Ken
Gone but not forgotten
From Crash.net:
Corvette: Don't count us out
FRIDAY 17TH JUNE 2005
This is the view Corvette hope the rest of the GT1 field will have at Le Mans
[Pic credit: Regis Lefebure]
The calm before the storm settled in at the Sarthe region of France on Friday, a day before the start of the 73rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but American challenger Corvette Racing was in no mood for relaxing.
With teams solidly entrenched in their classes following qualifying on Thursday, several spent Friday working on race set-ups before the race starts on Saturday afternoon. Corvette duly turned its attention to dealing with the upstart Aston Martin Racing team, which sealed the GT1 class pole on its debut at Le Mans, and showed all the intentions of repeating its first time victory at Sebring.
The two-car British effort qualified 1-2, while the Corvettes will start third and fifth, but there continues to be little panic in the Corvette camp as the team continues its methodical pre-race plan. Veteran Ron Fellows, in particular, insists that the # 63 C6.R that he shares with Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis is faster than the 3min 55.914secs it posted in qualifying.
"[The Aston Martins] are showing tremendous straight-line speed and acceleration out of the corners," Fellow said. "They've obviously done something between Sebring, when they were still very good, and now. Either that, or else they were keeping their 'A' game under the hood. We're just going to have to outlast them.
"The strength of Corvette Racing has been its durability and teamwork, particularly on longer run races. We are in a fight for sure. Ironically, our biggest advantage may be when we are stopped, since our pit-stops are so strong. Our guys take a lot of pride and have worked very hard to perfect speedy, efficient pit-stops. It's kinda funny to think that we may actually gain ground while we're not racing, being able to make up time lost on the track for time gained in the pits."
Corvette: Don't count us out
FRIDAY 17TH JUNE 2005
This is the view Corvette hope the rest of the GT1 field will have at Le Mans
[Pic credit: Regis Lefebure]
The calm before the storm settled in at the Sarthe region of France on Friday, a day before the start of the 73rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but American challenger Corvette Racing was in no mood for relaxing.
With teams solidly entrenched in their classes following qualifying on Thursday, several spent Friday working on race set-ups before the race starts on Saturday afternoon. Corvette duly turned its attention to dealing with the upstart Aston Martin Racing team, which sealed the GT1 class pole on its debut at Le Mans, and showed all the intentions of repeating its first time victory at Sebring.
The two-car British effort qualified 1-2, while the Corvettes will start third and fifth, but there continues to be little panic in the Corvette camp as the team continues its methodical pre-race plan. Veteran Ron Fellows, in particular, insists that the # 63 C6.R that he shares with Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis is faster than the 3min 55.914secs it posted in qualifying.
"[The Aston Martins] are showing tremendous straight-line speed and acceleration out of the corners," Fellow said. "They've obviously done something between Sebring, when they were still very good, and now. Either that, or else they were keeping their 'A' game under the hood. We're just going to have to outlast them.
"The strength of Corvette Racing has been its durability and teamwork, particularly on longer run races. We are in a fight for sure. Ironically, our biggest advantage may be when we are stopped, since our pit-stops are so strong. Our guys take a lot of pride and have worked very hard to perfect speedy, efficient pit-stops. It's kinda funny to think that we may actually gain ground while we're not racing, being able to make up time lost on the track for time gained in the pits."
