The rivalry between Corvette Racing's two Corvette C6.Rs boiled over at Mid-Ohio on Saturday.
"Hate is good." At least that's what my friend and colleague Robin Miller likes to say whenever two race drivers dispense with the political correctness of racing, 21st century style, and take things, er, personally. After all, there's nothing like a heated rivalry to spice up the action, engage the fans and generate lots of ink, video and YouTube hits.
If that's the case, Mid-Ohio was a home run for the American Le Mans Series in general and Corvette Racing in particular. Of course you know whereof I speak: the jousting match that erupted between Olivier Beretta and Johnny O'Connell as they left the pits in unison after a stop for fuel, tires and to change drivers. By NASCAR standards it was pretty tame stuff, just a series of love taps between the two that left scuff marks on the wheel wells of each 'Vette. Both cars were able to continue unabated (except for seven minutes and 40 seconds of penalties) and afterward there were no helmets thrown in pit lane, no fisticuffs or threats of retaliation at Road America in two weeks' time.
Following the race most everyone took the "rubbin'" in stride.
"We are a very competitive group," said O'Connell after notching his 33rd Series victory. "Both cars dropped off the jacks at the same time and then it was a drag race to the pit exit. It was like the Hatfields and McCoys for a moment with two guys arguing for the same area of road. I thought it should have been mine; he thought it should be his.
O'Connell (right) called Saturday's incident with Beretta a case of "two buddies punching each other on the arm."
"We weren't hitting each other that hard," he continued. "It was just two buddies punching each other on the arm..."
On the other hand these buddies were teammates. And they are teammates on a team that, with all due respect to Bell Motorsports, has pretty much had things its own way in GT1 this season; for that matter, since a 2006 season that saw Aston Martin match Corvette win-for-win.
Whether the fact that Beretta and co-driver Oliver Gavin have gotten the lion's share of the wins since '06 - or that O'Connell and co-driver Jan Magnussen have gotten more than their fair of the post-race hardware this season - had anything to do with the intersquad squabble is hard to say.
What's not hard to understand is that, despite the way things may appear, there is a fierce rivalry between the two teams of drivers who, week-in and week-out, battle each other for the wins in identical cars prepared identically.
"Our main competition is our teammates," said O'Connell. "But that doesn't mean it's easy to beat them. We're not just out there parading around."
Certainly, Corvette Racing boss Doug Fehan didn't seem to have any particular problem with the sibling rivalry.
"Who says you need more than two cars in a class to have exciting racing?" he said. "I think what we saw today are two cars that are separated by thousandths of a second on the race track and separated by thousandths of a second in pit lane. Each of them is trying to win. I think it was exciting for the fans, and it was certainly exciting for us in the pits. It's hard to deny the intramural rivalry that exists, and we saw two guys racing hard and getting caught up in the heat of the moment. We'll all learn a lesson from today's race."
The lesson? Hate is good, especially between teammates.
David Phillips is one of North America's most respected and renowned motorsports journalist. His 'Another Turn' features will appear periodically on americanlemans.com throughout the season. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Le Mans Series.
-Bob Dickinson- Photos alms
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