Have a FaceBook, Twitter, or other social networking account?

Link them to your fanatic account!

Add An Account

TAKE ME TO...
American LeMans
PRUETT: Corvette’s New Direction
The American sportscar giant takes a step in a more challenging direction for 2009 and beyond.
Marshall Pruett  |  Posted September 09, 2008   Oakland, CA
2009 will be the last hurrah for the GT1 Corvettes at Le Mans. After two losses to Aston Martin, the Pratt & Miller-run team will want to end their extended participation in GT1 on a high note. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)


“We do not want to run in a class by ourselves again, and I doubt I could sell it to management again.” Those were the words Steve Wesoloski, GM’s Road Racing Group Manager, shared with me last month about the challenges they’d face in gaining support to spend a third season without serious competition in the ALMS GT1 division.

After reaching out to rival and potential GT1 manufacturers to gauge interest on joining the rather thin category, a marked lack of positive responses would find GM looking for a new division to call home.

That choice was made much easier with a soft global economy and waning car sales – the tens of millions of dollars required to build a prototype to fight the likes of Audi, Peugeot, and Acura wouldn’t be forthcoming anytime soon. A step down one class to GT2 was the only logical choice for Wesoloski and his partners at Pratt & Miller Racing.

With Corvette Racing moving their efforts to unseat Porsche and Ferrari from atop of the GT2 category, fans are in store for an epic season next year, but the this change in the American GT landscape will take time to settle.

The biggest question centers around Corvette’s departure from GT1 racing—a category they’ve had to themselves since Aston Martin departed at the end of 2006. GT1 in 2007 and 2008 will be remembered as years of little more than spirited fighting between the #3 and #4 C6.R’s as they contested a two-car procession for a guaranteed championship.
The colors and the rumbling sounds are expected to stay the same, but for the second half of 2009, ALMS fans will watch Corvette contest the GT2 championship in brand new cars. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

With the team phasing out their GT1 efforts, the prospect of an unsubscribed GT1 category in 2009 is very real. Corvette Racing will use Sebring and Long Beach as a tune-up for another Le Mans bid, but the remaining rounds might find GT1 with just one or two entries. Or none.

As GT2 is set to become the home for auto manufacturers to fight for GT honors, GT1, the class intended for such serious participation, will be left to the privateers for the majority of next season. Does anyone know where I can find an old ORECA Viper on the cheap? Is that ACEMCO Saleen still for sale? I think I can earn some prize money after the Corvette’s drop down to GT2…

The ACO said they’d love for all four of their divisions to be sufficiently represented, but a diminished GT1 championship in 2009 will be a short-term inconvenience as plans to merge GT1 and GT2 into a single category for 2010 are currently being orchestrated.

“We have the same [GT1] problem in Europe,” ACO technical director Daniel Poissenot said in our interview last week. “For a private team it’s very difficult except for Corvette, for example. But the future, we don't know. But it's difficult to race these type of cars. Very, very expensive. It raises a big concern for us this year.”

A single GT category for 2010 would effectively euthanize a GT1 category that’s been on life support for two years. While entries for Le Mans have been strong, the ALMS has seen no more than three entries and the LMS averages four GT1 cars at most rounds, while GT2 entries are regularly in double-digits.

I expect the announcement of Corvette’s GT2 plans to cause its share of controversy. In a class filled with family-owned boutiques, Corvette Racing could be seen as the big, new WalMart that threatens their small town way of life. The championship contenders from Porsche and Ferrari are responsible for their own budgets, and rely upon the technical resources of those manufacturers to supplement their programs. With GM bankrolling a full-fledged GT2 program, more dollars and resources will bee required for the other marques and entrants to keep pace.

Corvette Racing is only planning on a partial GT2 season in ’09 -- the full might of ‘The General’ won’t be felt until the following season, but by then, GT racing as a whole will be changing.

For GT2 teams accustomed to fighting amongst themselves, the challenge of battling Corvette Racing in ’09 and beyond is a task many will relish. Seth Neiman, owner/driver of the championship leading Flying Lizard Porsche team, expects a category that’s already wildly competitive to reach new competitive heights.

“I’ll love to have them in GT2 and expect them to be very tough and to push the current teams and manufacturers even harder. We’ll have our work cut out for us, but it will only make us better. I think everyone will see how hard it is for even the best teams to succeed in GT2, but Corvette Racing carries a championship pedigree with them. They will bring a great amount of attention to GT2 next year and that’s only a positive for us and for the rest of the competitors.”


Page 1 of 2
Prev
12
Next
MPruett's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marshall Pruett

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2012

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.