Today's
pre-qualifying session at LeMans saw Corvette Racing setting the pace for the
15 car GT1 class. The #63 Corvette driven by Jan Magnussen, Johnny O'Connell
and Ron Fellows ran the fastest lap in the class at 3:49.207. The #64 Corvette
with Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Max Papis was third with a lap clocked
at 3:51.628. Sandwiched between the two factory C6.R Corvettes was the #007
Aston Martin piloted by Enge, Herbert and Kox which lapped the famous track in
3:50.848.
With 22 minutes remaining in the 8-hour testing session, Jan Magnussen
posted the fast lap of the day, which was held by the #007 Aston Martin. The
practice session gives the teams the opportunity to adjust aerodynamic
settings, suspensions and test tires. This is the only practice session on the
8.5 mile course prior to the official practice and qualifying starting June
13th.
"Today has been the best 'pre-qualifying' I have ever had with Corvette
Racing," said Magnussen. "We managed to set up the car just the way we like
it and made very good progress throughout the day. We now have a car with
which we can attack hard without risking falling off, which is exactly what
we’ll need for the race because I think this year will be a tough one."
"Some people wondered why we were racing in the American Le Mans Series
even though we had no competition, and I think today's result provides a
clear answer," said Doug Fehan. "We've done a tremendous amount of work over
the winter and early this season, and the testing that we've done with
Michelin has been outstanding. The drivers, engineers and mechanics did
another exceptional job, and that's one of the reasons why Corvette Racing
is successful."
Competing in the 15-car GT1 Class are five Corvettes (4 C6.R's and 1 C5-R),
six Aston Martin DBR9's, two Saleen S7R's, a Ferrari 550 and a Lamborghini
Murcielago R-GT. Luc Alphand Adventures brings the C6.R Corvette that one at
LeMans last year and the C5-R that finished third in class in 2006.Rounding
out the Corvette teams is a C6.R Corvette from PSI Experience.
Qualifying for the world's most prestigious auto race is June 13-14 and the
24-hour race on June 16-17. The 24 Hours of Le Mans starts at 3 p.m. local
time (9 a.m. EDT) on Saturday, June 16 and finishes at 3 p.m. (9 a.m. EDT) on
Sunday, June 17. SPEED will televise 17.5 hours of coverage in North America
starting at 8:30 a.m. EDT on June 16.
Source:
PaddockTalk.com
