2009
06.15
06.15
Back in the 1960s, it was pretty big news when Ford took down three Le Mans victories (in a row) with their GT40. And while that’s one hell of a feat, the Corvette C6.R just picked up it’s fourth GT1 class win. It was even better than that, with Corvettes finishing first and second ahead of the third place Aston Martin DBR9. And if the #64 C6.R hadn’t grenaded its transmission during the 22nd hour, the results would have been Corvette one, two, three. I’m feeling a bit like Crew Chief Dan Binks this morning, who said, “Winning Le Mans is so unbelievable that I can’t even talk about it.” Full details here: Corvette Racing
How close to production are the GT1 cars?
The C6.R uses production frame rails and…well, not much else. That’s part of the reason the class is dead, though- GT1 costs as much as a prototype to build.
I’m willing to bet a C6 Vette doesn’t have frame rails (it’s unibody).
So maybe they use a factory body tub? The Z06 and ZR-1 make extensive use of aluminum and carbon fiber…hopefully they use those over the standard Vette.
no, they have frame rails.
Same frame rails as in the Solstice in fact
C6R does use frame rails, as does the C6. Hydroformed. Solstice / Sky also use the same manufacturing technology, but the frame is smaller. I believe in GT1 the engine also has to be “production based”. the C6R uses a Katech block based on the LS engine architecture, but it’s not the same block as the LS3 or LS7. It uses a sequential box that is not available in production C6’s