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Ron Fellows
and Corvette
Win at Le Mans 24-Hour Race!

Chevrolet Corvettes 1-2 at Le Mans
Second Consecutive GTS Sweep

LE MANS, June 16, 2002 - Corvette Racing finished first and second at Le Mans in the GTS category for the second consecutive year. The accomplishment in what many believe to be the world’s toughest endurance race speaks volumes to automotive DNA of the production based C5-R racecar.

“To win at Le Mans is the thrill of a lifetime,” said Doug Fehan, GM’s program manager for Corvette Racing. “To win it in two consecutive years is indescribable and a tribute to the strength of this program.”

The winning Corvette No. 63, co-driven by Johnny O’Connell of Flowery Branch, Ga., Ron Fellows of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and Oliver Gavin of Yardley Hastings, Northamptonshire, U.K, completed 335 laps of the 8.6 mile circuit to finish 11^th overall and first in the production-based GTS class. Fellows and O’Connell also co-drove to the 2001 win, while Gavin experienced a Corvette victory for the first time.

“It was tough,” said Gavin, “with Ron (Fellows) getting sick during the night and Johnny (O’Connell) not being a hundred percent at the start of the race either, it made it pretty tough for everybody. It was pretty hard last night but Johnny and I soldiered on. I’ve learned pretty quickly that this group prides itself on its teamwork. We really rallied around that to do whatever it took to get in the winner’s circle, and that is all that really counts.”

Second in GTS was the No. 64 co-driven by Floridian Andy Pilgrim, Californian Kelly Collins and New Jersey transplanted Frenchman Franck Freon, the same trio that finished in the runner-up position in 2001. They covered 331 laps to finish 13^th overall, two positions higher than in the previous year.

“Two 24 hours of Le Mans is about 5,000 miles of racing and getting a 1 – 2 last year and a 1 – 2 this year for the Corvette team is a great achievement,” said Freon. “You know that I am French and Le Mans is very special to me, so to be able to get on the podium at Le Mans is very meaningful for me. It is special, too, because all my family was watching in Paris.”

The Corvette Racing team returns to North America to resume competition in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) having won the first two races, Sebring and Sears Point, held prior to Le Mans in the 10-race ALMS schedule.

The two chassis, No. 003 and 004, that compiled 10 race victories since being first run in 2000, will be retired upon returning to the team’s Michigan headquarters.

The new replacement chassis, No. 005 and 006, began a new chapter in the Corvette record book with a one – two finish at Sears Point in May in their first outing.

The team will return to compete at the Mid-Ohio Sports car Course June 30 and the Road America 500-mile race July 7. Fellows and O’Connell will be in the No. 3 car with Pilgrim and Collins in the No. 4, both cars carrying sponsorship from GM Goodwrench.

The Corvette endurance-racing program is an example of Chevrolet’s commitment to racing production-based vehicles. For 50 years, Corvette has been “America’s performance icon” and competing and winning at Le Mans extends the brand’s reputation worldwide.