The 77th running of the Le Mans 24-hour race is in the record books. It once again proved to be the greatest sportscar race in the world. The Corvettes of America and France combined to dominate the GT1 class. Corvette Racing’s C6Rs ran a flawless race for 22 hours. The black 64-car chased the 63-car right from the start with the yellow-liveried sister ship in the lead from the afternoon start through into the night. Jan Magnusson put in a great double stint in the darkness and increased the lead over the 64 car to 2 minutes 7 seconds – that is over a ½-lap lead on the 8.47-mile La Sarthe circuit. However with hard driving and the help of some lucky positioning during yellow flags, combined with the 63 crew experiencing refueling rig problems, the 64 was able to scoot past and assume the race lead during the night. As the race continued the team mates exchanged the lead once as a course of the hourly pitstop exchanges but the 64 remained in the lead as the end of the race approached. With the race coming to a close the Danny Binks led 63-car found themselves 19 seconds behind their sister Corvette. The engineers and Binks were now consumed in calculating all the possible scenarios which could put them back into the lead. It came down to pit stops, tire choices if it rained, and traffic on track to make a difference. However no one expected a catastrophic gearbox failure in the 22nd-hour to end the 64’s bid for victory. Marcel Fassler was in the middle of piloting the car to a great turn at the wheel when he reported on the radio that he was losing “motivating power.” He employed crew chief Mike West to tell him what he could do to limp the car successfully back to the pits for repair - but there was nothing to be done. The transaxle had terminal symptoms and the car would not continue. Nothing was left to do but allow the corner workers to push the car off the racing surface. Gary Pratt and Doug Fehan quickly consulted with the pit-stand official to confirm what could be done to get the car back to the garage for repair. The ACO rules dictate that the car must travel on the racing circuit with only the driver present. Marcel could push the car himself, but as long as the car was on the racing circuit he could not have any help. If the car was touched by anyone other than the driver the car would be automatically eliminated from competition. Once the car reaches the pit-in entrance, 4 crew members may join him to help push the car to the garage. Another possibility is for the pilot to motivate the car on the starter motor. That ploy did not pan out. Whatever problem befell the gearbox also contributed to wiping out the starter motor as well.
With the 64-car 40 laps ahead of the 4th placed Aston Martin DB9, and insufficient time left to make those laps up, it seemed that the 64 crew would at least assume a 3rd paced podium finish. However another ACO dictate is that in order to be classified as finishing the race, you must take the checkered flag and the end of 24 hours. This meant that the 64-car received a disappointing label of DNF for 22+ hours of hard endurance racing – hardly satisfying to a crew that gave everything they had and more to win. With the 64- car parked at the side of the road the 63-car assumed the lead and closed out the race with a letter perfect winning performance placing a very impressive 14th overall. 10 minutes before the 63 crossed the finish line the team brought the car into the pits for an unscheduled pitstop purely designed to clean up the paint work and run a sparkling automobile under the checkered flag – everyone on the entire team grabbed a towel and together they made ready for celebration. The detail service was a repeat of the first time Corvette Racing won the Le Mans race – then the car was pitted to clean-up the race grim and display a perfect look at the finish. So in honor that 1st victory, and to celebrate the closing out of Corvette’s 10-year participation in international GT1, the team took a moment out from the intensity of racing to make a handsome final appearance. I am sure the faces of the race officials in Parc Ferme wore a very surprised look at what was surly a car that looked like it had just rolled out of the trailer, not one that had finished the toughest endurance race in the world.
The French led Luc Alphand team’s #73 Corvette C6R (a former factory C6R with multiple visits to Le Mans) took a well deserved 2nd in class GT1. The Aston was classified 3rd by means of the 64 retirement and the Lamborghini did finish but way down in the charts. The big news for the French fans was the ultimate overall victory by Peugeot over Audi ending a 5-year string of LeMans championships by the German team. The podium ceremonies in pit lane were crazy. I have never seen anything like it. The French faithful emptied the course and filled the front pit straight grandstands, the pit lane and the front straight of the track, it was pure bedlam as the emotional French fans released 6 years of pent-up national pride.
On this day all of the Corvette community takes pride in being part of a championship team. 6 Le Mans victories make this the best racing team in the world! The fruits of today’s victory were well deserved by the whole Corvette Racing team. Everyone involved with Corvette Racing won on this day. The experience gained over 10-yeas at La Sarthe, the extraordinary effort given, the energy and sweat spent, and the heart wrenching emotions endured make this the ultimate victory for the General Motors backed racing team. Congratulations Chevrolet and Corvette Racing!
Story and Images by Dr. Greg P. Johnson
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