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If you’re a Corvette enthusiast and you’ve never been to this race, you’ve missed out on a large part of what makes us so proud to own, drive, show, and support these cars. Even if you’re not a big fan of watching racing in general, this race is different because you are actually watching four races at the same time - all cars in different classes racing on the track at the same time.
Four hours of excitement regardless of where you choose to stand or sit because the Laguna Seca Raceway is so spread out, you never know where and when someone is gonna make their move and you have access to almost anywhere on the track. At the end of four hours, whoever has accomplished the most laps and is in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd wins their class. This year, the new C6R did us proud!!! As for this race, after some very exciting moments, Corvettes took 1st and 2nd in their class - the best possible scenario!!!
Thanks to the special volunteers of the Western States Corvette Council, the National Corvette Museum, and GM Racing, this race becomes even more special to Corvette owners. These folks sponsor the Corvette Corral and hospitality tent (with refreshments, raffles, seminars, direct feed TV of the race, and much more.) They are also responsible for hosting an outstanding Corvette Banquet Friday evening where a fabulous dinner was followed by a presentation by all the C6R drivers and Dave Hill, Chief Engineer of the Corvette today.
So in short, many come to see this race but Corvette owners get allot more out of it...
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Friday morning started with a parade lap on the race track for the 1st 100 cars that arrived at the corral - a real treat to all who follow LeMans - a chance to feel what our drivers will be feeling (in slow motion of course...) Track officials did allow the cars to approach speeds of up to 80 mph.
Above: a shot from the back of the pack of the beginning of the line which included the C6 pace car, some C6 Z06s, Dick Gullstrands special edition C5 Z06, and more...
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Above: MPCC member, Owen Rabourn’s C5 Convertible on Parade...
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At this race, you can find just about anything with the Corvette Logo on it!
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I’m not sure how other races are but at Laguna, you can follow your race car right into their staging area and watch from less than 10 ft away as they prep the car for the race. You are then invited onto the track as the cars are lined up in front of their pits just before the start of the race. IT IS AWESOME !!!
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There was no shortage of famous vintage and superstar Corvettes as this event... Left, club members pose behind a Corvette SR2 Racer.
Below, with a brand new C6 505hp Z06.
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There’s some serious wishful thinkin goin on here!
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And if you weren’t sure what was underneath the beautiful skin of that Z06, GM brought a body off version to show off that alum. frame and high performance technology. Between the display and the seminar that Chief Engineer, Dave Hill and Assist. Chief Engineer, Tadge Juechter gave, a Porche owner from the corral next door actually announced his car for sale so he could buy a Z06 Corvette.
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MPCC members Tom and Charlie inspect the C6 Official Pace Car prior to the Parade Lap.
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... and there’s certainly no shortage of human Corvette “Stars” at this event...
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We meet Corvette Chief Engineer Dave Hill at many events across the country but at this event, he proved just how much he knows about the cars he engineers! This man knows the C5 and C6 Corvette inside and out! It was very impressive.
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FINALLY, GM sent something more for the men to drool over other than the cars. Corvette’s Marketing Manager is non other than Karen Rafferty (center) striking a pose here with MPCC members Sarah Velasco (left) and Heather Greaux (rt). And if that beautiful smile isn’t enough guys, Karen is a champion auto cross driver! What more can any man ask for?
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And although they might not be famous enough for us to remember who they were, they made it to the website for being beautiful and posing with MPCC members Tom & Vince.
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... the weekend got even better when Corvettes Assist. Chief Engineer, Tadge Juechter and his wife Mary took a day off from the races Sunday to visit MPCC VP Charlie Sammut’s B&B/Animal Compound - Vision Quest Ranch / Wild Things - to play with the animals... It was truly a great day for these are wonderful animal loving people who make owning a Corvette even more special.
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Tadge & Mary’s C6 Z06!!! Tadge designed it so it seems only fitting that he should own one... Yes, Mary did park it in a “parking stall” and we did give her hell about it already! Special thanks to Tadge and Mary for sending us these photos when they got home to Michigan and took delivery of their baby.
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... Charlie enjoyed a visit from Del Bunce, proud member of the Board of Directors of the National Corvette Museum along with Del’s wife, Ileen and poodle “Corvette Cassie”. Del and family played with the animals on Wednesday and spent the night at the Ranch’s B&B. Del and Ileen are just another testimony to the wonderful people you meet in the Corvette world. Check out our Friends Links page for more info on a great product Del has available for your Corvette - we use and support it 100% !
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Left to right (front) Charlie, Del & Ileen - left to right (rear) “Lisa”, “Butch”, & “Buffy”
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Del and Ileen share breakfast with “Butch”, a mandatory activity when staying at the Vision Quest B&B...
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Obviously, “Butch” knows how much Charlie admires Del’s 98 Pace Car and trailer - fortunately for Del, “Butch” decided not to bring it back to Charlie as a gift on this day...
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... An invitation was extended to Tadge & Mary as well as the rest of the Corvette family, Dick Gulstrand, the drivers and their families, Dave Hill and Karen Rafferty as well as visiting dignitaries of the NCM to visit the Ranch next year and we sincerely hope they’ll take us up on it.
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