Corvette tests gearbox, aero set-up at Le Mans

The General Motors Chevrolet Corvette Racing team enjoyed its outing at the pre-race test at Le Mans last weekend, running quickly and efficiently despite completing a programme designed to evaluate the effectiveness of new and revised parts.

The open test was the only time competitors lining up for this year's 24 Hours would run on the famed Sarthe track before qualifying begins in mid-June, and was used by the two Le Mans-blue Corvette C5-Rs - which will seek a third consecutive GTS-class win - and 54 other entrants to prepare their cars and acquire important data from the rarely used circuit.

The #50 Corvette C5-R, driven by Oliver Gavin, Kelly Collins and Andy Pilgrim, recorded a time of 3min 58.895secs, putting it fourth in class behind the leading GTS Ferraris, while the sister #53 car, in the hands of Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Franck Freon, recorded a best lap of 4min 01.727secs, leaving a few places further back.

"This is one of the most important tests for us," said Doug Fehan, GM's programme manager for Corvette Racing, "As we are not able to test here during the year, it ends up being eight hours of very intense learning. Today, we proved what we knew all along - that our team worked very hard to develop our new Corvette C5-Rs.

"We used this session to make some decisions on our set-up for June, such as the fact that we will use our new sequential six-speed gearbox. We know that our braking is improved and there are some parts of the track where we can really make gains so, in a situation like this, we're running short stints to make some minor adjustments."

The practice session was marked by a more strict enforcement of the track's rules set out by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest [ACO], the organising body for the 24 Hours, insisting that drivers should mind the white boundary lines on the track or face possible penalties. During the course of the session, a handful of cars were given brief penalties for violating these restrictions.

During a pause in the eight-hour session, the engine was changed on the #50 Corvette C5-R due to a defective valve spring, while the #53 car required a door replacement for a broken mirror. Both cars ran different rear wing settings in order to find the optimum aerodynamic balance for the race in June.

"We're learning a lot today in terms of grabbing data from our car," said Gavin, who later admitted that times had been compromised by the white line enforcement.

"I can tell the car is more stable and able to carry more speed, certainly through the final sections of the Porsche Curves. Braking is significantly better for us into the first and second chicane and into the Mulsanne corner - basically all the high-speed corners. Now that we have more downforce through the front we are able to brake very hard in a straight line, which sometimes was a challenge for us last year."