C
critt99
Guest
A BITTERSWEET
VICTORY
By
Walt Thurn
The 2007 FIA GT3 championship headed to Monza, Italy for round 3 of this years exciting series. GT3 showcases the top exotic car manufacturers in the world. Most of these manufacturers build race spec versions of their streetcars to assure that their products are competitive against their competition. Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, Viper and Aston Martin all offer GT3 spec racing versions to their customers. In addition factory technical support is provided to fix any racetrack failures that might occur during the heat of battle. One exception to this is Corvette. The factory does not build a GT3 spec customer racecar and they do not provide support to teams who race their product. Last season Carsport Holland and Callaway Competition purchased eight street Z06 Corvettes. Callaway and Carsport modified them for GT3 competition and experienced reliability problems. The cars were fast but fragile. All research and development to fix these failures fell onto the team. Converting these great streetcars into competitive GT racers was time consuming and costly.
For 2007 Uli Martini Berberich purchased the Corvette team and they now race under Martini Callaway Racing banner. Nicolai Bulgari also provides sponsorship to the private team. Callaway Competition built two new cars for this season and retained the first car they constructed in 2005. The cars are numbered 16, 17 & 18. A second team from France called Team Riverside purchased three cars from Callaway/Carsport last year. They are numbered 19, 20 & 21. The #20 was badly damaged in a crash at the last race in Bucharest and is undergoing repairs. The #19 driven by Ruffier/Peyrolles has won several poles and has had several top three finishes. The #18 driven by Pirri/von Gartzen finished second at Silverstone and won the pole for the first race at Monza. The #16 car driven by Berberich-Martini/Ludwig won the pole position for the second Monza race. The race had 37 starters for the two one hour events on Sunday 24/06/2007. Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is located 25 km north of Milan and is each lap is 5,770 meters. The track is very fast and favored the 7 litre Corvette Z06 engines. Both races saw an epic battle between Corvette, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Viper.
In both events it was the #18 Pirri/von Gartzen Corvette that took the checkered flag in first place. Two back to back wins for Corvette, finally! Unfortunately it was not to be, a Ferrari team protested Callaway’s second win based on article 60 of the FIA rulebook that required each car to have 2 kg of fuel remaining in their tank. Callaway only had 1.7 kg of fuel so their second win was disqualified and they were listed as a non-finisher! It was quite a blow to the private team. They learned of the steward’s decision after their victory circle celebration. However, it is obvious by winning Monza’s race number one that Callaway Competition is fielding a competitive and reliable Corvette. We are certain that Corvette will continue fighting for the top position during the remainder of the season. Pirri and von Gartzen, drivers of the #18 Corvette are now second in the FIA GT3 drivers championship.
It is an exciting time to be a Corvette fan. Stay tuned.
Walt Thurn
The 2007 FIA GT3 championship headed to Monza, Italy for round 3 of this years exciting series. GT3 showcases the top exotic car manufacturers in the world. Most of these manufacturers build race spec versions of their streetcars to assure that their products are competitive against their competition. Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, Viper and Aston Martin all offer GT3 spec racing versions to their customers. In addition factory technical support is provided to fix any racetrack failures that might occur during the heat of battle. One exception to this is Corvette. The factory does not build a GT3 spec customer racecar and they do not provide support to teams who race their product. Last season Carsport Holland and Callaway Competition purchased eight street Z06 Corvettes. Callaway and Carsport modified them for GT3 competition and experienced reliability problems. The cars were fast but fragile. All research and development to fix these failures fell onto the team. Converting these great streetcars into competitive GT racers was time consuming and costly.
For 2007 Uli Martini Berberich purchased the Corvette team and they now race under Martini Callaway Racing banner. Nicolai Bulgari also provides sponsorship to the private team. Callaway Competition built two new cars for this season and retained the first car they constructed in 2005. The cars are numbered 16, 17 & 18. A second team from France called Team Riverside purchased three cars from Callaway/Carsport last year. They are numbered 19, 20 & 21. The #20 was badly damaged in a crash at the last race in Bucharest and is undergoing repairs. The #19 driven by Ruffier/Peyrolles has won several poles and has had several top three finishes. The #18 driven by Pirri/von Gartzen finished second at Silverstone and won the pole for the first race at Monza. The #16 car driven by Berberich-Martini/Ludwig won the pole position for the second Monza race. The race had 37 starters for the two one hour events on Sunday 24/06/2007. Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is located 25 km north of Milan and is each lap is 5,770 meters. The track is very fast and favored the 7 litre Corvette Z06 engines. Both races saw an epic battle between Corvette, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Viper.
In both events it was the #18 Pirri/von Gartzen Corvette that took the checkered flag in first place. Two back to back wins for Corvette, finally! Unfortunately it was not to be, a Ferrari team protested Callaway’s second win based on article 60 of the FIA rulebook that required each car to have 2 kg of fuel remaining in their tank. Callaway only had 1.7 kg of fuel so their second win was disqualified and they were listed as a non-finisher! It was quite a blow to the private team. They learned of the steward’s decision after their victory circle celebration. However, it is obvious by winning Monza’s race number one that Callaway Competition is fielding a competitive and reliable Corvette. We are certain that Corvette will continue fighting for the top position during the remainder of the season. Pirri and von Gartzen, drivers of the #18 Corvette are now second in the FIA GT3 drivers championship.
It is an exciting time to be a Corvette fan. Stay tuned.