Virgin moves Corvette Racing to Le Mans

London, UK—Virgin Cargo teamed up with motorsport freight forwarding specialists first-air to organize the delivery of two Chevrolet Corvette CR.7 cars and 16 tonnes of equipment and spare parts for Corvette Racing from Chicago to London on their journey to the French town of Le Mans, which has hosted the world famous race since 1923.

The cars travelled from the headquarters of Pratt & Miller Engineering in Hudson, Michigan, to London onboard Virgin Atlantic’s daily services from Chicago to Heathrow.

Russell Smith, Motor Sports Logistics Manager at first-air, said: “We have a fantastic working relationship with the Virgin Atlantic team. We’ve worked together virtually since Virgin was born over 30 years ago. Virgin supervised the loading and unloading of the cars and equipment and as always made sure everything arrived safely and on-time when we needed it. We also flew a further five Le Mans racing cars on Virgin’s Orlando service back in March and again experienced an excellent service.”

The first practice and qualifying sessions for Le Mans 2015 begin on June 11 in preparation for the race itself on June 13-14. The ’24 Hours of Le Mans’ is the world’s oldest active sports car race in endurance racing and is recognized all over the world as the ‘Grand Prix’ of endurance and efficiency. Racing teams have to balance the speed of their cars and the management of consumables such as fuel, tires and braking materials with the ability to race for 24 hours.

John Lloyd, Senior Vice President Cargo at Virgin Atlantic, said: “We have considerable expertise in moving cars for private owners and racing teams all over the world, working alongside specialist partners such as first-air. With victories in two of sports car racing’s biggest events already in 2015, we’re hoping Corvette Racing will continue their winning streak in Le Mans. With the recent addition of Detroit to our U.S. Midwest flight network alongside Chicago, we hope to increase our long association with the automotive industry in the region and moving such prestigious racing cars as the Chevrolet Corvette CR.7 is one of the best ways to show our capability.”