Corvette Racing pre-season test notes

As has been its yearly tradition, at least lately, Corvette Racing took a trip south last week to Sebring International Raceway for a three-day private test leading up to the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the 2007 American Le Mans Series season opener. As is always the case, the purpose was two-fold.

"Mostly the focus was Le Mans," said Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing program manager. "We have Sebring pretty much down. But you have to classify Le Mans as something entirely different."

There's no track in the world quite like Le Mans, Fehan said. But there's also not a more grueling circuit anywhere close to Sebring. A team and car that can survive 12 hours there can run 24 hours anywhere, a common opinion held throughout the American Le Mans Series paddock.

"People talk about Monza and Paul Ricard," Fehan said. "But things that go wrong at Sebring won't go wrong anywhere else in the world. That's why we use it. We look at anything that moves up and down on the car and see how they react at Sebring. Various portions of the track are applicable to Le Mans so we can look at braking and things like that.

"The first day was cold, it got better on the second day, and by the third day it was absolutely perfect," Fehan said of the test, which saw all six Corvette Racing drivers participate. "It actually worked out very well. We took on several different tire compounds and components. We had no problems. After three full days, the cars were within one lap of each other. That's almost unheard of during our tests."

The 2007 American Le Mans Series opens with the 55th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 17 at Sebring International Raceway. The green flag will fall shortly after 10 a.m. with SPEED providing live coverage. The race also will be broadcast by American Le Mans Radio with IMSA Live Timing & Scoring available at americanlemans.com. Corvette Racing