Racing to tech transfer

摘要

The year 1963 saw the first road-race/pro- duction Chevrolet Corvette, the Z06, a car which no doubt helped popularize the phrase, "What wins on Sunday sells on Mon- day." Chevy reintroduced the Z06 in 2000, a year after GM Racing began campaigning its C5-R Corvette race cars. Since then, factory-backed Corvette racing has gained traction with car buyers. So much, in fact, that GM at the end of this year will leave IndyCar racing to focus on its latest C6-R program. "Customers have difficulty 'connecting' with the open-wheel Indy cars and tend to favor productionlike race cars," says Rick Voegelin, communications director for GM Racing. The C6-R Corvettes run in American Le Mans Series (ALMS) road races against such recognizable marques as Porsche, Saleen, Maserati, Ferrari, Audi, and Dodge.