Corvette Racing C8.R Wins 2021 GTLM Championship at Road Atlanta!
Being able to walk away after a 110 mph crash is a testament to the strength and safety engineered into every C8.
Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor have given Team Corvette their 14th championship season, but a series of unfortunate events forced both C8.R teams to hang it up before the checkered flag.
Being so far ahead in points, #3 secured the 2021 season by taking the green flag in the opening lap. Unfortunately, the 10-hour race was cut short by a bottleneck of slower traffic that resulted in Taylor receiving the hardest hit of his career. Being able to walk away after a 110 mph crash is a testament to the strength and safety engineered into every C8.
So thankful to everyone at Pratt & Miller, Corvette, and Chevrolet for building such a strong C8.R. Definitely a bit sore today, but just being able to walk away from that crash speaks volumes to the strength and safety of the Corvette. pic.twitter.com/HDzFUkl76t
— Jordan Taylor (@jordan10taylor) November 14, 2021
In an interview with IMSA.com, Taylor said: “Definitely a scary moment when you come over the crest in fifth gear and everyone is stopped. The stack-up effect is always there in (Turns) 10A and 10B; it was just way more extreme today.” The race saw 10 cautions with temperatures hovering in the low 40s.
While 3# was being loaded for the drive home, hope for a podium finish focused everyone’s attention to car #4, driven by Nick Tandy, Alexander Sims, and Tommy Milner. A worthy car until the end, they traded paint with a Mazda prototype with 15 minutes left on the clock. Going for the inside line, the Mazda hit with enough force to destroy the front suspension. Next year the team will run car #64 in the World Endurance Championship, where they are hoping to run alongside #3 at Le Mans.
It wouldn’t be GTLM racing without a battle with Porsche, and both examples of the 911 RSR were fielded by WeatherTech. Cars #79 and #97 fought against each other after the Corvettes retired, earning 1st and 2nd for the day. GTD top-honors went to Aston-Martin, with #23 “Heart of Racing” Vantage GT4.
Earning back-to-back championships in the C8.R proves the potency of the 5.5-liter flat-plane beast. It will have to be de-tuned to meet the new class rules, along with a completely new aero package. Adding production-car feature like ABS and losing a decent amount of downforce will be a challenge for drivers and engineers alike, so we’ll see you at Daytona in January.
Photos: IMSA.com & Corvette Racing via Twitter