In Celebration of Corvette Racing
By Ed Peper
Chevrolet General Manager
We have a phrase at Chevrolet that sums up our feelings for GM's largest division: "Chevy Proud!" I was Chevy Proud when we outsold Ford in 2005 to become the best-selling brand in the U.S. And I was Chevy Proud today when we celebrated Corvette Racing's fifth win in the GT1 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a parade through the streets of downtown Detroit.
In years past, it might have been a tickertape parade, but both tickertapes and office windows that open are only memories now. But we did celebrate the occasion with hot dogs, ice cream, American flags and fast Corvettes - a heartfelt homecoming for America's team in international road racing.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is simply the biggest, most prestigious and most important road racing event in the world. Although the race is not as well known in the U.S. as the Indianapolis 500 or the Daytona 500, it's the "Big One" in the rest of the world. This year's race was covered by 2,200 journalists from 37 nations, seen by nearly a quarter of a million spectators, and broadcast to a worldwide TV audience. For Corvette Racing to win Le Mans five times in the last six years is huge.
The Le Mans race track is located 125 miles southwest of Paris. It's an immense course, nearly 8.5 miles long, which combines a dedicated circuit with two-lane country roads. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is a race that's steeped in history and tradition.
We often hear from the critics what is wrong with the auto industry, but Corvette Racing shows what's right. We're proud that Corvette competes and wins on the global stage. Today we applauded the accomplishments of the men and women of Corvette Racing, and we saluted the teams that work behind the scenes at General Motors and our affiliated sponsors and suppliers to make Corvette Racing a world-class team.
A great race car begins with a great production car. In fact, the rules at Le Mans insist that manufacturers in the GT classes adhere closely to production specifications. One look at the Corvette Z06 supercar and the Corvette C6.R race car shows the two-way transfer of technology between racing and production that benefits our customers.
The street car is better because of the race car, and the race car is better because of the street car. Most importantly, our engineers are better because of the interaction between the race team and the production team.
A big reason why Chevy is the most successful marque in motorsports is the GM small-block V-8. It's the world's most successful production-based racing engine, and it has powered Chevrolets to victory in NASCAR, drag racing and road racing for more than 50 years. In fact, the small-block V-8 is so strong that the sanctioning body for the American Le Mans Series recently handicapped the Corvettes so that our competition's multi-valve, overhead cam V-12s can keep up with us!
I felt a tremendous sense of pride as I drove a Corvette convertible behind one of the Corvette C6.R race cars from the headquarters of Compuware Corporation to the GM World Headquarters at the Renaissance Center. To have Corvette winning at this level of international competition is the fulfillment of the dream of Zora Arkus-Duntov, the first Corvette chief engineer. Corvette has long been known as an American icon, but now Corvette is recognized globally as a world-class performance car, due in part to our success at Le Mans and in the American Le Mans Series. We were joined by an enthusiastic group of Corvette owners from local clubs. It was clear why they love their Corvettes.
It was my privilege to present the 24 Hours of Le Mans trophy to Peter Karmanos Jr., chairman and CEO of Compuware Corporation. As the primary sponsor of Corvette Racing, Compuware's partnership and support has made Corvette Racing's success possible. Mr. Karmanos is building an impressive trophy collection; he is also the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team that won the Stanley Cup last month.
I can't imagine a better way to celebrate Corvette's 50th anniversary in international road racing than with this victory at Le Mans. Corvette Racing is continuing a tradition of winning that began in 1956 at Sebring. Through the years, Corvette has remained true to its sports car and racing heritage as an All-American performance icon.
And that makes me Chevy Proud!
To see more photos from the parade, check out our Flickr page.
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Great, GREAT work!! And unlike a lot of things, this shows a consistency of excellence. I would suggest one thing though…you should be sure to mention the companies and the cars that you beat at Le Mans and have dominated for the last few years. There is more marketing power to; “Corvette wins over, Porsche-Nissan-BMW-Toyota-Fill in the blank”, than just saying you won. People enjoy comparisons, well rub a little Corvette Pride in the faces of the ones that didn’t win.
Congratulations on your consistency and performance on the world’s most difficult race! Audi always speaks volumes in regards to its racing program and so should you. Keep on rocking in the free world!!
Mr. Peper,
That was a good read, I always like reading about the Corvette wins.
Don’t gloss over the amazing success the Ecotec-powered Cobalt is making on the Georgian Bay Racing / SCADAPACK SS Supercharged that Curran and Holtom are driving to victory in the Grand Am Cup ST Class!
We expect the Chevy smallblock to win, but the strides Chevy is making in the 4-cylinder, FWD based racing in a class usually dominated by Acuras, Mazdas, and BMWs is more impressive and even MORE worthy of shouting about!
Right on! Mark is 100% on the point. Like Vicks Vaporub says, Rub it in, rub it in, rub it in!!!!!!
Another great year for Corvette Racing. Looks like the Aston Martins are a little faster but don’t have the durability to win at Le Mans. Le Mans is such a great race that tests more than just how fast a car is but how durable it is, driver ability, and support team ability. You can’t win without the whole package.
Once again, apply this level of talent and committment to developing new car products and you can take on the world.
Did anyone see the comments by the CEO of American Toyota on hybrid strategies in yesterday’s Associated Press story?
I also concur with mark, Rub It In! Congrats Corvette, we’re Down with Chevy! Keep up the good work.
How about pointing out that Chevrolet and Chevrolet based engines have “owned” all dirt track racing in this country for the last 50 years. World of Outlaws/Sprint Car racing, Modified Racing, Late Models and stock car racing classes at thousands of tracks across the nation have been dominated by these small and big block Chevrolets with nary a word from GM Marketing/Advertising.
Congratulations Corvette, GM continues to make us proud. Also Kudo’s to Toyota and GM for their recent “donations” to Detroit and Tokyo.
The Corvette Racers are amazing, and it is great to see them get such solid backing from the factory. For those who want bragging rights, they’re going up against Aston Martins in the GT1 class. The GT2 class with Ferraris and Porches and BMWs and other such silly cars are a lower level of competition. C6-Rs won this week at the ALMS Portland race in their class.
I came here today to drop a hint though. The posters above who have mentioned the power of Chevy cars racing in all fields are right. Chevy now has a much more impressive line up, and that should be pushed some. Win on Sunday Sell On Monday.
The Real Reason…If you want even more to brag about. Build the Camaro. From the start with a factory racing team. You can make this happen. Please do.
Chevrolet wins in ALMS or Le Mans in GT1 and GT2. How much sweeter would that be! Its possible. GM has the power. Please. Please. Please. Build and race the Camaro Concept.
I agree 100% with Mink on the strides GM has made with the Grand Am Cup Cobalts in ST class. We Cobalt SS owners LOVE to see a US backed car like that beat on the Asian market cars and thensome. Great job by them as well as the Corvettes. I’m a Corvette guy at heart ( ask anyone who knows me ) and its fantastic that GM is finally getting behind factory backed racing once again and realizing that it’s a GOOD thing. Caddy’s in Speed GT ( plus the privateer vettes ), the Cobalts…. PLUS the GM cars that are still doing well in NHRA. All of this is bragging rights that you’ve earned along the way and should be flaunting.
As someone else stated.. a GM backed effort of a Camaro in sports car racing to pit against the mustangs would be HUGE… a great simultaneous rollout of both car and track car ( similar to that of the Z06 / C6-R ) would do wonders for buzz.
Great job to Doug Fehan and all the Corvette racing team at both GM and Pratt & Miller. Keep those cars Yellow, and they’ll never lose…
Nice going Chevrolet with the Corvettes race team. Proud Corvette owner since 1959,present Corvette 2005 C-6. Best vette yet of the 10 new ones i have owned.
nice job
Delicious sweetness for you!!!Congrats for winning the race!!
Love hearing directly from another CEO. I truly acknowledge you being available to your customers – well done.
Big achievement!!!!!! Congratulations!!!
Happy??? Jublious??? or on moon????