Corvette Racing hour 4 report

Four-Hour Report: Hard Day's Work for Corvette
Corvettes fight to stake their claim during warm daytime hours

LE MANS, France -- One sixth of the way through the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the General Motors Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Racing team is currently running fourth and sixth in the GTS class and 17th and 19th overall. The first part of the legendary endurance race has seen extremely hot track temperatures and a few minor traffic incidents that have claimed four cars. After the crew fixed a minor throttle linkage problem early in the race with the #50 Corvette, it has been running solid times and is fighting to win back places in the GTS class. Driver Andy Pilgrim had an incident at the Arnage corner with the larger #16 Dome Judd prototype at 6:30 p.m., but did not sustain any serious damage. The drivers in the #53 Corvette had complained of stiffness in the gearbox, but after some quick work during a pit stop near 7:00 p.m., Johnny O'Connell reported the problem was resolved. Both Corvette teams are looking forward to the night hours, when cooling track temperatures should make lap times drop significantly.

Ron Fellows, #53 Corvette C5-R
"The gearbox felt a bit tight during my stint and I ended up braking a bit early to make up for it in some of the high-speed corners. The guys have sprayed the gearbox and I just heard Johnny (O'Connell) say that that seemed to do the trick. It's still pretty hot out there and I expect our times to possibly drop a bit when the track gets cooler."

Andy Pilgrim, #50 Corvette C5-R
"Regarding my spin, I think it was either an inexperienced move by an inexperienced driver or, possibly, an honest mistake. As I entered Arnage I clearly had the corner and didn't even see him in my mirrors. He ended up hitting me in the rear of the right door and spun me facing the opposite direction. I turned the traction control off and did a quick 180 and was on my way. The guys told me it didn't do any serious damage to the car."

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