Corvette Racing Returns As Defending GTLM Winners At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Please see attached press release; below is a text-only version.

Corvette Racing Returns As Defending GTLM Winners

At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Corvette, BMW Drivers Share Lead in Standings

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 7, 2015) – Canadian Tire Motorsport Park may be just what the doctor ordered for Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen, defending winners of Sunday’s Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Hawk Performance.

After opening the current TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season with back-to-back victories in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, the co-drivers of the Corvette Racing No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R have now gone two consecutive events without finishing on the podium. As a result, their once-healthy points lead has evaporated into a tie with BMW drivers Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner, with 157 points each.

“Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is one of the best tracks we go to,” said Garcia, who joined Magnussen in winning both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida. “It provides a big challenge with the high speeds and fast corners – definitely a classic track in every sense. It’s unfortunate that Jan and I are going through a stretch of bad luck lately. The good news is that we still lead in GTLM points and we are going back to a place where won last year.”

The race takes the green flag on Sunday at 12:05 a.m. ET, and will be televised live in the U.S. on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 12 p.m. ET. Live television coverage in Canada is available on FOX Sports Racing, with live worldwide coverage available through streaming on the IMSA mobile app and IMSA.com.

Auberlen and Werner have clawed their way into a share of the lead by scoring three consecutive podium finishes in the No. 25 BMW Team RLL IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 GTLM – including a victory in Long Beach, California.

“What amazes me is we have been on the podium in four out of five races and we are only tied for first,” Auberlen said. “That gives you an idea of how unbelievably competitive the GTLM class is. It’s the best of the best competing at the highest levels of sports car racing. I think at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Dirk and I should just keep doing what we’ve been doing and hope the competition buckles first. We have all the tools to win it this year.”

Tied for third in the GTLM standings with 145 points are John Edwards and Lucas Luhr, drivers of the No. 24 IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 GTLM, and Giancarlo Fisichella and Pierre Kaffer, drivers of the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia. Edwards and Luhr have three podium finishes this season – including a victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – while Fisichella and Kaffer have a pair of runner-up finishes.

Three other teams will be coming to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with an extra bounce in their step:

• Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers are coming off a GTLM class victory at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International in the No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR.

• Porsche North America drivers Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber scored the overall victory in last month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, but will be in separate cars this weekend. Tandy co-drives the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR with Patrick Pilet, while Bamber is with Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 912.

• Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner will co-drive the No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, the same car they drove to victory with Jordan Taylor in the lead GTE-Pro class at Le Mans.

Practice for the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Hawk Performance begins at 11:20 a.m. ET on Friday. Qualifying begins on Saturday at 4:40 p.m. ET, and will be streamed live on IMSA.com.

Contact:

Nate Siebens

Senior Manager, IMSA Communications

(386) 310-6568

nsiebens

imsa-ctmp gtlm-rls.pdf