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| LM24 2012 - A Story of Determination | |
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|  | | June 18 2012 12:22:51 AM EST | Richard Prince |
| The end result doesn't always tell the whole story. Corvete Racing came to Le Mans this year as the favorite to win the GTE-Pro class, and up till the 11hr mark everything was going their way in hopes for their 8th class victory.
Throughout the official test day, practice and qualifying, both of the Corvettes looked very strong. They were not always the quickest, but they were not far off. The boys ended up qualifying 3rd and 5th, only a fraction of a second off the P1 Ferrari.
Come race day, the Vettes were is top form and seen some epic battles between the factory Corvette & Aston Martin that went on for hours and brought back memories of the GT1 days.
After night fell and everything was going according to plan, the #74 Corvette came in for a routine pit stop for a full service and left without a wheel nut on the left rear. Richard Westbrook did an amazing job getting the car around the 8 mile course on 3 wheels but the damage was done. The car was plagued with drivetrain issues throughout the night and came in 4 different times for repairs.
Meanwhile the #73 Corvette was still in the hunt until power steering issues the car had earlier in the week came back to hurt their chances. Oliver Gavin said it best when quoted "I have never seen both cars in the garage at the same time, it's quite sad."
The teams went into overdrive with their never give up attitude and eventually got both cars back out on track and running laps in top form.
The drivers knew they didn't have a chance but in true professional style, they thundered onward. With a little less than 7hrs left Tommy Milner was caught off guard by an Audi LMP1 in the Porsche Curves and had a big crash. Luckily he and the car were ok and he was able to drive the car away for repairs once again.
The obvious story here is the end result. The real story was the team's effort. The team's motto has always been "Take No Prisoners" and "Never Give Up". It may not have been the result any of us wanted to see, but the never give up attitude, despite how bad things got, was very inspirational and both cars made it to the finish. Very impressive given the amount of problems they had. Our badboys have made us proud and next year they will come back stronger then ever.
Pre-Race Photo Gallery
Race Day Photo Gallery
Now lets get this mess behind us and go on and win the ALMS GT Championship! |
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