davester

Have not seen much info related to Z06 prep for this year's Le Mans race. With four Ford GT's entered we will have our hands full. Just two Z cars entered from what I understand. As a Ford V8 powered 1969 TVR Tuscan owner guess I would be OK with a Ford win, but as a Z06 owner I would prefer that ending!

Poor-sha

Johnny O'Connell is also back at Le Mans running in a privateer GTE Am C7.R (I think I recall it being last year's winning car). Also there is Labbre Competition running a C7.R in GTE Am.

The Ford's make up 1/2 the GTE Pro field so they certainly have numbers on their side.

Fastmikefree

Yep, for this year we can see at this time:

in LM GTE Pro:

63 CORVETTE RACING ‐ GM USA MICHELIN CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R Jan MAGNUSSEN DNK P Antonio GARCIA ESP P Ricky TAYLOR USA G
64 CORVETTE RACING ‐ GM USA MICHELIN CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R Oliver GAVIN GBR P Tommy MILNER USA P Jordan TAYLOR USA P

in LM GTE Am:

50 LARBRE COMPETITION FRA MICHELIN CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7‐Z06 Yutaka YAMAGISHI JPN B Pierre RAGUES FRA S Paolo RUBERTI ITA G
57 TEAM AAI TWN MICHELIN CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7‐Z06 Johnny O'CONNELL USA G Oliver BRYANT GBR S Mark PATTERSON USA B

sammy burks

I do not think FORD will win Le Mans first year out they only have 4 or 5 races under there belts with the GT

Fastmikefree

Impatient to see if the two Z06 will face any overheating issue...

Painrace

These are not street cars. They are purpose built race cars. There will be no overheating issues unless one is wrecked.

Jim

davester

I agree that a GT win will be a long shot. Their mechanical difficulties at Sebring and Daytona have made for a bumpy start. Our cars took some sorting out early on as well to be fair. One thing is for sure, Ford will throw buckets of money at the effort since this would be the 50th anniversary of the 1966 win. In any case, GO Corvette!

Fastmikefree

You are absolutely right! My bad, when I saw Corvette C7 Z06 in non Pro (Am category) I thought that they were going to be different from the C7R. But they have almost nothing in common with our cars...

sunsalem

Thank you for starting this thread (you beat me to it!).
HUGE fan of GT racing here.

Our boys in yellow have a helluva record.

Championships & Major Victories:

American Le Mans Series: 2001 GTS, 2002 GTS, 2003 GTS, 2004 GTS, 2005 GT1, 2006 GT1, 2007 GT1, 2008 GT1, 2012 GT, 2013 GT
Pirelli World Challenge: 2012 GT, 2013 GT
24 Hours of Le Mans: 2001 GTS, 2002 GTS, 2004 GTS, 2005 GT1, 2006 GT1, 2009 GT1, 2011 LMGTE Pro, 2015 LMGTE Pro
24 Hours of Daytona: 2001 GT/overall, 2015 GTLM, 2016 GTLM
12 Hours of Sebring: 2002 GTS, 2003 GTS, 2004 GTS, 2006 GT1, 2007 GT1, 2008 GT1, 2009 GT1, 2013 GT, 2015 GTLM


Johnny was won the Pirelli World Challenge 4 years in a row in a Caddy.
GREAT racing series BTW.

Yes, they have.
But Le Mans is a true endurance race, which makes it extremely difficult for a first year car to win.

Jake5670

sunsalem

The C7.R has a naturally-aspirated 5.5L smallblock and it uses E20.
Power is around 500hp and overall weight is 2500 lbs.

The car couldn't be more different than the Z06.

427bob

Think the GT-40 has come a long way and a short time. They sure looked faster at the Daytona 24hr. If they solve the reliability issues, they will win. Maybe a 1-2 finish. Sadly the Corvette looks dated next to the GT-40.

sunsalem

"Dated" aesthetics, maybe...
However, Corvette has experience and a proven track record to fall back on.
Le Mans is a meat grinder...only the toughest survive.

All things considered and in spite of the 4 car entry, I would be surprised if a Ford ended up on the top step.
IMO, too much of an ask for the Dudes from Dearborn.

Poor-sha

Let's not forget that the Ford finished 2nd at the Spa 6 hour and won at Laguna Seca. With four bullets in the gun, improving reliability, and demonstrated speed I'd say they have a pretty good shot at Le Mans.

I think having strong competition for Corvette is great, I just hate the way folks sandbag to get an advantage via the BOP rules.

LawrenceFromTorrance

So what are the specs on the GT-40 ?

sunsalem

They are coming on strong and do have a legitimate shot for a win at Le Mans, but the competition will be very stiff too.

Corvette already has strong competition from Ferrari, BMW, Porsche, and Aston Martin.
With Ford jumping into the deep end with these folks is nothing but a good thing.

We could talk forever on that subject.


The race car and the streetcar are both powered by the same 3.5L TT.
By virtue of being in the same class as the C7.R, the racecar will have the same power and weight specs.

The streetcar will have at least 600 hp (according to Ford).
http://www.caranddriver.com/ford/gt


IF the streetcar is, then yeah...

sunsalem

Here is the broadcast schedule for this year's race:

Saturday, June 13 (8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., FOX Sports 2)
- Saturday, June 13 (7 p.m. to 8 p.m., FOX Sports 1)
- Saturday, June 13 (11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., FOX Sports 2)
- Sunday, June 14 (3:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., FOX Sports 1)
- Sunday, June 14 (7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., FOX Sports 2)
- Sunday, June 14 (9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., FOX Sports 1)

BaylorCorvette

Agreed. They looked pretty solid the last couple of races. But as long as someone *cough* Porsche *cough* doesn't run into a Corvette, I think the C7s will be in contention. Team Corvette has a fantastic driver line up and their pit crew is on point.

SpudMuffin

I think the GTs stand a good chance to win given they have four entries, but 24 hours is a stiff test for any car let alone one that's in its first racing season.

I love the looks of the car, and after Corvette Racing, I'd like nothing better than to have Ford get third on the podium. One negative for me though... I saw the GTs at Laguna Seca earlier this month and they sound HORRIBLE. Really, really disappointing. The C7s sound amazing and the Porsches as usual have a cool, unique sound. The Ferraris were nice but a little muffled. The Corvette prototypes were in a league of their own both in quality and quantity of sound. Thunderous... Gonna miss those cars.

sunsalem

Absolutely right on target.
Corvette Racing has been around for a looong time and are a finely-honed group with proven technology.



3.5 V6 Twin Turbo.


3.9 V8 TT.
The previous gen 458's 4.5 NA V8s were screamers.