Corvette aims for FIA GT1 Championship
Source: GM Europe
Apr 16, 2008 - 9:16:04 AM
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The kick-off for the FIA GT1 Championship 2008, comprising nine races in Europe
and one in Argentina, is in Silverstone (GB) on April 19 and 20. This race
series promises to be a major hit, with a full grid of stunning sports cars. One
of the contenders is Phoenix Carsport Racing, a German-Dutch-Swiss team that
will enter two Corvette C6.R cars for the Championship. Both Corvettes are ex-GM
Racing cars, very successful earlier in the American Le Mans Series and 24 Hours
of Le Mans. Their factory provenance is recognizable in the livery of the cars:
besides a purposeful race body, the ‘European’ Corvettes also feature the new
colour scheme of main sponsor GMAC.
A few weeks ago Phoenix Carsport
Racing tested both cars for the first time, during official FIA GT tests
conducted on the Monza circuit. The Dutch-Italian team with Mike
Hezemans/Fabrizio Gollin and the all-Swiss team with Jean Denis Déletraz/Marcel
Fässler did well, although they had to make do with ‘old’ engines. Mike
Hezemans: “The new engines are being prepared by Pratt & Miller in the
United States. The engines will arrive within a couple of days and will be
installed by Phoenix in Germany. We will then do some functional testing on the
Nürburgring and after that the countdown for the Silverstone race
begins...”
Hezemans, with eleven pole positions, eleven victories and 33
podium finishes one of the most successful drivers in the FIA GT Championship,
is optimistic about the chances of the Corvette team, yet stresses that “the
competition from Aston Martin and Maserati is fierce. Our target is to win the
Championship, for Teams as well as Constructors, and of course I would love to
take the drivers’ title myself.”
Last year, the Dutchman won the 24-Hours
race of Spa-Francorchamps with a Corvette, but in the end remained a few
championship points short of clenching the FIA GT1 title. “The championship is
our goal now. Nothing but the title.”
Race calendar FIA GT1 Championship
2008
20 April Silverstone (GB)
18
May Monza (I)
21 June Adria (I)
6
July Oschersleben (D)
3 August Francorchamps
(B)
24 August Bucharest (RO)
14 September Brno (CZ)
5
October Nogaro (F)
19 October Zolder (B)
23
November San Luis (RA)
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