With June’s running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Corvette marked the 50th anniversary of its first participation in the fabled French endurance classic. To celebrate the occasion, Corvette Racing hosted a gathering in conjunction with the appearance by the current Corvette squad at the American Le Mans Series round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on the fourth weekend in May, the team’s last American outing before heading to France.
On hand to tell about their experiences with the marque at the 24 Hours were Dr. Dick Thompson, one of the original drivers for the Briggs Cunningham team that fielded the first Vettes at Le Mans, and Dick Guldstrand, widely known as “Mr. Corvette,” who drove alongside Bob Bondurant in a Dana Chevrolet-entered Sting Ray coupe in 1967.
At a catered luncheon reception Thompson offered the audience an example of what he and his co-drivers faced half a century ago, racing cars that were only mildly changed from stock trim, mainly with larger fuel tanks and stronger suspension.
“Our car was quite fast,” he remembered, “but the brakes were a problem, as they almost always were in those early years of Corvette racing. So, you learned to deal with it and drive without brakes.”
Although Thompson and co-driver Fred Windridge retired when their car’s engine expired after 20 hours—mainly due to the strain imposed by relying on engine-braking to slow the car—the team machine of John Fitch and Bob Grossman finished 8th overall and won the over-four-liter GT class.
That Thompson/Windridge #2, currently owned by Bruce Meyer, was on display at Laguna along with the Dana Sting Ray, owned now by Harry Yeaggy, and both a Greenwood/BFG Corvette from 1973, and chassis 001 of the 2010 heritage edition that commemorates the anniversary.
In 1967, Guldstrand and Bondurant were handily leading their class after 167 laps when a wrist pin failed, but Guldstrand was proud to be a part of the effort. “We were pleased to be driving an American car that could compete,” he said.
The lunchtime conversation was dominated by a discussion of how much Le Mans had changed in 50 years, and how two drivers routinely tackled the race in cars not far from stock condition then, but the demands of modern racing have expanded the driving team from two to three in cars that are now highly modified.
Current team driver Johnny O’Connell, the only American to score four class wins at Le Mans, drove the Guldstrand/Bondurant car for a photo shoot and came away impressed. “You can’t drive a car like that without realizing that what those guys did was amazing. That car is all beast, and the strength needed to turn that thing is incredible. It really made me appreciate those guys as racecar drivers and athletes.”
