Corvette C7.R Legacy

The 2019 IMSA Racing season has come to an end, and with it the racing career of the Corvette C7.R

What was the legacy of the 7th Generation Corvette as a race car?

Seven years ago I posted a synopsis of the racing success of Corvettes with the C6.R:

Corvette Racing -- the C6 Heritage

The C7.R replaced the prior version of the Corvette race car in 2014, and raced for six seasons.  Here is a season-by-season analysis (yes, I really do collect all these statistics!):

2014

 In its first year the C7.R competed in a field of 12 cars including 2 Vipers (who remembers the Viper?), 4 Porsches, 2 BMWs, 1 Ferrari and 1 Aston Martin.  Corvette won four races in a row in the middle of the season (Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park).  After BoP changes, no more 1st place victories accrued to Corvette, but the #3 Corvette, driven by Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia, accumulated enough points to finish second place in between the two Vipers in 1st and 3rd.  

Because of consistent performance throughout the season, Magnussen and Garcia placed 1st in the Driver Championship with 125 points.  They were followed by Dirk Meuller and Joey Hand (BMW) and 3rd place Driver points went to the other Corvette team of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner.

So the maiden year of the C7.R was pretty good for Corvette Racing.

2015

In 2015 the field of competitors dropped to 10 with the absence of the Vipers.  The 2015 season started out great for the C7.R with first-place victories in the first two endurance races - Daytona (24 hours) and Sebring (12 hours). But neither Corvette finished better than 3rd place for the remainder of the season.  Porsche got "serious" in 2015 with two Porsche North America factory entries and ended the season with 1st place points, followed by BMW, and Corvette -- this year it was the #3 car's turn to shine.

The Corvette C7.R scored its first Le Mans win at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Jordan Taylor driving the #64 Corvette to victory in the GTE-Pro class. It is also Corvette Racing's 8th win at the circuit.

Corvette Racing won endurance racing's infamous "triple crown" with wins at the 24 hours of Daytona, 12 hours of Sebring, and the 24 hours of Le Mans all in the same year.  This feat is amazing!  You will recall that the "triple Crown" was a significant part of the plot in "Ford versus Ferrari" in which Ken Miles was denied this distinction by the bone-headed leadership at Ford!

Despite winning the "Triple Crown" of endurance races, Corvette fans were a little disappointed in the second season of the C7.R.

2016

Ahead of the season, the C7.R received an update, which included a new diffuser, to comply with the new for 2016 Group GTE regulations, aimed at increasing the performance of the class. 

The 2016 field of competitors increased to 11 entries.  2016 was also the year that the Ford GT debuted in the GTLM class.

 Perhaps the C7.R's ultimate 2016 performance occurred at the inaugural race of the year, the 2016 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.  The Corvette racing team scored a class win with a photo finish between the numbers 3 and 4 cars, driven by Oliver Gavin and Antonio Garcia. The cars finished .034 seconds apart from one another.

Historic 1 - 2 Finish for C7.R at 2016 24 Hours of Daytona  

In 2016, the Corvette C7.R scored its second 12 Hours of Sebring win with car #4 driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fässler in the GTLM Class.  The #4 Corvette C7.R went on to win the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship in the GTLM class. They won the Drivers', Team, and Manufacturers' championship, as well as the North American Endurance cup.

The #3 Corvette finished with third-place points.

2016 was also the year that Nan, Don, Shirley and I attended the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  The C7.R didn't do well in France, but we had a blast with the National Corvette Museum group that went to Paris, Normandy, and Le Mans for the event.

2016 24 Hours of Le Mans

2017

The Ford GT population increased in 2017 with four entries, but two were only used for the endurance races.  The 2017 field remained at 11 entries and there were 11 races.

2017 was another wildly successful year for the C7.R, but this year it was the #3 team that earned the high honors.  The #3 Corvette won at Sebring (the second year in a row that Corvette placed first in GTLM), COTA, and VIR.  The #4 Corvette won at Long Beach.  By the time Nan, Don, Shirley and I attended the race at Laguna Seca, we were quite certain that the #3 Corvette would win the Team championship with a comfortable lead over the new BMW M6 and both Ford GT cars.

By season's end, once again, Corvette Racing won the Team, Driver, and Manufacturer titles -- a second sweep in a row.  

Corvette Repeats Sweep of Team, Driver, and Manufacturer Titles

2018

After wining the Team championship in the GTLM class two seasons in a row, would it be possible for the C7.R to "three-peat" in 2018? It turned out that the 2018 GTLM scoring was tighter than it had been for the previous four years -- a margin of victory of only 6 points!

Of the eleven races, one or the other Ford GT placed 1st in 5 races, one or the other Porsche placed 1st in 3 races, one of the BMWs placed 1st in 2 races, and the #4 Corvette only placed 1st in one race -- Long Beach.  

The #3 Corvette, without winning a single race, accumulated enough points to edge out the #67 Ford GT for the team championship -- a "three peat"!  Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen secured 8 podium finishes out of the 11 race season -- a consistency that had become a hallmark of Corvette Racing.  

Read about the exciting final race -- and the thrilling finish and team work in which the #4 Corvette held off the #67 Ford to seal the championship for their sister car!

Corvette Racing Three Peat!

2019

No one at Chevrolet would admit it, but everyone in the World knew that 2019 would be the final season for the C7.R -- too many spy photos of the mid-engine C8 Corvette had been taken to leave anyone in doubt that a all-new Corvette was coming in 2020.

Despite racing with the oldest platform in the GTLM Class of IMSA, Corvette racing pursued the 2019 season with dedication and determination.  Porsche had the season from the very beginning, winning 6 times and placing 2nd twice.  Of the 11 races, the #3 Corvette team finished 2nd place three times and third place three times, accumulating enough points to tie the #911 Porsche for 2nd place on the season.

2019 would also be the final season for the Ford GT.

Summary Results:

Summarizing the results above, we see that in six years, a Corvette was the season champion three times, finished (or tied for) second-place twice, and finished third-place three times. 

If we use the "Podium" points to tally scores for the top three winners each season (35 points for first, 32 points for second, and 30 for third), Corvette accumulated more points than any other manufacturer over the six-year period -- clear dominance.  And no team had a three-peat of 1st place team finishes as Corvette did in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

To make a fair comparison to the Ford GT, which only raced the final four years, the results are shown below.  Still a clear dominance by the C7.R. The much heralded Ford GT never won a team championship in their four years of IMSA competition.

Our memories tend to be short, and most IMSA fans are probably only remembering last year's results.  I hope this analysis sets the record clearly before us -- the C7.R completely dominated the IMSA series during its six-year run.

As Doug Fehan remarked a few years ago about why manufacturers and teams compete in GTLM, "They come here to try to beat us -- we are the standard."

In my view, the C7.R was enormously successful, and I'm euphoric that I was able to buy a Z06 Corvette that is so reminiscent of the C7.R!

First Burger Run of 2020

After taking a few months off for all the Holiday activities and some travel, we got back on the monthly Burger Run trail this week.

Nan and I recently joined the North Coast Vettes Corvette Club -- really great people and nice cars.

 North Coast Vettes

So for this month's Burger Run it was a great mixture of our established Corvette friends and our new Corvette Friends from North Coast Vettes.

 As has become her custom, Nan's Mom, Jan, joined us and brought her friend from Australia, Julie.  The ladies enjoyed the ride in the 50th Anniversary car and the Z06, respectively.

It was a cloudy day, and rain threatened the forecast, so we chickened out and left the 56 Corvette at home.  If we had brought it, we would have had all seven Corvette generations represented (nuts!).

Our crowd was so big that we needed to use tables on two sides of the In-N-Out Burger Store in Oceanside.  Here is part of our group:

Russ Stroika, Nan, Wendy Nash, Julie Snowden, and Peggy Stroika.

Everyone else filled the front window area.

We weren't able to park all the Corvettes together.  Here is a good shot of most of them, but Barry's 2002 Coupe, and the Z06 and 50th Anniversary car had to be parked elsewhere.

After enjoying our lunch we gathered for the traditional group photo.  Pictured (L to R) are: John Elder (cutoff of the photo! My fault! Sorry, John!), Martin Hibsch,Wendy Nash, Gary Pebley,Ty Brown, Barry and Jackie Rectorovich, Lula and John Maddox, Nan, Warren Wilkinson, Yvonne Finocchiaro, Jan Paul (Nan’s Mom), Carm Finocchiaro, Julie Snowden (This is Jan’s friend who was visiting from Australia), Russ and Peggy Stroica

Next month we might have to find a larger venue! 

Thanks everyone for coming out!

The 2020 Corvette

I decided that the first Blog Post of 2020 should be dedicated to the 2020 Corvette -- the much-anticipated mid-engine 8th Generation Corvette!

Even before the formal reveal on 7/18/19 the automotive press had been speculating about this revolutionary design. And since the unveiling, reports and reviews have filled websites and magazine pages around the World with rave reviews of the first all-new Corvette.

Here are some of the accolades:

North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle Of the Year (NACTOY), “the Oscars of the Auto Industry” has chosen the 2020 Corvette as Car of the Year.

 North American Car of the Year

"The all-new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray has been selected as the 2020 North American Car of the Year by a 50-member jury of independent journalists. The Stingray was selected not only for its revolutionary mid-engine design, but for its level of refinement and impressive performance.

“It’s humbling to be selected for this award by such an impressive jury of automotive journalists,” said Juechter. “Our team poured our hearts and souls into this vehicle, and to see such an overwhelmingly positive reception makes it all worthwhile. We are sure our customers will love the new Corvette as much as these jurors and we can’t wait to get them behind the wheel.”

Motor Trend

Motor Trend 2020 Car of the Year

Motor Trend says, "Sometimes, a car comes along that leaves the automotive landscape different than before. In today's Silicon Valley parlance, we'd be tempted to term such a car a "disrupter." The last car to so radically shift the car world was the Tesla Model S, our 2013 Car of the Year.

This time around, our 2020 MotorTrend Car of the Year, the Chevrolet Corvette, fully scrambles the order of things. Simply put, never before has so much four-wheeled exoticism been attainable for so little money. Or I should say, so much good exoticism."

Detroit Free Press 

Detroit Free Press Names Chevy Corvette 2020 Car of the Year

"With New Year’s just a couple of days away, it’s normal to reflect on automotive accolades of 2019. And, while the Chevy Corvette C8 has garnered quite a few awards this past year, it’s already starting to accumulate new ones for 2020. According to the Detroit Free Press, the 2020 Corvette has secured the publication’s Car of the Year title."

Car and Driver


Car and Driver Rates the 2020 Corvette one of 10 Best

"The long wait is finally over, and the new mid-engine Chevy Corvette is as good as we could have imagined. So good, in fact, that it earned a 2020 10 Best award right out of the gate. The eighth-generation Corvette (a.k.a. C8) now boasts an engine behind the passenger cabin, just like the best from Porsche, Ferrari, and McLaren but at many thousands of dollars less. Incredibly, the base C8's pricing starts at $59,995, making it a relative bargain."

The New York Times

New York Times Rates the 2020 Corvette 

"‘Everyday Supercar’: A New Corvette Puts a Target on Ferrari’s Back.  The $60,000 Stingray pushes its engine to the middle and expectations through the roof."

(and, the most shocking review to me was . . . . .) 

Consumer Reports

Midengine 2020 Corvette Impresses at the Consumer Reports Track

"The 2020 Corvette Stingray marks a bold new chapter, with the iconic sports car moving from its traditional front-engine design to a midengine configuration. 

This means a completely fresh look, with a design more akin to a Ford GT or a Ferrari than anything in Chevrolet’s production history. A large V8 engine has been placed behind the driver. And there is no more manual transmission. My, how things have changed."

I'm sure more accolades are coming.  Long live the C8 Corvette!

Laguna Seca 2019

For the fourth year in a row I went with Nan, Don, and Shirley to Monterey to see the IMSA race at Laguna Seca, and Bill joined us again this year.

Laguna Seca 2018

This year Nan and I drove the 50th Anniversary Corvette as we did in 2017.

Like prior years we drove up on Friday and back home on Monday. Each year we choose a slightly different route. This year we drove the I-5 past Bakersfield, cut across the San Joaquin Valley on Route 46, joined Highway 101 in Paso Robles, then drove up to Salinas, then cut across to the California coast on Route 68.  It was hot.

As is our custom, we did some wine-tasting along the way. This year Canon arranged for us to visit the Bernardus winery. To get there, with Nan driving, we turned left off the 68 on the Laureles Grade into Carmel Valley. You may remember that Bill and I drove that stretch of road on the visit to the Quail event a few weeks earlier. It was a thrill to drive this road again with its curves, elevation changes, scenery – the perfect road for a Corvette (or any performance car).

The setting for the Bernardus winery is beautiful – it is located just outside Monterey in a rural area adjacent to the vineyards and their Resort and Spa. The tasting room was filled with tourists starting their weekend in style enjoying the six different varieties of wine offered. A few were so good that we bought some bottles for gifts and for our own wine collection.

Bernardus Winery

Next we headed off to rendezvous with Don and Shirley for Friday night dinner and to get ready for Saturday’s qualifying event.

Friday's scorching temperatures on Highway 101 were replaced on Saturday in Monterey a cooling weather front to make the day really pleasant.  We were among the first people to arrive at the Corvette Corral.

NYFTY-50 Waits patiently in the early morning, pre-race quiet!

We went through the routine of registering and immediately went to check out the new mid-engine Corvette – the “C8”.

Cary, Nan, the long-awaited C8, Shirley, and Don

We had seen the C8 in a million spy shots and official announcement photos, but never in person. GM brought a coupe in the new Zeus Bronze Metallic color, but had cordoned it off so we couldn’t touch it or sit in it (bummer). All the Corvette faithful were eager to take a look, and virtually everyone approved.

In coming years I think you are going to see a few of these in Carlsbad!!  Let's see . . . Don Kingery, Mike Eddy, Russ Stroica, Herod Howard, Nan Thomas, . . . who else might buy a C8??

In the afternoon Tadge Juechter and a few other Corvette executives came to the Corvette tent to talk about the C8 and answer questions. People were bemoaning the lack of a manual transmission, but the explanations for its deletion as an option made perfect sense (declining popularity, the economics of a complex unit manufactured in small numbers, and the design freedom afforded by removing the shifter and clutch assembly from the cockpit).  The "frunk" and trunk storage were other interesting topics of discussion.  I like the concept of the rear-facing camera and would have loved to have seen its capability.

The Corvette Corral also gave us an opportunity to talk with the Mobil Oil people about the best oil for our C7 Corvettes and the Michelin people about the best tires.I had already replaced the tires on NIFTY50, and was contemplating new tires for the Z06 to replace the racing tires (the Pilot Sport Cup 2's are great for the track, not so great for the street).

Soon Doug Fehan and the Drivers made their appearance to the delight of the crowd.

Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia, Shirley, Nan, Oliver Gavin, and Tommy Milner.

One of the two Corvettes fielded in IMSA racing had finished in 1st place for the entire season in the GTLM Class in 2016, 2017, and 2018 – a “Three Peat”, a feat not accomplished by any other manufacturer EVER! 

Sadly, 2019 hadn’t been the best year for Corvette Racing, but with two races to go the #3 Corvette was still in contention for a second or third-place finish for the season. We were hoping for a victory on Sunday (no Corvette has finished in first place in a GTLM race since August 28, 2017 at Virginia International Raceway more than two years ago!!!), so imagine our disappointment when the two cars qualified 6th and 7th on Saturday. We retreated to our hotel rooms to watch college football (which was equally depressing as USC lost to BYU in overtime). Some really good wine restored our spirits and prepared us for Sunday’s Race.

On Sunday morning the Corvette Corral was hopping with 100 drivers jockeying for position to drive their cars on the track. Nan and I had driven the track in each of the prior two years, and Don and Shirley had driven the track as well, so we decided that we didn’t need to do it again this year. Instead, we took a walking tour of the inner track, stopping to visit with our favorite drivers, Corvette legends, and shopping for must-have race-fan stuff.

Here is Shirley with Corvette Racing Legend Ron Fellows.

Before long Bill arrived and we joined him in the Acura Corral to check out the array of NSX super-cars. 

Then we visited the Acura lounge for liquid refreshments, hors d'oeuvres, track-side seating, and awesome company.  The start of the race is both thrilling and ear-drum-piercing -- having thirty cars screaming by the start-finish line all bunched together will get you heart pumping.  

Thank you, John Watts, for spoiling us again!!!

[Editor Note:  Acura Team Penske swept the IMSA Monterey Grand Prix, dominating the two-hour, 40-minute contest at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca as Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya scored their third victory of the season and a 1-2 result for Acura.The result unofficially clinches the Manufacturers’ Championship for Acura, while Cameron and Montoya neared the drivers’ title. 

In GTD, Katherine Legge and co-driver Christina Nielsen led the Acura NSX GT3 Evo effort, finishing sixth for Heinricher/Meyer Shank Racing; while teammates Mario Farnbacher and
Trent Hindman closed on the GTD Drivers’ Championship following an eighth-place finish.]

Corvette Strategy at Laguna Seca

Here is how the GM reporters described the race strategy:

"Starting from sixth and seventh on the grid – and running seventh and eighth after a jumbled start from the field – Corvette Racing engineers elected early to go with a three-stop strategy to maximize tire performance at the expense of an extra stop to most of the other GTLM runners. The aggressive strategy also allowed Milner to set the fastest GTLM lap of the race.

Magnussen brought in the No. 3 Corvette in for its first stop 32 minutes into the race and handed off to Garcia, with Gavin swapping the No. 4 C7.R with Tommy Milner a lap later.

Garcia and Magnussen went the rest of the distance on two more stops each – both for tires and fuel. 

Each time they stopped, the two Corvettes ran first and second, with Garcia making his final stop with 42 minutes left and Milner with 40 minutes to go. When the No. 4 Corvette rejoined, Milner ran fifth and Garcia just ahead in fourth.

It didn’t take long for Garcia and Milner to chase down the third-place BMW of Connor De Phillippi. Garcia, constantly hounding the No. 25 entry for a number of laps, got around and onto the podium with 12 minutes left in the race. Milner followed his teammate through into fourth but traffic eventually halted their pursuit of the second-place car."

At the conclusion of the race we went to the podium to watch the celebration, cheap champagne spewing all over the winning drivers and the enthusiastic crowd.  In many ways, this race characterized the entire 2019 season -- two teams that were not really competitive (due to BOP disadvantages), but who refused to give up and tried so very hard to bring home victories for their adoring fans.

 Bill went back home to San Jose, and Don, Shirley, Nan and I retreated to Monterey for dinner.  In the morning the four of us headed home, Don and Shirley by airliner and me and Nan in the 2003 Corvette.

We arrived back in Carlsbad in the early afternoon.  At the end of the trip we had driven NIFTY50 894 Miles, averaging 68.5 MPH and getting 28.3 MPG. I guess the 2003 Corvette is our “economy car”!

How did the season end?  Watch this site for a recap of the 2019 season, and an assessment of the C7R Corvette's racing legacy!