The future of Corvette

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by Brownj

Fair point. My premise was not correct.

But it does not change the fact that it makes the 911-EVO eligible for 2014 AM class competition. For an AM team to run a brand new 2014 spec car against other teams with older spec cars would go against the rules of the class. If that is allowed, then they might as well toss the rule out.

The 911 EVO as you call it, IS a 2014 spec car!

http://sportscar365.com/wec/porsche-...sr-in-bahrain/

Same as a C7.R would be.



L.P.

[FstrthnU]

I think the bigger issue with the C7.R is that no 2013-spec exists for the car, since 2014 will be its first season of racing. At the bare minimum the 911 RSR, 458 Italia and Vantage GTE have raced last year.

[Brownj]

Originally Posted by FstrthnU

I think the bigger issue with the C7.R is that no 2013-spec exists for the car, since 2014 will be its first season of racing. At the bare minimum the 911 RSR, 458 Italia and Vantage GTE have raced last year.

Exactly.

All 3 of those cars raced in 2013 in the spec that will be allowed in GTE-AM for 2014. The C7.R has not. If Corvette Racing had decided to do the same thing as Porsche and do a one-off and enter a C7.R at Bahrain, then I wouldn't be arguing this point.

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

The 911 EVO as you call it, IS a 2014 spec car!

http://sportscar365.com/wec/porsche-...sr-in-bahrain/

Same as a C7.R would be.

Not sure why they refer to it as a 2014 car in that article. The homologation is based on the 2013 car.

The 911 has updates, but is still the car raced in 2013. The C7.R is an entirely new car compared to the C6.R.

[Gingers4Justice]

The C7R being a new car though, and Labre not being a full factory team...could Labre not put forward a good case that having such a new car, with its teething issues and all, could negate the advantage of being a more recent model?

If I was an AM entrant who had just invested in the 2013 spec 991, I'd still be much more confident in that choice than a C7R and I'm not sure I'd bother fighting it.

[JLGarcia]

Originally Posted by MitchZ06

The spec is a year old, not the cars. I believe alot of the GTE-Am cars were new build cars but to the previous year's spec.

...which seems to me is a violation of the spirit of the rule, if not the letter. Either require used cars or chuck the rule entirely.

[FstrthnU]

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/br...ytona-sebring/
So, what do you guys think of Briscoe and Liddell joining Corvette?

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by FstrthnU

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/br...ytona-sebring/
So, what do you guys think of Briscoe and Liddell joining Corvette?

They are both good drivers!








L.P.

[Mechanic Z]

Originally Posted by FstrthnU

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/br...ytona-sebring/
So, what do you guys think of Briscoe and Liddell joining Corvette?

I'm honestly unsure. Briscoe doesn't have any GT experience, so he's an unknown. Liddell ran pretty well at Petit Le Mans and, though he seemed to struggle a bit in one of his stints,the Vette and the Ferrari are two very different cars, so he might be good.

Leaving Westbrook and Taylor in at Le Mans is nothing short of crazy. No matter how good they are, they won't be as familiar with the car as they need to be to be competitive in GTE. (Yes, I know Briscoe's Indycar ride would make Le Mans impossible.)

I'm wondering why they only mention Sebring and Daytona, with no mention of PLM. Is this, perhaps, only temporary?

[Accident]

Briscoe has been a pretty solid co-driver in the V8SC and those are supposed to be much harder cars for people to jump into and is a very rough-and-tumble sort of field, so my only question with him his how well he adapts to be overtaken by the P-classes.

Liddell should do fine, he went ok in the Risi car and he is comfortable at night and good in the rain, both things that are good for endurance drivers to have.

I doubt Chevy would just throw them in the cars if they hadn't done well in testing anyway.

As for Westbrook and Taylor at Le Mans... I'm not worried about Westbrook, we have seen him hop into cars with which he has very little seat time and do a good job. Taylor is the one I'd worry about more out of the two of them, but I think last season has done a lot for his confidence/mindset and I expect he will do fine.

I do agree it would be more ideal to have a year-long endurance lineup, but given the driver market situation with TUSCC I would think options are quite limited, and with so many lineups unannounced we really don't know who is available anyways.

[Mechanic Z]

Originally Posted by Accident

Briscoe has been a pretty solid co-driver in the V8SC and those are supposed to be much harder cars for people to jump into and is a very rough-and-tumble sort of field, so my only question with him his how well he adapts to be overtaken by the P-classes.

Liddell should do fine, he went ok in the Risi car and he is comfortable at night and good in the rain, both things that are good for endurance drivers to have.

I doubt Chevy would just throw them in the cars if they hadn't done well in testing anyway.

As for Westbrook and Taylor at Le Mans... I'm not worried about Westbrook, we have seen him hop into cars with which he has very little seat time and do a good job. Taylor is the one I'd worry about more out of the two of them, but I think last season has done a lot for his confidence/mindset and I expect he will do fine.

I do agree it would be more ideal to have a year-long endurance lineup, but given the driver market situation with TUSCC I would think options are quite limited, and with so many lineups unannounced we really don't know who is available anyways.

Indeed, I'm fairly optimistic about them hiring Liddell, and the only real question about Briscoe is how he adapts, as you pointed out. Still very nervous, though.

Also still not liking the Le Mans set up. I've been worried for a while that Corvette Racing might have to do something like this because of drivers being in short supply.

[CyberMotor]

2014 Hennessy Corvette hits 200 MPH while testing Texas Toll System...

http://jalopnik.com/watch-hennesseys...xas-1484896822

[carbon_titanium]

Originally Posted by CyberMotor

2014 Hennessy Corvette hits 200 MPH while testing Texas Toll System...

http://jalopnik.com/watch-hennesseys...xas-1484896822

Only 200mph? quite disappointing for an Hennessey model

[Lagunaseca_4life]

Originally Posted by carbon_titanium

Only 200mph? quite disappointing for an Hennessey model

What do you expect? It's still a Chevy, the ford went much faster than that

Now if only they could make a race car of it

[Mechanic Z]

Originally Posted by Lagunaseca_4life

What do you expect? It's still a Chevy, the ford went much faster than that

Of course, Chevy actually knows how to make cars that can turn corners...

[HORNDAWG]

Looks as if the C7.R will still be a Velocity Yellow base colored livery.


http://nasportscar.com/wp-content/up...-R-at-ROAR.jpg










L.P.

[CyberMotor]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

Looks as if the C7.R will still be a Velocity Yellow base colored livery.

With red mirrors (like everyone else in the class).

Wonder if the cammo will peel off?

[FstrthnU]

http://sportscar365.com/features/pho...rsday-gallery/

Bodywork looking a lot more final

[CyberMotor]

It's going to be hard getting used to those skinny tires after the recent fat tire fun.

[TF110]

Those tires look anything but skinny. Unless you mean the sidewall.

[HJJ]

· Corvette Racing has had a productive Roar Before The 24 test, logging more miles and data with their brand-new C7.Rs. Program manager Doug Fehan gave RACER his assessment of the progress they've made and revealed an interesting nugget on the car's camo testing livery.

“We're here primarily to work on durability and reliability,” he said. “Without that, you've got nothing and it doesn't matter how fast you go. So we're paying a lot of attention to that. We've got a whole book to write on chassis and aero. All in all, it's been helpful being here, but for comparisons with our C7.Rs to the other cars at this point, it's hard to tell. We'll go out, run a fast lap, then everyone else in our class is careful not to go any faster. You know how that game goes. You always expect that. It's too early to judge who brought what, but it's safe to say everyone has made improvements.”

The Corvettes have run at the test in their camo vinyl wrap, and the proper livery is set to be revealed next week at the North American International Auto Show. Fehan revealed no livery work will be required after the test – the C7.Rs have been running with them the whole time. “If you look at the bodywork seams you can see the yellow. We knew we wouldn't have time after the test to do it, so we did the cars before the test and wrapped them with the camo. All we have to do is peel it off when we get back!”

.

[alless]

Originally Posted by CyberMotor

It's going to be hard getting used to those skinny tires after the recent fat tire fun.

skinny tires? huh??

[CyberMotor]

Originally Posted by alless

skinny tires? huh??

What I meant was that for the past few years the trend was to keep making the tires fatter and fatter. Rears on the front, extended flares, etc. and now the trend is going the other way. Only skinnier in reference to the max fats, not skinny in comparison to a road tire. They are still big tires.

[NelisB]

Isn't that just the prototypes? Haven't heard of GT's going back to smaller tires.

[CyberMotor]

Originally Posted by NelisB

Isn't that just the prototypes? Haven't heard of GT's going back to smaller tires.

I may be mistaken. I was thinking it was all of the ACO/FIA-related (GTLM) classes.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by CyberMotor

I may be mistaken. I was thinking it was all of the ACO/FIA-related (GTLM) classes.

Well, you are right with the street car! They are quite a bit narrower than the C6's.