Chevrolet Corvette C5-R - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Chevrolet Corvette C5-R is a grand touring racing car

Auto racing

Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...

built by Pratt & Miller

Pratt & Miller

Pratt & Miller Engineering and Fabrication is a company formed by Gary Pratt and Jim Miller in 1989.Based out of New Hudson, Michigan, they have been one of General Motors official racing teams since 1999 when they were key in the development of the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R...

and General Motors

General Motors

General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

for competition in endurance racing. The car is based on the C5 generation

Chevrolet Corvette C5

The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1997 through 2004 model years.- Overview :...

of the Chevrolet Corvette

Chevrolet Corvette

The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car by the Chevrolet division of General Motors that has been produced in six generations. The first model, a convertible, was designed by Harley Earl and introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after...

sports car, yet is designed purely for motorsports use. It became one of the most dominant cars in GT categories, with wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona

24 Hours of Daytona

The 24 Hours of Daytona, currently known as the Rolex 24 Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on a combined road course, utilizing portions of the NASCAR tri-oval and an infield...

, 12 Hours of Sebring

12 Hours of Sebring

The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, a former Army Air Force base in Sebring, Florida...

, and 24 Hours of Le Mans

24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

, as well as championships in the American Le Mans Series

American Le Mans Series

The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consists of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Teams compete in one of five classes: LMP1, LMP2 and LMPC...

. The Corvette C5-Rs debuted in 1999 and continues to be raced to this day, although the C5-R has effectively been replaced by the Corvette C6.R

Chevrolet Corvette C6.R

The Chevrolet Corvette C6.R is a grand tourer racing car built by Pratt & Miller and General Motors for competition in endurance racing. It is a replacement for the Corvette C5-R racing car, applying the body style of the new C6 generation Chevrolet Corvette as well as improvements to increase the...

Development

The Corvette C5-R was part of a plan by General Motors and their Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

brand to create a factory team to participate in grand touring races not only in North America, but also elsewhere in the world, most notably at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. GM had previously been against approving factory support for Corvette racing programs, although the IMSA GT Championship

IMSA GT Championship

IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.-History:...

's Corvette GTP

Chevrolet Corvette GTP

The Chevrolet Corvette GTP was a GTP-class racing car which participated in the IMSA GT Championship from 1984 until 1989. Used for General Motors factory effort in IMSA GT, the car was developed in conjunction with Lola Cars International...

s had seen some support until they ended competition in 1989. With the fifth generation Corvette however, GM chose to show the performance capabilities of the new car by using a more production-based racing car instead of the "in-name-only" Corvette GTP. Their intentions were to take on Dodge

Dodge

Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....

and Porsche

Porsche

Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....

, who were already running in the category at the time.

General Motors chose the Pratt & Miller

Pratt & Miller

group of Michigan to build and develop the new racing cars, as well as to organize the racing team in preparation for a debut in 1999. Riley & Scott

Riley & Scott

Riley & Scott Cars Inc. was a racing constructor and racing team that primarily provided chassis for various forms of motorsport, but worked primarily in sports car racing. It was founded in 1990 by Bob Riley and Mark Scott.-Sports car racing:...

also assisted in the project, running a second team for a year. Since regulations in place at the time limited the team to using elements of production Corvettes, Pratt & Miller and GM used heavily modified road car mules to test out the engine and other equipment that the racing cars were to use.

Later, the actual race chassis were built, sharing only basic key structural elements with the road cars. A firewall was placed immediately behind the driver's seat in the cockpit, eliminating any rear visibility inside the car. A large diffuser and wing were added to the rear, while a splitter and vents on the hood were added to the front. The front headlights were also replaced with protruding permanent units in place of the pop-up headlights on the road car.

The C5-R initially used a 366 ci (6.0 liter) V8 engine

V8 engine

A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....

based on the road car's LS1

GM LS engine

The GM LS engine family is an engine design intended as the only V-8 engine used in General Motors' line of rear-wheel-drive cars and trucks. The LS series was a "clean sheet" design with little in common with the classic Chevrolet small block V8...

. This was replaced with a larger 427 ci (7.0 liter) engine several months later during the 1999 season, and became the standard engine for the C5-R for the rest of its career. Katech Engine Development constructed the C5-Rs engines, although they retained elements of the production LS1 units.

Eleven C5-R chassis were be built by Pratt & Miller between 1998 and 2004, with ten being used directly by Corvette Racing and one built purely for privateer use. A twelfth car C5-R frame was built, but served merely as a test mule for the C6.R.

Modifications

As the C5-Rs competed over the years, numerous modifications were carried out in an attempt to improve the C5-R's capabilities against stronger competitors. Among the modifications were changes to the bodywork's aerodynamics in an attempt to increase downforce. The hood design was changed during the 1999 season to replace the small slat vents with a large open gap allowing air to exit more freely from the front grill. The third and fourth chassis built during 2000 were actually different from the initial two, due to being built three inches wider to improve cornering grip.

Later modifications included some technology developed on the C6.R, including air conditioning systems for driver comfort and a rear view camera on the bumper and monitor in the cockpit to overcome the lack of a rear window.

Corvette Racing

With two cars completed, Corvette Racing entered the 1999 24 Hours of Daytona

24 Hours of Daytona

for the United States Road Racing Championship

United States Road Racing Championship

The United States Road Racing Championship was created by the Sports Car Club of America in 1962. It was the first SCCA series for professional racing drivers. SCCA Executive Director John Bishop helped to create the series to recover races that had been taken by rival USAC Road Racing...

. The Corvette C5-R of Canadian Ron Fellows

Ron Fellows

Ron Fellows is an accomplished Canadian SCCA Trans-Am, IMSA, and American Le Mans Series driver, and a NASCAR Road course ringer.-Early career:...

and Americans Chris Kneifel

Chris Kneifel

Chris Kneifel , is a former driver in the CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1982-1984 seasons with 19 career starts, including the 1983 and 1984 Indianapolis 500, and finished in the top ten 6 times. He holds the distinction of being the last driver to start the Indianapolis 500 with...

and John Paul, Jr.

John Paul, Jr.

John Lee Paul, Jr. is a former race car driver in CART and the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series and winner of the 1982 12 Hours of Sebring while co-driving with his father John Paul, Sr....

managed to finish the endurance event in 18th overall, 34 laps behind the class-winning Porsche

Porsche

Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....

. After failures at the 12 Hours of Sebring

12 Hours of Sebring

The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, a former Army Air Force base in Sebring, Florida...

, Riley & Scott ran a few more rounds of the American Le Mans Series

American Le Mans Series

to finish off the year. A lone C5-R finished second in class behind a factory Dodge Viper at Sears Point

Infineon Raceway

Infineon Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway, is a road course and drag strip located on the landform known as Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains near Sonoma, California, USA. The course is a complex series of twists and turns that go up and down the hills...

, and again at Laguna Seca

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a paved road racing track used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, originally constructed in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, USA....

.

In 2000, Pratt & Miller took over as the sole Corvette team, once again starting the season at Daytona. The Corvette of Fellows and Kneifel, now joined by Brit Justin Bell

Justin Bell

Justin Bell is a British racecar driver. He is the son of Derek Bell.-Career:Justin and his father raced together from the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans through the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans. He tried to qualify for the 1996 Indianapolis 500 in a 4 year old Lola chassis...

, greatly improved on their previous result by finishing in second place overall, a minute behind a factory Viper and easily outperforming various prototypes

Sports prototype

A sports prototype, also referred to as simply a prototype, is a form of racing car that is used as a top category in sports car racing. These purpose-built racing cars differ from street-legal and production-based racing cars that also compete in sports car racing.Prototype racing cars have...

. However the team was not able to match the performance of the Vipers at Sebring, nor at their debut at Le Mans

2000 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 68th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 17 and 18 2000.-Pre-race:After the 1999 race, most of the manufacturers in the top classes went in different directions. BMW and Toyota went into Formula One, while Mercedes-Benz left sportscars after the CLR...

. The team rebounded though, as they earned their first class victories upon returning to the ALMS. The Corvette team managed to upset the Viper squad at Texas

Texas Motor Speedway

Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas....

as well as the Petit Le Mans

Petit Le Mans

The Petit Le Mans is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest , which are slightly modified if necessary, mainly to allow additional cars to compete.The race was...

. Even though the C5-Rs ran only a partial season, the team earned third place in the GTS class championship.

2001 once again saw improvement at the opening of the season at Daytona. The C5-Rs outlasted the prototypes in the field and earned themselves the overall race victory. The race also saw the first drives by Dale Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR...

and Earnhardt, Jr.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

* NOTE: References to "Earnhardt", "he", and "him" refer to the subject of this article, unless otherwise specified. References to his father will include "Sr."...

in both the 24 Hours and the Corvette C5-R, with their car finishing fourth overall. Feeling that the C5-R was a capable winner anywhere, Pratt & Miller ran their first full season of the ALMS and earned six class victories, including their second at the Petit Le Mans. The C5-R also took its first victory at Le Mans, finishing eighth overall and 34 laps ahead of the closest competitor in their class.

Corvette Racing did not return to the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2002 due to rule changes in that event's championship, but they did continue their run in the American Le Mans Series. Corvette won nine out of the ten events, including their first class victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring

12 Hours of Sebring

The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, a former Army Air Force base in Sebring, Florida...

. Their only loss came to the new Prodrive

Prodrive

Prodrive is a British motorsport and automotive engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It designs, constructs and races cars for companies and teams such as Subaru, Aston Martin and Ford...

Ferrari

Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...

team. Corvette also secured their second win at Le Mans as well.

2003 saw the first challenge to Corvette Racing's two years of dominance in their class. Prodrive chose to enter their Ferraris in the full ALMS season as well, and although they were not strong early in the season, they managed to win the last four events of the season, including Petit Le Mans. Corvette Racing was however able to secure their third championship by a mere four points over the Prodrive team. The Ferraris would strike another blow though as they managed to end Corvette Racing's Le Mans streak, an event in which Corvette Racing celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Corvette.

Prodrive did not return to the American Le Mans Series for 2004, allowing Corvette to sweep the entire season and earn their fourth straight championship. Although Prodrive did compete at Le Mans, Corvette Racing was able to avenge their loss and add their third class victory at the event. This season was the final one for the C5-R under the Corvette Racing banner. The development of the C6 generation

Chevrolet Corvette C6

The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors introduced for the 2005 model year. The current generation Corvette is the first with exposed headlamps since the 1962 model...

Corvette for 2005 lead to an all-new race car, termed the Corvette C6.R

Chevrolet Corvette C6.R

, which the factory team used at the beginning of the 2005 season.

In total, Corvette Racing's C5-Rs would earn 31 class victories in the American Le Mans Series, three class wins at Le Mans, and one overall victory at Daytona.

Privateer teams

Initially, Corvette C5-Rs were built exclusively for the factory Corvette Racing team. It was not until 2001 that Pratt & Miller would enter discussions with teams looking to purchase their own C5-Rs. The British Atomic Kitten Racing squad initially planned to purchase two brand new cars in 2001, but were unable to come to a deal. It was not until 2003 that the first C5-R was sold to an outside team.

Selleslagh Racing Team

The first C5-R customer was Belgian Patrick Selleslagh, who ran the Selleslagh Racing Team (SRT) in the Belcar

Belcar

The Belcar Endurance Championship is the national sports car racing championship of Belgium. The series is sanctioned by the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium and run by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation . The series' title sponsor is Mediagroep Van Dyck.Since the 2007 season, the series has run...

championship. The car earned a season's best finish of second place at one of the series' events at Spa

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is the venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix and the Spa 24 Hours endurance race. It is also home to the all Volkswagen club event, 25 Hours of Spa, run by the Uniroyal Fun Cup. It is one of the most challenging race tracks in the world, mainly due to its...

. The team also entered the Spa 24 Hours

Spa 24 Hours

The Total 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event held annually in Belgium at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Conceived by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem just one year after the first 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race was run under the auspices of the Royal Automobile Club Belgium...

later that year as part of the FIA GT Championship

FIA GT Championship

The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout the years has visited other continents including Asia and South...

, and managed to finish in 18th place overall.

2004 saw a similar result, with a best finish of second once again at a Spa round, as well as a couple of thirds. 2005 however would see the car take control of the Belcar series, as SRT won the opening round at Zolder

Zolder

The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlaemen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the 1980 Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix. The F1 circus...

. SRT went on to win four more events that season, including the 24 Hours of Zolder

24 Uren van Zolder

The 24 Hours of Zolder is a yearly sports car and touringcar endurance race held at Circuit Zolder in Belgium....

, and won the overall BelCar championship. An eighth place was also earned at the Spa 24 Hours

2005 Spa 24 Hours

The 2005 Proximus 24 Hours of Spa was the 58th running of the Spa 24 Hours and the sixth race for the 2005 FIA GT Championship season. It featured the combination of the FIA GT's two classes with cars from national and one-make series, designated G2 and G3...

.

At the end of 2005, SRT bought a former factory C5-R to compliment their existing car. Both entered in the French FFSA GT Championship

FFSA GT Championship

The GT Tour is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is controlled by the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile and organized by racing company Oreca...

the next season. SRT managed a season best of second at Nogaro

Circuit Paul Armagnac

Circuit Paul Armagnac is a motorsport race track near Nogaro in southwestern France. The track was built in 1960. The venue hosted the French round of the Grand Prix motorcycle road racing world championship in 1978 and 1982, as well as the 2003 round of the FIA Sportscar Championship. It also...

. 2007 saw only one C5-R entered in FFSA GT, earning five third place finishes. The team's second C5-R would run in the FIA GT Championship

FIA GT Championship

's Citation Cup for amateur drivers, winning three races for that category, as well as finishing tenth overall at the Spa 24 Hours

2007 Spa 24 Hours

The 2007 Total Spa 24 Hours was the 60th running of the Spa 24 Hours as well as the fifth round of the 2007 FIA GT Championship season. The G3 class also included cars running in the GT3 specification seen in the FIA GT3 European Championship, although this event was not part of their scheduled...

Pacific Coast Motorsports

American Tom Figge purchased the second customer C5-R in 2004, although this chassis was not a new car but instead a former factory car. Plans were made to use the car in the 2005 American Le Mans Series season

2005 American Le Mans Series season

The 2005 American Le Mans Series season was the 7th season for the IMSA American Le Mans Series. It was a series for Le Mans Prototypes and Grand Touring race cars divided into 4 classes: LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2...

for his Pacific Coast Motorsports

Pacific Coast Motorsports

Pacific Coast Motorsports was a racing team owned by Tyler Tadevic. It was founded by Tadevic in 2003 and has competed in the American Le Mans Series, Champ Car Atlantic Series, and Rolex Grand-Am series. In 2007 it moved to the Champ Car World Series, one of America's premier open-wheel racing...

squad. Although they were not expected to compete with the factory Corvette Racing team, they struggled against other privateers like ACEMCO Motorsports' Saleen S7

Saleen S7

The Saleen S7 is a limited-production, hand-built, high-performance American supercar developed jointly by Steve Saleen for the initial concept and direction, Hidden Creek Industries for resources and initial funding, Phil Frank for the body and interior CAD design and development, and Ray Mallock...

-R. The team finished on their class podium only once in seven races before eventually deciding to abandon the series.

GLPK-Carsport

For the Corvette C5-R's first full entry in the FIA GT Championship

FIA GT Championship

, the Belgian-Dutch GLPK-Carsport team purchased another former factory chassis. The team earned two victories in their debut season, at Imola

2005 FIA GT Imola Supercar 500

The 2005 FIA GT RAC Imola Supercar 500 was the fourth race for the 2005 FIA GT Championship season. It took place on 29 May 2005 at Imola.-Official results:Class winners in bold...

and Zhuhai

2005 FIA GT Zhuhai Supercar 500

The 2005 FIA GT Zhuhai Supercar 500 was the ninth race for the 2005 FIA GT Championship season. It took place on 23 October 2005 at Zhuhai.-Official results:Class winners in bold...

, as well as a fourth place finish at the Spa 24 Hours

2005 Spa 24 Hours

, although this result was later taken away due to disqualification. The two victories aided the team in finishing the season fourth in the teams championship, the highest placed team running only a one car entry.

For 2006, the team chose to move to the Belcar

Belcar

series while their brand new C6.R concentrated on FIA GT. The team won on their debut to the series. In 2007, the Dutch Carsport Holland half of the team separated, leaving PK-Carsport to continue on their own with the C5-R, choosing to return to FIA GT. The team had one of their best finish of the season at the Spa 24 Hours

2007 Spa 24 Hours

, once again finishing in third place but only three laps behind the winners.

PSI Experience

Following the departure of Pacific Coast Motorsports from the American Le Mans Series, their car was offered for sale. The Belgian PSI Experience team purchased this car as well as a C6.R for use in 2006, entering both in the FFSA GT Championship

FFSA GT Championship

The GT Tour is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is controlled by the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile and organized by racing company Oreca...

. The team's C5-R earned a victory at Lédenon

Lédenon

Lédenon is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.-Population:-External links:* , More information about Lédenon and where to stay - B&B...

, with French singer David Hallyday

David Hallyday

David Hallyday is a French singer/songwriter and amateur sports car racer. He was born in Boulogne-Billancourt and is the son of the French singers Sylvie Vartan and Johnny Hallyday....

part of the driving squad. PSI also entered the Spa 24 Hours

2006 Spa 24 Hours

The 2006 Proximus Spa 24 Hours was the fourth race for the 2006 FIA GT Championship season. It took place on July 29 and 30 2006. It set a record for the farthest distance run since the event changed to the shorter 7 km track in 1979....

, finishing in eleventh overall.

PSI remained in FFSA GT for 2007, once again earning a race victory, this time at Nogaro

Circuit Paul Armagnac

. The C5-R was also entered in a few rounds of the FIA GT Championship as part of the Citation Cup.

Luc Alphand Aventures

One of the last C5-Rs sold, an ex-factory chassis was bought by French Olympian Luc Alphand

Luc Alphand

Luc Alphand is a French former alpine skier and race car driver.- Skiing :Born in Briançon , Alphand made his World Cup skiing debut in 1984...

for use in the Le Mans Series

Le Mans Series

The Le Mans Series is a European sports car racing endurance series based around the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and run by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest . The series was originally named the Le Mans Endurance Series, but changed its name prior to the 2006 season...

in 2006. The car performed well, earning two second place finishes and a third in the five race season. This was enough to finish third in the championship standings. The team also entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans

2006 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 74th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place over June 17–18, 2006.-Pre-race:Prior to this race the ACO redeveloped the area around the Dunlop Curve and Dunlop Chicane, moving the Dunlop Curve in tighter to create more run-off area, while also turning the Dunlop...

, managing to finish an impressive third in class behind a factory Corvette C6.R and Aston Martin DBR9

Aston Martin DBR9

The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing, debuting in 2005. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning DBR1 car, named for then-owner David Brown, which not only won the 24 Hour race in 1959 but also the World Sportscar title.-Development:Based...

.

2007 brought a new C6.R to the team, and both cars were campaigned in the Le Mans Series, but added the FFSA GT Championship

FFSA GT Championship

The GT Tour is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is controlled by the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile and organized by racing company Oreca...

to their season. Three second place finishes were earned in FFSA GT, while the Le Mans Series entries earned only two third place finishes. The car was also entered at Le Mans

2007 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 75th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France from 16–17 June 2007. Four classes of cars raced together, with each class having honors for its highest finishers...

once again, but finished a distant 24th.

External links

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