Corvette Racing Team repeat Champs for Drivers, Teams & Manufacturers

Winning the IMSA GTLM Driver and Team championships was never in doubt as the 20th annual Petite Le Mans finale got underway under rainy skies at Road Atlanta.  Merely starting the race was enough.  What comes next is another matter.  (please see below)

The Manufacturers Championship was clinched in the final 3 hours, once again via perfectly timed pit stops that allowed Antonio Garcia to finish 2nd in the # 3 Corvette.

Ahead of his closest competitor the # 66 Ford GT of Joey Hand/Dirk Mueller.

Also contending was the # 25 BMW M6 of Bill Auberlin/Alexander Sims, dicing it out in the evenly matched IMSA GTLM that Program Manager Doug Fehan calls the premier series for sports car racing.

Doug’s Team is Everybody’s Team

As for Doug, whether it’s stuffing goody bags, cleaning up trash or as a hero holding forth in front of hundreds at gatherings, the Corvette Racing Team is really Everyone’s team to anyone who has watched Doug operate.  Under his guidance the team has stuck together since 1999 and has set the standard from day one. 

Everyone knows their role, is treated with respect and feeds off one another to do their best one hundred percent of the time.

For the record the # 3 finished 2nd in class and a remarkable 8th overall. 

Tommy Milner, Olivier Gavin and Marcel Fassler in the # 4 wound up 4th in class and 11th overall.

Final 2017 Season Results compiled by Wayne Ellwood.  In 11 races, 3 victories for the # 3 and 1 victory for the # 4.

What’s next after the fireworks?

We anticipate the all new C8R to debut at the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona on Jan 26-29, 2018.  Three months go by in a flash to test and dial in the rumored mid-engine “supercar” design.  A car that is badly needed to run against the Ford GT, the Porsche 911R, Ferrari 488 GTE and a brand-new BMW.

And changes are coming in the World Endurance Challenge (WEC) that sanctions the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a 6-hour race in the USA moved to Sebring from CoTA.  The shake-up was triggered after Audi and Porsche ditched the costly LMP1 hybrids and switched to Formula E racing.  In their wake is a move to let IMSA DPi prototypes race at Le Mans next year.  It may not seem that crazy for hybrid power systems phased in for the entire grid.

That’s a lot to handle and a wonderful challenge.