As was the case all year,...
As was the case all year, the Corvettes closest competition came from Saleen's potent S-7R. No.4 had the edge at Road Atlanta, both out-qualifying and out-racing the Saleens.
GM Racing's 2001 season for the factory-backed Corvettes concluded at the 10-hour long/1,000 mile Petite Le Mans held on October 6th at Road Atlanta and for the second time in a row, Andy Pilgrim, Kelly Collins, and Franck Freon shepherded the No.4 C5-R to first place in GTS class at the enduro. The hard-fought class victory earned the 2001 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GTS manufacturer championship for Chevrolet and the GTS team championship for Pratt & Miller.
The victory in Atlanta was a fitting finale to what may have been the most successful season in Corvette's long and storied road racing history. In addition to the manufacturer and team titles, the Chevrolet-owned, Pratt & Miller-run two-car effort won six out of eight races in ALMS competition, took home First and Second in class at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, and won the 24 Hours at Daytona overall.
It was almost a perfect season for Corvette Racing. The only element missing was the ALMS GTS driver's championship, which was garnered not by a Corvette driver but instead by Konrad Motorsport/Team Saleen's Terry Borcheller. Ron Fellows, lead driver in the No.3 Corvette, came to Atlanta 11 points ahead of Second Place Borcheller in the driver standings and was clearly favored to win the title. In fact, even if Borcheller and his Saleen teammates won the race, Fellows would still have won the driver's title-if he and co-pilots Johnny O'Connell and Scott Pruett finished Fourth or better in class. But when the checkered flag waved No.3 was ranked last among nine GTS cars and 40th in a field of 41 cars, ahead of only a prototype class car that crashed before completing even its first lap.
The uncharacteristic and downright bizarre series of problems that plagued No.3 began well before the race started. At the very beginning of qualifying the car's driveshaft literally tore in two, damaging various undercar components as its broken halves flailed about. The driveshaft, made of carbon fiber, is incredibly strong and nobody present recalled ever seeing a failure of this sort. Prior to the race start No.3 also suffered a problem with the computerized engine management system. This resulted in a damaged piston and the loss of a cylinder.
Frank Resciniti, crew chief...
Frank Resciniti, crew chief for the No.4 Corvette, managed to spend some quality time in the garage with a group of racing fans prior to the start of the Petit Le Mans.
Crew chief Bill DeLong and his mechanics worked late into Friday night fixing the driveshaft damage and installing a new engine for the all-important race. In the Saturday morning warm-up period No.3 was given a few easy, then some not so easy laps to ensure that the new parts, installed the night before, functioned properly.
They did, and if Fellows was shaken by his bad luck the previous day he didn't show it, exuding great confidence in his teammates, the crew and the car.
As the start of the race neared, C5-R No.4 assumed its position on the grid ahead of all other GTS competitors. Andy Pilgrim had not only out-qualified Fellows, three Vipers, and a Ferrari 550 Maranello, but for the first time all year also outran Borcheller in the fastest of three Saleen S7-Rs entered. Fellows started at the back of the pack owing to his car's qualifying woes. Not good but not the end of the world in a 10-hour race.