Chevrolet Corvette C5R -Chassis 001 and 002
The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in January 1999 was the race debut of the C5-R 001 in the hands of Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel (USA)/John Paul, Jr. (USA). They ended on the 18th position and third in the GTS class (photo). The car had the black-and-silver GM Goodwrench livery with race number 2. For the rest of the season, the CR5-001 entered in a few races of the American Le Mans series.
At the 2000 edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona the #3 Corvette (001) driven by Fellows, Kneifel and Justin Bell finished second overall with just a 30 seconds margin and second in the GTO Class behind the Oreca Dodge Viper (Beretta, Wendlinger, Dupuy) (photo). They had started the race in pole-position. The # 4 had clutch trouble during the race
Corvette racing in Le Mans
For the 24 hours of Le Mans 2000 ,the “LM” GTS class consisted of the two Corvette Racing C5R, three Viper Team ORECA Dodge Viper, some privateers Vipers and two Porsche 911GTS (Friesinger and Konrad Motorsport). GM came to Le Mans looking for a win given the Daytona results, but succeeding would be a real challenge.
The #63 C5-R 001 (the #3 from Daytona) was the car of Fellows, Kneifel and Bell ( the only one with Le Mans experience winning the GT2 class in 1998 with Porsche).
The #64 C5-R 002 (the #4 from Daytona) with drivers Andy Pilgrim, Kelly Collins and Franck Freon, who raced already in Le Mans since 1994.
The #63 with Ron Fellows almost had pole-position until Wendlinger pulled out a banzai lap in 3.56.327.
In the race, the Corvettes had to play catch-up with the Oreca Vipers. The # 63 had problems with the gearbox halfway in the race and #64 had a starter replaced in the 14th hour. But when the Viper #53 hit trouble in hour 17 and the #52 in hour 19, the #64 car was P02 behind the dominant #51 Viper of Wendlinger, Dupuy and Beretta. But a late charge from the Viper with driver Ni Amorim (and Anthony Beltoise, David Donohue) got the #53 in front of the Corvettes and that decided the final result.
C5R -002 #64 : P10 overall, P3 GTS. 327 Laps ( -6 laps behind winner)
C5R -002 #63 : P11 overall, P4 GTS. 327 Laps
Le Mans 2000 was the final race for both the C5R-001 and C5R-002 chassis.
