Ride along with the 2015 LeMans-winning Chevrolet Corvette C7R driven by legendary endurance racer Oliver Gavin.
For the second year in a row, Balance of Performance adjustments slowed the Chevrolet Corvette C7R teams down. As a result, Corvette Racing had to settle for a 3rd place finish in the 2017 running of the 24 hour endurance race. After the Corvette teams were among the quickest entries in practice, they were hit with a restrictor plate penalty, forcing them to downside the air opening leading to the engine, which in turn reduces the power output. This is what likely played a part in the Corvette being run down and passed by the Aston Martin which won the GTE Pro class at the 2017 24 Hours of LeMans.
For this week’s Throwback Thursday video, we throw the unpleasant results of the 2016 and 2017 24 Hours of LeMans race aside to look back at the winning effort turned in by the #64 Corvette back in 2015. We have found an in-car video showing Oliver Gavin piloting the class-winning Corvette around Circuit de la Sarthe and while it is unclear whether this lap was recorded during practice, qualifying or the race itself – it offers a great look at what goes on during a lap around one of the world’s most famous road course tracks.
Circuit de la Sarthe is about 8.5 miles long and it has 38 official turns, along with the Mulsanne Straight – a stretch of high speed track that measures nearly 4 miles long with small turns added in just to bring speeds down a bit. The LeMans track tests every aspect of a race car’s capabilities, with tight turns, extreme braking exercises and the greatest speeds that you will see in an organized road race and in the video above, Oliver Gavin shows us how to get around the famed track in a hurry.
"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.
