Corvette wins in Mid-Ohio Alms

The GT1 class in the Mid-Ohio Acura Sports Car Challenge witnessed the sixth 2007 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) victory in seven races for Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta. While fortune reigned on the ‘two Ollies’ and No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R, the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R of Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen was a magnet for misfortune. O'Connell had to start at the back of the pack after a technical infraction in qualifying, and Magnussen was later spun by a prototype and effectively eliminated from contention.

Gavin and Beretta's 28-second victory over their teammates extended their lead in the GT1 championship to 36 points with five races remaining. Both Corvettes completed 125 laps around the 2.25-mile Mid-Ohio circuit, finishing 11th and 12th overall. Beretta extended his record for ALMS career victories to 34, while Gavin scored his 25th ALMS win.

“We seem to be on a bit of a roll here, and I'm extremely happy to have my sixth win of the season,” said Gavin. “The traffic today was difficult, but most of the drivers were giving people room to race. The team did a fantastic job, and we gained time on every pit stop. I hope to keep this momentum going. Johnny and Jan have had appalling luck in the last few races, but it will surely turn around for them and they'll have their days.”

Gavin started 16th on the grid, while O'Connell was relegated to 26th after officials disallowed his qualifying time. But O'Connell gained ground quickly, moving up 13 positions in the first two laps and pulling to within seven seconds of Gavin.

“It's always a good battle between the two Corvettes, but it's tough when you have to start the race in Siberia,” O'Connell quipped. “I made up some positions at the start, but the closest I got was seven seconds. It's a shame that we weren't able to give the crew the winning record they deserve because nobody works harder than they do.”

After the first round of pit stops and driver changes at the 56-minute mark, Beretta had a 12-second lead in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R over Magnussen in the No. 3 Corvette C6.R. Magnussen reduced the gap to 2.5 seconds before fate intervened.

“One of the prototype cars tried to pass me around the outside in the second-to-last corner, but he didn’t manage to get past me,” Magnussen recalled. “Then in the next corner he was on the inside coming up into the front straight, but I didn't see him before he spun me around.”

“Had it not been for the unfortunate coming together with the No. 26 prototype, I think we would have seen another great battle as both Corvette C6.Rs performed flawlessly,” noted Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan.