Petit Le Mans Road Atlanta

tlong · 09-25-06, 11:12 AM

Attention all locals: come hang at the Corvette Corrall and take a parade lap on Thursday. Special parking for the vettes. Call 800-849-7223 for ticket info. 4 days parking and racing, meet the drivers, $75.

The C6R team has its hands full this year. Help them win! See you there.

Hope this is OK in C4 General for max exposure.

tlong

**Gry Ghst** · 09-25-06, 11:53 AM

Sounds great would love to be there;just cannot make it.Keep us informed and pictures are always good.

**Doug 87L98** · 09-28-06, 11:38 PM

Wish I lived a little closer. That looks like a great track to watch the yellow Vettes do their stuff>

**MsSchroder** · 10-02-06, 07:51 PM

I had Corvette Corral tickets but couldn't take the vette because it was getting some new brakes. I did wander around and look at all the beautiful vettes.

I got some race photos, will upload some tomorrow.
The weather was perfect, and it was a good race, as usual.

Tammy

tlong · 10-03-06, 02:43 PM

Wow that was a fun time at the race. The Aston-Martins took 1st and 2nd and had the coolest hospitality gig. The Vettes lost a few laps on a brake change due to the 110 pounds of penalty weight cause they fly! 3rd and 4th. The vettes had that deep V8 roar while the rest sounded raspy and high strung like a mad hornet. The Audis had a near silent diesel engine. They ran away with it. All you heard was the air whistling off the body of the car, like a vacuum cleaner going by.

The Corvette Corral was packed with 250 cars on Saturday. Beautiful to see!

I took 3 laps on the track with 100 other Corvettes, Top Gun right in front of me. He was on the cover of a recent magazine. My friends were cheering even though we were going 40. Still so fun to feel the track, lots of off camber and elevation change, roller coaster. I would love to feel it at 180 like Ron and Johnny. The GT-1 will be determined at Laguna Seca this month in a 4 hour race. Without the brake change due to weight it will be tight.

I will be there next year.

Cheers

**Doug 87L98** · 10-03-06, 07:51 PM

Thanks for the update!

**MsSchroder** · 10-04-06, 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by tlong

The vettes had that deep V8 roar while the rest sounded raspy and high strung like a mad hornet. The Audis had a near silent diesel engine. They ran away with it. All you heard was the air whistling off the body of the car, like a vacuum cleaner going by.
Cheers

You really nailed it. By the end of the race, I was shooting photos in the dark, and I almost could pick out the vettes as they approached by sound alone. The Audis were always smooth and fast, and the quiet diesel engines only amplified that speed and smoothness, it seems. They were awesome.

The vettes rotors were RED HOT in turn 6, more so than almost any other cars. It was obvious they were really having to compensate for the weight with their braking. I watched the the big screen as the brake change from hell cost them the 2nd place position.

More Photos

I was looking back at the photos that I took last year, and I noticed the absence of the Maserati and the Saleen this year. They were so sleek and dramatic, such a contrast to the almost "stuffy-British" look of the Aston Martins.

2005 Photos

I think it is a shame about the weight limits on the Vettes. Penalize the winners, yeah, that's the ticket

Tammy

**Doug 87L98** · 10-04-06, 11:19 PM

WOW those are great pictures! Thanks for sharing.

From your pictures I can really see the "marbles" that race announcers talk about. Those chunks of rubber all over the track look more like rocks to me.

**Pseudomind** · 10-05-06, 06:59 AM

Originally Posted by tlong

Wow that was a fun time at the race. The Aston-Martins took 1st and 2nd and had the coolest hospitality gig. The Vettes lost a few laps on a brake change due to the 110 pounds of penalty weight cause they fly! 3rd and 4th. The vettes had that deep V8 roar while the rest sounded raspy and high strung like a mad hornet. The Audis had a near silent diesel engine. They ran away with it. All you heard was the air whistling off the body of the car, like a vacuum cleaner going by.

The Corvette Corral was packed with 250 cars on Saturday. Beautiful to see!

I took 3 laps on the track with 100 other Corvettes, Top Gun right in front of me. He was on the cover of a recent magazine. My friends were cheering even though we were going 40. Still so fun to feel the track, lots of off camber and elevation change, roller coaster. I would love to feel it at 180 like Ron and Johnny. The GT-1 will be determined at Laguna Seca this month in a 4 hour race. Without the brake change due to weight it will be tight.

I will be there next year.

Cheers

So, if I am reading this correctly, the Corvettes had to carry an extra 110 pounds of weight as a penalty offset? Just what is this penalty weight referred to here?

Thanks

Great photos Tammy

tlong · 10-05-06, 08:26 AM

I believe the added weight of 110 pounds and the intake restriction was based on qualifying lap speed. The AMs sandbagged and held back I heard. The Corvette brakes are all ceramic, even the rotors, and cost 10Gs a set! They couldn't take but 7 or 8 hours. The team equated the handicap to about 60 horsepower.

Tammy, those are world class photos. Awesome. I never saw anything that clearly all weekend

**Zippy** · 06-13-07, 10:44 PM

Ordered my ticket for the 2007 Petit LeMans today. October 6 is the race date.

This will be my first time at this track. Any advice/tips, etc?

Zippy