This being the first race for the C6.R we always knew there might be some unknowns regarding how the car would perform, and bearing in mind that it was not only the first race of the season, but also at Sebring, it was always going to be a challenge to achieve a favourable result. We never thought it was going to be quite as hard as it was though!

It all started off extremely well. I took the start and lead of the GT1 class but, about 15 laps into the race, I was hit from behind by Emmanuele Pirro in the Audi going into Turn 5. This didn't cause any damage but it spun me off into the sand, losing me all the advantage I'd gained over the Aston Martin which was in 2^nd position. A caution flag came out and I handed over the car to Olivier who did a great job getting us back into the lead, a position we held for the next 8 hours.

We were fast all week and Olivier, Jan and I all drove really well, largely staying out of trouble. The pace from the other cars in the GT1 class always pressed us but my car was always just that little bit quicker than they were and we managed to pull away at every opportunity. This resulted in us having a full lap lead over one of the Aston Martins by the 8^th hour.

Unfortunately this wasn't to last. After my 3^rd stint I handed over to Olivier and he'd been out on the track for about 40 minutes when he came into Turn 10 to pass a slower GT2 Porsche. He drove round the outside of that car and on the exit of the corner, the Porsche lost control and crashed into our car, pitching Olivier up into the air and into a big spin.

He fortunately managed to get the car back to the pits and the team did an amazing job fixing the car after the accident. It looked like the right rear suspension was deranged and it didn't look as though it was fixable but they once again performed a minor miracle and it then ran perfectly to the end. Just as it had done before the accident. During the extended pit stop for repairs we were lucky to benefit from a long caution period which meant we didn't lose as many laps as if it had been green for the entire time.

Thirty minutes before our problem our sister #3 car had a brake disc failure going into Turn 17, pitching Johnny O'Connell into a huge spin and into the tyres. Johnny was fine but the car was quite badly damaged so for at least an hour the Corvette Racing mechanics had their hands full with two very sick cars.

Despite all of this, it was an extremely impressive debut for the C6.R because we managed to finish with both cars on the podium (my car in 3^rd place). The two things that happened to the cars were freak occurences and, without both of those incidents, I know we would have run strongly through to GT1 victory at the end of the race.

Everyone has taken a lot of positives from this race because we'd run so competitively for so long so we are feeling confident for the rest of the season, and especially racing about the Aston Martins at Le Mans. It will definitely be a great battle.

For further media information contact Nick Moss at nick@olivergavin.com