Podcast: Team Corvette Is Ready for LeMans
GM Road Racing Group Manager Steve Wesoloski tells FastLane Radio that Corvette is sending two champion race-tested C6.Rs to France for the 24-hours of LeMans on June 17, 2006. The Corvette C6.R is the most technically advanced sports car ever developed by GM. This year's cars finished numbers 1 and 2 in the most recent American LeMans series race. Competition is tough, but hopes are high that Corvette will continue its winning record at LeMans this year. Wesoloski speaks from experience because he's a key member of the pit crew in addition to his engineering and administrative duties.
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The ‘vettes remind me of the Ford GT40’s of the 1960’s. They’re unbeatable!
Thank you for finally making it possible for me to laugh in my brothers, face when the Vette destroys the Viper. Ive waited a long time, but it was worth it!
I go to Lime Rock every year to watch the Vette’s do in the competition. Each year I stay up for the full 24 hours of each running of the French classic. Corvette’s performance in international road racing competitions over the past several years has yielded huge dividends in terms of brand building and demonstrating that the car is the real deal. It makes me quite proud of the heritage of the two new Vettes I have owned (’99 and ‘05) and the Z06 I expect in about a year.
Now if GM would only listen to buyers who have indicated through average transaction prices and the gangbuster sales of the Z06 that a $1-2K increase in the price of the road car to facilitate an absolutely knockout interior will be welcomed with open arms GM’s flagship car would truly have arrived. Hope springs eternal for the C7.
By the way, if you guys are thinking of a “Blue Devil” I would like to make a suggestion, call it a Ray. Make the first one the Sting Ray. Skip a generation and reintroduce a Ray for the C8. Call it the Devil Ray. Skip another generation and then introduce a Ray for the C10. Call it the Manta Ray. Like the flagship Enzo and Carrera GTs from their respective manufacturers Ferrari and Porsche the Corvette Rays would be once in a long time cars that definitively outline the upper end of street legal OEM supercars of their era. If GM can build a Ray now and hold the price to no more than $140K and limit the build to no more than 1,500 cars over the entire model run they will sell each and every one.
Just make sure that the car is, while clearly a Corvette, sharply different visually from the C6. Think of it in the vein of how the Carrera GT is clearly different from the 911.
Throw every technical trick at the Ray while keeping its weight to about 50 lbs. less than the Z06. I’m thinking mid-engined normally aspirated 8-liter pushrod 700hp V-10 or V-12 with displacement-on-demand, standard ceramic brakes, magnesium wheels, extensive carbon fiber bodywork, active rear spoiler, DSG shifter and an absolutely knockout interior.
By leaving the car normally aspirated and the engine to no more than 8-liters it could potentially be campaigned at Le Mans if GM wanted to give the C6.Rs a rest while building the “Ray” brand of Corvette as extreme performance beyond what the successful Z06 brand offers.
Do it. Please do it.
We are vintage racers. We run our two Corvettes, a ‘55 and a ‘58 in the west coast vintage races with a fair amount of success. So, we understand the intense amount of talent and committment it takes to race at the Le Mans level, let alone win.
As I have said before on this blog, if you would devote that same talent and committment to developing a super high mileage version of the Cobalt or Aveo, you could drive the Prius into the sea.
As the great Kelly Johnson said, “simplicate and add lightness”.
One blogger suggested the other day a lightweight Metro with composite body panels and other racer weight reducing tricks. I promise you, you could take 20-30 pounds out of the seats alone. I would buy one.
Somebody else pointed out that the Cobalt gets the same mileage as the Aveo. He or she suggested that this is because the Ecotec is more modern, with a better engine management system. He or she suggested an engine swap. Right! The Aveo hatch is a perfectly sized city car for L.A., where we live, but 24 city/33highway is not going to get it in the face of the Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, Fit, Yaris, Versa, and who knows what’s next.
You have to get to the front in the fuel economy race too. Put the racer lads on the case and tell them you want to see 80 mpg within a year. They can do it if you give them the support. If you can win Le Mans, you can get 80 mpg. It would do even more for the corporate image than winning Le Mans.
GM,
I’ve really been impressed by your road racing efforts recently. From the Grand Am Cup ST Class Cobalt SS and GT Class CTS-V, to the GTO.R’s, and the CTS-VR’s in the Speed World Challenge. And now the SSB SCCA Solstice! The Corvette of course is so much of a given that I often overlook it.
What I really like seeing is GM cars very close to stock, racing and proving that the platforms and engines you can get at the dealership in a regular Solstice or Cobalt can be modified for racing, and are great for hot-rodding or “tuning”.
For so long the Japanese and Germans dominated road courses like “Road America” (how embarassing is that?) with Acuras, BMWs and Mazdas. Now GM is proving that its cars also deserve to be the stars of the racing world, and by extension show up in influential video games.
I hope to see the road racing efforts continue, and look forward to seeing whats learned on the track feeding back into future Cobalt, Solstice and of course Corvette production models.
I’m really impressed with the level of engineering present in the Corvette C6R–that it’s one of the most heavily-restricted cars in its class just shows how good it really is.
All told though, the thing that matters most is your mainstream stuff. What I’d really like to see out of GM is an Aveo that weighs under 2500 pounds and gets better than 30city/40hwy. I want a compact that won’t rattle itself to pieces in 5 years like every Cavalier in history ever did. I want a midsize sedan that can take on the Accord and Camry and turn them every which way but loose.
Wouldn’t that be wonderfull.
But we should all be proud of the bow ties success withe the C5R and now the C6R.
Especially at Le Mans.
It sure is great watching those All-American small block V8’s roadrace! They just keep winning despite the rule making race officials. I hope to drive my commemerative edition 2004 Z06 to Atlanta this year for the race.
There are two American Car companys again this year. Panoz has already posted a first at Sebring 12 hrs.in March this year. Panoz is hiring Multimatic to do the racing. A smart move. They also have David Brabham as #1 driver. If they hold together for 24 hours, they may lead the GT2 class.Imagine beat ing all those Porsches! They’ve done it once this year already.
There is only one thing better than watching the Corvette team winning at the races and that is…… getting in your own Corvette and watch people’s faces as you drive by. Good luck @ Lemans Corvette team! Make us fans and sponsors (Motorola) proud.