Corvette Racing Gets Screwed at LeMans

After proving themselves to be the top dogs in the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship (formerly the American LeMans Series) and the fastest cars in the GTE Pro class at the LeMans Test Day, the #63 and #64 Corvettes rolled into France with the hopes of winning their second straight 24 Hours of LeMans. Unfortunately, someone had a different plan, with race officials collaring the Corvettes with “Balance of Performance adjustments” which took both teams completely out of contention.

The teams from Corvette Racing have gotten off to a good start for the 2016 racing season, taking the 1^st and 2^nd spots in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the win in the 12 Hours of Sebring and a 3^rd place finish in Long Beach. This strong effort in the U.S. was backed up by a great outing for both teams at the June 5^th LeMans test day, with Corvette Racing grabbing the 1^st and 4^th quickest times in the GTE Pro class. Coming away from Test Day, the folks at Corvette Racing likely had a strong outlook for the 24 Hour endurance race, but that may have changed when they showed up for qualifying.

Ahead of qualifying for the 24 Hours of LeMans, the organizers of the race (ACO) handed Corvette Racing a “Balance of Performance adjustment” in the form of a smaller restrictor plate, thus less power from the Corvette engines. Balance of Performance adjustments exist to help keep the different cars in each class competitive with each other, but in this case, it didn’t make the GTE Pro class more competitive.

After the #63 Corvette was less than three tenths of a second faster than the 2^nd place Porsche and just shy of a second faster than the best Ford GT, the ACO decided that the Corvette needed far less power to make the class more competitive. As a result of the power change, the #63 Corvette went from running a 3:55 lap on Test Day to 3:57.967 in qualifying. On the other hand, the Ford GT the only ran a 3:56.069 on Test Day laid down an amazing 3:51.497 in qualifying – making it the second quickest car in GTE Pro. As a result of the adjustments required of all of the teams before qualifying, the Ford GT teams grabbed four of the top five spots while the Corvette Racing teams were forced to settle for last and second-to-last in the class.

In other words, the #63 Corvette went from being about a second faster than the Ford GTs to being 6 seconds slower in qualifying. The Balance of Performance adjustment didn’t make the class more competitive – it put the Corvettes at a massive disadvantage.

The ACO seemingly tried to fix their “mistake” ahead of the 24 hour race, giving the Corvette Racing teams some of their engine air back, but that power wasn’t enough to make a difference. The Corvette C7R teams were a bit quicker in the race, turning in faster laps than they did in qualifying but neither car was ever truly in the hunt for the class win. The #63 Corvette finished 7^th in the class, 4 laps behind the class winner while the #64 Corvette didn’t finish at all due to a violent crash during the 16^th hour of the race. Ultimately, the GTE Pro race was between the Ford and Ferrari teams, 50 years after the Ford GT40 teams beat the Ferrari teams to finish 1-2-3.

Regardless of the cause of the strict Balance of Performance adjustments required of the Corvette Racing teams, it is clear that those changes did not balance the performance of the GTE Pro class. In reality, the changes took the strongest cars in the class and put them far enough out of contention to set up an ideal Ford –vs- Ferrari shootout. It was almost like it was scripted. Ford took home the 1st, 3rd and 4th places in the class while a Ferrari took home the 2nd place position.

In any case, the 2016 24 Hours of LeMans race is likely one that Corvette Racing will want to forget about and for racing fans, this year’s race will surely be remembered for being tainted by flawed regulations.

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com