Super Cars

In Detail
engine      V8
position   Front Longitudinal
drive wheels RWD


France - Corvette and Aston Martin went toe-to-toe in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, trading blows through a grueling day and night of racing. When the battle finally ended at 5 p.m. today, Corvette Racing had won the GT1 class in the world's greatest sports car race for the fifth time in six years.

The victorious No. 64 Compuware Corvette C6.R driven by Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen finished fourth overall. It was the trio's third consecutive class victory at Le Mans and their fourth straight endurance racing win, a streak that includes last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, Petit Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Corvette Racing extended its perfect finishing record in the 24 Hours of Le Mans to seven consecutive years and Corvette became the winningest manufacturer in recent GT history at Le Mans.

This year's 24-hour endurance test reprised the drama of last year's battle. The No. 63 Corvette C6.R and the No. 009 Aston Martin DBR9 were in lockstep from the start, separated by less than a lap in the running order for hour after hour. The turning point came in the 22nd hour when the green Aston Martin went to the garage with a mechanical problem. At 2:09 p.m., Jan Magnussen officially took the lead = a lead that Corvette Racing would not relinquish. The winning Corvette completed 355 laps, made 25 faultless pit stops, and won by a five-lap margin of victory.

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DETROIT - The brand-new Corvette C6-R race car will debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March 2005 after a full year of rigorous testing and development. The two-car, factory-backed Chevrolet sports car program will compete in the production-based GT1 class (formerly GTS) of American Le Mans Series as well as the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, a race where the Corvette has won its class for three out of the past four years. The new race car is the most technically advanced sports car ever developed by General Motors, culling years of experience from the dominant Corvette C5-R as well as the advancements brought forth from the next-generation Corvette C6 and Z06 production models.

Like the C5-R before it, the Corvette C6-R starts from production roots: the same hydroformed frame rails that roll down the assembly line at the Corvette plant in Bowling Green , Kentucky are sourced for the structure of the race car. With the new C6 production model measuring shorter in overall length (but with a longer wheelbase), race car engineers faced a new set of numbers in which to achieve their goals to make the car faster on the 180-mph Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans and other high-speed circuits.

Adding a rear wing and a front splitter enabled the team to develop a package that achieves a lift-to-drag ratio better than that of the C5-R. Through a combination of Computational Fluid Dynamic studies and on-track testing, the end result will be an aerodynamically balanced package, tunable to the low drag demands of Le Mans or the high downforce requirements of Mosport.

The phrase 'technology transfer' has never been more appropriate than when used to describe the matched set of Corvette C6-R and Corvette Z06. Lessons learned on the track have benefited the Z06, just as GM's vast resources have enriched the C6-R race car. Both cars are powered by 7-liter small-block V-8 engines with dry-sump lubrication systems, CNC-ported cylinder heads, titanium valves and connecting rods, forged steel crankshafts, and plate-honed cylinder bores. While the components and specifications of the street and competition engines are tailored to their specific environments, the thought process behind them is identical.

The same six drivers that piloted the C5-Rs to an historical undefeated season in 2004 will return to the track in 2005: Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis will drive the #3 Corvette C6-R and Oliver Gavin , Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen will drive the #4 Corvette C6-R.


 

Posted by Praveen Edburg on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 at 8:06 AM | Permalink