Corvette downplay testing times

The American outfit had an epic battle with GT1 favourites Aston Martin, the two teams battling nose to tail for 22 hours before the two Aston cars suffered from overheating issues, leaving the way for a 1-2 finish - and the fourth consecutive win for Corvette.

The GM-owned brand will be looking for their fifth Le Mans win with the C6-R, but the Americans have made it clear they are not looking to display their pace in testing tomorrow.

"Some people prefer to show their hand and some don't," GM Racing's road racing group manager Steven Wesoloski told autosport.com. "We have a very full test schedule, things we want to try out, so we're not going to go after the fastest lap.

"Until the chequered flag falls, it doesn't matter if you're fastest two weeks before the race. Aston had the [GT1] pole last year, but we won. It's a 24-hour race; starting one spot instead of the other really doesn't matter for a 24-hour race.

"It's all about strategy; you have to finish the race, and you have to be consistent over those 24 hours. That's what we know will help us win the race."

Asked if Corvette will nonetheless aim for pole this year, Wesoloski - who was previously the C6-R chassis engineer - was unequivocal: "Not at all; it's of no concern for us whatsoever.

"We've never qualified on pole here, we've never been the fastest, and yet we've won four out of the last five times. We hope it stays that way.

"We never stop doing our homework, and because we were dominant last year, we've set the standard pretty high for ourselves. And we know the competition is trying to surpass what we've done. But for us, this is our big deal, to get us on the international stage. This is our key event for the year, so it's very important to us to do well here.

"So we continue to develop and try and get faster, make sure our reliability is there. Last year was a fantastic race - for 22 hours you had four cars on the same lap, which is unbelievable, and I think the GT1 class was the race last year. Eventually they had problems with overheating, for both drivers and cars, but until then, it could have gone either way.

"So we've taken that, and knowing that they're going to be close and stepped up a notch, we're trying to do the same."

Wesoloski admitted his team took some pleasure in beating the Aston Martins last year, especially in light of the media hype that surrounded the British marque's return to sportscar racing. But the American said this year's challenge will be much fiercer.

"Aston and us, we're very close," he said. "They changed tyres, so they're on a learning curve, racing on Pirelli in the States. Here, they're on Michelins, and we know there is some difference.

"But they know the product very well, so I think overall the cars are going to be pretty equal here. We're both carrying an extra 25kg, so we weigh the same. I think they have a slightly smaller restrictor, because they were showing some pretty high top speed.

"But I think it will be a very good race. And there's more of them - they've got a couple of their customer teams as well. So it will be fun."