After suffering heartache at Mosport when a broken gearbox pushed them out of the championship lead, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner bounced back at Mid-Ohio today to take the GT win and bounce back to the top of the points table.

In a three-way battle between the two Corvettes and the Flying Lizard Porsche of Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister – Milner pitted one lap prior to Long and Antonio Garcia during the driver changes.

With a lap under his belt on his new Michelins, Gavin was able to pounce on Jan Magnussen and Joerg Bergmeister on their first lap out of the pits on cold tires to grab the lead.

“I had one lap on my new tires, and I caught Jan going into Turn 2,” Gavin said.

“My crew chief radioed that Joerg was on cold tires and told me to go for it! Last year I passed him around the outside into Turn 4, and I did the same again. I thought I could pull it off, and I’m so pleased that I did.

“At the end of the race, there wasn’t much between us and I got caught up in some traffic.

“It was tough, and those last few laps were really hard. I’m thrilled with the result and what it means for the championship. This is exactly what we needed after a couple of difficult races.”

Gavin and Milner have now scored three wins this season – Long Beach, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and today at Mid-Ohio.

With four races remaining, the UK/US duo now are in a strong position at the top of the points table – a dream position for Milner who joined the team last year.

“I had a great start – I’d like to say that I planned it, but it was more about being in the right spot at the right time,” Milner said.

“I gained three spots and then the Corvette crew did a great job with the first pit stop. That was a brilliant call that put me ahead of the BMW. I ran down the No. 45 Porsche, but just couldn’t get close enough to pull off a pass. I tried on the restart on Turn 2 and got alongside him, but couldn’t make it stick.

“The pit stop and Oliver’s out-lap made the difference. The stop was flawless and that got us ahead of the No. 3 Corvette, and then the No. 45 Porsche. It was a perfect day from the crew – the right calls and flawless execution.”

Michelin Alley talked to Gavin after the race today.