Veteran Corvette ace will become first IMSA driver to make 100th post-merger start
DETROIT (May 10, 2023) – It’s a very special weekend for Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia. With the green flag for Sunday’s MOTUL Course de Monterey, the No. 3 Corvette C8.R ace driver will become the first driver in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to make 100 starts in the series since the start of the post-merger era in 2014 when the American Le Mans Series and GRAND-AM joined together for one American sports car championship.
Garcia and Jordan Taylor will share the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette as they have since 2020. All of Garcia’s previous 99 IMSA starts have come in a Corvette. To mark Sunday’s milestone start at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, we asked Garcia for three of his most memorable races in the series. So without further delay…
- Sebring 2017
“My best race with Corvette? I think so. We struggled through much of the race but the car came alive with three hours left when I got in. It was like driving blind because the windscreen was so bad! But I knew I had to start passing cars if we wanted to win.”
- Daytona 2021
“I remember this for many reasons. My grandfather and my manager Adrian Campos passed away a few days before. So I really wanted to win that one, and we managed it! But I had a false positive COVID test with four hours to go in the race and had to watch the end from a parking lot outside the track. Definitely a day I will never forget, but I’m happy it ended with a win and a watch!”
- VIR 2018
“I tore the ACL in my knee literally three minutes before having to drive the car to the grid. The pain was really bad and it was a tough hour driving. Jan did an amazing job to finish P2 and move us into the points lead. I’m glad my injury didn’t compromise that race or the following, winning another championship with Jan and Corvette Racing.”
The MOTUL Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N is set for 12:10 p.m. PT / 3:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 14 and airs live on NBC with full streaming coverage on Peacock. IMSA Radio will have live audio coverage on XM 207, SiriusXM Online 992 and IMSA.com, which will have IMSA Radio coverage of all practice sessions, Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.
2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After three of 11 events)
Driver Standings
- Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 1067
- Daniel Juncadella/Jules Gounon – 994
- Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 991
- Klaus Bachler/Patrick Pilet – 989
- Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 844
Team Standings
- No. 14 Vasser Sullivan – 1067
- No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 994
- No. 3 Corvette Racing – 991
- No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 989
- No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 844
Manufacturer Standings
- Lexus – 1067
- Mercedes-AMG – 994
- Chevrolet – 991
- Porsche – 989
- Aston Martin – 854
CORVETTE RACING AT LAGUNA SECA: By the Numbers
- 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 25 years at Laguna Seca: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.
- 3: Tracks where Corvette Racing has competed in each of its 24 previous years: Sebring, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (later this year).
- 4: Generations of Corvette Racing entries since 1999 – Corvette C5-R (2000-04), Corvette C6.R (2005-13), Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and Corvette C8.R (2020-present).
- 4: Laguna Seca victories for the current Corvette Racing lineup – Antonio Garcia (three) and Jordan Taylor (one).
- 8: Number of Laguna Seca victories for Corvette Racing dating back to 2004.
- 12: Victories at Laguna Seca for Chevrolet in IMSA competition.
- 13: Drivers who have competed for Corvette Racing at Laguna Seca. Of those, eight went on to win at Monterey.
- 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.
- 27: Tracks at which 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, Monza, Portimão, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen
- 30: Number of wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014.
- 34: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999. Ben Keating and Nico Varrone joined that list with their participation – and victory – in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring for the World Endurance Championship.
- 124: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America and eight at Le Mans.
- 271: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
- 13,534.20: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 24 previous trips to Laguna Seca. That represents 6,130 laps… or almost 800 trips around Carmel’s famous 17-Mile Drive.
- 354,050.01: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon… and then some!
Corvette Racing at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (wins in bold)
1999
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel – 2nd in GTS
2000
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Andy Pilgrim – 2nd in GTS (Fellows pole)
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Justin Bell/Kelly Collins – 4th in GTS
2001
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS
2002
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 5th in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS
2003
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Oliver Gavin/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS
2004
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 1st in GTS (O’Connell fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GTS (Beretta pole)
2005
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin fastest race lap)
2006
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 3rd in GT1
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1 (Beretta fastest race lap)
2007
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1
2008
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O’Connell/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1
2009
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT2 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 10th in GT2
2010
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 6th in GT2
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 3rd in GT2
2011
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 7th in GT
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 5th in GT
2012
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GT
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GT (Gavin fastest race lap)
2013
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GT
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 9th in GT
2014
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM
2015
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 7th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM
2016
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM
2017
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM
2018
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM (Gavin pole)
2019
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap)
2020
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM (Taylor pole)
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap)
2021
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM (Taylor pole)
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 1st in GTLM (Tandy fastest race lap)
2022
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 4th in GTLM
About Chevrolet
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