Corvette Racing's Briscoe Looks to Carry Daytona Momentum to Sebring

Ryan Briscoe had a competitive run in the No. 3 Corvette C7.R co-driven by Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia in both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida in 2014, although various issues kept the team off the podium in both events.

The team changed its luck in the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season-opening Rolex 24, with Briscoe, Magnussen and Garcia giving Corvette Racing its first Daytona GT victory since 2001.

Now, Briscoe is looking to make it two in a row at Sebring, where he finished eighth with the team in 2014. He is already a winner at the circuit, joining Scott Tucker and Marino Franchitti in taking the P2 victory in 2013 for Level 5 Motorsports.

Briscoe joined Corvette Racing in 2014 after driving Prototypes for nearly a decade, winning eight races in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Partón. The 33-year-old native of Sydney, Australia raced 130 times in the Verizon IndyCar Series, winning eight events and capturing 13 poles. He has three front-row starts in the Indianapolis 500, winning the pole for Team Penske in 2012. Briscoe’s best Indy 500 finish in nine races was fifth in 2007 and 2012.

How big was winning the Rolex 24 At Daytona for Corvette Racing?

“It was cool. Everything just went right. The team did an awesome job preparing the car. As far as the setup goes, we just kept to the plan and kept things very calm. We made a few small changes over the race weekend – nothing huge – and everything went right. It was an amazing race to win, for sure.”

After spending your career racing IndyCars and Prototypes, how difficult was the transition to a GTLM Corvette?

“It’s a great car to drive. They’ve got pretty good downforce; good brakes. They’re pretty close to a Prototype to drive, to be honest. In fact, I’d found on the infield at Daytona we were pretty similar to the Daytona Prototypes in terms of horsepower. We just didn’t have the same horsepower on the straights. The car’s handling was really good. It hasn’t really been a problem to adapt to the car. You have to get used to how the traffic works a bit more, get used to always checking your mirrors when you get to the braking zones because you’re not the quickest car on the track. As far as the driving goes, it’s a really good car to drive.”

Can you and the team carry the Daytona momentum into Sebring?

“I really hope so. There’s really tough competition in the class, extremely close. The key is going to be keeping your nose clean, which is tough, because the racing is so intense in GTLM. At Daytona, it seemed from lap one that everyone was racing to the death. We did a good job of not getting caught up in that too much. I already know that the competition is going to be very tight at Sebring.”

What are your personal impressions of Sebring International Raceway?

“I love it. I’ve done lots of miles around that place [in IndyCar testing]. It’s fast. It’s got some really high-speed corners. It has both bumpy and smooth sections to the track. The wind always plays a huge part on the balance around the whole circuit. It’s kind of like Indianapolis. Every time you hit the track you watch the wind, because you know that’s going to play a big effect on your car’s balance from corner to corner. I like that.”

What are your personal highlights from Sebring? Was it winning your class with Level 5 Motorsports?

“Winning (P2 with Level 5 Motorsport in 2013) was really cool. But I’d say racing the [Penske Racing Porsche] RS Spyder was the highlight. Those cars were incredible around that place, back in ‘07 and ’08. The downforce those cars had was just super exciting and very fast. We didn’t manage to win in that car – we had mechanical issues.”

What are your plans for the remainder of the season?

“After Sebring, the plan is for me to be at Road Atlanta for Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda – the team will probably do the Sahlen’s Six Hours of Watkins Glen with only two drivers. It’s tough trying to find something for the Indy 500, there aren’t really many teams out there with sponsorship that can offer much. I’m going to keep working on it, and hopefully something comes together for the 500. It’s definitely something I’d like to have on my schedule this year.”