Chevrolet Rules: Double Lacetti Victory Paves Way For Cruze in 2009

Alain Menu and Rob Huff successfully closed the four-season Lacetti-chapter for Chevrolet in the World Touring Car Championship by scoring two wins in the streets of Macau, the jewel in the crown of the WTCC. While Menu dominated race 1 from start to finish, Huff was lucky to steer clear of the last-lap mayhem in race 2 and move up from fourth to first in the matter of a few …

Chevy Cruze WTCC Racer Fully Revealed [Racing News]

Not happy with just taunting us with the new 2010 Chevy Cruze going on sale a year earlier in Europe than in the US, GM has now fully unveiled the World Touring Car Championship Chevy Cruze, all dolled up for serious action. The racing Cruze replaces the Chevrolet Lacetti as GM's WTCC corporate racer and will be driven by a 2.0 liter four cylinder and piloted by Brit racer Rob Huff, Swizerlander Alain Menu and Italian Nicola Larini. The rough part of this whole story is the pun-tastic headline GM uses in their press release. An audible groaner below.

CRUZE-ING TO VICTORY?

* Chevrolet unveils new WTCC contender
* 2009 car based on new Cruze global car
* British driver Rob Huff continues Chevrolet involvement

With a new global car on the way for 2009, the World Touring Car Championship is the perfect platform for Chevrolet to put its latest model in the public eye.

This is the new Cruze WTCC car, which replaces the successful Lacetti as Chevrolet’s contender in the 2009 series.

Powered by a 2.0-litre petrol engine, the WTCC Cruze has a hard act to follow, as the Lacetti won its final two outings for Chevrolet in Macau.

But Chevrolet’s drivers are confident that the new car will be a top performer in the series, which has gained global recognition as one of the most exciting tin-top series since its inception in 2005.

British driver Rob Huff (28) from Newmarket, Suffolk, who has been with Chevrolet since it debuted in World Touring Cars said: “The Cruze is a great car and feels fast straight out of the box. We are obviously still at the very early stages of development but already I can feel how much better it handles and what an advantage the car’s wider track will be in a race environment.’

Rob will be joined in 2009 by Swiss racer Alain Menu and Italian Nicola Larini. All three drivers also drove for Chevrolet in 2008.

The cars will be prepared for Chevrolet once again by RML Motorsport. The Wellingborough, Northants, based company has a history of motorsport involvement with Chevrolet’s parent company, General Motors, and has looked after Chevrolet’s WTCC involvement since 2005.

The Chevrolet Cruze, on which the 2009 WTCC car is based, will go on sale in the UK during the first half of next year, and will be sold in over 130 countries worldwide. It is one of Chevrolet’s most important new models ever, as it clearly illustrates a new level of styling and quality for the brand, both in Europe and in the USA. The car made its public debut to much acclaim at the Paris Motor Show in October.

[Source: GM]

Corvette-Engined Formula Le Mans LMP2 Racer Makes Angry Noises

GM’s venerable small-block LS3 from the 2009 Corvette/2010 Camaro SS has found its way under the rear bodywork of a new Formula Le Mans prototype. Click below to see and hear the beast in action.

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) has announced a new European race series called Formula Le Mans. The star of the series is a new Corvette LS3 V8-sourced racecar. Built by Oreca, of Viper motorsport heritage, the new racer is a carbon-kevlar open-cockpit LMP2 that looks (and sounds) to be a promising entry.

Oreca released a promo video that makes the hairs on our arms stand on end. The LS3 mill sounds absolutely devilish is this configuration.

Listen To The Roar Of That LS3

[Formula LeMans via YouTube]

Chevrolet Bail on The Le Mans 24 Hours

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