No. 3 Corvette takes GTLM victory over teammates Milner, Tandy in No. 4 C8.R

WATKINS GLEN, NY (June 27, 2021) – Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor won for Corvette Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech 240 on Friday, their second GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R at Watkins Glen International in five days.

Garcia got the jump on Corvette Racing teammate Tommy Milner – sharing the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette with Nick Tandy– on a traffic-filled restart with 28 minutes remaining in a storm-interrupted race.

Taylor led from pole position before Tandy moved ahead in the No. 4 Corvette about 15 minutes into the race. The gap between the teammates constantly ebbed and flowed with traffic – from slower GTD and LMP3 cars and the quicker DPi and LMP2 runners.

Taylor was the first Corvette driver to hit pitlane at 51 minutes running. He came in from second place in class and handed over to Garcia, who left with a full tank of fuel and fresh Michelin tires. Tandy carried on for another two laps before stopping just before the pits closed for the race’s full-course caution period.

Milner got in the 4 Corvette and returned to the lead behind the safety car. Heavy rain started to pelt parts of the circuit with the field under yellow. Two laps later, race officials halted the race due to a lightning strike in the immediate area of Watkins Glen.

The field began rolling again with 50 minutes to go behind the safety car. Another full-course caution period with 36 minutes left forced another reset before the race went green the rest of the way.

The next event for Corvette Racing is the Northeast Grand Prix from Lime Rock Park on July 16-17. The race will air at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 17 with live streaming coverage on TrackPass and NBC Sports Gold at 3:05 p.m. ET. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio will be available on IMSA.com, Sirius 216, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER: “We can’t complain, for sure. The main thing is the C8.R is really, really strong and kind of easy to drive in those conditions. Somehow that red flag was kind of a relief. It was going to be a nightmare out there between Turn Six and Turn Eight. Luckily there was a red flag, which made things still interesting because we had to stay on slicks. I knew that was the main thing but I had to take chances there. I knew it was wet, but I had to be a little more aggressive than Tommy. He got caught out in the last corner with some of the P cars, so I had to take advantage. The grip was very, very good. I opened the gap and then just maintained because you never know… there might have been another yellow and I had to have good tires for the end. I’m very happy with the No. 3 C8.R, but obviously Team Chevy and Corvette Racing are doing a great job. I’m looking forward to the next race and especially Le Mans which is coming soon.
“It was very challenging for sure. We pitted just before the red flag, and so did the 4 car. That would have been a key part of the race without the red because it would have been interesting to know how Tommy would have dealt with the damp track on cold tires. Those one or two laps of green before the red let me switch on the tires a little bit, at least. Even if we had to wait for a half-hour, somehow I heated up the tires pretty quickly before the start. Tommy was the one who had to take the risks. The first restart after yellow, I knew I could switch on the tire a little bit better than him. So on the second one I was all-out and he got caught up on the last corner with some P cars. I just took advantage. After that, you had to close your eyes. From the Carousel onward, you had to believe the grip would be there. I knew the first two laps would be the main thing in the race. I could pull out those two seconds and kept the gap from that point. From that point, Tommy was the one who had to take the risks to close in. I didn’t want to push so hard because you never know if you’ll go yellow again and I’d need good tires. It was a good battle with our teammates, which is difficult because they have the same car and same tools as you. I’m very happy for Corvette to go 1-2. We’re looking forward to the next few races, and Le Mans is coming closer. We’re looking forward to that too.”

THE PASS FOR THE LEAD.
“It was green for us but I made the pass basically coming out of the last corner. We weren’t side-by-side into Turn One. I knew after the Bus Stop that it would be a little wet so I took a little more risk than Tommy did to open the gap and hold it. I was lucky that I could keep the car on the track. It can go either way. You can pull out a second or put it in the wall. I was glad for the first option.”

WERE THERE OTHER DIFFICULT MOMENTS AFTER THAT?
“Oh yeah, but there were for Tommy as well. We were both flat out. The car was really good in those conditions. We realized that all last year with all the wet races we had. The C8.R looks very strong in all conditions.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER: “I was struggling with tire temp in the beginning. But once I got in a rhythm, the car kind of came to life for the second half of my stint. Once we handed it over to Antonio, the weather hit and we had a red flag. We were happy to see it go green again. Obviously we had a great spot on TV today to get some great racing in. Antonio made a great restart and was able to get by the No. 4 car and then kind of maintain it from there. So another great day for Corvette Racing going one-two and another great day for us in the No. 3 car.
“It was a good race all the way through. We had a good battle with the 4 car all day. I ran second most of my stint and then the way the pit cycle worked, it was going to be interesting to see how it fell through with fuel strategy and tire warm-up. Once it went red, we knew we had some practice time and qualifying in intermittent conditions, so we had some good confidence in what the car would be like once it went back green. Antonio got by the 4 car on the restart and maintained that gap through the end. It’s another great day for Corvette Racing with a 1-2 finish and for us in the 3 Corvette to go back-to-back with the Six Hours last weekend.”

HOW MUCH FUN IS IT RACING AGAINST YOUR TEAMMATES?
“I’d say it’s fun, but it’s stressful at the same time. There are no team orders of who will win the race. They let us race on track, but obviously any contact will be frowned upon. We had a head-to-head battle at Daytona and the last couple of weekends has been head-to-head. The guys in the 4 car are professionals and two of the best in GT racing. Like Antonio said, it’s great to have that rivalry but it’s difficult when you’ve got such great drivers in both cars. You’re competing against the best in the same equipment. We’ve come out on top the last two races but just as easily those guys could have won as well.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM: “Obviously the long red flag really reset the race. I’m really frustrated. I had some traffic coming to the green, some cars pitting coming to the green and that held me up massively. That was basically the race there. Antonio got by me by start-finish because I had such a bad run out of the last corner. It caught me off-guard. I left a gap just to account to any speed differential but I didn’t expect (the car ahead) to hit the brakes in the middle of the corner. There was traffic up the hill, and Antonio probably had two or 2.5 seconds on me. I think we ended up 2.5 seconds behind. It’s frustrating… we’re doing everything right with the things we can control with the strategy. Nick did an awesome job at the start to get us out front. It’s just not going our way right now. It’s tough. But I’m proud of the guys. I know they’re bummed. We’ve been fast and done everything right that we can control. We haven’t had the luck. On to the next one.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “It’s bitterly disappointing. We put ourselves in position as a team to have what looked like a pretty comfortable 1-2. Up to the point, the way the guys managed the race – the pit stops, how the engineers set the car up for the race – had us absolutely flying. A few laps before the last yellow, I felt something strange on the car and we’ll have to investigate what happened. We’re disappointed, but there are a lot of positives to go into next week with.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Watkins Glen, N.Y. (July 2, 2021) — Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 team finished third in a challenging, lightning storm affected WeatherTech 240 at the Glen. The team extended their lead in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship by 81 points over their closest rivals, the No. 55 Mazda Motorsports DPi, bringing their points total to 2,068.

Ricky Taylor got away phenomenally at the start. The No. 55 Mazda pressured him as he saved fuel early, but he pushed ahead to hand Filipe Albuquerque the lead with two hours to go.

After close battles with the No. 31 Cadillac and No. 55 on his out laps, Albuquerque held second place as the pit stops cycled through. His track time on the weekend was limited by rain in practice, but Filipe adapted quickly. At the one-hour and 35-minute mark, lightning struck during a full course caution, bringing the race to a halt. Per IMSA regulations, the clock continued to run under the red flag. The field went green with 36 minutes to go, only to be yellow flagged again straight away.

On a damp and difficult surface, Filipe fell back to fourth at the final restart. As time ticked down and the sun set on the Finger Lakes, he fought with the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac ahead, getting pushed wide through Turn 7. He recovered brilliantly to retake the position, finishing on the podium for the fourth race in a row and the fifth time in six races.

“The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 team should be quite happy,” said Ricky Taylor. “We increased our points lead, but it was a difficult race today. Filipe did an amazing job dealing with difficult conditions. The cars ahead of us were in a position where they could take more risks and we put Filipe in the car with no practice laps. He got right into the fight and brought us another podium finish. We are five for six on podiums and that’s what wins championships. We need to continue on this trend and the team is still executing well. It’d be nice to get on the top step of the podium before the year’s out, but I think if we keep trending this way we can continue to control the championship.”

“We started really well with Ricky qualifying on pole position by four tenths,” Filipe Albuquerque elaborated. “Great job by him. Obviously, we made adjustments from the previous weekend so we really felt that we’d tuned it up. As the race went on, straight away, it seemed we weren’t as strong as we’d thought. The No. 55 Mazda was strong and the deltas to the Cadillacs were closer. Ricky held on really well and the strategy came along. The No. 31 Cadillac got a bit lucky, pitting one lap before the red flag which was an advantage to them. On the restart, I was P2 and unfortunately lost a position with a wiggle there, and then the rest of the race was really tricky for me since it was wet in four corners and dry in the others. Good fight with the No. 5 car. In the end, we came home with P3. We’re happy, but not 100% happy, because we want to win. We finished ahead of the Mazda and gained points on them in qualifying and the race which is good for the championship. Others, like the No. 31 and No. 01, are starting to make moves and are just behind in the championship, so we need to keep pushing!”

“Another podium for the No. 10 Konica Minolta team,” said Wayne Taylor. “We still maintain our points lead, which is really what we’re fighting against. It was a strange race. We led for quite a long way and then we had the red flag. I thought we would have been second, but the No. 01 car managed to get past us. Then the No. 5 car got by us, he actually pushed us, and I was happy that Filipe got back past and put us back on the podium. Decent weekend. Looking forward to Road America next month.”

The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 2021 returns to the track for the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America on August 6th. Practice begins on Friday at 6:15 p.m. ET. Green flag will wave on Sunday, August 8th at 2:40 p.m. ET with live coverage on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.

About Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is reshaping and revolutionizing the Workplace of the Future. The company guides and supports its customers’ digital transformation through its expansive office technology portfolio, including IT Services (All Covered), content services, managed print services and industrial and commercial print solutions. Konica Minolta has been included on CRN’s MSP 500 list nine times and The World Technology Awards recently named the company a finalist in the IT Software category. Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for fourteen consecutive years, and received Keypoint Intelligence’s BLI 2021 A3 Line of The Year Award and BLI 2021-2023 Most Color Consistent A3 Brand Award for its bizhub i-Series. Konica Minolta, Inc. has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for nine consecutive years and has spent four years on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World list. Konica Minolta partners with its clients to give shape to ideas and works to bring value to our society. For more information, please visit us online and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter. Wayne Taylor Racing’s existing lineup of partners that also features Harrison Contracting, Acura Motorsports , Hammer Nutrition and CIT.

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (July 2, 2021) – Friday afternoon at an overcast Watkins Glen International, Wright Motorsports secured their third podium of the 2021 Michelin Pilot Challenge season. Following a second-place finish with Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen in the Porsche No. 16 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, the team acquired their fourth top-five finish in four races.

“Our second straight weekend at Watkins Glen International was a good points weekend,” said Team Owner John Wright. “We’re still hungry for that first win, but our consistency in securing second-place finishes plays into our hands well. We had some mixed conditions for this race and put in a good fight in the end. Everyone in our program did a great job executing.”

Ryan Hardwick took the green flag from the second position under sunny skies, but it was only a matter of time until the skies grew dark and light rain sprinkles started to fall on the course. The first 20 minutes of the race ran under caution to clean up a disabled car and spilled fuel on track. The race eventually went green, and Hardwick settled into the top three, staying there for the entirety of his sixty-five-minute stint. The No. 16 came in for fresh tires, a tank of fuel, and a new driver, with Jan Heylen taking over the Porsche for the second half of the race.

He joined the race in third behind Bill Auberlen and Trent Hindman, allowing the top-two cars to fight it out while he hung back and saved fuel. Hindman, not as lucky on the fuel game, pitted from second place with 17 minutes to go. Heylen assumed second place and was able to close the gap to the leader as a caution period came out with 13 minutes to go so that the safety workers could pull a car out of the gravel. The field went back to green with just a handful of laps remaining. Heylen and Auberlen engaged in a nail-biting lap for the lead, but in the end, Auberlen took the win by just 0.6 seconds. The Wright Motorsports strategy earned the Porsche yet another podium, gaining valuable points to go towards the 2021 title fight.

The next battle for the championship title of the Michelin Pilot Challenge takes place in just two weeks’ time at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut. The Lime Rock Park 120 will include another two-hour sprint race, on Saturday, July 17 at 11:05 AM ET, live on TRACKPASS. For full event information, visit imsa.com.

Driver Quotes | Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport

Ryan Hardwick
Another second-place finish makes three so far this year. We had a good chance there right at the end. Jan and the No. 95 were racing each other hard and clean. Our win is coming one day soon. It’s good to finish second, and we have a lot of consistency, but it sure would be nice to get that win. I want to thank our team: they made a great car, and it was strong in qualifying and in the race. I’m really looking forward to Lime Rock Park. I think we should be really strong there.

Jan Heylen
Overall, it was a good race and a good points day again. Ryan drove a solid stint, and we played it well on strategy, with me saving some fuel for the majority of my stint. We were able to push at the end. The right opportunity to overtake just wasn’t there and Bill Auberlen was good in the damp parts of the track. I think we would have been a little better if it stayed completely dry, but it was a good result for us. It’ll move us well up in the championship, though we still lost some points to the BMW.

1st Phorm
1st Phorm is a sports nutrition company based in St. Louis, MO. In 2009, CEO Andy Frisella and his business partner Chris Klein started the brand, and since then, it has become the fastest growing supplement company in the world. 1st Phorm has set the standards in the industry for quality and helping people reach their goals. This new racing partnership is not their first time in the exotic car scene either. 1st Phorm has been the title sponsor for the Gold Rush Rally for six years running. With over a million followers across social media, 1st Phorm has amassed a huge cult-like following known as, “The Legion of Boom.” They stand for a movement in the fitness world. To turn it back to what it was meant to be. Helping others improve their lives, to be a good human… and to drop the excuses and do the work. 1st Phorm is a winning brand and they don’t expect anything less when it comes to their race team. For additional info: www.1stphorm.com

Mountain Motorsports
Mountain Motorsports is a group of motorcycle and powersports dealerships with multiple locations in the southeastern United States. The company was founded by lifelong friends Ryan Hardwick and Justin Price when they opened their first location as a single-line Honda dealership in Sevierville, Tennessee in 1999. The company has since grown into one of the largest retailers of motorcycle and powersports vehicles in the nation, spanning nine dealership locations representing eleven of the industry’s most well-known brands. For additional info: www.mountainmotorsports.com

Una Vida Tequila
Una Vida translates to One Life. That is how this brand started. By people who want to live their “One Life” to the absolute fullest and to their highest potential. A group of guys from the Midwest who love great quality tequila, and want their One Life to have meaning and impact others.

One Life, One Tequila is our CORE BELIEF. We’re building the only tequila brand you will ever need to drink. Una Vida is bigger than just tequila we’re also building a culture of people who want to live their life to their utmost potential.

Our story begins and continues to grow bottle by bottle. It’s a life mission for us to create a community of people who all raise a glass knowing they’re living their ONE LIFE! For more information, visit unavidatequila.com

Wright Motorsports
Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series, international racing team known for superb car preparation, expert race strategy and driver development. Located in Batavia, Ohio, it is owned and directed by John Wright, a certified Porsche factory-trained technician. As a crew chief John Wright has played a key role in winning eight driver and seven team championships in World Challenge, IMSA (ALMS) and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Wright Motorsports won the team championship in Porsche GT3 Cup USA in 2012, 2013 and 2015, and went on to win the Pirelli World Challenge Overall, Sprint, Team and Manufacturer’s titles in 2017. In 2020, the team captured the GT World Challenge America Am championship.

Watkins Glen, N.Y. (2 July 2021) – Jr III Racing made a strong comeback to take fourth in Friday’s IMSA Prototype Challenge race at Watkins Glen International. Garett Grist and Ari Balogh combined in the No. 33 Airbnb Ligier JS P320 to capture the season best result for the entry.

Unfortunately the sister No. 3 Talon Expeditionary Services entry of Marc Sharinn and Ken D’Arcy suffered a terminal failure on the false grid prior to the race, resulting in early retirement from the race.

With qualifying late on Thursday, Balogh qualified the orange and yellow Ligier and placed it on the fifth row for the race. The No. 3 Ligier was qualified by D’Arcy and was set to start 16th for the 105-minute race on Friday.

Taking the green flag from 9th, Balogh moved into eighth on the opening lap. Following the first caution on Lap 2, the field went back to green on lap five where Balogh settled into race pace with the No. 33 Ligier and rounded out the group on the lead lap in eighth.

After 15 laps of green flag running, the second caution was deployed as Balogh brought the No. 33 Ligier to pit lane for new Michelin tires, fuel and a driver change. Grist took over the controls and returned to the course in eighth.

Grist was forced to return to pit lane two times in six laps to serve two drive through penalties for wheel spin while on the jacks during the pit stop on Lap 22 as well as a pit lane speed violation while serving the first drive through penalty on Lap 25.

As rain began to fall on the back half of the track, multiple cars went off course which brought out a timely third yellow flag which allowed Grist to advance to sixth. A strategy call kept the No. 33 Ligier on slick tires as the field packed up for the final restart of the one hour, 45-minute race.

With the green flag in the air, Grist pushed the Ligier setting the fastest lap of the race and the weekend of 1:40.508-seconds on lap 40. He worked his tools inside the car to make the move into the top-five of the running order on lap 41. Cutting a four-second gap to the position ahead in one lap, Grist moved the No. 33 into fourth-place after making a smooth pass on the outside through the bus stop.

Coming to the checkered flag just in time for the skies to open above, Grist brought the No. 33 Airbnb Ligier JS P320 home in fourth – marking the car’s best finish of the year.

“I can’t say enough about the car that Jr III Racing gave me today,” said Grist. “If we didn’t have that second drive through penalty we would be in an even better spot. The team did a great job and the car had remarkable pace as I was able to set my fastest laps of the race near the end. I had a great time battling (Steven) McAleer and was able to send it in a tight spot, so either I was going to get it done or he was going to take me out. Overall, it was such a pleasure being here this weekend and working with Billy (Glavin) and his team. To get a good result made it that much better.”

Jr III Racing will have an extended break from IMSA Prototype Challenge competition as the series returns at VIRginia International Raceway October 8-10th for the penultimate round.