[1]Photo: American Le Mans Series [2]
The American Le Mans Series is thundering on, and what a season it has turned out to be for Corvette Racing [3]. The points race is as tight as it has ever been halfway through the season, and despite finishing on the podium in four of the last five races, Corvette Racing still shares the GT Class leaderboard with seven teams within 3 points of first place.
Thanks to the disqualification of the Flying Lizard Porsche team at this weekend’s Grand Prix at Mosport, the No. 3 Compuware Corvette of Corvette Racing driven by Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia finished in second place behind the No. 1 Ferrari. Flying Lizard Racing’s Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long were disqualified after a post-race inspection revealed technical infractions, moving the Ferrari and Corvette up the podium. This came after a long, wild race that saw Corvette, Ferrari, and Porsche battling for the top spot for most of the competition.
Corvette Racing was arguably the favorite going in, especially after the No. 3 car set a qualifying lap record at Canadian Motorsports Park. Throughout the 2-hours and 45-minute race, the Corvette driven by Magnussen and Garcia battled the Porsche and Ferrari teams for first place. Magnussen even led through the final lap, up until Johannes Van Overbeek, driving the No. 1 Ferrari, passed him in a corner on that last lap, coming in second place behind the Porsche that was later disqualified.
That second-place finish put the No. 3 Corvette of Magnussen and Garcia in a two-way tie with the No. 1 Ferrari team, with both teams banking 112 points. The No. 4 Corvette driven by Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner suffered a transmission malfunction, taking 20 minutes in the pits to replace the gearbox and relegating the other Corvette crew to 10th place. But the competition isn’t letting up halfway through the season, as there are seven other teams within 3 points of the lead.
That means there is literally no room for error as the Corvette Racing team moves forward. They’ll have to keep capturing podium finishes if they want a shot at the championship, though for the third race in a row the No. 3 Corvette won the Michelin Green X Challenge GT for using the least fuel and producing the fewest emissions during the race. No quite a checkered flag, but it is still another badge of honor for Corvette Racing, especially in a series like the ALMS that prides itself on its alternative-fuel cred.
The next ALMS race is scheduled for Saturday, August 4th at Mid-Ohio Motorsports Park.