The Race is on for More Fun in 2003

I am writing this as we are in the midst of "Operation: Iraqi Freedom" so my mood is rather somber. Although the Coalition is making progress in Iraq, we decided to cancel our European Le Mans trip. We will try again next year when, hopefully, the world will be a safer and more peaceful place. These kinds of events make you stop and think about what is really important. Of course, God, family, friends and country come first! When I start thinking about the C5 Registry and Corvettes, I realize that I am in this for some very basic reasons. The Registry, for me, has grown beyond just discussions about Corvettes and horsepower into numerous personal relationships with a great bunch of people. You have heard me talk about this before, but I just wanted to say it again during this apprehensive time. Thanks for all the friendships . . . . When you receive this newsletter, we will have returned from the 6th Annual C5 Registry Birthday Bash at the National Corvette Museum. We were honored to be the club chosen for the unveiling of GM¹s final year C5. They will be called the 2004 Le Mans Commemorative Editions. We feel very privileged for a second year in a row to be part of this unveiling of the upcoming C5 model to the world. It was a fabulous celebration of the final production year for the C5 Corvette! We¹re already shifting gears for the 1st Annual C6 Birthday Celebration, which will be a combination of the two! It really doesn¹t matter what the name of the event is, what matters is we will be together having a blast and doing what we do best ~ having fun with our favorite hobby, Corvettes! C5 Racing is really a bright spot for Corvette. They have dominated the race circuits the past few years, and this year they are starting out in fine fashion once again by winning the 12 Hours of Sebring . This year¹s 51st Sebring Race brought competitors from all over the world to attempt to dethrone the "American Icon," including Ferraris, Vipers and a Pagani Zonda GR. It looks like the Pro Drive Ferraris are going to be this year¹s main competition. They were actually faster than the Corvettes, but the better team still came out on top! The Corvettes have been somewhat hampered by rule changes this year, designed to make the series more competitive. 2003 will be a great year for Corvette racing! If the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) comes to a track near you, make it a point to go out with your fellow Registry members to support and cheer on the C5-R Race teams! Don¹t be looking for that old familiar Yellow C5-R at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. In a marketing relationship to the Le Mans Commemorative C5 Editions, so named after two successful 24 Hour of Le Mans races, the color of the C5-R has been changed to Le Mans Commemorative Blue. Welcome new members! We now have 7100+ members! A lot of newer members own the earlier C5 model years. We¹d appreciate it if you veteran members of the C5 Registry would help these new members as much as you can, even if it means repeating advice and discussions that took place on the C5Net a few years earlier. Remember, our new members have not heard any of this and welcome any advice or information they can get for their C5. Don¹t forget to use your Net! One of the unique features of the C5Net is the Search Function. This Search option can help you locate information posted on the C5Net over the last three years. New members: there are four ways to get archived information: the C5Net archives; the BBS; the FAQ; and perusing the C5 Registry website itself www.c5registry.com. For more information on how to utilize the C5Net Search Option tool go to http://listsrv.vettelist.com/interface/c5net.html. Don¹t forget to check out the C5 Registry Bulletin Board http://216.157.52.139/cgibin/Ultimate.cgi or our FAQ page for archived information http://216.157.52.139/faq/. I hope this helps you new members and is a refresher for members who have been cooped up without your C5 for a long winter. I received an interesting e-mail from my friend, Murray Carter [C5R# X2000]. He was inquiring about an e-mail address for Getrag and a source for heavy-duty wheel hubs. It seems he is burning up bearings on his C5 Race Corvette. I forwarded his e-mail to David Farmer [C5R# W0120] and other members who race to receive some input on his questions. His e-mail request was nothing out of the ordinary, almost an every day occurrence here at the Registry office. What makes this so unusual is that Murray Carter races C5 Corvettes in Australia! Oftentimes, he cannot get the technical advice he needs in Australia, so he turns to the C5 Registry and we come through for him by contacting you, our members, for help. I think it is pretty cool that because of technology and the C5 Registry, we can put two "gear-heads" together ‹ one from Australia and one from North Carolina and other parts of the U.S. to solve a racing problem. The scope of the Official C5 Registry still blows my mind today. Technology keeps making the world smaller.

P.S. I want to personally thank Scott Kohn with Corvette Central [Corporate Member # WC003] (since February 1998), for their sponsorship of the Magnetic Ride Suspension article. Scott and his father, Gerald, are both great friends of mine and of the C5 Registry. This article details the new Magnetic Ride Suspension system, a current option on the C5, but showing up on the new C6 Corvette. We have dedicated a large portion of this newsletter to this technical advancement - we believe this is the beginning of C6 technology!
You can also view the article via the web at http://www.c5registry.com/MembersOnly/mag_ride/