Chevrolet has officially presented the Corvette Z06 GT3.R which from next year will be the protagonist in the Gran Turismo series around the world.
The scene of the fall of the veils was the International Raceway of Daytona, where the 24h of the IMSA SportsCar Championship will take place from tomorrow, which will also be the debut race in 2024 for the General Motors car.
In recent months we had seen the C8.R go around in a camouflage livery while it was gaining… bones to grow and develop according to the regulations that the FIA will also introduce in the WEC, replacing the LMGTE Class where the Corvette is present for the last year among the AMs.
The Z06 GT3.R was developed by the technicians of GM Competition Motorsports and Pratt & Miller Engineering, which had already dealt with the GTE version for the World Championship and IMSA (when there were GTLM), updated today to GT3 to continue to be present in the latter championship.
Corvette Z06 GT3.R
Photo by: Chevrolet Racing
The Corvette Z06 GT3.R will always be powered by a mid-engined 5.5-liter DOHC V-8, which began track development in 2019 with initial testing on the C8.R, prior to its use in the production Z06 .
The LT6 engine shares over 70 percent of its components with that of the stock Z06, including the crankshaft, connecting rods, cylinder heads, injectors, coils, gaskets and a host of other sensors.
Virtual trials using Chevrolet’s ‘Driver in the Loop’ simulator began in early 2021, while the first track test of the Z06 GT3.R took place in September 2022, so with over a year of development behind it and other months of tests to face, given that the preparation of the units is expected after September.
As we said, the debut is scheduled for next season with four specimens entered in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, with two more destined for the FIA WEC, while possible entries are also being evaluated in the SRO Motorsports Group series such as GT World Challenge (Europe and America ) and Intercontinental GT Challenge.
At the moment it has not yet been said who will take care of the car in the various championships and the official drivers who will drive it will also be announced later.
Corvette Z06 GT3.R
Photo by: Chevrolet Racing
“The Corvette Z06 GT3.R breaks new ground for Chevrolet and the Corvette Racing program. This customer-focused race car leverages lessons learned from Corvette Racing’s long history of success, as well as the expertise of our design, engineering and and engine department of Corvette production,” said Mark Stielow, director of GM Motorsports Engineering Competition.
Tadge Juechter, Corvette Executive Chief Engineer, added, “Corvette Racing has been a major influence on production car design for 25 years. Our racing and production teams worked closely together during development to maximize the benefits of a mid-engine design, sharing the lessons learned that have enabled both programs to achieve world-class performance on the track.”
Corvette Z06 GT3.R
Photo by: Chevrolet Racing
Russ O’Blenes, Director of the Performance and Racing Propulsion Team, echoes this: “Racing continues to play a vital role in the development of our production engines. During the C5.R and C7.R programs we learned valuable lessons which have helped in the development of our V8 engines for production and racing, many of which involve efficiency, materials and light weight.The flow of information from Corvette Racing to production engineering and back has helped us build engines for racing and road cars that are fast, reliable and efficient”.
“Corvette Racing will bring complete packages of body parts and interior components to its customer teams in the supported championships. On the technical side, engineers will assist the teams with items such as pre-race documentation, including chassis setup and data sharing, as well as post-tender documentation, data analysis and related comparisons”.
“Corvette Z06 GT3.R customer teams will enjoy comprehensive technical support, race strategy and other elements. In addition, engineers from Corvette Racing and GM Motorsports will be available for remote technical and operational support.”
Corvette Z06 GT3.R
Photo by: Chevrolet Racing
