Beretta overcomes fume nausea
Corvette Racing's GT1 veteran Olivier Beretta relished the challenge of the new GTE Pro class but was forced to sit out the final portion of the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours after suffering nausea during a safety car period, possibly because of breathing in exhaust fumes

Beretta's #73 Corvette, which he shared with Tom Milner and Antonio Garcia, was a lap down from the class lead with six hours to go. Beretta had a minor off at Arnage, nosing into the barriers, and did not get in the car again.
His team-mates, helped by electrical problems afflicting the #51 AF Corse Ferrari in front, eventually overhauled the class leader to take the GTE Pro win.
"I was feeling a bit sick behind the pace car and I think I breathed in a lot of exhaust gas," Beretta told AUTOSPORT.
"I had a stint in the morning and it didn't go very well so in the final hours Tom and Antonio did the driving. We had a lot of pressure and we just pushed as hard as we could. I think we really deserve the victory."
In over a decade of racing at Le Mans, Corvette Racing has occasionally faced some stiff opposition but never from quite so many different teams and marques as it has done in the GTE era.
In the final years of GT1 it was often only up against a handful of privateer cars, and Beretta believes the change has been for the better.
"In GT1 we had some races against the Prodrive Ferraris and Aston Martins, but now there's not one team that can beat us, there are several."
Latest news
Haas: No plans to change F1 team model despite nearing budget cap
Gunther Steiner says there is no plan for Haas to change the model of its Formula 1 team despite nearing the budget cap with a new title sponsor.
Supercars team reveals coin toss chassis allocation
Supercars squad Team 18 used a combination of a coin toss and a ping pong ball lottery to allocate its new chassis to drivers Scott Pye and Mark Winterbottom.
HPD boss "amazed" by GTP reliability on debut at Daytona 24 Hours
The boss of Honda Performance Developments has expressed his amazement at the high levels of reliability demonstrated by the all-new GTP prototypes in last weekend's Daytona 24 Hours.
Is AI ready to take over Formula 1 strategy?
The viral success of ChatGPT since its launch has lifted interest surrounding Artificial Intelligence to new heights.
Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023
OPINION: There is plenty of excitement over the glut of manufacturers tackling the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship this season. The selection committee is set to face headaches over who it decides to admit and who gets turned away from the 2023 entry list, but history tells us that the smaller entrants have a place
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
Is Qatar the price motorsport fans have to pay?
OPINION: Fresh from hosting a controversial 2022 football World Cup, Qatar has added its name to the 2024 World Endurance Championship calendar. Although questions may be asked about its presence on the calendar, is it simply the price to pay for having a healthy racing championship?
How Toyota defeated Alpine for the 2022 WEC title
Toyota #8 trio Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa outscored their rivals in the last season before the World Endurance Championship’s top class gets ultra-competitive. Here's how their Hypercar battle with Alpine and the remaining class tussles played out in LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am
The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age
The organisers of the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship worked together to devise the popular new LMDh rule set. But to turn it from an idea into reality, some serious compromises were involved - both from the prospective LMDh entrants and those with existing Le Mans Hypercar projects...
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
The 956 set the bar at the dawn of Group C 40 years ago, and that mark only rose higher through the 1980s, both in the world championship and in the US. It and its successor, the longer-wheelbase 962, were voted as Autosport's greatest sportscar in 2020 - here's why
Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes
OPINION: While the focus has been on the exciting prospect of Ferrari vs Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year, BMW’s factory return to endurance racing should not be ignored. It won't be at the French classic next year as it focuses efforts on the IMSA SportsCar Championship, but could be a dark horse in 2024 when it returns to La Sarthe with the crack WRT squad
The problem sausage kerbs continue to cause
Track limits are the problem that motorsport doesn't seem to be able to rid itself of. But the use of so-called 'sausage kerbs' as a deterrent has in several instances only served to worsen the problem, and a growing number of voices want to see action taken
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.