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The lineup was filled with surprises. First was the
announcement that Justin Bell would be joining the team for next year. Justin
is an experienced long-distance driver who has competed at Le Mans many times.
He was the 1998 GT2 class winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a factory
Dodge Viper. He joins Team Corvette from Viper Team ORECA. Along with Bell,
Corvette veterans Ron Fellows and Chris Kneifel will return to the team and
share the "tall car" (built for tall drivers) for the 2000 season.
Veteran Corvette racer Andy Pilgrim will return to the "short car"
(built for average height drivers) along with Kelly Collins and Franck Freon.
Kelly has many class wins driving Porsches for Alex Job Racing and Franck is
a class winner at Le Mans and finished second in the 1992 Indy Lights driver
championship. Franck was the only driver unable to attend the press day due
to other commitments. The new drivers spent time in their cars during the test
sessions to get to know their new rides.
Ken Brown was on hand to help answer technical questions
about the 2000 racecars. Ken is the Corvette production engineer assigned

The
LS1 427 cubic inch engine was first introduced at Laguna Seca. The #3 car finished
second in class behind the Dodge Viper. The engine was also used at Las Vegas
where the car finished third in class behind two Dodge Vipers.
Here
is a close-up of the front suspension of the #3 Corvette. Note the Carbon Fiber
rotors, the production frame and the production upper control arms. The vertical
cylinder on the right is for the air jacks, which are used during pit stops.