QUICK SHIFTS: Rodney Goes to Le Mans and Some Other Le Mans Tidbits

I started writing this with just a simple post about Rodney being at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and then it quickly grew to become an official QUICK SHIFTS post with several other features from the French Summer Classic. Check out some of these behind-the-scenes activities and then prepare to watch the race beginning Saturday at 10am ET.

FIRST GEAR

It’s a little bit sad that we don’t have the No.3 Corvette C8.R team of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, and Tommy Milner at the final 24 Hours of Le Mans for Corvette Racing, but we do have Rodney Sandstorm at the race and we caught these pics of him riding a classic Corvette in the Driver’s parade on Friday.

Jordan has been serving as the coach for the Garage 56 Camaro ZL1 team and we are glad to see him in France for the race, even if he isn’t participating. But that doesn’t mean his social media game is taking a break. Check out these pics from the parade as Rodney makes his presence known:

Jordan also had the opportunity to take a ride in the Goodyear Blimp that was cruising over Circuit de la Sarthe. Jordan was quoted as saying “I’ll tell you one thing – you don’t want Chad Knaus up here watching your sessions, he’d be able to see every curb you’re hitting. That would be bad news.”

SECOND GEAR

How well do they really know Le Mans? While any driver racing at Le Mans should know the circuit like the back of their hands, our friends at Mobil 1 The Grid asked Corvette drivers Nicky Catzburg, Ben Keating, and Nico Varrone if they could draw the 8+ mile race track blindfolded. God help us!

THIRD GEAR

David James is a familiar sight on the Corvette Racing Team as he provides transports for the cars and has been an assembler on the team. Some of these long-time members have been to Le Mans multile times and David says he went for 20 years in a row before COVID interrupted that streak. In the video from Pratt Miller Motorsports, David explains the Lunch Time Horn tradition and he also tells us the fantastic story of when Ron Fellows was running P1 overall at Le Mans in the C5-R racer.

FOURTH GEAR

Official team photographer Richard Prince is another long-timer at Le Mans and his annual Corvette Racing team photo sessions on the track are legendary. Now, with multiple GM teams on the ground for this year’s race, those skills were incorporated into multiple team photos and a time-lapse video showing the action as it happened:

Related:
Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Keating, No. 33 C8.R Take Hyperpole!
[VIDEO] Garage 56 Camaro ZL1 Wins the Le Mans Pit Stop Challenge
[VIDEO] Corvette C8.R Crashes into Tire Barrier During Practice Session at Le Mans