GTS CLASS CLASH; Corvette Racing C5-Rs vs. Prodrive Ferrari 550s: an absolute rivalry.

Byline: MATT DAVIS

The LMP battle won't be the only good one at Le Mans this year: Look at the GTS class. There is no manufacturer rivalry so intense in endurance racing as the one between the Corvette C5-R and the Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello. The two Pratt & Miller-built C5-Rs have been at it since 1999 while the Prodrive 550 Maranellos (yes, it's the same Prodrive with the impressive World Rally Championship pedigree) burst onto the scene in 2002 and immediately made everyone nervous with their sheer straight-line speed.

Corvettes won the GTS class in nine out of 10 races last season and are going for three-peats this year for both the American Le Mans Series and Le Mans titles. The Prodrive Ferraris ran a limited ALMS season in 2002 and there was only one entered at Le Mans. Nonetheless, the 550s (which by the end of 2002 were actually bored-out 6.0-liter 600s) immediately took it to the Corvettes and made the Saleen S7Rs and Viper GTS-Rs mere footnotes. Until a ruptured oil line just past the midway point, the Le Mans Ferrari was two laps up on the nearest C5-R.

Doug Fehan, program manager of Corvette Racing, admits, "I don't know where they get all that power from that V12. But that's Prodrive for you.''

As ever, Sebring International Raceway this year showed itself to be one of the toughest courses-if not the toughest-over 12 hours. In the first hour of March 15, it was unclear whether the Corvettes or Ferraris had the upper hand. Then the No. 80 Ferrari had brake troubles, and with just three hours to go, the No. 88 Ferrari dropped out with a dead clutch while running third. Thanks to quick repairs on the 80 car and a broken driveshaft on the leading No. 4 Corvette at the 10-and-a-half-hour point, the No. 3 Corvette took the GTS class with the No. 80 Ferrari coming in a respectable second.

But that's Sebring, a real turn-filled ...