Factory Corvette Racing Team Will Run Its Final Race Today After 25 Years
After 127 victories, nine 24 Hours of Le Mans wins, and 14 championships, Corvette Racing is no more in 2024.
Corvette Racing has been a fixture of endurance competitions worldwide for over two decades. It’s always been the de facto American national team, always there, almost always competitive, and certainly bringing the V8 thunder. After this weekend’s Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the factory Corvette team will disband after 25 years on the road.
Legendary moments don’t even begin to describe some of the battles Corvettes have waged on the world’s racetracks. Nine 24 Hours of Le Mans wins, and 14 championships are just the tip of the iceberg. Corvette Racing’s victory at the 2001 24 Hours of Daytona is legendary, and some of the team’s battles against stacked GT fields are some of the greatest racing in motorsport, period. My personal favorite is arguably the definitive example of racecraft: When Jan Magnussen in a Corvette C6.R went door-to-door with Jörg Bergmeister in a Flying Lizard Porsche GT3R at Laguna Seca in 2009.
It is a classic example of real racing. Magnussen clearly had the faster car but Bergmeister knew how to defend from the charging Corvette. It’s spectacular, with the pair bumping fenders every lap, and Magnussen getting more desperate to pass every lap. They even pulled a classic move reminiscent of Mika Häkkinen and Michael Schumacher at the 2000 Belgian GP–Magnussen used a slower Ford GT GT1 to trick Bergmeister into believing he was safe.
With a brazen outside pass, Magnussen stayed in the race. After laps of trading paint, Magnussen bumped Bergmeister into the last turn of the race, and Bergmeister forced Magnussen into the pit wall, spinning him and claiming the victory. It is one of the greatest racing videos of all time.
That’s the legacy of Corvette Racing. Hard-charging, never-say-die racers that fought to the very end. In its last year as a factory team, it secured a class victory at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, a class championship in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), and several race victories. Though Corvettes will still compete in endurance racing through a customer program, there’s no better way to go out than with a bang. Especially for America’s endurance team.
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