"The performance of the No. 64 Corvette speaks for itself," said Corvette Racing Program Manager Doug Fehan. "As I've always said, winning this race will require 25 percent great team, 25 percent great car, and 50 percent luck. Right now on the No. 63 team we only have 50 percent, with luck escaping us."
The luck faded momentarily for the No. 64 C5-R when, around 1 a.m., Jan Magnussen was cut off by the then-race-leading No. 88 Audi prototype in the Ford Chicane and was spun into the tire barrier. By the time the crew had repaired the bodywork, that incident cost the No. 64 team their lead and set them in second place six laps behind the No. 66 Prodrive Ferrari of Enge, Kox, and Menu. Vibrations in the 64 car would persist for hours, and the team would ultimately need to replace the nose yet again before dawn. Meanwhile, the No. 63 team, down to only two drivers because Fellows had his chimes rung too badly in his second crash to continue, plugged away at their deficit all night until, as the sun shone brightly Sunday morning, O'Connell and Papis were up to third in GTS, four laps behind the No. 64 in second.
Until late morning, it appeared that this might be the way the race would finish, but then the Fates turned against Ferrari. In the 19th hour of the race, the No. 66 Ferrari had a suspension failure, which cost it crucial time in the pits replacing a stub axle and repairing body damage. This allowed Berretta in the No. 64 Corvette, who'd been shadowing the 66 car's times, to make up the six-lap deficit. In truly dramatic fashion worthy of a Hollywood script, Berretta, now on the same lap as the pitted leader, came into the pits to end his stint just as Prodrive finished repairs on the No. 66 Ferrari. Magnussen jumped behind the No. 64's wheel, and got the Corvette back on track mere feet ahead of the now-second-place Ferrari!
The race for First Place in GTS was intense for several laps, but problems persisted for the Ferrari and it eventually faded from the pace that left the uncontested class lead to the 64 C5-R, and allowed the No. 63 Corvette to take a strong second spot for the remaining few hours of the race, and ultimately a 1-2 victory at Le Mans, finishing sixth and ninth overall.
The GTS win this year was hard-fought and well-earned over the entire 24-hour period. Ferrari brought out their best and fought quite well, but the Corvettes were better. Gavin, Berretta, and Magnussen were fast from beginning to end. Until this year, the C5-Rs had been unable to wring more than a single stint out of their tires at Le Mans, but this time they were running double-and even a few triple-stints on their Michelins, turning seconds lost in the pits into miles gained on the track. And we tip our hats to Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis, who both put in remarkable performances for 10 hours apiece.
Some four decades ago, just after Ford and a rascally driver/engineer by the name of Carroll Shelby had suffered defeat at Le Mans by the Prancing Horse, Shelby retorted, "Next year, Ferrari's ass is mine." And in the following summer of 1966, as Ford GT-40s finished 1-2-3 at Le Mans, it was. In 2003, the C5-Rs suffered a similar defeat by the Italian sports car icon.
This year, Ferrari's ass belongs to Corvette!