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In-Car Thoughts That Won The LM24


While it is Oliver Gavin giving us this lap of Le Mans, think for a minute what was working the minds of the 73 drivers - Beretta, Milner, Garcia - as they found themselves, with 7 hours to go, locked in as THE defacto last hope for Corvette.

* 'Hit all the marks around the track, but find time to catch up and take the fight TO the Ferrari.'

* 'Save these tires. Be smooth on the brakes, turning in, powering out. Don't bind up the car. This ONE SET of tires needs to run to the end - 7 hours [!] - to shorten the 5 pits stops needed to get to the checker.'

* 'Work traffic. Watch for LMPs. But, still make time to make up the 1 lap deficit and.....
Catch the Ferrari!'.

At 19:00 hours, 73 still was 1 lap down, but lap times started to show the table turning. Garcia gets in, the weather goes damp / wet, the C6R is adjusted accordingly. All the inclement weather setup work in practice pays dividends over the next 2 hours as Garcia moves the 73 in for the kill.

21:00 to 23:00 hours, Milner takes the car past the #51 458 and to P1 [!], dissolving Ferrari's 60 second lead into a vaporized memory. And Tom M earns his Corvette spurs for sure.

Garcia gets back in for the final hour. Still no need for tires. Pitstops and on-track pace now move the Corvette lead to well over a minute - 80 seconds and growing.

Now, the last flawless pit stop. Again, no tires. Corvette Racing makes the moves to manage the last 30 minutes and get the P1 it craves.

An email from godug says a lot -

* "The 73 car was running perfectly and only 1 lap down with over 7 hours to go. We have been in such position many times before. We knew how to react and had staffing to deal with it. The team concentrated all our thoughts, ideas, and effort into the 73. Not saying winning isn't damn near impossible, but this team has been through it ALL...TOGETHER...They know what to do and when to do it. THAT is what makes them the World's BEST sports car team...PERIOD!!!!"