Le Mans: Don't Get Mad, Get Even
06-10-2008, 09:52 AM
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Le Mans: Don't Get Mad, Get Even
Corvette: Don't Get Mad, Get Even
GT1 is a class on its last legs around the world, the Le Mans field is bigger than are on hand in either the ALMS or LMS. With nods to French racing icon Larbre (Saleen), French skiing icon Luc Alphand (Corvette), and a pair of supporting-cast Aston Martins (Vitaphone, Team Modena) this race comes down to yet another match race between the factory-backed Corvette and Aston Martin squads.
Aston Martin won the last time out. Corvette has won five times since they ended the Oreca-Viper hegemony in 2001, losing only to Ferrari in 2003, and to Aston Martin in 2007 – both cars having been developed by top motorsport engineering company Prodrive, Ltd. In some sense the GT1 racing rivalry has been more between Prodrive and Pratt & Miller than the three manufacturers.
Aston Martin Racing returns defending champions David Brabham and Darren Turner, with Spaniard Antonio Garcia replacing Swede Rickard Rydell. It’s a trio quite capable of repeating. The other AM entry features German F1 star Hans Harold Frentzen, Karl Wendlinger, and Andrea Piccini, all of whom can pace the field.
In what could be the team’s final appearance in GT1 (whether it leaves the class or the class leaves it) Pratt & Miller and Corvette Racing are intent on taking back a Le Mans crown it believes has become a personal possession. It’s so important that the yellow cars raced without serious competition throughout 2007 and thus far in 2008, in large part to maintain its newly-built and hard-won Le Mans pedigree. To have that upset in a rain-filled weekend in 2007 by a team and car that could give it no respectable competition without major help from the IMSA rule makers over the course of an entire season is particularly galling.
To recapture its place at the head of the class, Corvette brings back the same driver line-up it fielded in 2007. Jan Magnussen was shifted to partner Johnny O’Connell in sprint races with the semi-retirement of Ron Fellows (who remains the third driver with that pair in endurance races like Le Mans) at the beginning of 2007. That swapped Max Papis to the No. 64 of Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta, who (with Magnussen) had won here in 2004, 2005, and 2006. That has seemed to strengthen the No. 63 (Le Mans winners in 2001 and 2002) somewhat at the expense of Gavin and Beretta, who were dominant from their 2004 Le Mans win through 2007. The new pairing of O’Connell and Magnussen has been hitting its stride this year, winning three of the four ALMS races.
Winning at Le Mans is a team effort. Corvette Racing is the poster child for that approach – drivers, crews and engineers who put a premium on developing the teamwork and excellence required to win at the pinnacle of sports car endurance racing. Aston Martin, though represented here by the Prodrive powerhouse, has lately reduced its racing presence to the support of customer teams. That makes their Le Mans effort too much of the kind of “pick-up” team that once dominated in Le Sarthe. No more. Advantage Corvette.
http://lastturnclub.com/index.php?op...d=389&Itemid=1
GT1 is a class on its last legs around the world, the Le Mans field is bigger than are on hand in either the ALMS or LMS. With nods to French racing icon Larbre (Saleen), French skiing icon Luc Alphand (Corvette), and a pair of supporting-cast Aston Martins (Vitaphone, Team Modena) this race comes down to yet another match race between the factory-backed Corvette and Aston Martin squads.
Aston Martin won the last time out. Corvette has won five times since they ended the Oreca-Viper hegemony in 2001, losing only to Ferrari in 2003, and to Aston Martin in 2007 – both cars having been developed by top motorsport engineering company Prodrive, Ltd. In some sense the GT1 racing rivalry has been more between Prodrive and Pratt & Miller than the three manufacturers.
Aston Martin Racing returns defending champions David Brabham and Darren Turner, with Spaniard Antonio Garcia replacing Swede Rickard Rydell. It’s a trio quite capable of repeating. The other AM entry features German F1 star Hans Harold Frentzen, Karl Wendlinger, and Andrea Piccini, all of whom can pace the field.
In what could be the team’s final appearance in GT1 (whether it leaves the class or the class leaves it) Pratt & Miller and Corvette Racing are intent on taking back a Le Mans crown it believes has become a personal possession. It’s so important that the yellow cars raced without serious competition throughout 2007 and thus far in 2008, in large part to maintain its newly-built and hard-won Le Mans pedigree. To have that upset in a rain-filled weekend in 2007 by a team and car that could give it no respectable competition without major help from the IMSA rule makers over the course of an entire season is particularly galling.
To recapture its place at the head of the class, Corvette brings back the same driver line-up it fielded in 2007. Jan Magnussen was shifted to partner Johnny O’Connell in sprint races with the semi-retirement of Ron Fellows (who remains the third driver with that pair in endurance races like Le Mans) at the beginning of 2007. That swapped Max Papis to the No. 64 of Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta, who (with Magnussen) had won here in 2004, 2005, and 2006. That has seemed to strengthen the No. 63 (Le Mans winners in 2001 and 2002) somewhat at the expense of Gavin and Beretta, who were dominant from their 2004 Le Mans win through 2007. The new pairing of O’Connell and Magnussen has been hitting its stride this year, winning three of the four ALMS races.
Winning at Le Mans is a team effort. Corvette Racing is the poster child for that approach – drivers, crews and engineers who put a premium on developing the teamwork and excellence required to win at the pinnacle of sports car endurance racing. Aston Martin, though represented here by the Prodrive powerhouse, has lately reduced its racing presence to the support of customer teams. That makes their Le Mans effort too much of the kind of “pick-up” team that once dominated in Le Sarthe. No more. Advantage Corvette.
http://lastturnclub.com/index.php?op...d=389&Itemid=1
