Ken
Gone but not forgotten
From Crash.net:
C6.R debut kickstarts Corvette's 50th year
WEDNESDAY 16TH MARCH 2005
Corvette Racing's championship-winning Corvette C5-R is a tough act to follow, but the team is sure that the new Corvette C6.R race car is up to the task, which begins with this weekend's Sebring 12 Hours.
Introduced in 1999, the C5-R scored 35 victories in 55 American Le Mans Series events, won its class at the 12 Hours for three consecutive years, posted three 1-2 finishes in the GTS class at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and earned four consecutive manufacturers championships for Chevrolet.
The new C6.R, however, is a long-awaited and, if Corvette Racing is to be believed, worthy successor. The car is the most technically advanced sportscar ever developed by GM, combining lessons learned from the dominant C5-R mated to the advanced technology of the Corvette C6 and Z06 production models.
"History will remember the C5-R as one of the best sports racing cars of all time, so we've set the bar high for the C6.R," said new GM director of racing Mark Kent, "The sixth-generation production Corvette and the C6.R race car were developed in tandem, and the two-way transfer of technology benefited both programmes."
While the hardware is new, the driver line-up is familiar, with the same six drivers who piloted Corvette Racing to an undefeated season in 2004 return to the track in 2005. Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis will drive the #3 Compuware-backed C6.R, with Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen sharing the #4.
This year's 12 Hours marks Corvette's 50th year in international road racing. With a little help from Zora Arkus-Duntov and his friends at Chevrolet, a quartet of Corvettes was prepared for the 1956 Sebring enduro. John Fitch and Walt Hansgen drove one of the Corvettes to a ninth-place finish overall and an uncontested Class B victory – a first step onto the world stage that established Chevy's sportscar as a contender in top-level competition and changed enthusiasts' perceptions of the fibreglass-bodied two-seater. Now, in 2005, Corvette Racing will again take on an international field of rivals in the production-based GT1 class - formerly known as GTS - that promises to be the headliner in the 12-hour endurance classic.
Johnny O'Connell and Ron Fellows celebrate another Corvette win in the last race for the C5R
"It will be an absolute dogfight in GT1 at every ALMS event. Every one of the marques is capable of winning at any given track, and anyone who follows a strategy of trying to win every race is going to be disappointed. The teams are too good, the talent is too deep, and the cars are too great. GT1 is going to provide great theatre for the fans."
The two Corvettes that will make their debut at Sebring are the product of a full year of rigorous testing and development but, with the rulebook's insistence on close adherence to production specifications, the race cars maintain strong visual links to their showroom counterparts.
"The race team worked closely with Corvette chief engineer Dave Hill and the engineering team that was working on the production sixth-generation Corvette, and we gave them a wish list for the racing version," Fehan explained, "We wished for flush headlights for better aerodynamics; we wished for a single, large grille opening for the engine air intake, radiator, and brake cooling; we hoped they could find a way to give us a lower coefficient of drag. They granted all three wishes with the production C6, and gave us exactly what we needed."
As a result of the collaboration, the 2006 Corvette Z06 bristles with race-inspired technology, including carbon-fibre front fenders and wheelhouses, a front splitter, air extractors behind the front wheels, radiused trailing edges on the wheel openings, brake cooling scoops, widened rear fenders, a rear diffuser, and a spoiler.
"There can be no doubt that the people who created these cars have learned from each other," Hill confirmed.
C6.R debut kickstarts Corvette's 50th year
WEDNESDAY 16TH MARCH 2005
Corvette Racing's championship-winning Corvette C5-R is a tough act to follow, but the team is sure that the new Corvette C6.R race car is up to the task, which begins with this weekend's Sebring 12 Hours.
Introduced in 1999, the C5-R scored 35 victories in 55 American Le Mans Series events, won its class at the 12 Hours for three consecutive years, posted three 1-2 finishes in the GTS class at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and earned four consecutive manufacturers championships for Chevrolet.
The new C6.R, however, is a long-awaited and, if Corvette Racing is to be believed, worthy successor. The car is the most technically advanced sportscar ever developed by GM, combining lessons learned from the dominant C5-R mated to the advanced technology of the Corvette C6 and Z06 production models.
"History will remember the C5-R as one of the best sports racing cars of all time, so we've set the bar high for the C6.R," said new GM director of racing Mark Kent, "The sixth-generation production Corvette and the C6.R race car were developed in tandem, and the two-way transfer of technology benefited both programmes."
While the hardware is new, the driver line-up is familiar, with the same six drivers who piloted Corvette Racing to an undefeated season in 2004 return to the track in 2005. Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis will drive the #3 Compuware-backed C6.R, with Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen sharing the #4.
This year's 12 Hours marks Corvette's 50th year in international road racing. With a little help from Zora Arkus-Duntov and his friends at Chevrolet, a quartet of Corvettes was prepared for the 1956 Sebring enduro. John Fitch and Walt Hansgen drove one of the Corvettes to a ninth-place finish overall and an uncontested Class B victory – a first step onto the world stage that established Chevy's sportscar as a contender in top-level competition and changed enthusiasts' perceptions of the fibreglass-bodied two-seater. Now, in 2005, Corvette Racing will again take on an international field of rivals in the production-based GT1 class - formerly known as GTS - that promises to be the headliner in the 12-hour endurance classic.
Johnny O'Connell and Ron Fellows celebrate another Corvette win in the last race for the C5R
"The entire Corvette Racing team is excited and energised by the intense competition in the GT1 division this year," said programme manager Doug Fehan, "It was fantastic for Corvette to have an undefeated season last year, but to see all of these different marques – names with the stature of Aston Martin, Ferrari and Maserati – racing on the same track will be sensational. If you were to look back at the previous 52-year history of Sebring, you'd be hard pressed to find that kind of factory line-up. It's tremendously exciting for Corvette Racing to be part of that."It will be an absolute dogfight in GT1 at every ALMS event. Every one of the marques is capable of winning at any given track, and anyone who follows a strategy of trying to win every race is going to be disappointed. The teams are too good, the talent is too deep, and the cars are too great. GT1 is going to provide great theatre for the fans."
The two Corvettes that will make their debut at Sebring are the product of a full year of rigorous testing and development but, with the rulebook's insistence on close adherence to production specifications, the race cars maintain strong visual links to their showroom counterparts.
"The race team worked closely with Corvette chief engineer Dave Hill and the engineering team that was working on the production sixth-generation Corvette, and we gave them a wish list for the racing version," Fehan explained, "We wished for flush headlights for better aerodynamics; we wished for a single, large grille opening for the engine air intake, radiator, and brake cooling; we hoped they could find a way to give us a lower coefficient of drag. They granted all three wishes with the production C6, and gave us exactly what we needed."
As a result of the collaboration, the 2006 Corvette Z06 bristles with race-inspired technology, including carbon-fibre front fenders and wheelhouses, a front splitter, air extractors behind the front wheels, radiused trailing edges on the wheel openings, brake cooling scoops, widened rear fenders, a rear diffuser, and a spoiler.
"There can be no doubt that the people who created these cars have learned from each other," Hill confirmed.
