GTE stands for GRAND TOURISM ELECTRONIQUE (special racing category )

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Corvette Racing Wins 24 Hours of Le Mans

Corvette Wins GTE Class, Scores Seventh Win for Chevrolet

LE MANS, France, June 12, 2011 – "The car's a lap down, but we can make that up," said Corvette Racing team manager Gary Pratt with six hours remaining in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Pratt's words proved prophetic as the No. 73 Compuware Corvette C6.R driven by Olivier Beretta, Tommy Milner and Antonio Garcia relentlessly pursued the class-leading No. 51 Ferrari 458 Italia, cutting the margin by seconds every lap. American driver Tommy Milner overtook Ferrari driver Toni Vilander with two hours and 10 minutes to go, and steadily increased his lead as he completed his double stint. Garcia then took over the yellow and black car for the final hour and the run to the finish.



The No. 73 Corvette C6.R completed 314 laps and finished two minutes and 29 seconds ahead of the runner-up Ferrari. Today's victory was the seventh class win at Le Mans for Corvette Racing, and its first in the GTE Pro category. It came as Chevrolet celebrates its 100th anniversary and the 10th anniversary of the team's first Le Mans victory in 2001. It was the sixth Le Mans title for Beretta, the third for Garcia, and the first for Milner.



"This is my first time at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but I've watched Corvettes race here my whole life," said Mark Reuss, President GM North America. "To come here for the first time on the 100th anniversary of Chevrolet and to have another Corvette victory is beyond words."



The contest was a dramatic one, as the No. 74 Corvette C6.R of Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, and Richard Westbrook suffered a stunning reversal of fortune. After leading for nearly 16 hours, the car was extensively damaged in a crash in the 17th hour. Although Magnussen was uninjured in the high-speed shunt, the car was retired on the spot.



The No. 73 Corvette C6.R had been running steadily in the top five, and the No. 74's misfortune moved it to second in the GTE standings. More than a lap behind the No. 51 Ferrari 458 Italia at the time of the accident, the No. 73 Corvette drivers chased down the class leader. As rain began to fall in the 20th hour, Garcia was gaining 1.5 seconds per lap. Milner took over at the 21st hour and continued to reel in the Ferrari, gaining as much as six seconds per lap during his stint.



Milner made the pass for the lead on the Mulsanne Straight on lap 283. "That was the hardest drive of my life," said the 25-year-old racer. "It would have been a lot easier if it hadn't been sprinkling, raining, not raining, and then wet – all that plus the pressure of the situation. I'd been super comfortable in the car all day long, but I was certainly not comfortable then. I was just trying to drive the car to what the track would allow. Every lap it changed, every corner it changed.



"When you start racing, you hope that one day you can compete for a win," Milner noted. "To get one here at Le Mans in my first year with Corvette Racing is very cool."



"I was very happy with how the race turned out, even though it did not always go our way," said Garcia. "We had ups and downs – we didn't get a break with the first safety car, we had punctured tires, and so on. Every time I was in the car, I tried to go as fast as possible and stay out of trouble. You have to never give up here, and just keep pushing. Today it paid off.



"In the final minutes, everything comes into your mind," the Spaniard added. "It went perfectly, a real easy last stint compared to all the ones before it. This was the first time I drove a car at the finish at Le Mans, and it was very special. There is no better time to win this race than in the centennial year for Chevrolet. Now I'm already thinking about next year."



Beretta became ill after driving behind the safety car during an extended caution period, and drove a limited time in the second half of the race.



"Today was not my sixth win, but a win for the team, Tommy, Antonio, and all of the engineers and crew who did a wonderful job," Beretta said. "I was sick in the middle of the night from following the pace car, but I recovered. I'm very happy for the entire team."



Corvette Racing scored six wins in the GTS/GT1 class at Le Mans (2001-02, 2004-06, and 2009). The team moved to the GT2 class in 2010, which was renamed GTE Pro in 2011.



"If I were to write a script to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Chevrolet and the 10th anniversary of Corvette Racing's first win at Le Mans, this would undoubtedly be it," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "Louis Chevrolet was himself a racer, and his motto, 'Never give up!' is a philosophy we embraced from our first visit here. I think the result today embodied the spirit of Chevrolet's co-founder and of that iconic phrase."



24 Hours of Le Mans GTE Pro Top Five Finishers after 24 Hours:

Pos./Car No./Drivers/Car/Laps

1. 73 Beretta/Milner/Garcia, Corvette C6.R, 314

2. 51 Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander, Ferrari F458 Italia, 314

3. 56 Priaulx/Muller/Hand, BMW M3 GT, 313

4. 77 Lieb/Lietz/Henzler, Porsche 997 GT3 RSR, 312

5. 76 Narac/Pilet/Armindo, Porsche 997 GT3 RSR, 311


From corvetteblogger.com:



Corvette-Porsche crash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBHEThT4pfo



Tommy Milner's interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCosQ...layer_embedded

You're right: Grand Tourer Endurance.

Any updates on Mag's wreck? He's too good a driver to turn sharply to the right unless he had a puncture or a suspension failure.....
Tks

74 Corvette Retires After Accident, 73 Corvette Second at 18-Hours in Le Mans
Magnussen Walks Away but Damaged Corvette Withdrawn After Leading Since First Hour

LE MANS, France - "OK, that's it." With those words from crew chief Brian Hoye, the 24 Hours of Le Mans ended for the No. 74 Compuware Corvette C6.R.

The yellow and black Corvette had led the GTE category since the safety car period in the first hour of the race. Nearly 16 hours later, contact with a Porsche resulted in extensive damage to the front and rear of the car and a loss of drive. Driver Jan Magnussen was unharmed, but the car could not return to the pit lane and was retired.

"I was coming out of the Porsche Curves behind a Porsche, and it looked like he was going to make room for me after the fast chicane after Corvette Corner," Magnussen said. "I went in there, he turned in on me, and instead of just hitting him I tried to take some of the curb and straightline the grass. The curb just kicked the rear out and I went into a huge tank-slapper, hit him, and then hit the wall.

"I'm OK, but the car is not," said the Dane. "It had lots of damage, there was no steering input, and I couldn't drive it back. I'm so sorry for all the guys."

It was the second consecutive year that misfortune befell the team in the early morning hours at Le Mans. Last year a crash in the Porsche Curves while leading took the Magnussen/Gavin Corvette out of contention.

"It seems when it gets around 8 o'clock, something happens, whether it's an issue with the car or a crash like today," said Oliver Gavin, Magnussen's teammate. "It's just devastating when you work all year toward this race. The crew has worked so hard, they've done everything right. We didn't have the easiest car to drive but it was fast when we got it dialed in. We led from the first safety car period and that's what makes it so hard - we keep leading for so long and then something happens. That's what makes Le Mans so cruel and so great to win when you overcome all that and succeed. This is the hardest race in the world to win."

While the front-running Corvette was withdrawn, the No. 73 Corvette of Olivier Beretta, Antonio Garcia, and Tommy Milner was second at the 18-hour mark, one lap behind the class-leading No. 51 Ferrari 458 Italia. Milner and Garcia had triple-stinted through the night, and the crew had replaced the front brake rotors and pads at the halfway point for the run to the finish.

Olivier Beretta ran the stint at sunrise. "There were just so many incidents and pace cars that there was no way I could settle into a comfortable rhythm, so I concentrated on bringing the car home."

"The 74 Compuware Corvette was running great, just tires, fuel, and drivers all night long," said team manager Gary Pratt. "We had seven hours to go, a two-minute lead, but it was still a hard race, and Jan knew that. The crew was doing a good job, the pit stops were clean, we just needed to bring it home. We still have one bullet left with the 73 Corvette. The car's a lap down, but we can make that up."

With six hours remaining in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, bringing the No. 73 Corvette C6.R home is now the team's focus.

Race Results in a nutshell:


LMP1 Class:
1 #2 Audi R18 TDI
2 #9 Peugeot 908
3 #8 Peugeot 908

LMP2 Class:
1 #41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek Nissan
2 #26 Signatech Oreca Nissan
3 #33 Level 5 Motorsports Lola HPD coupe/Honda Performance Development


GTE Pro Class:
1 #73 Corvette Racing C6 ZR1
2 #41 AF Corse Ferrari
3 #56 BMW M3 GT

GTE Am Class:
1 #50 Labre Competition Corvette C6 ZR1 (actually last year's factory C6R)
2 #70 Labre Competition Porsche 911 RSR
3 #68 Robertson Racing Ford GT

Race Team List
http://www.lemans.org/wpphpFichiers/...es-invites.pdf

http://www.lemans.org/en

One can only wonder how LG would have faired in his Riley built Vette.

Or in Ferrari's case...6!!!

Including the C6R racing in the GTE-A division, that'd make 3.

Keep in mind, the US Taxpayer is backing the C6R's. :flag:

What a great race...:cool:

Let me get back to the States tomorrow i'll try to post
some pictures, a short but awesome video of the Mulsanne
at night, we were back there when the second Audi crashed.
and waited until the restart.
And the part everone didn't get to see since they cut the video
A great shot of our Flag standing proud during the awards presentation.


They are killing me here with the internet charges....

Thanks!

Going to post some more pictures in a new thread but here
is the picture i took of the awards presentation.

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/...7/DSC00887.jpg

another one.

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/...7/DSC00806.jpg

Another great race this year by Corvette racing. Congratulations to everyone involved in the team!

It is great to see our flag :flaghalfmast:, but:
Is it me or is ours like a foot lower than the other two?

Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Damn French! That's clearly purposeful disrespect!

Yes I did notice that, just like the Pooguts 4 lap down pulled a block on the leading Audi near the end of the race....

Most peoples opinion was they didnt care who won as long as the French didnt :-)

Racing DNA - please check it out!
 

http://www.facebook.com/corvette?sk=app_203068369722016 :cool:

I cannot believe how stupid race organizers are to let press be behind a 4' barrier where cars come into the corner at 180 mph. They are lucky their were no injuries or deaths.