A long season of racing ends at Bahrain
The average of the qualifying times of Ricky Taylor & Romain Brandela put the # 50 Corvette third on the grid. Taylor led the GTE AM class for the first hour. The car slipped to 4th after cycling thru changes for all 3 drivers and tyres. A brake issue cost a delay and more time was lost to repair the left front suspension from a collision w/LMP2 - droping the # 50 to 5th. Pierre Ragues soldiered on to finish one place ahead of an Aston that DNF.
The 2013 C7.R ex Pratt & Miller Corvette was a competitive package with no engine failures over a long season of racing on 3 continents in a diverse mix of cultures against marques from four countries (Aston UK, Ferrari ITA, Porsche GER, Corvette USA).
It takes consistency to win. Unfortunately, the driver lineup was disrupted too often by injuries, a lack of familiarity and a lack of experience.
The outcome was buoyed by the strong performance of Ricky Taylor (USA) who was recruited for the final 4 races. He was not only the fastest driver but also brought Minolta sponsorship. Less visible and more important was the experience of Jack Leconte who founded Larbre in 1988 and held the team together.
Hat’s off to the team engineers & crew for their spirit of perseverance and teamwork.
The Corvette seems to win friends wherever it races. And Ricky Taylor gained a whole new world of friends and exposure that bodes well for his career.
