# 63 C8.R is well off the pace at CoTA Lone Star Le Mans

The # 63 C8.R Corvette of Jan Magnussen & Mike Rockenfeller finished 6th in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) LM GTE-Pro field consisting of 7 cars. 

The winner was the # 95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Nicki Thiim and Marcus Sorenson.  The # 92 Porsche 911 RSR of Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen was 2nd.

Unfortunately, like the # 4 at Daytona, the weekend again came down to just another test session.  The # 63 would have been last except for an electronics failure in the # 91 Porsche of Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz with 2 hours left.

Far from GM acting like a bunch of xenophobes, the WEC races spread across world markets (including those it exited in Europe) are less important; and IMSA’s 11 races spread across North American markets are more important.  And, of course for Le Mans which is VERY important.

The Corvette must be present for at least 2 WEC races to participate at Le Mans.  To avoid being seen as an interloper which seems fair in the current spirit of things.

The race at CoTA was a last-minute affair because the promoter defaulted for Interlagos Brazil.  The WEC race coming up at Sebring over the weekend of March 19-21 is overshadowed by the historic IMSA 12-hour race where all eyes will be focused.

Carried over from Bahrain 2019 before the C8.R fully existed, the WEC Balance of Performance regulations for LM GTE PRO are also a problem. 

For example, Air restrictor 41.3 mm.  Minimum weight 1240 kg.  Fuel tank 102 liters.  Declared minimum air to fuel lambda factor 0.88.  This compares to IMSA’s larger 44.3 mm air restrictor and 1260 kg minimum weight at Daytona.

The # 63 C8.R was off the GTE PRO pace by 1.5 seconds.  The strategy hoped to gain by making one fewer stops yet the car still finished three laps down.

”Promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEot5klKe-g&feature=youtu.be

Results compiled by Wayne Ellwood