Corvette Racing Set to Use Larbre Chassis for Watkins Glen

Photo: John Dagys

With its No. 3 car being heavily damaged from a qualifying accident at Le Mans, Corvette Racing is set to borrow Larbre Competition’s Corvette C7.R for next weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

Corvette Racing Program Manager Doug Fehan confirmed to Sportscar365 that the French squad’s car is en route to Pratt & Miller’s shop for repairs of its own, prior to being put into service for the third round of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.

“Right now it looks like we’ll probably use the Larbre car for Watkins Glen,” Fehan told Sportscar365. “Quite honestly, I don’t think there’s enough time to get the No. 3 car done.

“It’s through the generosity of [Larbre team owner] Jack Leconte and being part of the team. We’re going to use his car to do Watkins Glen. Where [else] does that happen? That’s a pretty cool story in itself.”

Larbre’s FIA World Endurance Championship GTE-Am entry was also damaged at Le Mans, from an accident by Gianluca Roda in warmup, although it did end up starting the race before retiring in the eighth hour.

It is the same chassis that Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin used as the No. 4 Corvette for the majority of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship last year.

“How good are the cars that we sell to our customers? Good enough that we’re willing to race them,” Fehan said. “There’s the same technology in that vehicle than in the two cars we were running.

“There’s no short side to that. We’re not going to be going in with one hand tied behind our back because our customers get the same stuff we have.”

Fehan, who praised the safety features of the Pratt & Miller-built car, said he anticipates the No. 3 car to be repaired in time for the TUDOR Championship round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 10-12.

“That’s the beauty of the Corvette over a monocoque construction because it’s essentially a tube-frame car,” he said. “We have a set of fixtures we’ll put it on and see what’s damaged.

“We’ll be able to cut out what’s damaged and weld in some new stuff. It will be brand-new when we get it done.”

Only three of the current-generation Corvette C7.R chassis were built, which had led to the temporary shortage that forced the team to pull one of its factory entries from Le Mans last weekend.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John