GT3 Corvettes no more????
12-12-2011, 10:12 PM
#1
Race Director
Thread Starter
GT3 Corvettes no more????
I've started watching the FIA GT3 series via youtube now that my DVR is drying up, and I noticed the Callaway built GT3 Vettes are nowhere to be found. They aren't even listed in the series website.
Anyone know what happened? Great racing with or without them, just nice to see an almost-production based Vette in action, and I was excited Callaway was doing it!
Anyone know what happened? Great racing with or without them, just nice to see an almost-production based Vette in action, and I was excited Callaway was doing it!
12-13-2011, 12:42 AM
#4
Melting Slicks
I checked all the entry lists and no Corvettes ran in 2011.
http://gt3europe.com/
But who cares when you have GT1!
http://www.gt1world.com/gt1tv
http://gt3europe.com/
But who cares when you have GT1!
http://www.gt1world.com/gt1tv
12-13-2011, 09:36 AM
#5
Race Director
Thread Starter
I prefer GT2 and GT3 cars. Even the GT1 Vettes didn't interest me very much.
I did see one article where a GT3 Corvette was delivered to Japan for the SuperGT series.
btw, SuperGT and GT3 are available in full online. Just like here, it's mostly rich guys burning money, but still cool cars at neat tracks.
I did see one article where a GT3 Corvette was delivered to Japan for the SuperGT series.
btw, SuperGT and GT3 are available in full online. Just like here, it's mostly rich guys burning money, but still cool cars at neat tracks.
12-13-2011, 10:23 AM
#6
Melting Slicks
You may already be familiar with the Dutch Supercar Challenge, if not check it out. It is not simply a Dutch series, it is well known drivers from all of Europe and they use the most famous tracks in Europe for the schedule. They just published the 2012 schedule and you can find it on the website below - very impressive schedule. There are Corvettes, Vipers, Ferraris, Porsches, and quite a few Moslers (shameless plug). Anyway, it is some great racing, and they use black boxes (accelerometers) to measure the performance of the cars to balance weight/power ratios so the racing is extremely close.
http://translate.google.com/translat...hallenge.nl%2F
Here is a taste;
Here is a pic of the car in the vid, the Praga R4, a brand new car to the series this year;
http://translate.google.com/translat...hallenge.nl%2F
Here is a taste;
Here is a pic of the car in the vid, the Praga R4, a brand new car to the series this year;
Last edited by Everett Ogilvie; 12-13-2011 at 11:52 AM.
12-14-2011, 05:49 AM
#9
Safety Car
12-14-2011, 12:35 PM
#10
2nd Gear
The Callaway GT3 teams elected not to compete in the FIA Series in 2011.
Here's some background: Callaway constructs GT3 cars for sale to teams in Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Callaway holds the FIA Homologation for the Corvette in GT3 which means that all Corvettes in the GT3 Series are built by Callaway out of their Leingarten Germany shops. The cars have done very very well in all the European series since this form of GT racing was adopted in 2003. In fact, some feel, too well. Each successive year the GT3 Corvettes have been further restrained in an effort to balance the performance of the cars in this class. Unfortunately the sum of the restraints proposed for 2011 made it clear to all the Corvette team owners that they would be less than competitive, and they all decided to compete elsewhere e.g., the ADAC or German National, French National, or Mid Eastern Championships. The cars did very well in those series. The Callaway record in competition looks like this:
2010 FIA GT3 European Drivers Championship, Winner
2010 FIA GT3 European Teams Championship, 2nd
2009 Teams Championship ADAC GT Masters, Winner
2009 Drivers Championship ADAC GT Masters, 2nd
2008 FIA GT3 European Drivers Championship Winner
2008 FIA GT3 Teams Championship, 3rd
2007 FIA GT3 Drivers European Championship, 2nd
2007 FIA GT3 Teams European Championship, Winner
for more detailed info, please see callawaycars.de
It's ironic that a small manufacturer like Callaway, with no help from GM, was able to design, prepare, and run winning campaigns against the best sportscar makers in the world, and so sufficiently beat them that the Corvettes were eventually regulated out of contention. The reason for the Corvettes success is that they were good, strong race cars, driven exceptionally well. There were two outstanding Callaway drivers and their success was misinterpreted as the car's success, and the entire brand was penalized. The lesson is that politics is as, or more important, than winning on track.
The experience of developing these Corvette-based cars into winning GT3 cars is available in the Callaway road car product line, and soon to be built into several versions of CallawayTrakPak cars available in the US. Stay tuned.
Here's some background: Callaway constructs GT3 cars for sale to teams in Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Callaway holds the FIA Homologation for the Corvette in GT3 which means that all Corvettes in the GT3 Series are built by Callaway out of their Leingarten Germany shops. The cars have done very very well in all the European series since this form of GT racing was adopted in 2003. In fact, some feel, too well. Each successive year the GT3 Corvettes have been further restrained in an effort to balance the performance of the cars in this class. Unfortunately the sum of the restraints proposed for 2011 made it clear to all the Corvette team owners that they would be less than competitive, and they all decided to compete elsewhere e.g., the ADAC or German National, French National, or Mid Eastern Championships. The cars did very well in those series. The Callaway record in competition looks like this:
2010 FIA GT3 European Drivers Championship, Winner
2010 FIA GT3 European Teams Championship, 2nd
2009 Teams Championship ADAC GT Masters, Winner
2009 Drivers Championship ADAC GT Masters, 2nd
2008 FIA GT3 European Drivers Championship Winner
2008 FIA GT3 Teams Championship, 3rd
2007 FIA GT3 Drivers European Championship, 2nd
2007 FIA GT3 Teams European Championship, Winner
for more detailed info, please see callawaycars.de
It's ironic that a small manufacturer like Callaway, with no help from GM, was able to design, prepare, and run winning campaigns against the best sportscar makers in the world, and so sufficiently beat them that the Corvettes were eventually regulated out of contention. The reason for the Corvettes success is that they were good, strong race cars, driven exceptionally well. There were two outstanding Callaway drivers and their success was misinterpreted as the car's success, and the entire brand was penalized. The lesson is that politics is as, or more important, than winning on track.
The experience of developing these Corvette-based cars into winning GT3 cars is available in the Callaway road car product line, and soon to be built into several versions of CallawayTrakPak cars available in the US. Stay tuned.
12-14-2011, 03:11 PM
#11
Le Mans Master
The Callaway GT3 teams elected not to compete in the FIA Series in 2011.
Here's some background: Callaway constructs GT3 cars for sale to teams in Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Callaway holds the FIA Homologation for the Corvette in GT3 which means that all Corvettes in the GT3 Series are built by Callaway out of their Leingarten Germany shops. The cars have done very very well in all the European series since this form of GT racing was adopted in 2003. In fact, some feel, too well. Each successive year the GT3 Corvettes have been further restrained in an effort to balance the performance of the cars in this class. Unfortunately the sum of the restraints proposed for 2011 made it clear to all the Corvette team owners that they would be less than competitive, and they all decided to compete elsewhere e.g., the ADAC or German National, French National, or Mid Eastern Championships. The cars did very well in those series. The Callaway record in competition looks like this:
2010 FIA GT3 European Drivers Championship, Winner
2010 FIA GT3 European Teams Championship, 2nd
2009 Teams Championship ADAC GT Masters, Winner
2009 Drivers Championship ADAC GT Masters, 2nd
2008 FIA GT3 European Drivers Championship Winner
2008 FIA GT3 Teams Championship, 3rd
2007 FIA GT3 Drivers European Championship, 2nd
2007 FIA GT3 Teams European Championship, Winner
for more detailed info, please see callawaycars.de
It's ironic that a small manufacturer like Callaway, with no help from GM, was able to design, prepare, and run winning campaigns against the best sportscar makers in the world, and so sufficiently beat them that the Corvettes were eventually regulated out of contention. The reason for the Corvettes success is that they were good, strong race cars, driven exceptionally well. There were two outstanding Callaway drivers and their success was misinterpreted as the car's success, and the entire brand was penalized. The lesson is that politics is as, or more important, than winning on track.
The experience of developing these Corvette-based cars into winning GT3 cars is available in the Callaway road car product line, and soon to be built into several versions of CallawayTrakPak cars available in the US. Stay tuned.
Here's some background: Callaway constructs GT3 cars for sale to teams in Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Callaway holds the FIA Homologation for the Corvette in GT3 which means that all Corvettes in the GT3 Series are built by Callaway out of their Leingarten Germany shops. The cars have done very very well in all the European series since this form of GT racing was adopted in 2003. In fact, some feel, too well. Each successive year the GT3 Corvettes have been further restrained in an effort to balance the performance of the cars in this class. Unfortunately the sum of the restraints proposed for 2011 made it clear to all the Corvette team owners that they would be less than competitive, and they all decided to compete elsewhere e.g., the ADAC or German National, French National, or Mid Eastern Championships. The cars did very well in those series. The Callaway record in competition looks like this:
2010 FIA GT3 European Drivers Championship, Winner
2010 FIA GT3 European Teams Championship, 2nd
2009 Teams Championship ADAC GT Masters, Winner
2009 Drivers Championship ADAC GT Masters, 2nd
2008 FIA GT3 European Drivers Championship Winner
2008 FIA GT3 Teams Championship, 3rd
2007 FIA GT3 Drivers European Championship, 2nd
2007 FIA GT3 Teams European Championship, Winner
for more detailed info, please see callawaycars.de
It's ironic that a small manufacturer like Callaway, with no help from GM, was able to design, prepare, and run winning campaigns against the best sportscar makers in the world, and so sufficiently beat them that the Corvettes were eventually regulated out of contention. The reason for the Corvettes success is that they were good, strong race cars, driven exceptionally well. There were two outstanding Callaway drivers and their success was misinterpreted as the car's success, and the entire brand was penalized. The lesson is that politics is as, or more important, than winning on track.
The experience of developing these Corvette-based cars into winning GT3 cars is available in the Callaway road car product line, and soon to be built into several versions of CallawayTrakPak cars available in the US. Stay tuned.
