News Director 
Story By: IMSA – SEBRING, FL – It was a day of firsts at Sebring International Raceway for British racing driver Alex Lynn. Before Thursday’s first day of a two-day IMSA-sanctioned test at the site of next month’s 65th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida, Lynn never had driven the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R he will share with 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona winners Jordan and Ricky Taylor.
He’d also never driven before at Sebring International Raceway. In fact, it was Lynn’s “first time even driving on a racetrack in America, actually,” he said. It wasn’t a bad day for a first timer, as Lynn was the sixth-quickest driver of the day with a best lap of 1 minute, 51.013 seconds (121.2 mph).
He was just 1.254 seconds off the quickest time of the day, a lap of 1:49.759 by Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, and less than a second off Jordan Taylor’s best time in the car.
“There were a lot of new things for me to learn today,” Lynn said. “I think we had a really positive day today. I’ve learned a lot from the engineering team and also Jordan. He’s obviously been a really great teammate for me today. We were going through a lot of stuff and trying to put in some good lap times.”
Testing responsibilities in the No. 10 machine were handled exclusively by Lynn and Jordan Taylor on Thursday, as Ricky Taylor was on the road course at Homestead-Miami Speedway testing 2016 IndyCar Series champion Simon Pagenaud’s Chevrolet IndyCar for Team Penske. The elder Taylor will be back in the sports car cockpit at Sebring on Friday.
Beyond learning the Cadillac DPi and the Sebring circuit, Lynn also is adapting to sports car racing as a whole. The bulk of his experience to this point has been spent in open-wheel race cars. He spent the last two years racing in the GP2 series – which is recognized as a stepping stone for Formula 1 – amassing 42 starts, five victories and two pole positions.
“I think, actually, in this new generation of the Prototype category here in IMSA, it relates quite nicely, because they’re obviously really powerful cars with high downforce,” Lynn said. “It’s more coming into that trend of a real open-wheel spec kind of car or even an LM P1-type car. I feel like my experience there has helped me.”
Lynn also has been getting acquainted with his new teammates, who have a bit of a reputation for being pranksters with new teammates. He reports that, thus far, he has managed to avoid any rookie hazing.
“Not yet,” Lynn said. “Although I met the most famous dog in motor racing the other day (Jordan Taylor’s golden-doodle named Fonzie). We’ve had a lot of fun.”
CORVETTE RACING NO. 4 LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK FROM DAYTONA, REPEAT LAST YEAR’S SUCCESS AT SEBRING
At this time last year, each driver of the No. 4 Corvette Racing team rolled into Sebring with a brand new Rolex watch after winning one of the most thrilling battles in Rolex 24 history over their teammates in the No. 3.
This year is a bit of a different story.
At this year’s Rolex 24, the No. 4 of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fassler suddenly stopped on track before the halfway mark of the race after making contact with another car.
“Everywhere you look, there’s strength and depth, so you know you have to execute every single weekend,” said Gavin at today’s test session, which is mandatory for all GT Le Mans (GTLM) cars. “Coming off the back of a difficult one at Daytona, we know there’s very little margin for error now for the rest of our year. We got a ninth place there, which is certainly not what we wanted, particularly after what happened last year. But we’re here refreshed and rejuvenated and ready to take on the challenge.”
Sebring may be one of the best places for the No. 4 to get its momentum back on track. Last year, the team took home a victory at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and established their dominance in the GTLM class after back-to-back victories.
“It’s funny coming back here as defending champions,” Gavin said. “We’re there to be knocked off our perch, really. It’s always a tough and challenging place to come here to Sebring, whether it’s the circuit or the competition or the weather or certain circumstances, and I think we saw all of those last year. Without a doubt, there’s always luck. I think last year, we proved that we made our own luck quite a few times so we just have to rediscover that mojo.”
Gavin also explained how Corvette Racing may have an advantage over teams with drivers who have never competed in the Sebring race.
“It’s not until you’ve done the race that you see how it’s going to evolve and fall in front of you,” he said. “Maybe some of the newer guys here are being told that you’ve got to be patient, let the race come to you a little bit. But until you’ve actually done it and seen it with your own eyes, you may just not believe it and press on like it’s a twelve-hour sprint race. Sometimes that little extra experience and knowledge can ultimately turn the race in your favor.
“These things can often take twists and turns,” Gavin continued. You’ve just got to keep your head down, stay focused, and keep believing that you can win. That’s what Corvette Racing has been so great about for so many years and it’s why we’ve been successful for so long.”
THURSDAY TESTING NOTES
Risi Competizione will have a special guest behind the wheel of its No. 62 Ferrari 488 on Friday at Sebring. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya is expected to run somewhere around 10 laps in the car. The Colombian racer expressed an interest in driving a GT car and was invited by team owner Guiseppe Risi to come to Sebring and run a few laps. … Recent Rolex 24 At Daytona GT Le Mans (GTLM) class winner Dirk Mueller posted the fastest lap of the day in class, posting a best lap of 1:58.894. Colin Braun was quickest in the GT Daytona class at 2:02.691 in the No. 54 CORE autosport Porsche 911 GT3 R, while Chuck Quinton claimed the quickest time in the Prototype Challenge (PC) class in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport ORECA FLM09. Quinton’s best time was a 1:56.120. … Testing continues at Sebring on Friday with a pair of WeatherTech Championship sessions. The first begins at 8 a.m. ET and runs until 12:00 Noon, followed by a second and final session from 1 to 5 p.m. ET. The test is open to the public.
