SEBRING - Endurance races are, after all, about enduring, and a day that began with great promise for Corvette Racing ended early on Saturday when the No. 4 retired with clutch problems just three hours, 12 minutes into the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Oliver Gavin eclipsed the GTS class lap record 16 times in his first 25 trips around the 3.7-mile Sebring International Raceway course, including a 1:57.167 that quickly atoned for a poor 39th-place start. Gavin passed 18 cars on the first lap and improved to 15th overall by the time he passed the car to co-driver Olivier Beretta.
The No. 4 was second in its class at the 2:31 mark when driver Jan Magnussen was bumped from behind by Rob Barff in the No. 22 Dallara/Judd V10 (Prototype 1 class) and skidded off Turn 16. Twenty minutes later, after a pit stop and driver change, the car rolled to a stop alongside the course and another 20 minutes later was retired.
TWO TOUGH: Seven Prototype 2 cars started but just three were still running with an hour to go.
Jeff Bucknum led the small field 6:46 into the race when the entire rear bodywork peeled off his No. 56 Pilbeam MP91/Nissan. He struggled to the pits, where his team taped the car together and sent him back onto the track, still leading the class.
Bucknum encountered trouble immediately, however, when his right rear tire went down, likely from loose metal, and he retired with four hours left after completing 181 laps.
TROUBLES MOUNT: If only Duncan Dayton's team radio had not gone out at the 2-hour, 30-minute mark he could have shared with his crew all the problems his No. 37 Lola B160/Judd Prototype 1 was having.
It all started when the paddle shift, which allows drivers to switch gears on the steering wheel, became balky, forcing him to shift manually.
"(The process) is slower and creates blisters on your hands," he said. "When I got in, I got a stop-and-go penalty for speeding on pit road because of the shifting problem. The third thing is we went to a softer compound of tires, and they last one lap and then you have to let them cool down. Then you can get another good lap in before you have to back off again."
The team rallied back into the top 10 by the time darkness fell.
PLUGS: Tom Weickardt was treated and released from a local medical center after colliding with a tire wall in his Dodge Viper GTS-3 late in the afternoon. ... Allan McNish gave Michelin tires 1,500 consecutive laps led 1:09 into the race behind the wheel of the No. 28 Audi Prototype 1. The record dates to 1999. ... Heat and sickness took a toll, as Jorg Bergmeister bowed out after nine hours, forcing his two teammates to finish the race in the No. 23 Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Marc Lieb also retired from the No. 24 Porsche 911.
