The following photos were taken on September 21 and 22, 2002 at the Laguna Seca Raceway near Monterey, California. The occasion was the eighth round in the IMSA Sanctioned American Le Mans Series. All photos are copyright ©Ray Smith 2002. Photos are protected by DigiMarc ® Digital Watermarks and will be detected on your web site if copied illegally. See http://www.digimarc.com for details on how the Digimarc MarcSpider ® image tracking technology works.

Rear end of #3 car showing massive diffuser which provides downforce

Rollout For First Practice Session Ron Fellows was the first to go out

#3 C5-R and GT Class Ferrari 360 You can see the mist that reduced visibility and delayed practice

Andy Pilgrim rolls out #4 You can not mistake the sound of these cars

Boysal's #4 Z06 This was his first Speedvision Challenge race

Side View of Boysal's #4 Z06 The daytime running lamps were on for the entire race. Talk about close to stock...

Side View of David Farmer's #35 Z06 Rolling out for practice

Wheel Alignment on the #3 C5-R

Kelly Collins and Andy Pilgrim sign autographs

Andy Pilgrim with his #4 C5-R Andy was very gracious in granting my request for a photo of him

#3 Rolls Out for Qualifying Ron Fellows at the wheel, crewmember pushing car back is named "Bill" (nice guy).

#3 Rolls Out for Qualifying Notice team members have on their "Friday and Saturday" shirts

#3 just after turn-in of Turn 4 A brief lift and then back on the thottle

#3 at apex of Turn 4 Accelerating out of this corner produced a distinctive American V-8 growl

#4 at apex of Turn 4 It was a blur, here literally

#3 on rumble strip of Turn 4 Fellows was pushing it for all it was worth

Ron Fellows in #3 accelerates out of turn 4

David Farmer's #35 Z06 Competing in the Speedvison World Challenge GT class

Closeup of front brake system The stock front calipers and rotors get moved to the rear on David Farmer's Z06

Phil McClure's #73 Z06 Competing in the Speedvison World Challenge GT class

Closeup of differential and rear-mounted transmission Notice the oil cooler lines to the differential

Gutted Z06 interior on the #73 car. Note the rocker switches.

Interior of #73 Note the cool air ducting

Heavily Modified LS6 engine in the #73 car. Note the extension of the roll cage to provide additional rigidity to the front sub-frame.

#3 C5-R rolls out for warm-up The sun arrived with a vengence

ProDrive 550 Maranello This was a rare opportunity to see the wickedly quick car driven by Tomas Enge to victory

Corvette Racing Hot Pits Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins pit on left, Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell pit on right

#3 car exiting turn 11 piloted by Ron Fellows in qualifying

#4 car exiting turn 11 piloted by Andy Pilgrim in qualifying

Collins and Pilgrim In the paddock discussing tires

Risi Competizione Ferrari 360 Beautifully prepared and a definite threat early on

Ferrari 360 exiting turn 4 One of the coolest looking cars on the track

ProDrive 550 Maranello This car was much quicker than the C5-Rs at Laguna Seca

Andy Pilgrim takes the #4 C5-R out for pre-grid ceremony

Intake Plenum on Olive Garden 550 Maranello The pleasant and friendly Italian team had a shot until a suspension part broke

Wheel Alignment on Olive Garden 550 Maranello

Side view of Olive Garden 550 Maranello The crew was the most friendly in the paddock

Fueling Olive Garden 550 Maranello Just enough for qualifying to save precious weight

Dodge Viper in the paddock

I get my picture taken with Johnny O'Connell. He and Andy Pilgrim are the two most accessable Corvette team members

Just in case the the first one didn't turn out right.

Ron Fellows Signing Autographs He autographed my Ron Fellows Corvette Racing cap

Spare Body Panels Because rubbin' is racin'

Nomex on Sunday The team members (both hot-pit and paddock) have different uniforms for Sunday

Neat Setup Each car has one of these racks with spares that goes to the hot pit for the race

Race Ready Ron Fellow's #3 C5-R is rolled out to pre-grid for race

Back of the Grid Fellows was forced to start from the back because they changed flat-spotted tires after qualifying

Pilgrim exits turn 11 at start of race ahead of the Olive Garden Ferrari but behind the Saleen SR7 and Prodive 550 Maranello

First Pit Stop for the #4 C5-R

First Pit Stop for the #3 C5-R

Pilgrim trails the 550 Maranello for quite some time before taking lead after a risky pit-stop strategy

Pilgrim Closes on Enge Andy Pilgrim made up a lot of ground on the ProDrive Ferrari

Smoke from burning #3 C5-R at the run-off for the Corkscrew. Johnny O'Connell had to grab a fire extinguisher from a corner worker

Prodrive Ferrari Closing Low on fuel (he ran out at turn 6 with 2 minutes left) and fading tires Collins is about to be passed

You can't win them all Record on back of transporter speaks for itself

Packed Up and ready to go to Miami

ProDrive Crew works on the GTS class winning 550 Maranello after the race in preparation for Miami

David Farmer's #35 Z06 at turn 11 at start of Speedvision World Challenge GT race Sunday afternoon

Phil McClure's #73 Z06 with damage He tagged another car in the corkscrew and broke the front splitter

Phil McClure's #73 Z06 in pits after 1st lap to repair damage to right front

All photos are copyright ©Ray Smith 2002.