Corvette Racing Concentrates on Last Race - Team Concentrates on Winning at Petit Le Mans

Contact:       Wally Reese
GM Racing Communications
wareese@earthlink.net
(303) 979-1133                       

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga., Oct. 1, 2001 - The final American Le Mans Series race, Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on October 6th, will decide dria very, team and manufacturer championships in the popular GTS class for production-based racers. Corvette Racing, however, is focusing on winning, not points. Points can be a distraction.

"At this time of year," said Corvette Program Manager Doug Fehan, "a lot of people spend a lot of energy discussing various point and championship possibilities. If you win races, the points and championships take care of themselves. We are concentrating on winning the last race of the season; everything else is a distraction."

In the seven ALMS races held to date, the No. 3 Corvette GM Goodwrench Service Plus C5-R driven by Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell, has posted five victories, four of them consecutive. Joined by Chris Kneifel and Frank Freon at Daytona and Scott Pruett at Le Mans, Fellows and O'Connell scored GTS class wins in the these two classic 24-hour contests. The Daytona win was also a first overall among a total of 79 starters. Daytona and Le Mans are not point races for ALMS.

"This really is a team sport," said Fehan, " and every member - catch can man, tire hustler and timers - all contribute. Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins, in the No.4 Corvette, played a huge role in several of its sister car's wins.

Their relentless pressure on the competition contributed to Fellows and O'Connell coming from the back of the pack for several wins."

The Pilgrim-Collins C5-R has posted what many teams would call a very successful ALMS record: three ALMS 2nd place finishes, a pair of 3rd places and a 4th. In addition, they also finished 2nd at Daytona, teamed with Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr., and 2nd at Le Mans teamed with Franck Freon.

"Once the ALMS season closes out Oct. 6th at Road Atlanta with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans," said Fehan, "then we'll look at points."

The familiar Corvette Millennium Yellow paint scheme has enhanced graphics in a tribute to honor the victims, survivors, and the entire nation - a quiet statement from America's Performance Icon.

Going into the last race, Ron Fellows, Corvette Racing and Chevrolet lead all three GTS championship classifications: - Driver, Team, and Manufacturer standings. Finishing positions in the Petit Le Mans race will determine all three titles.

In the driver category, Fellows leads teammate O'Connell by a single point (171 to 170) and rival driver Terry Borcheller by 11. Pilgrim and Collins are tied for fifth behind Franz Konrad, Borcheller's teammate, by a 33-point margin (158 to 123).

In the GTS team standings, Corvette Racing's 172 lead Konrad Team Saleen and American Viper Racing by 14 and 40 respectively.

In the GTS manufacturer championship, Chevrolet leads Saleen and Daimler Chrysler 172 to 158 and 132.

Chevrolet has long been a proponent of racing production-based vehicles to enhance the performance image of the brand and to bring the knowledge earned on the world's racetracks to all vehicles on the street that wear the "red bowtie."

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