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Corvette C6R GT2 racecar. (Image source:
thecarconnection.com)
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So while your humble No Fenders scribe is in Indianapolis
celebrating a milestone birthday, hey! What better place to celebrate your
birthday in Speedway, Indiana if your an Open wheel Racing devotee, right Danny?
As notice I AIN'T gonna tells
Yuhs the number, other than its LESS than Tristan 'Turbo Vautier's car number
but more than 'FAST EDDIE's; Hooah!
Hence, whilst the (No Fenders) head scribe is away,
(again) thee mice upon duh "Interwoodz" will play...
Thus I thought I'd throw out a few other
marques who are celebrating milestones of their own, as I can think of five
deserving entities worth mentioning in this 'lil rant, with the roll call
consisting of two automotive manufacturers; Aston Martin & Lamborghini, one
racing team; McLaren and two very well known automobiles; Corvette & Porsche
911...
Aston Martin
The storied automobile manufacturer Aston
Martin is celebrating its Centennial this year upon having been founded in
Bloody 'Ol London in 1913 by Lionel
Martin and Robert Bamford, to which I've just
discovered how the company's name was concocted, as Lionel Martin
was an avid Hill Climb racing specialist and he competed often at Aston Hill
near Aston Clinton, hence the name Aston Martin was hatched, albeit World War I
got in the way and the company didn't really take off until afterwards and has
subsequently gone through multiple ownership changes.
Obviously Aston Martin's zenith of its long
racing success is undoubtedly winning the 1959 24 Heurs du Mans overall with a
fantastic 1-2 finish with Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori co-driving their DBR1
to victory at Circuit de la Sarthe during the David Brown ownership era, (hence
what the DB stands for, while R obviously equals Racing) along with capturing
the coveted FIA World Sports Car Championship that season on the back of their
Le Mans win.
Yet how many of Y'all know that Aston Martin
raced in Formula 1 also? As unfortunately Aston Martin decided to dip its
proverbial toes in the F1 waters in 1959-60 with a front engine DBR4 racecar at
the very same time that the revolutionary rear-engine Cooper Climax's were
obliterating the field with Sir 'Blackjack (Jack Brabham) at the controls, as
the above mentioned drivers Shelby & Salvadori had pretty lackluster
results before the marque returned to focusing upon Sports Cars instead.
And Aston Martin had a brief renaissance with
success upon winning the GT1 class at Le Mans in 2007 with a DBR9 chassis, as I
still recall Roberto giving me grief for rooting for them over our Yanks
Corvette's and "Immer Ferrari" 550 Maranello's before pointing out
that they were owned by Ford at that time, albeit in their final days of
ownership before selling the marque to David Richards of Prodrive fame and his
investor group; but hey! How could I root against Bad Boy driver Tomas Enge and
Johnny Herbert; both of Formula 1 fame...
Corvette
Although the Bowtie Brigade has been my
Automotive nemesis - nonetheless General Motors Flagship "Halo" car
has certainly done its share of winning as those DAMN Yeller' (yellow) 'Vette's
have been synonymous with winning throughout the 2000's, having taken multiple
class wins at thee legendary Circuit de la Sarthe during le 24 Heurs du Mans,
not to mention multiple ALMS championships and class victories at both Sebring
and Daytona in their endurance races respectively.
As I suppose my favourite times of
competition were against those nasty Factory backed Dodge Vipers, while they've
also cleaned up against both Aston Martin and Ferrari's GT1 factory efforts,
with a 'Who's-who of drivers piloting the Vette like Scott Pruett, Ron Fellows,
Johnny O'Connell, Mad Max Papis, Frank Freon, Oliver Beretta, 'MAGS, (Jan
Magnessen) Oliver Gabin Antonio Garcia and newcomers Tommy Milner and Jordan
Taylor just to name a few...
And although we blew past them in a flash
just a few weeks ago, especially since my CRAPY eyeballs hadn't readjusted to
the light - nevertheless its nice knowing that thee "BITCHINEST!" (As
Randall, thy Moniker King would pronounce I-T...) Car museum in the Pacific
Northwest, the LeMay America's Car Museum is currently showcasing 60-years of
Corvettes in its cavernous museo which I've scribbled 'bout previously in;