The future of Corvette

[Atomic UK]

There is no doubt GM are in a difficult situation.
Naturally they want competition in ALMS, but they can't force teams to join them, conversely, as previously mentioned, the PR it gets with the Corvette Corrals etc, is second to none in terms of promotion.

In Europe, Le Mans is such a flagship event, GM need to win it to help promote Corvette and by dropping out of ALMS, they would drop the ball in term of development as I doubt the FIA GT, LMS races alone would provide a) enough events and b) the interest to keep Corvette at the top of their game.

That said, the likes of LAA and Callaway are doing a sterling job in promoting Corvette in Europe and I think their dedication is being rewarded now with a greater input from the States.

All in all, I think the future for Corvette Racing is looking brighter than it has in a while and I guess that may result in a future LMP1 GM entry while perhaps private C6R, Z06R and perhaps ZR1Rs teams take over the battles in GT1 & GT2 in ALMS.

The Corvette Racing presence continues to grow in Europe with entries in GT1, GT2, GT3 and now GT4, with even Britcar seeing the Xero Competition C5 LMGT entry for a full season and with websites like www.corvettemotorsport.com and www.corvetteracing.co.uk providing additional information, it can only generate greater interest which equals more support.

Good times.

[David]

Originally Posted by Atomic UK

There is no doubt GM are in a difficult situation.
Naturally they want competition in ALMS, but they can't force teams to join them, conversely, as previously mentioned, the PR it gets with the Corvette Corrals etc, is second to none in terms of promotion.

In Europe, Le Mans is such a flagship event, GM need to win it to help promote Corvette and by dropping out of ALMS, they would drop the ball in term of development as I doubt the FIA GT, LMS races alone would provide a) enough events and b) the interest to keep Corvette at the top of their game.

That said, the likes of LAA and Callaway are doing a sterling job in promoting Corvette in Europe and I think their dedication is being rewarded now with a greater input from the States.

All in all, I think the future for Corvette Racing is looking brighter than it has in a while and I guess that may result in a future LMP1 GM entry while perhaps private C6R, Z06R and perhaps ZR1Rs teams take over the battles in GT1 & GT2 in ALMS.

The Corvette Racing presence continues to grow in Europe with entries in GT1, GT2, GT3 and now GT4, with even Britcar seeing the Xero Competition C5 LMGT entry for a full season and with websites like www.corvettemotorsport.com and www.corvetteracing.co.uk providing additional information, it can only generate greater interest which equals more support.

Good times.

Very, very well said, Atom!

For us in our dufferage, we remember getting our little Corvette-loving hearts excited, then broken, back in 1963:



We could only weep and wail and wonder what might have been. Well, now IT IS and I, for one, am lovin' it!! The future looks great.

GO, CORVETTE!!

[dxk1]

Originally Posted by David

Very, very well said, Atom!

For us in our dufferage, we remember getting our little Corvette-loving hearts excited, then broken, back in 1963:

We could only weep and wail and wonder what might have been. Well, now IT IS and I, for one, am lovin' it!! The future looks great.

GO, CORVETTE!!

David,

You couldn't have said it better. We all got our hopes up in 1960 when Fitch and Grossman Drove the Cunningham Corvette to 8th overall at LeMans and then the Grand Sport was developed a few years later and we had visions of Cobra, Corvette and Ferrari GTO battles all over the world. However, except at Sebring & Daytona, Corvette was never very competitive in world-wide GT competion until the arrival of the P&M boys in 1999 and now we'd just like to revel in it for a while.

DK

[TRuss]

As long as ethanol is done right...not sacrificing green space in the US or any other country. Then I think it will be a great way to have clean racing and high performance sports cars. It will be tough to produce enough of it to put much of a dent in the rest of worlds need for fuel. If done correctly though it can be a baby step in the right direction. The only reason that there is any issues from all sides is that environmentalist want to make sure that this helps the environment and not cause further harm. While the energy companies and corporate backed politicians want to make sure that the money keeps rolling in. Hopefully racing will be able to stay relatively immune to this BS.

[Bob Riebe]

If it was about anything but politics, we could get it from Brazil cheaper than the cheapest produced here.
I find the Chevy boys using alcohol to be asinine as it is a dead pig in the water, and unless they are going start hyping Corvettes to the farmers and co-ops that get the subsidies, it serves no purpose.
In the bizarre way US gearheads businesses and publications are now publishing, in high performance magazines articles on alcohol powered cars and the high buck carbs and fuelie systems now being developed, but at least, usually, one of the first things they mention is, if your street rod gets low gas mileage now, it will get a good deal worse on alcohol.

Using alcohol, which only exists because politicians cut deals to tax the huddled masses, to pay the subsidies, without dealing with politics involved.
If anyone can do that hell has frozen over.
Bob

[Bob Riebe]

Originally Posted by dxk1

David,

You couldn't have said it better. We all got our hopes up in 1960 when Fitch and Grossman Drove the Cunningham Corvette to 8th overall at LeMans and then the Grand Sport was developed a few years later and we had visions of Cobra, Corvette and Ferrari GTO battles all over the world. However, except at Sebring & Daytona, Corvette was never very competitive in world-wide GT competion until the arrival of the P&M boys in 1999 and now we'd just like to revel in it for a while.
DK

It is sad, that the gent/s who wanted to start a specialty/kit car racing series, based mainly on the various Cobras and Corvettes, were quite bluntly told to shut up and go away some years back.(Especially by Chebby)
It would have been interesting to see how quick these cars really are on a track.
bob

[HORNDAWG]

Lou Gigilotti has a new site up for the ALMS team.
http://www.lgmracing.com/


L.P.

[HORNDAWG]

So it looks like the PSI C6.R and C5-R are being run as the DKR Engineering entries in the FFSA.(?) Does anyone know if there are plans to run the cars anywhere else this year?

L.P.

[JorritVD]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

So it looks like the PSI C6.R and C5-R are being run as the DKR Engineering entries in the FFSA.(?) Does anyone know if there are plans to run the cars anywhere else this year?

L.P.

At the Spa 24h and maybee sme other races in FiaGT.

[Sportscarguy08]

Corvettes looking strong this season (in Europe). They already won their first race of the year. DKR is a new team that is running the PSI cars. From what I heard they are only running the cars and have not actually purchased them.

(Link)

[dxk1]

Originally Posted by Sportscarguy08

Corvettes looking strong this season (in Europe). They already won their first race of the year. DKR is a new team that is running the PSI cars. From what I heard they are only running the cars and have not actually purchased them.

It would be nice to see someone run these cars to their potential as it seems PSI sort of did a mediocre job with them last year after the first FIA-GT race.

DK

[HORNDAWG]

First in-car from the LG Motorsports #28 Riley C6 GT-2 @ Sebring.

www.lgmracing.com/lgm-0801-sebring.wmv

Enjoy, I did. The player window says Watkins Glen but it is Sebring.

L.P.

[Atomic UK]

Congratulations to DKR, an excellent win for them.

SRT really didn't seem to have lady luck on their side and it sounds like they
could have taken a win in race 1 with better luck with the tyres.

Already it's shaping up to be a fine Corvette year.

[Atomic UK]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

First in-car from the LG Motorsports #28 Riley C6 GT-2 @ Sebring.

www.lgmracing.com/lgm-0801-sebring.wmv

Enjoy, I did. The player window says Watkins Glen but it is Sebring.

L.P.

Thanks for that, much better quality than last year's footage, although was that practice?

Certainly looks like their GT-2 car is an 'easy' drive, although I'm sure it's not!

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by Atomic UK

Thanks for that, much better quality than last year's footage, although was that practice?

Certainly looks like their GT-2 car is an 'easy' drive, although I'm sure it's not!

It was from the race.

[dxk1]

Doug Fehan and Johnny O'Connell did an interview regarding Corvette's future. Very interesting and posted on the Corvetteracing site. See here: http://www.corvetteracing.com/histor.../stpete2.shtml

It appears they will definately be using Cellulosic E85 starting at St. Petersburg race and Doug says that he expects GT1 will be no more after 2010 and that a single GT class will result that is similar to today's GT2. An interesting read.

DK

[Bob Riebe]

Originally Posted by dxk1

Doug Fehan and Johnny O'Connell did an interview regarding Corvette's future. Very interesting and posted on the Corvetteracing site. See here: http://www.corvetteracing.com/histor.../stpete2.shtml

It appears they will definately be using Cellulosic E85 starting at St. Petersburg race and Doug says that he expects GT1 will be no more after 2010 and that a single GT class will result that is similar to today's GT2. An interesting read.
DK

What a bunch of BS hyperboles about the alcohol used, and lying understatements about alcohol performance.
In drag racing AA/gas cars were slower than AA/Alcohol, and both ran no performance boosters in the fuel.

He must have had a hard time keeping a straight face.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by dxk1

Doug Fehan and Johnny O'Connell did an interview regarding Corvette's future. Very interesting and posted on the Corvetteracing site. See here: http://www.corvetteracing.com/histor.../stpete2.shtml

It appears they will definately be using Cellulosic E85 starting at St. Petersburg race and Doug says that he expects GT1 will be no more after 2010 and that a single GT class will result that is similar to today's GT2. An interesting read.

DK

Yes it is a rather interesting read.

L.P.

[dxk1]

I'm not sure if this has been posted or if this is the right place but here is a nice 1 hour review of last years (2007) 24 hours of Spa.

http://www.corvettemotorsport.com/review/spa.htm

DK

[rich07]

I think it may have been posted before but still well worth watching again, great onboard shots in different cars.

[vorsprung]

According to Autoextremist GM management has buried the "P1-evo Corvette".

[David]

"Not quite" buried according to AutoWeek.

[minimangler]

That LGM car sounds pretty spiffing. Mind you, that new V8 Vantage looks swift too.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by David

"Not quite" buried according to AutoWeek.

I sincerly hope they havent abondoned the idea . I mean , they are a crack outfit in Gt1 , P2 probably doesnt interest them so the next logical step should be the top class and a crack at Le Mans proper .

Love to see that engine in a proto !

[minimangler]

We have!
Lister Storm.