The story of the weekend
• Oliver Gavin and Corvette Racing teammate Tommy Milner took victory at Road America (7 August, 2016).
• The win follows on from Corvette Racing celebrating its 100th victory last time out at Lime Rock
• Milner ran in fifth position in the closing stages before final caution. With five-minutes to go the race restart and he battled through to take a remarkable win
• This is Gavin’s fourth victory at Road America and the win extends his championship advantage to 13 points with three rounds remaining
Gavin says…
Those final few laps
“Those Crazy final laps. When the caution came out with 12 minutes to go we thought the race was over, little did we know.
“At the restart it was frantic and everyone seemed to press the self-destruct button. Tommy kept his cool, made the smart moves and worked his way up the order, we all watched on in amazement!
“The volume got louder and louder in the Corvette Racing pit and then when Tommy passed Richard for the lead everyone went crazy! A fantastic result.”
A big turnaround following qualifying
“We chased the setup most of the weekend. The car had a lot of oversteer in qualifying and also at the start of the race. The key point for our car was during the last pitstop.
“Chuck Houghton took the decision to make a pretty big aero change, the pressure was on the crew to execute this in a very short time frame but once again they did an immense job.
“The change transformed the car and Tommy was then able to attack and take the race to all our competitors. Once again, great teamwork.”
A great result on a sad weekend
“The result this weekend has helped lift the mood in the Gavin house. The break in happened at the start of the race weekend, it’s a horrible experience. I’m just happy that my family is safe and well. I’m now heading home to straighten things out.”
The title chase with just three rounds remaining
“With 30 minutes to go in the race the #67 car was leading and we were sixth. We were effectively tied on points at that moment. To then finish the way we did is huge for the title race for Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and Tommy and I.
“We’re now down to the last three races and we have a 13-point lead. It really is between the #67 and the #4, no one else is in touching distance. We haven’t always been the fastest but we’ve done the basics well, we’ve been smart and executed to the maximum. We have to keep doing what we are doing and keep the pressure up.
“If this race shows one thing, it’s that you should never give up!”