Corvette Racing’s Return to 24 Hours of Le Mans Has ‘Weird’ Feel to It
Last year marked the end of Corvette Racing’s run of 20 consecutive years and eight wins at Le Mans that started in 2000.
Although the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R is new at Le Mans, it has a raced in Europe. Corvette Racing ran a single mid-engine Corvette in the Six Hours of Spa in May.
The team’s lineup for Le Mans shows Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia pairing with part-timer Nicky Catsburg in the No. 63, with the No. 64 piloted by Tommy Milner, Alexander Sims and Nick Tandy, the former Porsche ace.
When Corvette Racing decided not to attend the 24 Hours of Le Mans last season because of COVID and IMSA scheduling issues, it crippled, to some extent, Americans’ interest in the race—only a handful of U.S. racers participated last season, and it seems even fewer are making the trip this year.
It Corvette Racing ended a run of 20 consecutive years and eight wins at Le Mans that started in 2000. And missing 2020 also meant that the new mid-engine Corvette C8.R wouldn’t get an important global showcase.
But Corvette is back, and looking for victory number nine. The race, set for August 21-22 around the 8.4-mile circuit that is a mix of permanent racetrack and public roads, will see the two Corvette Racing entries taking on seven other entries in the GTE Pro class.
Corvette Racing didn’t get an opportunity to show off its C8.R last year on the streets of Le Mans. Gavin Baker
Although the C8.R is new at Le Mans, it has a raced in Europe. Corvette Racing ran a single mid-engine Corvette in the Six Hours of Spa in May with Antonio Garcia and Oliver Gavin, giving the team experience with a different set of rules than in IMSA—mainly pit stop sequences, yellow-flag strategies and other sporting situations.
“It’s going to be nice going back after a few years off,” said driver Jordan Taylor, who returned to the Corvette stable last year, coming from Prototypes. “But for the team after having missed the race last year for the first time in so long is going to feel weird. Everyone lives for that event. It’s the biggest event for the team and in sports car racing. Having missed last year is going to make everyone want to win it that much more and get back there as fast as possible.
Jordan Taylor, left, and Antonio Garcia, right, are heading back to France to start a new streak for Corvette Racing. Richard Dole
“Having to watch Le Mans on TV isn’t the easiest thing,” said Taylor, coming off a 2021 Rolex 24 win. “As a kid watching it, it’s an amazing race and you grow to love it and want to be there one day. Once you get there the magnitude of the event, the people, the fans, the atmosphere… it’s like no other race. So when you get that feeling and emotion, you don’t want to lose it. So then when you have to watch it again on TV during on the years you can’t make it, it makes you miss it that much more and be that much more motivated to go back and be competitive.”
“It always is nice to go back somewhere when you’ve been away for a year. So it’s great to be back at Le Mans,” said Antonio Garcia, Taylor’s teammate in the No. 63. “One of last year’s biggest disappointments was not going to Le Mans. Conditions were what they were. We couldn’t go with the schedule shuffling, and in the end it wasn’t possible to go. It would have been beneficial. That knowledge of the C8.R around Le Mans would be an advantage going into this year’s race. But we can overcome that. Even this is our first time there with this car, we’ve done many races in IMSA with the C8.R. There are a lot of laps and miles already on it.”
“Everyone lives for that event.”
The new car “should be better (than previous generations) and that’s what we expect. We saw at Spa that we were close to our competitors. So it was good event for the team to get used to WEC rules and strategy. Now once we get to Le Mans, it should be an easier time to get into that mindset having been through it before.”
Taylor and Garcia join part-timer Nicky Catsburg in the No. 63, with the No. 64 piloted by Tommy Milner, Alexander Sims and Nick Tandy, the former Porsche ace.
The green flag drops at 10 a.m. ET August 21. MotorTrend TV will air the race live with the MotorTrend App adding coverage of official practices and qualifying on Aug. 18 and 19. Live audio coverage will be available from Radio Le Mans starting with this Sunday’s Test Day.
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Allure of Le Mans Draws Era Motorsport Back for Another Try
When Ryan Dalziel first raced at Le Mans in 2010, he was already familiar with Tertre Rouge. And the Porsche Curves. And Steve McQueen.
That’s because he watched films about the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the flight from the U.S. to France. He saw “Le Mans” with McQueen. He watched “24 Hour War.” He watched James Garner’s “Grand Prix.”
All at the request of team owner Bill Riley.
“He made me watch all the Le Mans movies on the way over there, even down to the Audi ‘Truth in 24’ movie,” Dalziel recalled. “By the time I got there, I was excited and nervous. A little bit of a history lesson is important to know exactly how cool it is to go do it.”
Cool, indeed. Dalziel is preparing for his seventh effort at Circuit de la Sarthe, the 8.467-mile course that will host the 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend. He’s part of IDEC Sport’s combined effort with Era Motorsport and co-drivers Dwight Merriman and Thomas Laurent in the No. 17 IDEC ORECA 07 in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class.
Eleven years later, Le Mans still holds the same magic.
“There are certain parts of my career that will be etched in my brain for history,” Dalziel said. “Going under the tunnel at Daytona for the first time. Driving at Indy for the first time. Laguna Seca. These are all things that stay in there. But I think Le Mans as an event – every single part of it, including the race – is special.”
Jordan Taylor will wear Dale Earnhardt tribute helmet during the 24 Hours of Le Mans
When he straps on his helmet for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, Jordan Taylor will be thinking of Dale Earnhardt – just as he does heading into the Rolex 24 at Daytona every year.
The co-driver of the No. 3 Corvette has heard the legendary stories for a decade from veterans Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim about “The Intimidator’s” lone start in the 2001 Rolex 24, and one tale (even if it might be apocryphal) is his favorite.
When the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion whipped his yellow Corvette Racing GT around the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, Earnhardt somehow managed to illuminate the rev limiter on the car’s dashboard while running alone – a feat that his highly accomplished teammates could achieve only by drafting off the slipstream of another car.
It was an affirmation of Earnhardt’s uncanny ability to harness Daytona’s finicky aerodynamics whether he was manhandling through a pack of stock cars or gracefully navigating a racing line with the precision of a sleek sports car.
“He was doing something around the oval that us road course guys just didn’t know,” Taylor told NBC Sports with a sense of wonder. “The first time I heard it in 2011, I thought it was the craziest thing.
“There are still those myths inside our team that he was doing something around turns 3 and 4 and into the trioval that set him apart. He only did one race with the team, and they still talk about it to this day. I can respect what kind of man he was to keep that legacy. I think about it every single year when I go to Daytona.”
(Jamey Price)
When the three-time Rolex 24 winner (including overall titles in 2017 and ’19) hops a Wednesday flight to France, he will be thinking again of Earnhardt – and ensuring “The Man in Black” also is remembered by everyone watching one of the biggest races in the world.
Taylor, 30, will race the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a black replica helmet with the logos of GM Racing, Chevrolet, Goodwrench Service Plus and Snap-on branding that became synonymous with Earnhardt and his famous No. 3 Chevy.
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“He’s ‘The Intimidator,’ and I honestly feel a little bit intimidated to wear it,” Taylor said with a laugh. “Because it is his look. It’s who he is. It’s what everyone knew when they looked at the TV. He had an open-faced helmet, so you could see who he was, but I think even if you saw the back quarter of the helmet with just these logos, you knew it was Dale Sr. and ‘The Intimidator.’
“I’m really looking forward to it. I know the NASCAR community will love to see it come back, and I know the sports car racing community, especially in France, they’re a really motorsports-driven community, and I know they’ll love it.”
Jordan Taylor kneels beside the No. 3 Corvette with his Dale Earnhardt tribute helmet (Jamey Price).
The design, which also will include a stylized No. 3 on the front and back, will blend with Taylor’s regular helmet (which features a “J” with stars). It was created by Savage Designs of Melbourne, Florida, and owner Mike Savage “probably painted the helmet three or four times to get it how we wanted it,” Taylor said. “I think it came out really well. The few people I’ve shown it to in person have loved it, so I think the people in France will really respond to it well.”
Because he wanted the logos to reflect their 1990s origins, Taylor cleared the helmet with GM Racing and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was the first person texted by Taylor when the project began two months ago.
Earnhardt Jr. immediately replied “This is gonna be awesome” and offered help to ensure the helmet’s historical accuracy and legitimacy.
(Jamey Price)
“He was obviously the first guy I asked to make sure he was OK with me doing the helmet, and he was super excited,” Taylor said of Earnhardt Jr. “Which was really cool. He’s a busy guy and has a lot more important things to do. So it was nice he spent all the time. I texted (an image) during one of the broadcasts, and he texted me back during a commercial break to say, ‘Yeah, this looks accurate. It looks good!’ I really appreciated that.”
The 2001 Rolex 24 was one of Earnhardt’s last races before he was killed two weeks later in a last-lap crash at the Daytona 500. Earnhardt Jr. co-drove in the 2001 Rolex 24 with his father and has kept a street model replica of the No. 3 Corvette (his father was due a matching version).
“This is a bit of a symbolic piece for me,” Earnhardt Jr. said during a 2019 episode of the NASCAR on NBC Podcast. “Something that we did together at the end of his life. I only have a handful of cars to my name, and there’s only one or two that I will never ever get rid of, and this is one of them. I’ll always have this. … It means more to me now than I ever thought it would. When we decided to have these cars made, I didn’t know Dad was going to be taken from us just a short time later.”
(Jamey Price)
Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins pose before the 2001 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona (Jon Ferrey /Allsport).
Taylor, who has watched videos of the Earnhardts’ interviews from the 2001 Rolex 24, can relate to family bonds as the son of the team owner for three of the past four Rolex 24 victories. Jordan and Wayne Taylor raced together once in the Rolex 24 in 2014.
“That was my only chance to drive with my dad,” Jordan Taylor said. “I think the 2001 Rolex was (Earnhardt Jr.’s) only chance to be his dad’s teammate. Watching all the old footage and seeing Dale Jr. racing at the same time is really cool to see they were racing against each other. It’s something I didn’t get to do as a driver, but I think it was really special to be a driver’s son and talk back and forth with Dale Jr. about what it’s like.”
The Earnhardt helmet tribute for Le Mans also is special because the No. 3 C8.R Corvette also won the GTLM class of this year’s Rolex 24 with Taylor and co-drivers Antonio Garcia and Nicky Catsburg.
“The pass that won us the race was a side draft and get to the lead into the trioval, so it was kind of a NASCAR-style win,” Taylor said. “We are in the 3 car, it’s a Corvette, and it’s Daytona. It was his playground. I think anytime we have those sorts of moments, you think of that history and what he was able to do.”
The No. 3 Corvette GTS that finished second in class and fourth overall at the 2001 Rolex 24 at Daytona (Jonathan Ferrey/ALLSPORT).
Taylor is expecting the same appreciation for his Earnhardt helmet in France from the Le Mans fans, who enthusiastically greeted his 2012 debut.
“I was a 21-year old American driver who hadn’t done much in his career, and tons of people knew who I was and had pictures printed out of me from go-karts,” said Taylor, who will be making his seventh 24 Hours of Le Mans start in the Aug. 21-22 race. “Things I’d never see at an American racetrack. Their heritage and lineage to American motorsport is really special and deep. Not just sports car racing and Formula One, they follow NASCAR and motorsport as a whole.
Jordan Taylor holds his Dale Earnhardt tribute helmet that he will race with at Le Mans (Jamey Price).
“An icon like a Dale Sr. that really changed the sport as a whole, everyone is going to know about. When they see the helmet, they’ll understand, especially when they associate it with the No. 3 and a Corvette. They’ll know the whole package.”
They also will witness a ceremonial closing of the loop in Earnhardt’s illustrious Hall of Fame career. Corvette Racing had mapped out the logistical framework for having Earnhardt race at Le Mans. “Going to Le Mans was going to be like the pinnacle for (Earnhardt),” former program manager Doug Fehan told NBC Sports in 2019. “It was his dream.”
Earnhardt Jr. has said he is “absolutely 100 percent sure” his father would have raced in the 24-hour sports car classic, meaning Taylor symbolically will be carrying the torch to the finish for an auto racing icon with the ‘Imitator of The Intimidator’ helmet.
“It’s kind of scary to think of that way,” Taylor said. “At the same time, I’m very honored to take a piece of his helmet and design, and hopefully we can do him proud and do Dale Jr. proud as well. His dad wasn’t able to go there in person, but I’m sure he was going to at some point in his career.
“I’m proud to be able to carry on that legacy to the finish line at Le Mans.”
Jordan Taylor strikes a Dale Earnhardt-style pose while wearing his No. 3 tribute helmet (Jamey Price).
Jordan Taylor will wear Dale Earnhardt tribute helmet during the 24 Hours of Le Mans originally appeared on NBCSports.com