USC – Corvette avoided trouble at the 24 Hours of Daytona

Corvette Racing scored its first success yesterday at the 24 Hours of Daytona (Florida) for 14 years. If this victory only counts for the GTLM, it comes only a year after the arrival of the C7R. If the two cars entered were able to fight for first place, it was the No. 3 of Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe who was the first to cross the finish line.

“I've been coming here since 2005 and I wasn't a big fan until now”, recognized Ryan Briscoe at the end of the event. “This race is so difficult. I was talking about it with Jan (Magnussen) just before: this is the first time we have finished this race without having to go through the garage. I think that's what counted the most in this success. There was constant action. It was a sprint race from start to finish. »

The outcome of the battle with the #4 Team RLL BMW Z25 driven by Dirk Werner, Augusto Farfus, Bill Auberlen and Bruno Spengler remained undecided until the checkered flag, with the incessant interruptions of the race constantly closing the positions. “This victory was hard to come by”, added Jan Magnussen. “I tried my luck eleven times. I felt like I always had the chance to win, but we had to go to the garage every time to fix something. The car was very fast and we were able to attack. We stayed on the track avoiding problems and making no mistakes, not damaging the car and making some great stops. »

Corvette No. 4 simon pagenaud, Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin completed the podium behind the Team RLL BMW after losing four laps in the pits following damage to the front.

Discover the report of the 24 Hours of Daytona produced by our special correspondent in Florida in issue 1996 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version and on newsstands from Wednesday.