On July 7, 2012, Corvette Racing came out of the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix with its best result at Lime Rock Park since 2008 as the twin Compuware Corvette C6.Rs finished second and third in the hard-fought GT class.
When the race ended under caution, Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia were second in the No. 3 Corvette C6.R. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner were third in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R at the conclusion of the two-hour, 45-minute race, scoring their fourth consecutive podium finish in the series and extending their lead in the GT championship.
Milner started the No. 4 Corvette C6.R on the GT pole after the No. 44 Porsche was disqualified for a technical infraction and the pole-winning No. 55 BMW had to start from pit lane due to a mechanical problem before the reconnaissance lap. Milner and Garcia pitted at the 20-minute mark for fuel under the race's first caution, and then ran long green-flag stints before pitting for tires, fuel, and driver changes after more than 90 minutes of racing.
"I felt confident at the start of the race, and I was ready to go," Milner said. "Then I had a bad restart after the first caution period. On this track, you have to pick a lane and hope that it works out. When my lane didn't go, I lost three or four spots. That's frustrating, but you just keep your head down and keep going. I got stuck behind a BMW for at least 15 laps, and when an LMPC spun in the chicane ahead of me, I locked up and touched him just a little bit. I think I flat-spotted the left-front tire and was just holding on after that."
Garcia started fourth on the revised GT grid, and used some opportunistic passes and savvy strategy to move up to second before handing off to Magnussen.
"At the start, the LMPC cars were having a hard time getting their tires up to temperature, so I just kept pushing like I was fighting for their positions, and that let me keep up with the leaders," Garcia said. "I was aggressive on the restart, and that gave us the opportunity to pass both the Ferrari and Tommy. I was right beyond Pat Long's (class-leading) Porsche, because at this track you need to be close in order not to lose momentum in traffic. Maybe I used up the left-front tire running so close to him, especially on the fast corners. That caused me a hard time when I needed to extend to extend my stint until the pit window opened."
The No. 3 Corvette C6.R won the Michelin Green X Challenge with the best score for clean, fast, and efficient performance. Gavin and Milner unofficially increased their tally in the GT driver championship to 72 points, ahead of Garcia and Magnussen at 64 and BMW drivers Hand and Mueller at 60. Chevrolet is atop the GT manufacturer standings with a 10-point lead over BMW and a 19-point margin over Porsche.
Corvette Racing's next event is the Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada on Sunday, July 22.