No. 3 Corvette Racing Team Gets Breathing Room in GTLM Championship Race

Following the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park two weeks ago, which was the second consecutive GT Le Mans (GTLM) class victory for No. 25 BMW Team RLL co-drivers Bill Auberlen and Alexander Sims, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship class point standings had tightened up considerably.

Leading the way, as they had been since claiming their second victory of the season in the Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown at Circuit of The Americas, were No. 3 Corvette Racing teammates Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia. However, the Corvette duo’s lead was reduced to just three points over surging BMW M6 GTLM co-drivers Auberlen and Sims.

Coming out of last Saturday’s Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, however, Garcia and Magnussen managed to expand their lead. The No. 3 Corvette C7.R co-drivers now have a seven-point lead over the No. 25 BMW teammates.

Garcia and Magnussen finished fourth and earned an extra point for turning the race’s fastest lap at Lime Rock, but found themselves battling a different BMW this time around, the No. 24 M6 GTLM pair of Martin Tomczyk and John Edwards, who finished third. Auberlen and Sims, meanwhile, struggled somewhat and finished sixth in the race, which featured the GTLM class as the headliners.

“The points situation was in my mind at the end,” Garcia said. “I fought hard to get by the No. 24 car, but I also knew that wasn’t the car we are fighting in the championship. There were some moments where he cut me off late and almost spun himself out.

“Luckily, nothing happened. I tried everything I could. Their car for sure was out of tires at the end and the car was very wide. The way the strategy worked, we had better tires on lighter fuel. I’m very happy with today. A podium was possible, but we did all we could. It is great to get the fastest lap and the bonus point. Having that made me think a little bit about how aggressive I needed to be at the end.”