Receives prestigious honor from Le Mans governing body
DETROIT – Corvette Racing Program Manager Doug Fehan is presented with the Spirit of Le Mans award today from the Automobile Club de l’Ouest – the sporting authority of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Fehan, who oversees the Corvette Racing program on behalf of Chevrolet, received the honor the day before the start of the 82nd running of Le Mans.
The Spirit of Le Mans award is presented annually by the ACO to the person who has been instrumental in the growth in stature of the 24 Hours.
Fehan has been the program manager for Corvette Racing since its debut in 1999. Three years earlier, he and former GM Racing executive director Herb Fishel –- a Spirit of Le Mans recipient in 2003 – helped put the plans in place to launch Corvette’s return to professional road racing in 1999, and the program debuted at Le Mans in 2000. A year later, Corvette Racing captured the first of its seven class wins at Le Mans.
“I am deeply honored and grateful to receive the esteemed Spirit of Le Mans award,” Fehan said. “To be in a group that includes some of endurance racing’s most famous names is extremely humbling.
“Returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans each year is a very powerful and emotional time for me personally, along with everyone at Corvette Racing,” Fehan added. “Le Mans is one of the world’s great competitions and one where we have had considerable success. But even without that, Le Mans would still retain the mystique that comes over me each time I drive into the track for the first time each year. Those experiences – and many others we have achieved at Corvette Racing – are ones that I will remember for the rest of the my life.”
Corvette Racing debuts the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R this year at Le Mans with a two-car attack in the GTE Pro class. Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Jordan Taylor will drive the No. 73 Corvette with Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook manning the No. 74 Corvette.
Corvette Racing will go for its eighth class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001 at 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 14 with live coverage across FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2 and the FOX Sports Go app. Live in-car video from both Corvette C7.Rs and a Corvette Racing garage cam will stream throughout the race at foxsports.com.
Release Date: June 13, 2014
Source: CorvetteRacing.com