With the collapse of the GTE / GTLM regulations in top-flight American endurance racing at the end of the 2021 season, General Motors faced something of a challenge. The rules for GT racing in the US had switched to GT3 and the company did not have a suitable car to enter the competition. Instead, it reached an agreement with IMSA organisers to downgrade its existing car to meet the performance windows set by the series’ technical team (see RE V32N4) and started work on a completely new racecar with which to enter global competition.
A full 12 months before the car will make its race debut, Corvette launched the Z06 GT3.R and outlined some of the main differences between it and its predecessor. Key among those is the chassis, which comes straight from the Corvette production line.
The technology within in the car is geared more towards the customer market this time as, while IMSA still has a class for all platinum-grade driver line ups, the regulations stipulate 20 cars must be built for competition within the first two years. When the World Endurance Championship takes GT3 cars in 2024, it too will stipulate customer drivers.
GM’s team behind it has therefore worked particularly hard on serviceability, knowing the car will be run primarily by customer teams and driven by customer drivers.
Stable regulations
While Stephane Ratel developed the class, GT3 regulations are owned and governed by the FIA. As such it was up to the FIA to work with manufacturers to create a set of regulations that they were happy with.
With these in mind, each of the major manufacturers have created new cars, including Ferrari and Porsche, and each debuted their offerings in international competition at Daytona in 2023. Now, Corvette has produced an all-new challenger for the category but, unlike its rivals, there is no
