Dateline: 8.8.11
Excellent Car, Excellent Drivers, Excellent Team, BAD WEATHER!
Summertime weather in America is predictably unpredictable. The August 6, 2011 ALMS Mid-Ohio race started out under sunny summer weather. But 2-1/2 hours later, the heavens opened up and drenched the track snatching a victory from the Corvette Racing team after leading the GT class for the first two hours of the two-hour and 45-minute race with the No. 4 C6.R Corvette. When the wet checkered flag came down, the No. 4 Corvette came in 2nd place, with the No. 3 Corvette coming is 6th place. A very tough break for the seasoned C6.R team, but “that’s racing.”
Two hours into the race, as the storm clouds were gathering, the No. 4 Corvette pitted for rain tires. After an excellent pit Gavin was in striking distance of first place – then the rain arrived. Here’s how Oliver Gaven described his rain experiences on the Ohio track, which is notoriously bad in the rain.
“Those last four or five laps were absolutely insane,” Gavin said. “I was driving down the straight with the steering wheel at full opposite lock, with the car just gliding and aquaplaning. Somehow my car straightened up and Pat Long’s car went off into a gravel trap. When Wolf Henzler drove by me, I had no answer for him; he certainly had a good rain setup. I was relieved when they brought out the red flag because it was really tough. “
Racing “rain tires” are only marginally better that the dry slicks that are normally used. It’s hard to imagine what it must be like to be driving a lightweight, high-powered, race car in the wet. DEFINITELY not for the faint of heart. For full details of the race, CLICK HERE.
http://www.corvetteracing.com/history/2011releases/midohio/midohio3.shtml
On the up side, for the second race in a row, the Corvette Racing Team won the Michelin Green X Challenge as the fastest, cleanest, and most efficient entry in the GT class. This speaks volumes for the Corvette Racing Team. WAY TO GO, guys!
Next up for the Corvette Racing team is the four-hour Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase on August 20 race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. For all the latest news, full race results, season results, plus Corvette Racing history dating back to 1999, plus tons of photos, visit and bookmark, http://www.corvetteracing.com
Here are the 2011 Corvette Racing results to date…
This is the kind of effort GM and Chevrolet should have put behind the Corvette beginning in 1956! – Scott
For more coverage of the race, check out the report from MotorSport.com, HERE.
