Corvette Racing has a turn-key GT3 racer in the works.
Now that the street version of the new Chevy Corvette Z06 is out of the bag, it’s time for the next step. The company is opening up opportunities to privateer racers out there, in the form of this Z06 GT3.R edition — if you’re looking for something closer to the full on C8.R race car that spawned the Z06 in the first place.
Chevrolet bills this racer as a turn-key solution to race-focused customers aiming to head straight into a variety of GT3 competitions. “The Corvette Z06 GT3.R will be the closest link yet between the production Z06 and racing for Chevrolet’s flagship performance vehicle,” the company says in its official statement. To that end, this racing variant will still share its dimensions, aluminum chassis and general silhouette with the production model. Chevrolet notes that the GT3.R will still get the same 5.5-liter flat-plane crank LT6 V8 engine as the production car, as well.
Chevrolet Racing rolls out its competitors for the 2022 season
In addition to the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, Chevrolet also field the C8.R racer in two championships for 2022. The No. 3 GT Daytona Pro racer (above, left) will compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with a profile similar to the GTLM car. To conform with the event’s regulations, the V8 will be detuned slightly and will run on standard Michelin tires.
The No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM C8.R (above, right) will compete in the FIA Endurance World Championship — with the WEC kicking off at 1,000 Miles of Sebring on March 18, 2022. From there, the Corvette Racing team will return to Spa-Francorchamps on May 7 before taking on 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 11-12. The WEC C8.R will also take on Monza in July and Fuji Speedway in September, then wrap up the six-stage championship at Bahrain in November.
