We got back about 2 hrs ago from Long Beach. Pictures tomorrow... I am just beat and need to turn in early for a car show tomorrow! The weather was perfect, tho!

We are actually watching the race (DVR) to get insight to the drama.

A few observations:

* The Corvette Corral was the BEST EVER at LB. It was HUGE! I am sure the Vette count was well over 100. I did my part for C4s, getting tons of props for the over all look! Yay! There were only a few C4s, maybe a half dozen. Short of the Guldstrand ZR-1, I would have to say mine was the nicest.

* During the raffle, we won a copy of a new book, The Corvette Factories. It was signed by JohnnyO, Jan and the Ollies, I also got Ron to sign it. He was rather tragic sounding... "It's signed by everyone... but me." I couldn't let him go home without signing it. As an aside, he is driving a Vette ("a real handful!") in tomorrow World Challenge race.

* The race was great. The Vettes looked good, all in all, but that damned F430 of Risi is FAST and the even more annoying Flying Lizards (they taste like chicken!) were even faster. I know the C6.r will get'm!!

* The Ford GT, a totally privateer deal, is making great headway. Gotta give them respect for all the work they are putting into a lame duck car.

* The 007 Astin Martin sounded insane. It was so quiet and whooshed by so smoothly. Impressive piece.

* The C6.r is louder than hell. It still sounds like a cow farting in a bucket.

* The Jaguar is really coming along. It finished! That's a huge step forward.

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Wow. Just wow. lol......

Glad you enjoyed yourself. Where are all the pics?

Matthew

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Made ya feel like you were back on the farm, eh?
Hope you keep on winning stuff. Maybe one day the prize will come with a set of keys. Glad you had a good time.

Corvette Races to Second in Long Beach Street Fight



Magnussen Recovers from Sixth to Take Runner-Up Finish



LONG BEACH, Calif., April 17, 2010 – Things were looking a little grim for Corvette Racing at the halfway point of the 100-minute American Le Mans at Long Beach, but Jan Magnussen battled back from sixth to a runner-up finish in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R. Magnussen and teammate Johnny O'Connell threaded their way through the unforgiving concrete barriers that line the Long Beach street circuit to finish four seconds behind the No. 45 Porsche of Pat Long and Joerg Bergmeister. The No. 4 Compuware Corvette of Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta was not so fortunate, finishing bruised and battered in ninth at the checkered flag.



"It was a fantastic team effort to finish where we did," said Magnussen. "With so little time on the race track, to have a race car this good shows just how strong Corvette Racing is."



The No. 3 Corvette C6.R made its single pit stop for fuel and four Michelin tires under caution at 57 minutes into the race. Needing less than half a tank of E85 ethanol to make it to the finish, the yellow Corvette came into the pits in third place but returned to the track in sixth.



"We had a small problem in the pit stop," Magnussen explained. "Because it was such a short pit stop, I wasn't able to get myself ready in the cockpit, so we lost positions in the pit lane. I knew exactly what had happened – I wasn’t upset, I was just motivated to get back to the front. I had a great car and I was able to take back the positions one by one."



Magnussen gained a spot when the class-leading Ford GT pitted. The two BMWs had gambled on running the race without a tire change, and Magnussen was able to pass the No. 90 BMW going into the Turn 11 hairpin to take third with 11 minutes left in the race. With the four frontrunners running nose-to-tail, Magnussen stalked the No. 92 BMW on the back straight and made the pass stick in Turn 9 with two minutes remaining. He set off in pursuit of the No. 45 Porsche, but ran out of time before the checkered flag.



O'Connell had started the opening stint from third on the GT grid, lost a spot at the start, and then passed the No. 45 Porsche to retake third. He held that position behind the No. 17 Porsche of Wolf Henzler and the pole-winning No. 62 Ferrari of Jaime Melo to the fateful first pit stop.



"It's hard when you have a street race with different categories sharing the same track," O'Connell said. "I think we were competitive and as fast as anyone, but traffic would separate the GT cars and then it was difficult to make that back up. You hope for a caution to open an opportunity, and as things worked out, I think we can be proud of a fine result."



The No. 4 Corvette started fifth, and Olivier Beretta had moved up to fourth by the 30-minute mark, but an encounter with a tire barrier damaged the front bodywork and driver's door, dropping Beretta to eighth. Gavin took over the No. 4 Corvette at 46 minutes, but had to make two subsequent pit stops for additional repairs.



"There was confusion at the front, and one of the Porsches braked early," Beretta reported. "I jumped on the brakes, tried to slow down, missed a gear, and lost the car. I was in the wrong place at the wrong moment."



"A ninth-place finish certainly wasn't what anybody wanted," said Gavin. "It seems like the No. 4 Corvette can't a break at the moment. The car was good, even with the damage we had, but realistically we weren't going to move up in the finishing order and I just brought it home without risking the car. There were cars spinning off right and left in front of me, and a car even spun into the wall in front of me behind the pace car!



"It's great that our sister car got a fantastic finish here and Jan and Johnny have got themselves back in the hunt. So now it's on to Laguna Seca with the hope that our fortunes will soon turn around."



Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan reflected on the race: "It was an absolutely awesome effort today by the crew and drivers," he said. "In order to compete with the best, you have to believe you're the best. Today we raced against the best, and we had a very, very good outcome."



Corvette Racing’s next event is the American Le Mans Monterey at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday, May 22. The six-hour race will start at 2:30 p.m. PT and will be televised by CBS Sports on May 29 at 1:30 p.m. ET.



American Le Mans Series at Long Beach GT Results:

Pos./Drivers/Car/Laps

1. Bergmeister/Long, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 65

2. O'Connell/Magnussen, Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, 65

3. Auberlen/Milner, BMW E92 M3, 65

4. Melo/Bruni, Ferrari 430 GT, 65

5. Mueller/Hand, BMW E92 M3, 65

6. Sellers/Henzler, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 65

7. Sharp/van Overbeek, Ferrari 430 GT, 65

8. Brown/Cosmo, Ferrari 430 GT, 64

9. Gavin/Beretta, Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, 63

10. Robertson/Murry, Ford GT, 62

11. Gentilozzi/Dalziel, Jaguar XKRS, 45

12. Law/Neiman, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 28

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This is what I like most about this type racing. Slower traffic is an integral part of the lure. Give O'Connell a little whine with his cheese.

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On my camera... remember, beat and all? Pics tonite.

The Corvettes did Ok.

They did have a 75lb. weight penalty (wouldn't have been because they brought a non-stock block & heads to Sebring, would it? Nah.)

The TV coverage absolutely sucked, but it's Speed, what are you gona' do.

They should do better at Laguna.

NIce to see them actually racing instead of just doing a parade lap

Go cow f@rts!

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Many of the drivers feel that way about LB. It is SUPER tight. It is just the nature of the track.

If it is so tight, why has there been no push for a reconfiguration/widening in the interest of safety.

it's the very nature of a street race. Short of leveling the city of Long Beach, there ain't nothing we gonna do about it.

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Because LB is a piece of shit course, as most street courses are. What do you expect when one of your corners contains a fricking fountain!

It is a tight narrow course with limited passing spots, unless you are a P1/P2 car passing anything else.

They have to do something about the retarded LMPC cars. Half the race the GT and LMPC cars were mixed up together, with neither being able to pass the other as they're almost running the same times. Who's brain child where those things, anyway? Yeah, affordable. Right.

I'm not sure how I feel about combining the LMP1 and 2 classes. I used to enjoy the battles for the overall lead on the courses were the LMP2's were as quick. However, since there aren't enough cars to support both classes, I understand the move.

I would complain about the ALMS-C Porsches, but I guess they're needed to keep the series alive. C'est la vie. At least Speed only spent 2 minutes on them halfway through the race.

I've had the discussion about street courses on the CF in the past, and it seems that most of the drivers really like them. Yeah, they're tight and it's tough to pass, but it's a nice change of pace from all of the dedicated courses they run the rest of the season. Someday I'll fly out to Long Beach, seemed like a good time.

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Spec classes in the Pro races suck.

What about entire series that are spec classes? IRL? NASCAR?

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Exactly what I meant, Andy. Add Rolex DP.

Hopefully, AMLS will keep it at only 2 classes.

Even the announcers mentioned they need to give the LMP-C cars some more power. They need to be able to pull away from the GT2 cars. They were certainly in the way...and with lower tiered drivers, can't take full advantage of the car. They do need about 75-100 more hp. Just open up the restrictors and I bet they'd FLY!

The coverage certainly sucked, but I guess we have to be glad they aired it from start to finish.

I agree, the LMP-C needs some love. They are using what are essentially stock LS1's, restricted.

However, uncorking them could just see them running as fast as LMP2... hard to find the balance.

For what it is worth, I prefer the idea of LMP-C than Daytona Prototypes. I find the Daytona's to be the ugliest mess ever put on a race track.

A bunch of pics from LBGP.

The downside to a street course? FENCES!!!

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Hee,Hee,Hee Oh yea.

Thanks for the pics.

Yes, fences suck, especially if you have a camera.