The Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3 R aims to bring the race car to everyone
Any private team will be able to buy a turn-key race car kitted out for a variety of GT3 championships.
Ready to race.
If you dream of running a Chevrolet Corvette race car in a GT3 championship, I have oddly specific good news for you today. On Thursday, Chevy announced the Corvette Z06 GT3 R race car, which it will sell to any private customer ready to field a Corvette in their GT3-spec racing career. Or hobby. It doesn't matter because this is a turn-key race car ready to roll.
This really is a Corvette Z06 fitted with all the necessary gear to take it racing in GT3 championships. The race car and production car share the same aluminum chassis, and the race car's engine -- a naturally aspirated 5.5-liter LT6 V8 engine with a flat-plane crankshaft --- only receives minor tweaks compared to the production power unit. Dimensionally, they're nearly identical, too.
Chevy only sees GT3 racing set for major growth in the years to come, so it planned this customer race car program to compliment said growth trajectory. It also hopes people will want to buy a race car with a winning pedigree associated with Corvette Racing.
As for Corvette Racing itself, the team plans to run in two championships next year with the C8 R. Not only will the team run in the FIA World Endurance Championship, but it will also take to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in a newly created GT Daytona Pro category, or GTD Pro, as the GT Le Mans category fades away.
