On Friday, the rain never stopped. All day water fell from the sky over Lakeville, Connecticut, where the American Le Mans Series had gathered for its annual Northeast Grand Prix. Having never been to an American Le Mans Series race before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, though I certainly wasn’t expecting rain. Nor was I expecting the racers to be out in full force, dipping around the tight and narrow Lime Rock Park, the shortest circuit on the ALMS race series.
There was one particular team I was here for; Corvette Racing. American Le Mans is dominated by high-end European brands in the GT class like Porsche, BMW, and Ferrari. In fact, aside from Corvette Racing, there is just one other American car in the series; a Ford GT (which took the checkered flag in the GT class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans). Corvette Racing stands out too, because it has the largest displacement engine allowed by the rules (5.5 liters) which gives it a distinguishable sound from the rest of the field.
Friday's qualifying was a wet one
Pictures: Nicole Werner
Yet so far, Corvette Racing has been unable to find its feet in the 2010 ALMS season. With just one podium finish between the two cars, Corvette Racing came into the Northeast Grand Prix not just wanting a win, but needing it. Friday wasn’t an easy time for Corvette Racing. The wet conditions played havoc with all the cars, but the #4 Corvette, driven by Oliver Gavin and Oliver Beretta had some rear suspension troubles during the second practice session. I was standing on the Big Bend corner when my photographer spotted a metallic object come flying off the car and into the grass. The left rear tire popped out of the fenderwell yet remained attached to the car; it was odd, and the Corvette Racing crew couldn’t figure out what went wrong.
“I have no idea right now what happened,” said Oliver Gavin, who was driving at the time. “Suddenly the car went sideways and the wheel went out of the car. It was strange but there was so much water that you don’t know what is wrong and then boom, something broke. I didn’t want to smash the car so I stopped.”
The #4 car went into the pits and emerged a little while later. The axle had become detached, though the crew could not find out why. The problem would not crop up again, though the Corvette Racing team would ultimately qualify fourth and sixth for the day.
Hundreds of Corvette owners showed up to lend their support
Saturday, the rain subsided giving away to blazing heat. By 9 am I was drenched in sweat, and the racing hadn’t even begun yet. By the 2:05 start, I was borderline dehydrated, though an amazing crowd had braved the heat to show up for the race. This included well over 200 Corvettes come out to support Corvette racing. They gathered in the Corvette Corral, and did a parade lap prior to the race start. In fact, there was a bit of an impromptu car show at the race, as dozens of exotics from Ferrari, Porsche (which had its own Corral) and even a few Japanese imports like the Nissan GT-R showed up. There were still far more Corvettes than any other model, and it seemed like every other person was wearing a Corvette Racing shirt.
Once the race got under way, Corvette Racing moved up to the third and fourth position in quick succession. Just 22 minutes into the race however, Johnny O’Connell in the #3 Corvette made contact with the No. 62 Ferrari driven by Jamie Melo. The Ferrari was out of the race, and then the Corvettes maintained third and fourth place. Things were looking good for the Corvettes and they were running strong, but the rough luck that has followed them all season would show up again this day.
The #3 Corvette was taken out of the race just a few laps in
40 minutes in, Oliver Beretta was penalized for blocking, taking to the pits for a stop-and-go penalty that essentially took him out of contention for first place. "I was very upset with the penalty because everything was good in our first race in GT at Lime Rock," Beretta said. "I was bumped three times - I was the victim, and yet I got the penalty. I just moved one time to defend my line, I was not zigzagging. It was just racing, but the penalty destroyed our race."
Soon there after, the #3 car with Johnny O’Connell made contact with a GTC car and the left rear suspension was damaged beyond quick repair. The car was retired, ultimately finishing 12th place (out of 13). The car had to be flatbedded off the track, and it would be one of the last caution flags of the day. Ultimately, Corvette Racing would finish 5th and 12th place. A disappointing performance, but with half the season left to look forward to, there is still plenty of time to turn it around. They are just outside of the top three right now, and with the next race taking place at Mid-Ohio, anything can still happen.
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