was slowed by
only one full-course caution for a late incident involving
Oliver Gavin in the championship-leading No. 4 Corvette C7.R. On the restart, Garcia was able to pull away
in a one-lap sprint to beat Mueller to the checkered
flag by 0.802 seconds.

After watching their team cars combine to win seven of
eight races in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) this season the
No. 3 Corvette and Ford Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 66
Ford GT co-driven by Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller battled up front throughout the lone WeatherTech Championship race of the season reserved for the GTLM and
GT Daytona classes.

“It was a very hard race,” Garcia said. “My team got me
a three- to four-second gap, and then it was a classic
green and white/checkered. It was an amazing race
and the Corvette was brilliant. It really paid off to be
out testing on Monday and Tuesday (at Road Atlanta),
because the car was fantastic.”

Magnussen led the opening 28 laps after starting from
the pole. Garcia then paced 56 laps, including the final

Hand qualified third, but took second place on the
opening lap, with the Ford GT shadowing the winning
Corvette for virtually the entire 90-lap race. Mueller