Ken
Gone but not forgotten
From Crash.net:
O'Connell gunning for Corvette rivals
FRIDAY 10TH JUNE 2005
Johnny O'Connell will have to overcome one of the strongest fields in recent memory if the current ALMS GT1 champion is to taste success at Le Mans for the first time since 2002.
O'Connell will join forces with regular co-driver Ron Fellows and Max Papis in the #63 Corvette C6-R for the race and will face competition from a host of Ferraris and the two Aston Martin DBR9's – as well as the sister Corvette of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen.
The Aston Martin in particular has already shown its pace having finished ahead of the Corvettes in the opening race of the ALMS season at Sebring - something that didn't sit well with O'Connell.
"In my mind, we gave them a gift," he said. "We lost it. This year at Sebring, we just did not have the luck you need. They were not any faster than us."
Holding three class wins in his career, O'Connell knows no American has won four titles of any kind at La Sarthe, class or overall, and that is something that he hopes to put right this time around.
"That is one record that I really, really want," he said. "We face stout competition, especially with the Aston Martins.
"They are awfully strong, and I expect a big-time battle with them as well as with the Ferrari teams. At the end of the day, what you will see are professional, competitive teams and drivers digging for all they are worth."
O'Connell gunning for Corvette rivals
FRIDAY 10TH JUNE 2005
This is the view Corvette hope the rest of the GT1 field will have at Le Mans
[Pic credit: Regis Lefebure]
Johnny O'Connell will have to overcome one of the strongest fields in recent memory if the current ALMS GT1 champion is to taste success at Le Mans for the first time since 2002.
O'Connell will join forces with regular co-driver Ron Fellows and Max Papis in the #63 Corvette C6-R for the race and will face competition from a host of Ferraris and the two Aston Martin DBR9's – as well as the sister Corvette of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen.
The Aston Martin in particular has already shown its pace having finished ahead of the Corvettes in the opening race of the ALMS season at Sebring - something that didn't sit well with O'Connell.
"In my mind, we gave them a gift," he said. "We lost it. This year at Sebring, we just did not have the luck you need. They were not any faster than us."
Holding three class wins in his career, O'Connell knows no American has won four titles of any kind at La Sarthe, class or overall, and that is something that he hopes to put right this time around.
"That is one record that I really, really want," he said. "We face stout competition, especially with the Aston Martins.
"They are awfully strong, and I expect a big-time battle with them as well as with the Ferrari teams. At the end of the day, what you will see are professional, competitive teams and drivers digging for all they are worth."
Johnny O'Connell exits the Corvette C6.R
[Pic credit: Regis Lefebure]
