Corvette Racing Fast Facts

Corvette Racing is America's premier production sports car racing team. At the start of the 2011 season, Corvette Racing has won 79 races, eight American Le Mans Series manufacturers and team championships, and seven drivers championships. Corvette Racing has enjoyed international success in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's biggest sports car race, with six class victories since 2001.

Team: Corvette Racing

Owner: General Motors, Detroit, Mich.

Race Cars: Corvette C6.R (Corvette 6th generation, Racing)

Drivers:

• No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta, Tommy Milner (plus Antonio Garcia for Sebring, Le Mans and Petit Le Mans)
• No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen (plus Richard Westbrook for Sebring, Le Mans and Petit Le Mans)

Team Personnel:

• Manager, GM Racing: Mark Kent
• Corvette Racing Program Manager: Doug Fehan
• Team Manager: Gary Pratt
• Engine Manager: Roger Allen
• Crew Chief, No. 3: Dan Binks
• Crew Chief, No. 4: Brian Hoye
• Primary Sponsor: Compuware
• Associate Sponsors/Technical Partners: Mobil 1, Michelin, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, UAW-GM, BBS

Team Highlights

• Race wins: 78 (through 2009)
• 1-2 finishes: 54 (through June 2009)
• ALMS GT1 manufacturers championships: Eight (2001-08)
• ALMS GT1 team championships: Eight (2001-08)
• ALMS GT1 drivers championships: Seven (2002-08)
• 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins: Six (2001-02, 2004-06, 2009)
• Sebring 12-hour class wins: Seven (2002-04, 2006-09)
• Petit Le Mans class wins: Seven (2000-02, 2004-05, 2007-08)
• American Le Mans Series records: Most race wins by entrant (71); most 1-2 finishes by entrant (53); longest winning streak in GT1 (25, 2007 Sebring/2009 Long Beach); most poles in GT1
• ALMS From the Fans awards: Gary Claudio, Corvette marketing manager, 2002; Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing program manager, 2004 and 2008-09
• ALMS Most Popular Driver awards: Ron Fellows, 2004-07
• Special awards: Overall winner in inaugural ALMS Green Challenge at 2008 Petit Le Mans; Corvette C6.R named "North American Car of the Year" by dailysportscar.com (February 2006); Corvette LS7.R engine named "Global Motorsport Engine of the Year" at the Professional Motorsport World Expo (November 2006); Corvette Racing awarded Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge trophy for most efficient use of fuel in GT1 class at 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 2007)

Corvette Racing Firsts

• First race: Daytona 24-hour, Feb. 5, 1999
• First GTS win: Texas Motor Speedway, Sept. 2, 2000, drivers Ron Fellows and Andy Pilgrim
• First overall win: Daytona 24-hour, Feb. 3, 2001; Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel/Franck Freon/Johnny O'Connell
• First GT2 win: Mosport International Raceway, Aug. 30, 2009; drivers Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen
• First 1-2 finish: Daytona 24-hour, Feb. 3, 2001 (1st: Fellows/Kneifel/Freon/O'Connell; 2nd: Andy Pilgrim/Dale Earnhardt/Dale Earnhardt Jr./Kelly Collins)
• First Le Mans class win: 2001 (Fellows/O'Connell/Scott Pruett)
• First ALMS drivers championship: Ron Fellows, 2002
• First ALMS manufacturers championship: 2001
• First undefeated season: 2004 (nine ALMS races and 24 Hours of Le Mans)

Corvette Racing Notes

• The C6.R is the most technically advanced sports car ever developed by GM, combining sophisticated chassis, powertrain and aerodynamic technology developed by GM Racing with the advanced engineering of the sixth-generation Corvette and Corvette Z06 and ZR1 production models.

• Corvette Racing is powered by E85R ethanol racing fuel, a high-octane, renewable alternative fuel, in the 2009 American Le Mans Series. As part of the series' "green racing" initiative, the most successful team in ALMS history is using a blend of ethanol and racing gasoline to demonstrate the benefits of a fuel that helps to reduce dependence on petroleum, helps to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and helps to create greater diversity in energy supplies.

• 2011 marks Corvette's 55th year in international road racing. John Fitch and Walt Hansgen drove a Corvette to a ninth-place finish overall and a Class B victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1956, the first step onto the world stage that established Chevy's sports car as a contender in top-level competition.

• The rulebook requires close adherence to production specifications, and the Corvette C6.R's roots reach to the Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Ky. The same hydroformed aluminum frame rails used in the production Corvette ZR1 provides the foundation for the racing version.

• Corvette Racing's C6.R race cars are powered by race-prepared GM small-block V-8 engines. Technology developed in racing inspired the production 7.0-liter/505-hp LS7 small-block V-8 that powers the production Corvette Z06.

• The GM small-block V-8 is America's most popular and most successful production-based racing engine. Total production of GM small-block-based engines is well over 95 million units. This engine has powered more winning race cars and won more championships than any other engine in American motorsports.

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