Category | IMSA SportsCar Championship GTLM 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGTE Pro | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Constructor | Chevrolet (Pratt Miller) | ||||
Designer(s) | Ray Monahan | ||||
Predecessor | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | ||||
Successor | Chevrolet Corvette C8.R | ||||
Technical specifications | |||||
Chassis | Aluminium monocoque | ||||
Suspension (front) | Short/long arm double wishbone, fabricated steel upper and lower control arms, coil over adjustable shock absorbers | ||||
Suspension (rear) | As front | ||||
Length | 4,496 mm (177 in) | ||||
Width | 2,050 mm (81 in) | ||||
Height | 1,151 mm (45 in) | ||||
Wheelbase | 2,708 mm (107 in) | ||||
Engine | General Motors Corvette LT5.5 5.5 L (336 cu in) V8 90° naturally aspirated, front engined, longitudinally mounted | ||||
Transmission | Xtrac P529 6-speed semi-automatic gearbox | ||||
Power | 491 hp (366 kW) @ 6,000 rpm, 485 lb⋅ft (658 N⋅m) @ 4,800 rpm torque | ||||
Weight | 1,110 kg (2,447 lb) (excluding driver, fluids and fuel) 1,245 kg (2,745 lb) (including driver, fluids and fuel) | ||||
Fuel | VP Racing Fuels Ethanol C85 E85 (2014-2015) later MS100 E20 (2016-2019) (IMSA SportsCar Championship) Shell V-Power (2014-2017) later Total (2018-2019) Ethanol E10 (24 Hours of Le Mans) | ||||
Lubricants | Mobil 1, Motul and Valvoline | ||||
Tyres | Michelin BBS forged magnesium wheels | ||||
Competition history | |||||
Notable entrants | Corvette Racing Larbre Compétition | ||||
Notable drivers | Antonio García Tommy Milner Jan Magnussen Ryan Briscoe Jordan Taylor Oliver Gavin Robin Liddell Mike Rockenfeller Kristian Poulsen Nicolai Sylvest Gianluca Roda Paolo Ruberti Pierre Ragues Yutaka Yamagishi Jean-Philippe Belloc Ricky Taylor Lars Viljoen Romain Brandela Marcel Fässler | ||||
Debut | 2014 24 Hours of Daytona | ||||
First win | 2014 Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase | ||||
Last win | 2018 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix | ||||
Last event | 2019 Petit Le Mans | ||||
| |||||
Teams' Championships | 3 (2016 IMSA SCC, 2017 IMSA SCC, 2018 IMSA SCC) | ||||
Constructors' Championships | 2 (2016 IMSA SCC, 2017 IMSA SCC) | ||||
Drivers' Championships | 3 (2016 IMSA SCC, 2017 IMSA SCC, 2018 IMSA SCC) |
The Chevrolet Corvette C7.R is a grand tourer racing car built by Pratt Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing between 2014 and 2019. It is a replacement for the Corvette C6.R racing car, using the C7 generation Chevrolet Corvette as a base. The C7 road car was noted to incorporate development from the Corvette C6.R, thus those properties also carry over to the race car. The Corvette Racing C7.R raced in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. [1]
The Corvette C7.R had its official unveiling at the 2014 NAIAS in Detroit. [1] The car made its first testing appearance, in camouflage, at the Rolex Motorsports Union at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca track. [2] The car's new livery and details were revealed on January 13, 2014.
In its first year the C7.R competed in a field of 12 cars in a season that included eleven races. The C7.R won four races in a row in the middle of the season (Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park). After that point no more first place victories accrued to Corvette, but the #4 Corvette, driven by Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia, accumulated enough points to finish second place in total team points for the season. [3]
Because of consistent performance throughout the season, Magnussen and Garcia placed first in the Driver Championship with 125 points. They were followed by the BMW team of Dirk Müller and Joey Hand while third place driver points went to the other Corvette team of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner.
In 2015 the field of competitors dropped to ten, and the number of events also was reduced to ten. Corvette Racing had a total of three wins in the C7.R. [4] The 2015 season started out well for the C7.R as the car won the first two North American Endurance Cup races at the 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona in January and the 63rd Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring two months later driven by Jan Magnussen, Ryan Briscoe, and Antonio Garcia in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. But neither Corvette finished better than third place for the remainder of the season. The C7.R finished the season in third place behind the Porsche 911 RSR and BMW Z4 GTE and ahead of the Ferrari 458 Italia GT2. [5]
The Corvette C7.R scored its first Le Mans win at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Jordan Taylor driving the #64 Corvette to victory in the GTE-Pro class. It is also Corvette Racing's 8th win at the circuit. Corvette Racing won endurance racing's infamous "triple crown" with wins at the 24 hours of Daytona, 12 hours of Sebring, and the 24 hours of Le Mans all in the same year.
Ahead of the season, the car received an update, which included a new diffuser, to comply with the new for 2016 Group GTE regulations, aimed at increasing the performance of the class. [6] On the car's inaugural race of the year, the 2016 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the Corvette racing team scored a class win with a photo finish between the numbers 3 and 4 cars, driven by Oliver Gavin and Antonio Garcia with Khayman Buff as a back up driver. The cars finished .034 seconds apart from one another. [7] In that year, the Corvette C7.R scored its second 12 Hours of Sebring win with car #4 driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fässler in the GTLM Class. [8] The C7.R did poorly in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, qualifying last in the GTE Pro category and finishing the race 7th and 10th in the GTE-Pro class. [9] The #4 Corvette C7.R went on to win the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship in the GTLM class. They won the drivers', team, and manufacturers' championship, as well as the North American Endurance cup. [10] Corvette Racing also claimed its milestone 100th win for the team with its first-place finish at Lime Rock in the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship series. [11]
Twelve teams competed in the GTLM class for the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship including four Ford GT entries. The C7.R enjoyed another successful year in 2017 with first place victories at Sebring, COTA, Long Beach, and VIR. The #3 Corvette driven by Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen, and Mike Rockenfeller went on to win the drivers', team, and manufacturers' championship—a repeat of the 2016 season sweep for Corvette Racing. The #4 Corvette driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Marcel Fassler took second place honors.
The field of GTLM teams declined to nine for the 2018 season. Of the eleven races, one of the other Ford GT placed first in five races, one of the other Porsche placed first in three races, one of the BMWs placed first in two races, and the #4 Corvette earned a single first-place finish at Long Beach. The #3 Corvette, without winning a race, accumulated enough points to edge out the #67 Ford GT for the team championship—a "three peat". [12] Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen secured 8 podium finishes out of the 11 race season—a consistency that had become a hallmark of Corvette Racing.
The 2018 GTLM scoring was tighter than it had been for the previous four years—a margin of victory of only 6 points. The #3 Corvette finished the season with first place points, followed by the #67 Ford GT in second place and the #4 Corvette in third place.
This was the final year of IMSA competition for the C7.R, another year when nine teams would compete. With an aging platform, neither Corvette team achieved a first-place finish in any race in 2019. Of the 11 races, the #3 Corvette team finished second place three times and third place three times, accumulating enough points to tie the #911 Porsche for second place in the GTLM class of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The Corvette C7.R was first unveiled at the 2014 North American International Auto Show. It was also a competitor at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
(key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in italics indicates fastest lap. (key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in italics indicates fastest lap.
(key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in italics indicates fastest lap.
(key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in italics indicates fastest lap.
Year | Entrant | Class | Drivers | No. | Rds. | Rounds | Pts. | Pos. | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 7th | ||||||
2017 | Larbre Compétition | LMGTE | Romain Brandela Christian Philippon Fernando Rees | 50 | 2 2 2 | SIL | MNZ 6 | RBR | LEC | SPA | POR |
Jan Ellegaard Magnussen is a Danish professional racing driver and was a factory driver for General Motors until the end of the 2020 season. He has competed in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), NASCAR, the FIA Formula One World Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Richard Westbrook is a British professional racing driver noted for his success in racing Porsche and International sports cars. As a junior, he attended St Joseph's College, Ipswich. He has won both the Porsche Supercup international championship and the Porsche Carrera Cup in his native Britain (2004). At the end of the 2007 season, Richard signed a factory contract deal with the German marque Porsche, and the British ace proceeded to take on the world's best on the other side of the Atlantic. The next year (2009), Westbrook won the highly coveted FIA GT2 Championship, taking four victories in the process, establishing himself firmly on the World motor sport stage and in the upper echelons of elite sports car drivers.
The Chevrolet Corvette C6.R is a grand tourer racing car built by Pratt Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing. It is a replacement for the Corvette C5-R racing car, applying the body style of the new C6 generation Chevrolet Corvette as well as improvements to increase the speed and reliability on the track. Since its debut in 2005, it has continued on from the previous dominance of the C5-R in its racing class with multiple American Le Mans Series championships and race wins in the Le Mans Series, FIA GT Championship, and 24 Hours of Le Mans. There are two main versions of the Corvette C6.R: the GT1 version which has 590 HP, carbon-ceramic brakes, and aggressive aerodynamics, and the GT2 version which has 470 HP, cast-iron brakes, and relatively stock aerodynamics with respect to the road car. Unrestricted though, the LS7.R engine will produce around 800 hp. By 2012 the C6.R GT1 was retired from the competition while the GT2 version continues to race around the world.
Pratt Miller Engineering, also known as Pratt & Miller, is an American company involved in the automotive and arms industries. It was founded by Gary Pratt and Jim Miller in 1989. A defense division was added in 2013 and the company was acquired by Oshkosh Corporation in 2020. The company is headquartered in the unincorporated community of New Hudson, in Lyon Township, Oakland County, Michigan. They are best known as service providers for many of General Motors' motorsports programs, including the operation of the Corvette Racing team.
Marcel Fässler is a Swiss former racing driver. From 2010 to 2016 he competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship as part of Audi Sport Team Joest with co-drivers André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times and capturing the World Endurance Drivers' Championship in 2012.
Jordan Lee Taylor is an American professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving the No. 40 Acura ARX-06 for Wayne Taylor Racing. He won the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2017 championship in the Prototype class of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The 2014 Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach was a sports car race held on the Long Beach Street Circuit in California, United States, on 11–12 April 2014 as part of the Long Beach Grand Prix event weekend. The race was the third round of the inaugural Tudor United SportsCar Championship season and held exclusively for the Prototype and GT Le Mans categories, the first such event in the history of the series to not feature all four classes. Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas followed their 2014 12 Hours of Sebring victory with a win at Long Beach, and giving Chip Ganassi Racing their second victory in the history of the sports car event. Wayne Taylor Racing and Action Express Racing's Chevrolet Corvette DPs completed the race podium. Jan Magnussen and Antonio García earned Corvette Racing their first GTLM category win of the season, as well as the first win for the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.
The 65th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring fueled by Fresh from Florida was an endurance sports car racing event held at Sebring International Raceway near Sebring, Florida from 16 to 18 March 2017. The race was the second round of the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as the second round of the North American Endurance Cup.
The 64th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida was an endurance sports car racing event held at Sebring International Raceway near Sebring, Florida from 16 to 19 March 2016. The race was the second round of the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship, as well as the second round of the North American Endurance Cup. It was the final time that the original Daytona Prototypes participated in the race, as, for 2017, they were replaced with the new DPi cars.
The 2017 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix was an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned sports car race held on the Long Beach Street Circuit in California, United States, on April 8, 2017 as part of the Long Beach Grand Prix event weekend. The race was the third of twelve scheduled rounds of the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and was held for the Prototype, Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) categories. The race was the shortest of the 2017 WeatherTech Championship calendar.
The 63rd Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida was an endurance sports car racing event held at Sebring International Raceway from March 18-21st. The race was the second round of the 2015 United SportsCar Championship as well as the second of four events in the North American Endurance Cup.
The BMW Z4 GTE is a racing car which competed in the sports car races such as the American Le Mans Series, Tudor United SportsCar Championship and European Le Mans Series. It competed from 2013 to 2015 and was replaced in 2016 by the M6 GTLM.
The 20th Annual Motul Petit Le Mans was the 2017 edition of the Petit Le Mans automotive endurance race, held on October 4–7, 2017, at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia, United States. It was the 12th and final race of the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the fourth Petit Le Mans run since the formation of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2014.
The 2019 24 Hours of Daytona was an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned endurance sports car race held at the Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, on January 26–27, 2019. It was the 57th running of the race, and the first of 12 races in the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, and the first of four rounds of the 2019 Michelin Endurance Cup.
The 67th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts was an endurance sports car racing event held at Sebring International Raceway near Sebring, Florida, from 14–16 March 2019. The race was the second round of the 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as the second round of the Michelin Endurance Cup. Action Express Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing brought home a Cadillac 1-2-3 finish for the overall honours, with the win going to the No. 31 crew of Eric Curran, Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani, who won the 12 Hour race for a third time in the previous four editions. the #911 Porsche GT Team won in the GTLM class over the No. 66 Ford GT of Chip Ganassi Racing, LMP2 was won by Performance Tech Motorsports, and the Grasser Racing Team took a second straight victory in the GTD class, winning over fellow Lamborghini GTD team Magnus Racing, who came 2nd in only their second start as a Lamborghini team.
The Chevrolet Corvette C8.R is a grand tourer racing car built by Pratt Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing. It serves as the replacement for the Corvette C7.R, using the C8 generation Chevrolet Corvette as a base. Corvette Racing fielded the C8.R in the IMSA SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class starting with the 2020 season. The car was built to LM GTE specifications as per GTLM rules.
The 2017 Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen was an endurance race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York on the July 2nd, 2017. This race was the sixth round of the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The 2021 24 Hours of Daytona was an endurance sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The event was held at Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, on January 30–31, 2021. This event was the 59th running of the 24 Hours of Daytona, and the first of 12 races across multiple classes in the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship, as well as the first of four rounds in the 2021 Michelin Endurance Cup. Acura scored its first overall 24 Hours of Daytona victory, while Wayne Taylor Racing became the second team to win the race three times in a row.
The 2021 12 Hours of Sebring was an endurance sports car race held at Sebring International Raceway near Sebring, Florida from 17 to 20 March 2021. It was the second round of both the 2021 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Michelin Endurance Cup. Mazda Motorsports entered as the defending overall winners of the 12-hour event.
The 2016 Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) held on the Long Beach Street Circuit in California, United States, on April 16, 2016, as part of the Long Beach Grand Prix event weekend. The race was the third of twelve scheduled rounds of the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and was held for the Prototype, Prototype Challenge (PC) and Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) categories. The race was the shortest of the 2016 IMSA Championship calendar.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)