Corvette Racing’s assault on the Rolex 24 is down to one car after overheating issues took reigning ALMS champs Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia out of the race.

Teamed with Ryan Briscoe, the No.3 machine enjoyed a strong race after starting from the rear of the grid – leading the race on several occasions. However an overheating issue took the car back to the paddock for several visits before the team were forced to withdraw from the race.

“This definitely wasn’t the result everyone was looking for,” Magnussen said.

“All in all, the car was quite fast. We weren’t the fastest car out there but a podium was definitely in the cards. I feel really sorry for all the guys who worked so hard to get us here. We will come back to Sebring stronger.”

The Dane was stunning in the opening hour of the race, moving through from the back of the grid to be right on the tail on his GTLM rivals.

“For sure. For me the opening stint was about me staying out of trouble and trying to make up as much of the ground as possible,” he said.

“I really thought I would get by all the GT Daytona cars and then have a big gap up to the GTLM cars but it wasn’t that big when I finally came through. I thought I needed a safety car to bunch everyone up but we were right there at the end of my first double-stint.

“After that, we all had a good couple of stints to get into the lead. It all went downhill from there, unfortunately. It’s a new car with a ton of potential. We are just scratching the surface. It already is a great car. We just need to iron out the bugs.”

Unlike last year when Magnussen and Garcia didn’t score points at Sebring, the duo will at least be credited with points this year under the new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship structure.