The No. 36 Corvette Racing GT3.R came out swinging at Long Beach before contact knocked it to the back of the field. It didn’t stay there long, though, as the team rallied it back to a season-best finish.
That No. 36 Vette GT3.R was tag-teamed by drivers Robert Wickens and Mason Filippi. Wickens, who is paraplegic, utilizes adaptive driving tech in his Corvette Racing machine, including a Bosch electronic braking system and hand controls. Wickens nabbed the GTD pole position in Friday’s qualifying session, and kept that race car out front for his entire 25-lap stint.
“To be honest, that was a fairy-tale stint,” Wickens said of his drive. “The Corvette Z06 GT3.R was just so nice to drive around this track. Every lap is a dream.”
When Wickens swapped the controls to Filippi, things went south for the Corvette Racing team. A series of full-course cautions and subsequent restarts spelled trouble for the No. 36 Vette, which took damage from contact with competitors. However, Filippi was able to weave his way back toward the front and even battled for a top five finish before ultimately coming home sixth.
“It’s a bummer, you know, for the team,” lamented Filippi. “They did a fantastic job this weekend. We’ll get it. It is what it is, but go to the next one and aim for the front again.”
The No. 81 Corvette of Giacomo Altoé and Henrik Hedman came home in 12th, just ahead of the No. 13 Corvette Racing duo of Matt Bell and Orey Fidani. Currently, Fidani retains his lead in the season-long Bob Akin award, which is awarded to the highest points-scoring Bronze rated driver at the end of the season.
“We want more, but there are positives to take from this race,” said Altoe. “The pace was very strong during my stint; I was able to get back onto the lead lap and make some overtakes. I had a really good feeling behind the wheel.”
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