OK, this is a big one, perhaps the biggest so far of all the people who have announced pull outs from this series or that. Chevy has decided to end its factory Corvette racing effort at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Now, unlike Honda pulling out of F1 or Subaru ditching the WRC, Chevy is pulling out of a series that it is WINNING. So far, apart from some serous challenges from the likes of Viper (back when) and Aston Martin for the past couple of go-rounds, the bow-tie boys have pretty much had it their own way as long as they wanted at the Circuit De La Sarthe. And who can argue with that success? Not me.
Le Mans ain’t easy. Ask Ford. It took them a lot longer to win there than you’d expect, given the boxcar loads of money they were shoveling at the place from 1964 to ‘69.
The other way of looking at this goes something like this:
Chevy has already won at Le Mans. A lot. So why keep doing it? We’ve won and we’ve won and we’ve won, what more do we get out of it if we win one more time in June 2009?
OK, I can see that. Makes sense. And it especially makes sense from a business perspective. Especially coming from a business that just went to D.C. for the umpteenth time, hat in hand, groveling for 1% of what Congress handed out to the financial geniuses that thought giving million dollar home loans to Wal Mart employees was a good idea.
Now, Chevy ain’t bailing completely. They’re just leaving the GT 1 category, and will continue to race in the (more stock) GT 2 category.
Steve Wesoloski, road racing boss of Chevrolet’s parent company General Motors, had this to say:
“We are still going ahead with our plans for a reduced programme of Sebring, Long Beach and Le Mans. No one has told me otherwise. We are, of course, prepared for all eventualities. It all hinges on what happens in Washington.”
Source: AutoSport
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