SAM MCEACHERN
Corvette Racing has revealed its complete driver lineup for the 2020 racing season after confirming Marcel Fässler and Nicky Catsburg as its third drivers for endurance events.
Fässler will remain in the No. 4 Corvette, racing alongside long-time teammates Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin. More changes have happened over in the No. 3 car, with Jordan Taylor replacing Jan Magnussen and Catsburg, a former BMW factory driver, replacing Mike Rockenfeller.
The team was left searching for a new third driver for the No. 3 car after it was revealed Rockenfeller’s DTM commitments would clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Catsburg has competed in the Blancpain GT Series and World Touring Car Championship in the past and drove for BMW in the FIA WEC’s GTE Pro class in 2018 and 2019. BMW elected to pull the plug on its GTE Pro program at the conclusion of the season, however, leaving the Dutchman open for Le Mans and other endurance events such as the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring.
This won’t be the first time Catsburg will have raced a Corvette. He also drove Selleslagh Racing Team’s Corvette C6.R GT1 for part of the 2011 GT1 World Championship season and tested the Corvette C7.R at the 2016 Le Mans Test Day.
“I am extremely happy to be joining Corvette Racing,” he said. “Ever since I drove the Corvette C6.R in 2011 and the C7.R in 2016 at the Le Mans Test Day, I had this dream of one day joining the factory effort. Corvette is an iconic brand which has been showing great results throughout the years. I have always looked up to the team while racing against them in some of the IMSA races I did. The driver lineups have traditionally been extremely strong and consistent, to now be able to be a part of that makes me really proud.”
Corvette Racing also announced this week that it would field a single entry in the upcoming FIA WEC round at Circuit of the Americas in February. The last time the American team competed at COTA was in 2014, when it entered a car for the all-American lineup of Tommy Milner, Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor. The team has not announced its driver lineup for the 2020 COTA event.
The team participated in one-off FIA WEC events last year, as well, turning up at the 1000 Miles of Sebring and 6 Hours of Shanghai with a single car, though neither of those efforts produced notable results.
Driver changes aren’t the only thing in store for Chevrolet‘s factory race team in 2020. Corvette Racing will also field its new mid-engine Corvette C8.R next year, as well, which features a new 5.5-liter DOHC flat plane crank V8 engine and X-Trac transaxle. It will also run different liveries on its No. 3 and No. 4 cars, with the No. 3 car staying yellow and the No. 4 car now silver with yellow accents.
Source: Sam McEachern; GM Authority