50th. anniversary of the first Corvette participation in the 24H of Le Mans

Present at the press conference were also all 6 current drivers - who between them are responsible for 21 wins in 66 starts at LM.

 

GM use the Corvette to sell Chevrolet cars in Europe - not necessarily just the Corvette, and over the last few years they have sold 5 times more cars and are now up to half a million cars per year.

 

John Fitch, is a former P51 Mustang pilot, and he has received a Presidential Citation, Theatre Awards, Air Medals, a Purple Heart, plus a POW Medal for his wartime service.

 

Fitch is the only American to have raced for Mercedes, and in 1955 he was the team mate of Pierre Levegh in the 300 SLR, and was waiting in the pits for his turn to drive, when the 1955 disaster happened. In the initial confusion his family were informed that he had crashed. The incident sparked his lifelong interest in safety innovation for racing and highways.

 

In the 1960 race four Corvettes were entered, but only one finished the race - this was the #3 Briggs Cunningham Corvette driven by John Fitch and Bob Grossman.

John Fitch told us

“The predominately French spectators thought we were rather funny, they loved the sound of the engine, but probably didn't expect us to make it”.

“The conditions in the 1960 race were tough, with rain and fog, and we were only allowed 2 drivers. It rained hard and long, which made it rather amusing for me, as I was able to pick up places one at a time and suddenly I was running in second place overall! - As soon as it dried up that didn't last though”.

“I ran two sessions instead of just one, - hell, I was so pumped up I could have run the whole race!” Fitch says, as the audience burst out laughing. "It was a dramatic finish, we had engine cooling problems, but since we were ahead by some laps, we managed to bring the car home, in what was a fantastic race."

 

"Leading up to the race, we had only just overcome the initial major problems that happen when you drop a small-block engine into a shortened, two-door Chevy piece of shit, as we called it. The first time we did it, the wheels simply broke off”.

“When you take a two-door production car and go racing in it, you run into so many problems.”

“The brakes were lousy, that was a fact of life! - I do envy the great current drivers, as they actually have a car!”

“We had a fight to keep the wheels attached to the car, I remember one of the first times I approached a corner at speed, hit the brakes - and one of the wheels came off the car and ran away ahead of me! … everyone agreed that this probably wasn't good at all”

 

Ron Fellows:

“Technology has moved on tremendously since those days, - but we still share the “V8” concept.

We recently drove the #3 Cunningham Corvette around a track, and I think we did less than 50mph and that was fast enough, - I tell you, those guys (pointing at John Fitch) were VERY brave indeed!”

 

On the switch from GT1 to the GT2 class, Doug Fehan says:

“We looked at where the ALMS was going and made the decision to go GT2. Surely, today’s announcement from the ACO that removes GT1 from next year is very , very interesting for us. The GT2 car doesn't share a single part with the GT1 car. It is 100kg heavier, has a smaller splitter, 100hp less and steel brakes. We looked at the restrictor sizes and settled for a 5.5 litre engine rather than the 7 litre engines in the GT1.

We have a good car, and its down to the drivers”

 

Then he turned to the drivers, who recite in unison:

“1: Go fast out there

 2: Keep it on the track

 3: Don't break anything”

 

Jan Magnussen who is largely responsible for the close to 30,000 Danes down here says:

“I am full of admiration for guys like John Fitch who raced the cars in those days, and in particular his true 'rock'noll' achievements like being a  prisoner of war, P51 Mustang pilot, Purple Heart, etc.”

 

Turning to the race ahead of us, he added:

“for sure, the top speed differential is bigger, but I think lap times are actually better than we thought. There are only a few cars ahead of us, so we are right where we should be. We have a good chance to achieve something.”

 

Olivier Beretta:

“I just hope that in 50 years time an American will be back here at Le Mans and say: I can't believe you did that with only three drivers!”