Andrew Aquilante is awarded victory at the 2022 Runoffs while Corvette drivers await possible changes from the SCCA
Andrew Aquilante in his # 33 C7 Corvette again prevailed in the GT2 class.
The award came after officials penalized Daniel Bender for over-aggressive contact in his # 36 Camaro thru the downhill roller coaster section on the final lap at VIR.
A spirited duel between Aquilante and Bender carried on for 15 laps (49 miles) on a slippery track stemming from Hurricane Ian.
Veteran Jorge Nazario exercised more caution and finished 10th in his # 165 2004 C5 Corvette.
Ryan McManus # 07 C6 Corvette inherited 2nd place in the GT1 class. It was his best result in several tilts at the Runoffs. It came at the expense of frontrunners # 12 Michael Lewis (Jaguar) and # 57 David Pintaric (Mustang) who dropped out.
Richard Grant, # 30 C7 Corvette (patriarch to a family of Porsche and Mazda racers) sat out the race given the nasty weather.
Runnoffs regulars Joseph Gaudette # 86 and Dave Sanders # 73 in C5 Corvettes finished 4th in T1 and T2 respectively under the auspices of Phoenix Performance headed by Joe Aquilante.
Joe Aquilante # 32 Corvette also opted out of T1.
Charlie Abell # 9 C5 Corvette placed 7th in T2.
Word has it that SCCA is reviewing and could possibly phase out the T1 and GT1 classes.
Only 56 cars including 9 Corvettes combined to enter these 4 classes in aggregate. That turnout is dwarfed by 60 entries in the Spec Mazda class and 40 for the Spec Racer Ford class.
C5 racers can turn to organizations such as NASA and a special series hosted by the folks at www.speccorvette.com. They are easier on the wallet and will prolong the lives of C5 and C6 Corvettes.
At the other extreme, HPDE and track day events have attracted performance-minded owners of C8 Corvettes.
For a quick overview of Corvettes racing with the SCCA, in 1956, Dick Thompson won the first championship. At that time, the 260 cubic inch motor placed him in the C Production class.
Thereafter it was 283 cubic inch fuelie Corvettes that literally took over the B Production class through 1962. The Corvettes out-powered Jags and Mercedes that cost a lot more to buy and were not as easy to work on.
Six years later with Shelby out of the picture, Corvettes packed the runoffs - dominating SCCA A and B Production and GT1 classes during the “Shark” era that lasted from 1968 to 1982.
The year 2000 marked the start of a decade when the C5 (and C6) Corvettes were the cars to beat in the T1 and GT1 classes.
The future for the C8 Corvette may be here sooner than we think. Can we imagine the SCCA as a haven for Hybrid and EV performance cars?
Photos courtesy of Nathan Goldberg and our Corvette Race Car Archive.
