Hangin' with Dad & Jeff at Road Atlanta's 2007 Petite Le Mans

Friday evening, I met up with my Dad and cousin Jeff to watch the SPEED World Challenge GT Race. It was a bizarre race as Lou Gigliotti's Corvette and several other cars went out of the race just as it started. Multiple other wrecks and cautions made for little actually racing time, but we still had a great time and I'm always glad to get to visit with Jeff!

Myself and my cousin Jeff

Dad and Jeff

Saturday, I spent another gorgeous day at Road Atlanta hangin' out with my Dad to watch the Corvette C6.R win the GT-1 championship at the Petite Le Mans.

This crazy panorama was made from ~36 pictures.
I let Photoshop CS3 do all the work and just touched up a couple things.

This year's Petite Le Mans road race, which is part of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), was a great time as always; however, it had much less excitement than usual in the GT-1 (Grand Touring 1) category that my champion Corvettes run in!. Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Max Papis won in the No. 4 Corvette; however, the No. 3 Corvette and the Maserati MC12 both went out of the race with accidents.

Image from http://www.corvetteracing.com

It seems all of our competition has chickened-out since the Corvettes have dominated the class for so long. I've been going to these races since 2001 and miss seeing so many awesome cars TRY to catch the #3 and #4 C5.Rs and now the incredible C6.Rs.

Image from http://www.corvetteracing.com

For a while, the Ferraris were competitive, but they haven't run in GT1 in a few years. The Saleens and Maseratis and Vipers seem to come and go, but haven't been much of a threat recently. The past couple years, the Aston Martins provided some good competition, though much of it was artificial as the ALMS officials decided to add significant weight and engine restrictions on the Corvettes so that the races would be close and "more fun for the fans".

Is it just me, or doesn't it seem counter-intuitive in a competitive sport like racing to cripple a superior car simply because it dominates everyone to the point that they quit trying? Check out the Corvette 2007 Season Results or the history of the Petite Le Mans to learn more!

Apparently, one of the guys on the Corvette racing team suggested they just move up to the LMP2 (Le Mans Prototype 2) category since they end up beating half of that field overall anyway!!

For those unfamilar with Corvette terminology, there have been 6 models of Corvette so far: C1 - C6. I have a magnetic red C5 coupe, and my Dad has a Le Mans blue C6 coupe. The '.R' in C6.R signifies the Corvette race cars which are *based* on production models.

Next year, I hope someone finally steps up to the plate to give the Corvettes a run for their money . . . Ferrari? Aston Martin? Lamborghini? Maserati? Viper? Anyone?!

Ciao,
Ryan