Corvette Racing Looking Into More World Endurance Championship Races

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Corvette Racing Looking Into More World Endurance Championship Races
Photo by Richard Prince for Chevy Racing

Corvette Racing made their first appearance in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) outside of Le Mans recently at the Lone Star Le Mans in Austin, Texas. While their finish at the Circuit of the Americas wasn’t what they are used to and certainly not what they had hoped for, the experience doesn’t seem to have soured Corvette Racing’s interest in more racing in the WEC.

“It was great for our crew guys, great for our management, and great for everyone to see how things work outside of Le Mans.” Corvette Racing’s Program Manager Doug Fehan told Racer Magazine’s noted racing journalist Marshall Pruett. “It was a good event and if you look at the comparative lap times, all the cars were very close. It was very beneficial for us.”

The WEC schedule for 2014 has eight races in eight different venues around the world, ranging from Austin, Texas to Shanghai, China with stops in South America, Asia and Europe. All races, except for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, are six hours long, a format that is rarely experienced by Corvette Racing. Doug Fehan indicated that this inexperience was a motivating factor in Corvette Racing’s participation in the Lone Star Le Mans when he told Marshall Pruett, “It gave us a first-hand glimpse on what that series is about and any potential customers have to deal with and see at a normal WEC round.”

Does this mean that Corvette Racing is ready to jump into the WEC with both feet? Well, no, it doesn’t. All it means at this point is that Corvette Racing is very cognizant of Corvette’s increasing world-wide brand awareness and they’re doing a bit of ground work should the day come when a viable business plan can be made for WEC participation.

Said Doug Fehan, “There are no plans at the moment to add more WEC races to our schedule, but we aren’t closed to the idea. If we determine there’s value on our own, or the series sees additive value, we’ll be prepared to act.” Let’s keep our fingers, and maybe a few toes, crossed and see what happens.

Corvette Racing Looking Into More World Endurance Championship Races
Photo by Richard Prince for Chevy Racing


Source:
racer.com

Related:
Corvette Racing at COTA: Team America Finishes Seventh in 6-Hour FIA WEC Race
Corvette Racing at COTA: C7.Rs Finish Ninth and Tenth in GTLM
Corvette Racing at COTA: Team America Ready for the WEC

 



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