Corvette Racing and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a few figures

Corvette Racing finally sent its new mid-engined C8.R for its first laps on Test Day at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Circuit.

Tommy Milner was behind the wheel of the # 64 Corvette C8.R Mobil 1 / SiriusXM on Sunday with a fastest lap of 3’53.440 in the hotly contested GTE-Pro class. Less than half a second separated the first seven cars. , which bodes well for a thrilling race in less than a week. Milner shared the # 64 Corvette on Sunday with Nick Tandy, the duo will once again welcome Alexander Sims, who did not race at Le Mans on Sunday since he was in Berlin in Formula E.

Corvette C8.R # 64 driven by Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy, and Alexander Sims (Richard Prince / Chevrolet Photo).

The # 63 Corvette C8.R Mobil 1 / SiriusXM had an eventful day, including an engine change following an electrical problem that blocked Antonio Garcia on the track at the third hour of the morning session. Four hours later, after hard and painstaking work, the No.63 Corvette rolled out of the garage to continue its test program.

Nicky Catsburg, driving with Garcia and Jordan Taylor, was the fastest driver in the # 63 at 3’54 ”281. The trio are back together after winning the 24 Hours of Daytona earlier this season.

Corvette Racing at Le Mans in a few figures

• 1: One like the team entered (Corvette Racing), one manufacturer (Chevrolet) and one model for 20 years (Corvette).
• 3: Generations of Corvettes having already driven since 2000: Corvette C5-R (2000-04), Corvette C6.R (2005-13) and Corvette C7.R (2014-2019). The Corvette C8.R makes its Le Mans debut this year and returns after its absence in 2020.
• 3: Number of victories for the Corvette C5-R – 2001, 2002, 2004.
• 4: Number of victories for the Corvette C6.R – 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011.
• 7: Number of victories at Le Mans for the Corvette Racing team (Antonio Garcia: 3 Tommy Milner: 2 Jordan Taylor: 1 Nick Tandy: 1)
• 8: Class victories for Corvette Racing at Le Mans – all since 2001.
• 9: Number of drivers who 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.
• 13: Manufacturers’ championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.
• 20: Number of drivers who took part in the Le Mans races for Corvette Racing. This number will increase in 2021 with the arrival of Nick Tandy, Nicky Catsburg and Alexander Sims.
• 25: Tracks where Corvette Racing has won races: Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, 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, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen.
• 26: Number of victories in GT Le Mans in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014.
• 117: Victories around the world for Corvette Racing: 109 in North America and 8 at Le Mans.
• 245: Race starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
• 158,955.19: Number of kilometers traveled by Corvette Racing during its 20 previous trips to Le Mans. That’s 11,718 turns … or almost 4 full turns of the Earth. The two Corvettes must travel 1,229.82 miles (1,979.20 km) to reach the symbolic 100,000 mile mark at Le Mans.
• 132,000: Approximate freight weight in pounds (60,000 kgs !!!) sent by Corvette Racing to Le Mans by air and by sea! The first shipment left Detroit in mid-February and the last one left on Sunday just after the Road America IMSA race.
• 522,901.47: Total number of race kilometers traveled by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put this in perspective, Apollo 13 (the longest manned space flight in history) has traveled « only » 400,171.43 km. In other words, the Corvette Racing program raced to the moon and back … and more.

Corvette C8.R # 63 driven by Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, and Nicky Catsburg (Richard Prince / Chevrolet Photo).