Sun 31st Jan 2016 –Last year, the team’s pair of Corvette C7.Rs won the Rolex 24, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class and then the team won the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The answer was delivered Sunday in an epic 1-2 finish, with the 2015 Le Mans-winning No. 4 Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin edging the 2015 Daytona and Sebring-winning No. 3 Corvette C7.R of Antonio Garcia to the line by 0.034 seconds, the closest class finish in the history of the Rolex 24.
“What you saw today was simply the two best road racers in the world with the two best cars in the world,” said Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing program manager. “You’d be hard pressed to find a better race than this. You don’t spend 23.5 hours working this hard and not let those guys continue to race.”
Fehan assured Garcia once he moved into second that there would be no team orders. After that, the battle for the win was on in the season-opening IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race. Once he shed the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR of Earl Bamber to take second, Garcia set his sights on Gavin and the two ran nose-to-tail over the final 20 minutes. With three minutes remaining, Garcia briefly passed Gavin entering Turn 1, but ran wide, allowing Gavin to retake the position.
Garcia got a run coming out of the bus stop on the final lap, but came up just short in a drag race to the stripe giving the win to Gavin and co-drivers Tommy Milner and Marcel Fassler. Garcia and co-drivers Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller finished second, while Bamber rounded out the podium in the No. 912 Porsche North America entry along with Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki.
“All I could think about was my boss, Doug Fehan and what he would say if we did touch,” said Gavin. “Then on the last lap I was thinking I had just enough on him, but then he towed up behind me. It was like the line was just going away from me. I couldn’t get to the line fast enough. I’ve just seen a picture of it, actually, and it was pretty close.”
NOTEBOOK
· The race winners were also the round winners in the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup. The No. 4 Corvette Racing C7.R entry won the round with 13 points as the result of a tiebreaker over the No. 3 Corvette C7.R and the two Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSRs.
· In its competition, the two Ford GTs showed promise in the early going, but gearbox issues spoiled the two-car Ford Ganassi Racing’s chance at a debut victory. The No. 66 Ford GT finished the race seventh, while the No. 67 Ford GT finished ninth.
· The race was slowed 21 times by caution. The race record was 25 cautions back in 2009.
– See more at: http://www.imsa.com/articles/corvette-c7rs-finish-1-2-closest-class-finish-rolex-24-history#sthash.4RC2H65v.dpuf
