Precision driving, teamwork and a little good luck played a big part in Corvette C5R's victory during the China round of the FIA GT Championship at the Zhuhai International Circuit yesterday.
Corvette were making their debut in Zhuhai but the circuit suited the car perfectly as the team sped to victory to record their second victory in the series after their earlier success in Imola, Italy in May.
The three-man team of Belgians Bert Longin and Anthony Kumpen and Dutchman Mike Hezemans proved too strong for a world-class field that included some of the finest sportcars in the world. Second were the Ferrari 550M team of Portuguese Pedro Lamy and Switzerland's Gabriele Gardel, who finished 7.160 seconds behind the winners for Larbre Competition of France.
'We won as a team and we showed our strengths in the pit stops and we didn't make any mistakes,'' said Kumpen, who started the three-hour race for Corvette.
'I had quite a good start and almost immediately I overtook the Ferrari [550 Maranello] and it was a very good race for us,'' said the Belgian racer.
Longin was equally delighted with the Corvette's victory, beating the more fancied Ferraris and Maseratis, who had to play second fiddle as Corvette completed 110 laps in three hours and 21.567 seconds.
'I had quite a good middle stint and my lap times were consistent. I was second and then I took the lead. The tyres were quite good and my lap times were very good. All in all, we did a very good job,'' said Longin.