Chevrolet presents the new Corvette Z06 GT3.R / sports car

The GT3 class continues to flourish – and General Motors wants a piece of that pie too. The Americans have now presented the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R at Daytona. The car is powered by a naturally aspirated engine with a displacement of 5.5 liters. During development, GM also worked with specialists from Pratt Miller Engineering.

“The Corvette Z06 GT3.R breaks new ground for Chevrolet and the Corvette Racing program,” said Mark Stielow (Director of Racing Engineering for GM Motorsports). “This customer-focused race car leverages the learnings from Corvette Racing’s long and successful history with the expertise of our Corvette production design, engineering and power teams.”

What Stielow is referring to is clear: Corvette entered GT racing at the factory in 1999 – at that time with the C5-R. Over the years, the C6.R (variety), C7.R and C8.R came out as successors. Although there were some private (or rather occasional) teams, the cars were built for the Corvette Racing works team. Racing Corvettes were also produced for the GT1/GT2/GTE class. GT1 and GT2 are long dead and the GTE class will also be discontinued at the end of 2023. So Corvette now had to make a move towards GT3 – and also towards customer motorsport.

In fact, GT3 versions of the Corvette have been around since 2006. But these were not published by the factory itself, but by Callaway Racing from Leingarten (near Heilbronn). Now Corvette/GM is taking the helm of the GT3 itself.

The development of the Z06 GT3.R began in 2021. The first test was carried out in September 2022. The first race will take place at the 24h Daytona 2024 – i.e. in the season opener of the IMSA series. Two Corvettes are also scheduled for the FIA ​​WEC. As is known, the World Cup will also change from GTE cars to GT3 from 2024. In theory, the Corvette could also be used in other GT3 series. However, the availability of vehicles will play an important role (at least initially).