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GM Media Press Release

For Release: 2005-10-19

NASCAR Star Jeff Gordon Test Drives New 505-Hp Corvette Z06 On Speed Channel Saturday, Oct. 22, At 6 P.M. Et

DETROIT– Four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon gets behind the wheel of the ultimate Corvette—the new 505-horsepower Chevrolet Corvette Z06—at Road Atlanta with SPEED Channel’s popular Test Drive program and host Tommy Kendall on Sat., Oct. 22, at 6 p.m. ET.

“I had never been to Road Atlanta and I got the opportunity to drive one of the best Corvettes they’ve ever brought out,” Gordon said. “The Z06 has a lot of power, handles fantastic and looks great–I had a blast.” The Corvette Z06 is the fastest car ever offered by Chevrolet or General Motors.

Footage also was shot at the famed Le Mans road course in France where Corvette has dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans , known as “the world’s greatest sports car race,” with four class wins out of the past five years, beating world-class competition such as Aston Martin and Ferrari.

The Corvette Z06 was developed alongside the Corvette C6.R racecar, and Corvette factory driver Johnny O’Connell, who joins Gordon and Kendall on the show, also did development driving for the Corvette Z06.

“This program brings together great Chevrolet champions–Jeff Gordon, Johnny O’Connell and Corvette,” said Ed Peper, Chevrolet general manager. “There is no better example of the interaction between racing and production than the advanced technology that is shared by the championship-winning Corvette C6.R race car and the award-winning Corvette Z06, a supercar with a top speed of 198 and 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds that is so refined you can drive it every day.”

Much of the Z06 story is “unseen” because the Z06 uses advanced lightweight materials such as aluminum, carbon fiber, magnesium and titanium typically found only in the most exotic supercars. “The new Z06 is the dividend from competing so successfully in endurance racing,” said Dave Hill, Corvette’s chief engineer. “It combines the strong attributes of the new, sixth-generation Corvette with the spirit, technology and know-how from the race program to form an American supercar with outstanding credentials.”

About GM:
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world’s largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader since 1931. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 317,000 people around the world. It has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 200 countries . In 2004, GM sold nearly 9 million cars and trucks globally, up 4 percent and the second-highest total in the company’s history. GM’s global headquarters are at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit . More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.

About Speed Channel:
SPEED Channel is the nation's first and foremost cable network dedicated to motor sports and the passion for everything automotive. From racing to restoration, motorcycles to movies, SPEED Channel delivers quality programming from the track to the garage. Now available in nearly 70 million homes in North America , SPEED Channel is among the fastest growing sports cable networks in the country and an industry leader in interactive TV, video on-demand, mobile initiatives and broadband services.

CONTACT(S):
Travis Parman
Chevrolet Communications
(313) 667-5051