2003 Petit Le Mans Race - Losing The Battle, Winning The War

Corvette came to the Atlanta race with wins at Sebring, Road Atlanta, Infineon, Trois Rivieres, and Mosport, and they led the manufacturer's championship by eight points. The C5-Rs needed at least a third place GTS finish to clinch the championship. The team brought two C5-R's to Atlanta. Pratt & Miller had to completely rebuild the Fellows/O'Connell/Freon car after O'Connell crashed at Miami, and the Gavin/Collins/Pilgrim car was new after Collins irreparably bent the old car at Miami.

Care Racing arrived at the last race of the year ready to play hardball, with Three perfectly prepared Ferraris and seemed determined to shut Corvette out of the championship. They captured the first, third, and fifth qualifying spots in rainy conditions, and a fourth 550 Maranello, the independent effort fielded by Olive Garden Restaurants, was second fastest in GTS. The Corvettes qualified fourth and sixth in GTS. The Pratt & Miller team was not as relaxed in the garage areas as they have been in the past.

Race day was clear and cool when the green flag fell at 11:33 a.m. for the start of the race. By the end of the first hour, we knew it was going to be an epic battle. Corvettes were first and third with Ferraris in second and fourth. The other pair of Ferraris were having trouble and not a threat for the class win. By the third hour, the two remaining Ferraris were 1-2 in GTS and the Fellows/O'Connell/Freon C5-R was third, two laps down.

Some of this was due to poor timing on yellow flags, but the Ferraris were clearly faster on the track and required fewer changes of their Michelins than the Corvettes needed on their Goodyears. This alone gave the Ferraris an edge over the Corvettes. The C5-Rs had to change tires at every pit stop, which cost them valuable track positions. At the six-hour mark, the third place Fellows/O'Connell/Freon No. 3 C5-R would not start. The team had to replace the starter gear, which lost them many laps. This moved the Gavin/Collins/Pilgrim No. 4 Corvette into third in GTS. This C5-R was experiencing shifter problems, but the drivers managed to soldier on without making repairs.

The checkered flag fell at 9:04 p.m. The two Ferraris finished 1-2 in GTS, separated by only one second! The Gavin/Collins/Pilgrim C5-R captured third in class, NINE laps behind the GTS winners. Corvette won the driver, team, and manufacturer's championship for the third year in a row.

However, all was not smiles in the Corvette camp. Dave Hill, Chief Engineer for Corvette, commented, "We're definitely going to have to sharpen our axe next year against the Ferraris." Dave, we could not agree with you more, in fact how about figuring out a way to insert the race proven, high-revving Aurora-32 valve V-8 or maybe a 504ci big-block to level the playing field. I am sure lots of customers would be willing to buy copies of these special Corvettes to keep Corvette on top of the hill!