The highly anticipated Chevrolet Z06 GT3.R has been revealed at the Daytona 24 Hour, an event it is set to make its debut at in 2024.
The new model marks Chevrolet’s first factory foray into GT3 racing as since the category’s debut in 2006 German-based Callaway Competition has built and developed the previous models to the regulations.
The latest Z06 GT3.R has been produced in collaboration with General Motor’s Competition Motorsport Engineering and Pratt Miller Engineering, with the new model set to contest GT3 titles around the world.
Factory entries will be the first to race next year in the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship and at the Le Mans 24 Hour, while customer programs will be evaluated in a variety of series including the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli.
“The Corvette Z06 GT3.R breaks new ground for Chevrolet and the Corvette Racing program,” said Mark Stielow, director of GM Motorsports Engineering Competition.
“This customer-focused race car leverages learnings from throughout Corvette Racing’s lengthy and successful history, plus the expertise of our Corvette production design, engineering and powertrain teams.”
Reflecting on the development of the Z06.R GT3, GM’s assistant sports car racing program manager Christie Bagne stated discussions with prospective teams have already been initiated.
Supporting our customers is an area where we are putting in a lot of time and effort,” Bagne said.
“With this being our first customer GT3 offering, we have had meetings with many prospective customers to learn from their previous experiences, find what is important to them from a support standpoint and come up with a program that meets their expectations.”
Set to be powrred by a 5.5-litre, flat-plane crank DOHC V8 engine derived from the production example, the latest Corvette is said to share 70 percent of its components with the road going model.
“Racing continues to play a key role in the development of our production engines,” said Russ O’Blenes, director of Chevrolet’s Performance and Racing Propulsion Team.
“There were valuable lessons learned during the C5-R through C7.R programs that aided in the development of our V8 engines for production and racing – many dealing with efficiency, materials and light-weighting.
“The flow of information from Corvette Racing to production engineering and back has helped us build race and street-car engines that are fast, reliable and efficient.”
Customer models are set to be delivered in the third quarter of 2023.
“We’re all very pleased with the results from the track testing program so far,” commented Laura Wontrop Klauser, GM sports car racing program manager.
“What’s even more encouraging is the correlation between simulator sessions and what we’re finding in the real-world track testing.
“It’s another level of validation that gives us confidence in the development process.”