Corvette Z06 GT3.R To Hit The Track For Initial Tests In September
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The Corvette Z06 GT3.R won’t make its competition debut until early 2024, but a demanding test schedule will see the customer race car hit the track for early shakedown tests later this year.
In a recent interview with RACER, GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager Laura Wontrop Klauser said the automaker recently completed its final wind tunnel tests for the new Corvette Z06 GT3.R and will hit the track in September for the first on-track tests.
“We’re going to be doing all the design – I think we just finished up our last scale wind tunnel tests, so we’re moving along. But when the car hits the ground here in September, we have a very rigorous test schedule,” she explained. “The idea is to figure out, where are the weak spots? How can we improve it before we homologate it? So when it’s done and homologated, it’s done – it’s ready to go into a customer’s hands, to allow them to take it and race it and be comfortable with it.”
The Corvette Z06 GT3.R will be available for purchase by third-party customer race teams. This stands in contrast to the Corvette C8.R that Chevy races currently, which is not available for teams to buy and is only fielded by the factory-backed Corvette Racing squad. The majority of Corvette’s rivals already have their own customer GT3 race cars for purchase, including Porsche, Mercedes-AMG, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Acura and McLaren.
As the Corvette Z06 GT3.R will be available for any eligible race team to buy, this may call into question the need for a factory-backed team like Corvette Racing. Wontrop Klauser said GM has yet to make a decision on Corvette Racing’s future, although GM sees value in having a factory-backed GT3 team on the grid in North America – especially early on in the program’s life. The factory team could lend a helping hand to the customer teams, she explained, which could provide more value to the GT3 program as a whole.
“Our thought was that it would be an advantage for a customer coming behind where they can get the playbook that the Corvette Racing factory team is using,” she said. “So there’s a lot of benefit there and that’s one of the reasons that we like the idea of having it, but we need to work through understanding where the right fit is and how we can make sure that it is a great asset to the program and to our customers.”
Corvette Racing currently fields a sole, modified version of its GTE-spec Corvette C8.R in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship’s GT3-spec GTD Pro class. It also fields a single, non-modified GTE-spec Corvette C8.R in the FIA World Endurance Championship. These two racing programs are likely to continue in 2023 before the Corvette Z06 GT3.R arrives at the beginning of 2024.
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Don’t even think about cancelling the factory race team!
Depends on who the teams that take this car and Race.
#1 Pratt and Miller will remain the designer and builder. Odds are great they will remain. Now if there are 12 other Corvettes running then P and M may just be the mfg. if there are only a couple cars then P and M will remain.
I would not be shocked to see a team like Hendrick form a GT3 team.
I just hope GM does a better effort than they did with the GT 4r Camaro. If you have customer cars you need a major at the track effort for part and tech engineering.
Go Corvette Racing Team.
👍😎
Wishing tremendous success for the Corvette Racing Team.
Great. More deposits on C8’s but no cars. Anybody have any idea what ever happened with the ZO6. Three new videos, I guess they feel that is as much fun as having the car.
Geesh 2024 seems so far away. I can’t wait to see this do battle in Europe.
GM always seems a day late and a dollar short. I saw ads for the lyrics. Mercedes and BMW have beat them to the punch it seems. Have seen those ads for a while now.
2024 for this car? The Camero team was so well run they had two non gm cars in the world running. Can we expect the same level of commitment?
Well they were racing GTLM. The class closed when Porsche and BMW left.
They are running the GTLM car with modifications in GT3 and leading the points. BMW is doing the same but not doing as well.
Now to develop a new car takes about two years. If you have a way to do it faster and still be competitive please share.
The Camaro program was in a series where there really are no factory teams. But GM did not support the teams they have well with parts etc.
Anyone who wanted a C8.R could just write a check and get one…there was no prohibition against selling them as far as P&M had said.
P&M only sold the old cars they raced and had replaced. They also sold them to race in classes they did not compete in. Or they were sold to collectors.
The new car will be sold to anyone with the money to race in GT3. This can lead to some interesting people driving the Corvette.