 2003 SEASON :::
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Testing Update
Homestead
New cars. It’s a funny thing when the team builds a new race car for you…the feeling is not unlike that when you go to the dealership to pick up your own Corvette for the street ! You are excited, and anxious to see how she feels. But unlike a street car, the race car always needs a lot of massaging and doesn’t smell the same ! First off is the driver comfort issue. Even though the new car is similar to the old one, you always need to adjust the seat angle, and distances to the pedals, switches..tons of things. Dan Binks, Gary Young, David James and Dave Albright are the regular guys on our car, and once again they have done a great job.
Now I know you are going to hate me, but I never checked to see if I could share with you what all we have done with the new car, but I think it is going to show well. One thing I know the brass wouldn’t get upset about talking about is that we now have a sequential gearbox that in the test worked perfectly. I hadn’t used one since my days at Panoz, and man it was fun to use again.
Like always during testing, we did a lot of work with the guys at Goodyear on tires. We went through a bunch of different compounds, several which looked good, but unfortunately we got rained out on our last day and still have several things we need to try. For sure though, Goodyear is working hard with us to always improve what we have, and I know that as the year goes on, we will find lots of things to make us even faster.
Both cars ran well for the entire test, and after just a little more testing which Ron and Frank are going to do, the cars will be shipped to Le Mans. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to getting back there and once again taking part in that incredible race. It looks like the GTS field will be quite competitive, and I know that those pesky Pro-drive cars will again be difficult.
Finally, and really more importantly, I hope that everyone is keeping our troops and their safety in mind when you hit your knees to pray every night. Having been able to spend some time last year visiting them in the middle east, I am confident knowing that we have such incredible and dedicated men and women defending the values and principles and safety of the United States. I know of one Corvette owner that I met two years ago, who was sent to Afghanistan, and he and his wife are just the best people. I am guessing he is still engaged protecting us, but look forward to seeing his big ole grin at a race track soon. Again, keep all of them in your prayers, and God bless the USA.
Johnny O
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