Corvette Z06s Tear Up the Pavement at Willow Springs Trackday
Corvette Z06s Tear Up the Pavement at Willow Springs Trackday
Corvette Forum Editor snapped a few pictures of Corvette action in between his own on-track driving sessions.
During a recent track day at the Streets of Willow, I was actually able to catch my breath, for once. After recently retiring a somewhat troublesome, turbocharged BMW from track day duty, I was back at the track, this time, shaking down a new project. That’s a story for another day, but as this new venture proved rather trouble-free at the track, I actually had time to take in what was going on, beyond my woeful driving.
In particular, it became rather obvious that a lot of much more expensive cars, and much more talented drivers were in attendance. Several of which were piloting some very fast Corvettes.
This fixed-roof coupe C5 was at the event simply for some test-and-tune seat time. Piloted by driver Oli Thordarson, this C5 was setting some brutally fast lap times, well, at least when it wasn’t sideways. After what looked some suspension tuning, the car was hooked up.
Thordarson is clearly a busy guy. How do I know that? Well, check out the SCCA racing stickers on his car. This C5 toggles between Spec Corvette, GT2 and ST2 racing. That’s the real-deal wheel-to-wheel stuff. According to enthusiast site autoxandtrack, Thordarson has put over 40,000 track miles on his Corvette, which is, frankly, insane, and seriously impressive.
This Long Beach Red C7 Z06 was also turning in some rather prodigious lap times. Perhaps it was the cold weather, as it was only about 50 degrees in the desert.
Actually, this was no fluke, as there was another C7Z throwing down, as well. This Arctic White example spent several laps entangled in a playful battle with a contemporary Viper ACR.
This proved to be the battle to watch, as racers from all over the paddock gathered track-side to see the two American leviathans take turns out-braking one another for the lead into the skidpad.
That big wing proved beneficial to the Viper, especially at corner exit, where the mighty Mopar could put the power down way sooner than the Z06. One can’t help but wonder how a ZR1 would fair then, as it, too, has joined the big wing club.
So, Corvette Forum, have you hit the track recently? Drop a comment down below with your weekend anecdotes.
