lorenzo

here is a couple of hardcore fans watching the vett,s win GT1

dvandentop

you are a lucky guy if you go to experience that over there!

lorenzo

It was Un-f en Real.

Like woodstock and "Oh there is a race or something going on here''

It looked like anything goe's, people passing around Beer, Wine, Booze, Bong's, Whisky and God only knows what else?

There were people passed out by 10 am Sat just laying around in the dirt where they collapsed, million dollar cars in the camp ground with the owner lying on the groung next to them in a pile of empty beer bottles.
When the Vetts came by you could feel them pound against your chest, lap after lap flat out it was just amazing.
We had three laps on the dancing donkey's at the end and the only thing that gave them a run for the money was the Austin Martin.

Ya gotta do it at least once!!

RoHo

Were you guy's on some type of racing touriest package type thing or did you wing by yourselves?

Man, I watched on TV again this year, but have got to take that in some time soon.

How were the Corvettes accepted in France?

lorenzo

I had been to Europe before so i just did my own thing, their was no one with me so that made it easy . forget getting a room in le mans and you wont want to leave anyway. i didn't talk to the people you see in the picture and dont know who they were. I found a big cardboard box and a broken lawnchair that i fashoned into a place to lay down for a while under a pine tree but you dont sleep unless you are passed out, you can't get away from the intense sound of the cars but i had to get off my feet for a bit once in a while. You can stay in paris then take a train to le man. As soon as you get off the train there is a tram way that takes you right to the track. You can here the cars as soon as you get on the tram, the sound echo's through the streets and off the buildings for an instant rush right from the get go.

As for your question about the acceptance, there was actually a french Vett team raceing with the American's and they did very well, i didn't get the feeling we weren't welcome even once. When they perform the way they do they get every ones respect.

Lots of food venders, lots and lots and lots and lots of beer venders, Live bands, lots of cars to look at and people people people all with a comon interest. You should go at least once!!

Here are som more pictures for ya

dvandentop

more pics dammit!


also check your pm's

smallblk400

Man that's incredible! I've been to France twice when I was a kid but I might have to put this exact trip on my bucket list!!!

juster

more pictures from a friend of mine who made the trip to Le Mans with us (4x C6Z06, 2X C5)...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brecht-...7619171492879/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brecht-...7619662394596/

The corvette village was great... just like the parade and the lap on the track! I hope corvette racing comes back next year. I'm going to mis the C6R's

lorenzo

Thanks for those pictures, I see your in Belgium, I was at the station in nord trying to get to Belgium when the RER stormed in protesting wages so i didn't get to go, they shut down the station, how did you get home? And what happened to the black C6R? after 22 hours it just vanished, The vett team i talked to at GDC when i left was very tight lipped and wouldn't say a dam thing about it. Was that you i saw drinking all that Kronenbourg??

ole

Le Mans 2009

It’s been a few days home now, and if you’re wondering what I’m doing you’d laugh. It’s back to doing laundry, getting groceries, cooking dinners, and cleaning. But for some reason or another it all is a bit easier to do now. Le Mans was awesome. A great battle between the two cars, and a win that will always mean a lot to me.

It was from the start a great battle. Jan did a good job getting us on the pole even though neither car really made an honest qualifying run to the conditions and focusing more on set up. For the first stint, Jan was able to keep Oliver behind him, but as close as OG could stay to Jan I was concerned that maybe our car was not working quite as well as the 64 car. Just before I got in for my first double, there was a caution that separated the two cars and allowed us a gap of around two minutes. Luck is always a part of the game in long races and we caught a good break.

When I got into the car, it was pretty good the first stint but suffering from too much mid corner understeer so that you could not carry the speed you wanted through the middle part of the corner. We had a huge lead so I was not all that concerned, but on the second stint, the tires really fell off and it was all you could do to run a decent lap time. Beretta in the 64 car was also pushing really hard, and with their car working a bit better in the middle of the corners was able to make up some time on me.

Us trying to sort the car and make it better was a big part of the race. We made several changes, but could never get the car completely in the sweet spot. We again got another break with a safety car later, building up a gap again to the 64 car, but soon would have problems of our own that would really cost us.

The first was a fueling rig problem that would add about 20 seconds to each time that we stopped. That cost us a ton. Then around 2 in the morning, Jan was unreal sick, and had to take some medicine to get over it. The problem was the medicine totally knocked him out and it was iffy whether or not he would be able to get back in the car, so Antonio and I just put our heads down, and pushed as hard as we could. Personally I only got about 45 minutes of sleep during the race, and would spend my time not in the car either getting massaged or icing my feet which I had bruised in my first stint. I also at one point did and IV and took two bags of whatever it is they pump into you. But all that was enough.

Anyway, we were still having a great battle, situations arose that allowed the 4 car with another safety car to get back up to us, and I found myself having to hold off Marcel in the 64 car. It was a fun battle… he’s a very good talented driver, and I knew that with them having the better car it would be hard work holding him back a long time. But I’m kinda sure I could have. Anyway, I did get the call to let him go, and once by me he was able to open up a good gap as he was on his first stint with tires and I was on my second stint.

As I pulled in to change drivers with Antonio, I was a bit down as I thought that the race for us was most likely over. But then talking with our engineer was given hope as with the way tire strategy was working, we might be in a better tire and fuel window then the 64 car, and that it would come down to the last stint. So I went to get worked on and prepare for the last stint, and it wasn’t 20 minutes later than Jans wife let me know the 64 car had had a problem, and we provided we didn’t make any mistakes, we could get this last win in the GT 1 category.

There was only one thing on my mind when I got into the car for the last stint, and that was be perfect. Perfect lines, perfect shifting, watching mirrors, total focus. Not just for me wanting to win for Jan and Antonio and myself, but really a much bigger picture. To be perfect for all our Corvette Fans. To be perfect for all the Americans back home pulling for us. To be perfect for everyone that loves and cares about the future of GM. For everyone that believes in Corvette Racing and it’s value to Chevrolet. For Doug Fehan, Gary Pratt, Jim Miller, everyone at Katech, for Compuware and all our sponsors. And especially for all the mechanics and engineers with Corvette Racing that spend hours upon hours building the race cars.

The guys on both cars did an amazing job. It was bad luck for the 64 guys, as they work every bit as hard as the guys on the 63 car. And Oliver and Olivier and Marcel drove really well. So hats off to them. And for Dan Binks…. Well it was nice to finally get him a win at the one track he’d never won at. Now rumor has it he was all emotional and crying at the end. Personally I’ll have to see it before I believe it as the Dan I know is a hard *** who even if I scissor kicked him in the head wouldn’t cry !!! Of course I’m just kidding, as that place is the most emotional place in the world.

My last several laps, I did not talk on the radio unless absolutely necessary, and then really short. I know that if I had done anything but focus on the job of driving, as tired and beat up as I was, I would have done the same, and lost it. So when I got close to the finish, I asked permission to do a burnout. Seemed like the right thing. And when I lit them up…. Smoked them big time…. Over the radio…. Dan said “ Now that’s showing them how we do it in America. “

Finally, about this being my fourth win. I’m sure it will sink in over the next few days how special it is to be the only American to get that many wins at Le Mans. And like at Sebring, I hope I can still get a few more. But those results are really not the result of just me. It’s having teammates like Jan, Ron, Antonio, Oliver, Scott Pruett, Steve Millen and John Morton. Guys preparing the cars like everyone at Pratt and Miller and Corvette Racing. The support of GM and Chevrolet. And early in my career, an amazing effort put forth by Nissan when they were involved in sportscars.

When I drove for Nissan, the racing Manager at the time Frank Honsowitz once told me that at the start of every race, he gives me 100% of a car. Bring me back just 1%, just make sure you win.

When I first joined Corvette Racing in 2001, my first race was the 24 hours of Daytona. A huge event for the team as both Earnhardts were racing with us. Prior to the race, Program manager Doug Fehan told me that he only has three rules. Follow them, and good things will happen. Needless to say those directions were followed… we won, and since then have with the GT 1 car had the most amazing ride writing history. As we move forward, know everyone at Corvette Racing is committed to winning, and always will be.

Johnny

dvandentop

Amazing article!

RoHo

Thanks for sharing your adventure guy's, looked like a great time.

Live2Redline

Thanks for sharing Johnny, and congrats. Can you say anything about the new GT2 corvette? Like will you be driving it, and the competition will be fierce in GT2. Will the rules make it fair enough to have a shot at actually winning races from what you have seen so far?

bvanwoud

$@**#@ sweet pics love that Puegot and the gargoyles, I'm thinking deskstop wallpaper!!

C6R

Nice to read your impressions! I was there too, last year was my first time and as they say: if you go once you'll always come back!
I can echo your sentiments about all the craziness that goes on, especially with the brits, the danes and their beers! (We dutch people are very well behaved! )
I've seen that couple with the flags too, real diehards!

Myself I didn't spend 24hrs trackside, we had a campsite a bit off for some peace and quiet in between. I can second that every car nut should go at least once in their life, the atmosphere is just so brilliant with around 230.000 likeminded people coming to a small town in france and watch cars go by at 4 am... Also the noise of the four Corvettes just racing at 110% for every lap really makes you respect them!

I've posted them elsewhere, but here are some of my pictures:




















I've got some more (of the other cars too) if you don't mind?

smallblk400

Thank you OMG!!! it's like looking at ****!!! LOL

dvandentop

+1 post more

lorenzo

Thanks for shareing those pictures { both you guys} I was only traveling with a small back pack for the whole 10 days { no luggage at all} so my good camera had to stay home. I knew someone would have way better pictures at the track then me and sure enough someone did. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Hey Johnny AKA ole Great story. I love the part about getting intravenous saline for hydration. I love to here about the behind the sceens stuff like that.

O7zeeO6

I was there in 2007 when the Corvette racing team went head to head with their long time nemesis the Aston Martin racing team. Unfortunately, after losing the the GT1 race 3 years in a row to the Corvette racing, the Aston Martin finally manage to win over the corvette on a controversial yellow flag condition (Ron Fellows was making significant gain on the leading Aston Martin during wet conditions for more than 1 hour when the officials decided to put the race in yellow for the rest of the remaining time with no change in weather conditions and no adverse affect on the race). In my opinion, had they let the race continue on, Ron Fellow would have caught the leading Aston Martin and would have been declared the winner. I guess it would look like the race is competitive if another team wins other than the corvette racing team

I was stationed in Germany during this time, and my corvette club (BWICC) makes an annual exodus to Le Mans for the race, so I was fortunate to join them this time. The Corvette camp was very accommodating, although if you don't like camping, then it might not be for you. Hotels are available, but getting in and out of the area was a PITA due to heavy traffic, so one has to make some kind of sacrifice for the experience.

I was also fortunate enough to do a "track Lap" on the actual race track, which the organizers gave few selected corvette owners to do so. We were told to go slow, and being this my first time on the track as well as wanting to absorb every second of the experience, I followed their guidance for the most part. See the video which I took of this lap below.



Yes the behind the camera events and people are crazy as mentioned above, and if the corvette racing team continues to race in this event, in my opinion every red blooded corvette fan should make this trip at least once during their lifetime.

C6R

Here's some more, I will look trough the rest of my 800+ pics for some more later on!