Gavin and Beretta celebrate GT1 victory

While millions of Americans enjoyed an extended Fourth of July holiday weekend, Corvette Racing secured their latest 1-2 victory in the American Le Mans Series at the 1.54-mile Lime Rock Park circuit in Connecticut on July 7. Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta avoided heavy traffic on the congested road course and scored a 0.384-second victory over team mates Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen.

Gavin and Beretta completed 165 laps to win their fifth out of six ALMS races contested this season. “This is the smallest, narrowest, bumpiest and craziest track of the season,” said Gavin after notching his 25th career ALMS victory. “When you have the prototypes driving up behind you with a lot of pace on the straights and GT2 cars with great speed in the corners, you have to keep your wits about you all the time. It's very satisfying to come back to America and get a victory in our first race after Le Mans.”

Gavin and Beretta led the GT1 class from start to finish and the two Corvettes were never separated by more than a few seconds throughout the two-hour, 45-minute race. The starting grid was determined by practice times after rain cancelled qualifying and the race was interrupted by three full-course caution periods. By the end of the day, both Corvettes bore the scars of close-quarter combat. Despite the challenges, Beretta extended his record for career ALMS victories with his 33rd win and the ‘two Ollies’ now unofficially lead the GT1 drivers’ championship by 32 points. Corvette Racing have also posted their second 1-2 victory of the season, the first being at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.

“If you leave Lime Rock with both cars intact, it's been a successful weekend,” observed O'Connell. “We had a really good hot rod, both cars finished nose to tail, and the pit crews performed to the high standards that we're used to.”

Magnussen was happy to have survived his first race at Lime Rock Park. “The prototypes are dive bombing you all the time - most of the time you see them, but sometimes you don't,” said the Dane. “We got hit a couple of times, but nothing happened to my Corvette because it's a strong car. It's fun to drive here - but difficult to race.”

After the disappointment of finishing second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the flawless run at Lime Rock was tonic for the Corvette Racing team. “Too bad it wasn't like this at Le Mans,” said team manager Gary Pratt. “A great team just comes back and fights hard at the next race. Hats off to the engine guys, they did a great job this weekend. The pit stops were perfect and that's the way you wish every race would run.”