Corvette Racing: LeMans Halfway Race Report

#63 Corvette needs a full course caution

This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans is halfway complete with the No. 63 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R still in the thick of things in the GTE Pro class. Jordan Taylor drove an impressive two hour-plus stint in the second six hours to keep the No. 63 Corvette on the lead lap as it chased a ninth class victory at the French classic.

Taylor, driving with Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen, was within two minutes and five seconds of the lead group. Numerous slow zones and a pair of safety car periods widened the gap from the No. 63 to the group of three cars running within 56 seconds of each other.

The No. 63 team did take advantage of the second safety car period to change all four brakes on the Corvette near the 10.5-hour mark.

The No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette suffered moderate damage in an accident near the eight-hour mark with Tommy Milner at the wheel. Milner lost the left-rear wheel near the end of the lap. He lost the rear wing on the impact with the retaining wall.

Milner was uninjured, the remarkably the team lost only four laps as it replaces the wing assembly and parts of the left-rear wheel. Teammate Marcel Fassler was in the middle of a triple-stint at halfway and turned similar laptimes to Taylor.

Corvette Racing’s next update will be at the 18-hour mark near 9 a.m. CET/3 a.m. ET Sunday.

Live television and streaming video continues between FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2 and FOX Sports GO. Live audio coverage is available from Radio Le Mans, which also will broadcast on Sirius Channel 138 and XM Channel 201.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “We managed to play a bit with the slow zones in how we organized our pit stops. We made the right calls at the right moment, the downside of which was that I had to do four stints, some of which were shorter than normal. The upside was that it got us back into sequence with the other cars’ pit stops. The track meanwhile is getting better and better, and we will be able to do proper triple stints.

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 63 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R: “Unfortunately I picked up the wrong safety car, as we somehow always seem to do in Le Mans. They certainly aren’t helping us getting back to the front. We’re good on pace, but we’re not hitting the slow zones in the right place. But I managed to stay out of trouble. It’s still a long way."