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[PICS] 2011 Petit Le Mans Corvette Racing Photo Gallery

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Camo:
In episode 4 of Corvette Racing’s Track to Street series, we follow the team to Long Beach, where the smallest mistake could take a team out of contention completely. The two-hour race is considered a sprint in comparison to the twelve-hour Sebring relay or the holy grail of all races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is next up on the schedule. Check out the ongoing battle that ensues on the all-concrete street course and see where the team ends up when all is said and done.


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Camo:





A Look Back at Corvette Racing’s Breakthrough Win in 2001

You never forget your first – especially when it’s the first win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Today Corvette Racing is recognized around the world as a powerhouse in international endurance racing, but a decade ago, the members of Chevrolet’s factory sports car team were innocents abroad.


Memories of that first Le Mans victory in 2001, contested in a wet and chaotic race, are etched in the minds of the men and women who were there. The lessons learned during that rain-soaked day and night of racing formed the foundation for Corvette Racing’s six GTS/GT1 class wins in the world’s most prestigious sports car race. On June 11-12, Corvette Racing will run for its seventh class title at Le Mans, and its first in the GTE Pro (formerly GT2) category.

Corvette Racing had launched an expeditionary force to Le Mans in 2000, a race contested in searing heat. The American team finished third and fourth, an auspicious result in its first foray to France. Corvette Racing returned in 2001 with updated Corvette C5-R race cars and a revised driver lineup. Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell and Scott Pruett piloted the No. 63 Corvette to victory in appalling conditions, while Andy Pilgrim, Kelly Collins, and Franck Freon were second in the No. 64 Corvette C5-R, giving Chevrolet the first of its four 1-2 finishes in the French classic. Fellows, O’Connell and Pruett finished eighth overall, equaling the performance of John Fitch and Bob Grossman in Briggs Cunningham’s iconic No. 3 Corvette in 1960.

“The race in 2000 was the hottest Le Mans on record,” said Fellows. “We were fast, we learned a ton, and we had a few mechanical gremlins to overcome. Then one year later, 2001 was one of the wettest races, and it was an adventure.

“One of the very few times I’ve been in an argument with (team manager) Gary Pratt was in the pits prior to the start of the race,” Fellows recalled. “Gary was adamant that I needed to start on slicks like everyone else, but I insisted that I wanted intermediates. I said, ‘I don’t care, I want ‘em.’ So the sister car started on slicks, and I was on intermediates.

“After the first three laps, the track was drying quickly, and I thought I’d made a huge mistake,” Fellows said with a laugh. “Suddenly coming around Arnage, I saw a wall of rain ahead of us. There was a monsoon coming out of the southwest, and cars were going off everywhere.

“The cars around me were floating and spinning, but I could still maneuver because I had grooved tires. Somehow I got through the chaos without getting hit, and we moved way up in the overall standings in first 20 minutes.”

Johnny O’Connell called on his previous experience at Le Mans to get him through the treacherous conditions. “I have a vivid memory of Le Mans in 2001, going out at night in the pouring rain,” O’Connell recalled. “I came out of Tertre Rouge at full chat, hit a puddle, went sideways, caught it, and wanted to lift. Then I said to myself, ‘They’re not paying you to lift, stay in it.’ The spray was blinding, and I drove through the night with one eye looking out the side window to find my braking points. That rainy night was phenomenal, scary, and exhilarating – a spectacular race.”

Fellows agreed: “The level of concentration required to race in the wet was just overwhelming,” said the Canadian ace. “None of us were physically tired, but we were mentally exhausted. The troughs in the pavement left by the heavy trucks on the public roads were filled with standing water, and the puddles were the biggest issue. The straights are normally a place you can relax, but just keeping the car on the road was a real challenge. I attempted slicks in the night, went out and came right back in. It was impossible.”

The Corvette team went to Le Mans riding a wave of confidence after a 1-2 finish and an overall victory in the season-opening Daytona 24-hour race.

“The team had an unbelievable air of confidence after the success that we had at Daytona,” O’Connell noted. “When everything is right in a team you feel it, and there was a very strong, positive energy. The curve ball was the ungodly amount of rain. We’d won in the rain in Daytona, so we knew we were good in the wet. I think everyone had faith that this race was going to come our way, and sure enough, it did.”

While the drivers were sanguine, program manager Doug Fehan had his doubts.

“In those days, we were using a conventional transmission mounted behind the engine, and its reliability was marginal with the horsepower we had,” Fehan revealed. “We were nervous about that. In addition, some type of harmonic vibration was destroying the starter motors; if the car spun and the engine stalled, there was a 50-50 chance that it wouldn’t restart. It was a huge issue.

“The rain worked to our advantage because the race pace was dramatically slower, which reduced the stress on the gearboxes. By the 20th hour, we had an insurmountable lead and a certain victory as long as the cars were running at the finish. We brought the cars in, went through the transmissions, dried out the starters, and sent them back out for the final hour. Then I had a moment of sheer panic when I was told that a GT car was ahead of us, but the officials reassured me that Corvette was still the leader in GTS.”

Another lesson learned was the importance of perfect execution in the pits.

“We missed an overall victory in Daytona by 32 seconds,” Fehan explained. “Thirty-two seconds is pretty easy to find in 24 hours, and not necessarily on the race track. It became vividly apparent that every movement in the pit lane had to be choreographed, every action needed to be as efficient as possible, because a 24-hour race can come down to just a few seconds.”

The team also gained an appreciation of the unique demands of the immense 8.5 mile Le Mans circuit.

“The Corvette C5-R had a fairly narrow body in 2000 – we had tremendous straight-line speed, but didn’t have the cornering and aerodynamic characteristics that come with a wide car,” Fellows noted. “We came back in 2001 with a wider body. The car had a little more drag but a much better aero platform. We were slower on the straights, but quicker overall in 2001.”

With its first Le Mans victory, Corvette Racing reached an objective that had been set years earlier.

“In 1997 I sat down with Herb Fishel, who was then the director of GM Racing, when he laid out his vision and outlined his plan to win Le Mans,” Fellows remembered. “Four years later it came to fruition. I’ll never forget standing on the victory podium in the rain, with throngs of people on the track. It was a breakout year for Corvette Racing, and that first win was very special.”

Corvette Racing’s next event is the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France, on June 11-12. The race will start at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET). SPEED will televise the race live, supplemented by live video streaming on SpeedTV.com. Check local listings for broadcast times.

Camo:
Tommy Milner joined Doug Fehan and Dan Binks for a luncheon with the Corvette Racing team at the National Corvette Museum’s C5/C6 Bash. In this video, driver Tommy Milner talks about his experiences so far in his inaugural year in the C6.R as well as giving the enthusiasts in the crowd some highlights of his brief but highly successful racing career.


Milner has been very impressive in the first two races at Sebring and Long Beach. Now the focus is on Le Mans. Milner has raced twice before at Le Mans, but not within the last three years. ACO rules required him to run 10 laps during the Le Mans test in April. Fehan tells the story that at then end of every session, there is always one driver who had the fastest time. At the end of the Le Mans test, it was Milner who was the fastest of the four C6.R drivers and that’s why Fehan calls him “Plug and Play”.


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Camo:





Extensive Live TV Coverage Bolstered by Online Video Stream from Inside Corvette C6.R

LE MANS, France, June 6, 2011 – Race fans will have an all-access view of this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, with exclusive features that include “riding along” with Corvette Racing for the entire race. SPEED will televise 17 hours of live coverage on June 11-12, and via a partnership with Corvette Racing, fans can go to www.speedtv.com/corvette to view the hours not televised. Online coverage will include a special live video stream providing a constant look from inside one of the two Corvette C6.Rs that will be seeking a seventh class win at Le Mans.


The 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France, will start at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) on Saturday, June 11. The live web stream of the race on www.speedtv.com/corvette will air coverage without commercial interruption for hours of the race not carried on television.

“The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the most prestigious and demanding events in all of racing,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President for Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “We jumped at the opportunity to work with SPEED to provide fans expanded coverage from Le Mans, with an inside view of how Corvette will battle its peers, the world’s best sports cars.”

The live streaming video feed will be from the cockpit of the No. 73 Compuware Corvette C6.R piloted by Olivier Beretta, Tommy Milner and Antonio Garcia. The special web coverage will also include links to an in-depth video tour of the legendary Le Mans circuit in the No. 74 Compuware Corvette C6.R with commentary from Oliver Gavin, who will be seeking his fifth class win for Corvette at Le Mans this weekend.

“It’s not often you can work with a partner that has the ability to also create and offer a better viewing experience for our audience,” said Bobby Akin, SPEED Vice President of Advertising Sales. “SPEED and Chevrolet have been working together on Le Mans on air and online enhancements for many years, and to actually be able to reach out to our audience through a multi-platform online package is amazing.”

Corvette will compete in the renamed GTE Pro (formerly GT2) class this year at Le Mans, facing fierce competition with entries representing Ferrari, BMW, Porsche, Lotus, and Aston Martin.

The No. 73 Compuware Corvette C6.R of Beretta, Milner and Garcia finished third in the season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Gavin will be teamed with Jan Magnussen in the No. 74 Compuware Corvette C6.R at Le Mans, a pairing that won the GT1 title three consecutive years in 2004-06. Richard Westbrook will be the third driver.

Camo:





Team Focuses on Race Day Preparations in Final Qualifying Sessions

LE MANS, France, June 9, 2011 – At midnight in Le Mans, the field was set for the 59th running of the world’s greatest sports car race. Corvette Racing will start fourth and sixth in the 18-strong GTE Pro field in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Back-to-back two-hour qualifying sessions tonight determined the final qualifying order, but the Corvette Racing crew concentrated on preparing for the upcoming 24-hour endurance test.


Both Compuware Corvette C6.Rs stood on their lap times set on Wednesday night. Jan Magnussen qualified the No. 74 Corvette C6.R fourth at 3:59.519, and Olivier Beretta turned the sixth quickest time at 3:59.633 in the No. 73 Corvette C6.R. The No. 55 BMW M3 GT claimed the GTE pole with a fast lap at 3:57.592.

“We didn’t really make qualifying runs tonight, but focused instead on the race setups,” said Corvette Racing team manager Gary Pratt. “The track was covered with oil in the final two-hour session, so there wasn’t any reason to try to run quicker. We did a good job on Wednesday night, qualifying the cars fourth and sixth, and those are good starting positions. Now we want to have cars that can run well for 24 hours, so we’ll concentrate on the final prep tomorrow and be ready to race on Saturday.”

The No. 73 Corvette crew elected to install their race motor and new brakes during the one-hour break between sessions, while the No. 74 Corvette crew installed a fresh gearbox. The new parts were run in during the closing hours of qualifying. With no track activity scheduled on Friday, the team has a full day to complete their pre-race preparations.

“We sorted out some issues throughout both qualifying sessions today,” Magnussen said. “At the beginning of the second session we wanted to go for a fast lap with a baseline race setup, but that didn’t work out. P4 and P6 on the grid for this race is good. It would have been great to start from pole, of course, but the race is a different story. We’re happy with where we are now as the car seems to come to us the longer we run.”

Magnussen’s teammate Oliver Gavin agreed: “We made some progress and the car felt good at the end of the run, and that was on old tires,” he reported. “It bodes well for the race that we can produce competitive lap times on used tires.”

“We had some handling issues initially and worked on solving them,” said Richard Westbrook, third driver in the No. 74 Corvette C6.R. “That’s part and parcel of the buildup for Le Mans, getting these things out of the way.”

Tommy Milner had the only incident of the evening when he kissed the tire barrier at Mulsanne Corner. The crew replaced the nose section on the No. 73 Corvette C6.R and soon had the car back on track.

“The crew did an awesome job, they got me back out again quickly and I was able to turn my fastest laps of the week,” Milner said. “In the end we had a respectable lap time and we’re moving in the right direction, which feels good. I wasn’t able to string many laps together in the previous practice sessions, so getting a long run tonight helped me to settle in.”

The 24 Hours of Le Mans will be run on June 11-12. The race will start Saturday at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET). SPEED will televise the race live, supplemented by live online video streaming at www.speedtv.com/corvette. Check local listings for broadcast times.


24 Hours of Le Mans GTE Pro Top 10 Qualifying Times:
Pos./Car No./Drivers/Car/Time

55 Farfus/Muller/Werner, BMW M3 GT, 3:57.592
51 Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander, Ferrari F458 Italia, 3:58.040
56 Priaulx/Muller/Hand, BMW M3 GT, 3:58.426
74 Gavin/Magnussen/Westbrook, Corvette C6.R, 3:59.519
89 Farnbacher/Simonsen/Keen, Ferrari F458 Italia, 3:59.519
73 Beretta/Milner/Garcia, Corvette C6.R, 3:59.633
77 Lieb/Lietz/Henzler, Porsche 997 GT3 RSR, 3:59.662
59 Ortelli/Makowiecki/Melo, Ferrari F458 Italia, 3:59.901
75 Goossens/Holzer/van Lagen, Porsche 997 GT3 RSR, 3:59.962
79 Hancock/Dolan/Buncombe, Aston Martin Vantage, 4:00.747

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