The 50th anniversary logo adorns the engine covers of the Corvette Racing C6 ZR1s. Photo credit: Rick Dole for Michelin North America

This is the seventh in a 24 Hours of Le Mans preview series. Check back to michelinracingusa.com for more features and posts in the coming days.

One of the soundtracks of Le Mans, the legendary low, rumbling, seven liter small-block V8 GT1-spec C6.R had its swan song at the circuit last year. Now, Corvette Racing returns to Le Mans to celebrate its past and embrace its future.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Corvette Racing’s first Le Mans appearance. At the last ALMS round in Monterey, the team had historic Corvettes on display with Corvette Racing legends Dr. Dick Thompson and Dick Guldstrand joining the current fleet of factory Corvette drivers to discuss how different the times were. The team also had a banner for fans to sign to wish good luck to the team, and that will be displayed in the Corvette Racing garages.

Historic Corvettes on display at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Photo credit: Rick Dole for Michelin North America

But it’s a new era for Corvette this time around. After winning six times at Le Mans in GT1 with both the C5.R and C6.R, Corvette moves to the highly competitive GT2 class for 2010. The team’s new-spec C6 ZR1 will be up against entries from Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Spyker in the class.

Corvette’s lineup is stacked with winners. Defending champions Johnny O’Connell, Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia return in the No. 63, while Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Emmanuel Collard are in the No. 64.

O’Connell is the first American to four Le Mans wins. Magnussen has also won four times and Garcia seeks his third consecutive win at Le Mans. Gavin and Beretta won three straight at Le Mans from 2004-06 and are joined by Collard, who won last year in LMP2.