The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R is a GT racing car designed & built by Pratt Miller Engineering & Chevrolet to primarily compete in the LMGT3 (Le Mans GT3) and GTD & GTD Pro (Grand Touring Daytona) in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship, respectively. The car was built to GT3 specifications and made its competitive debut at the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona. [2]
The car serves as the replacement to the Corvette C8.R, following the end of the GTE cars being used in racing series globally. It used the C8 generation Chevrolet Corvette as a base. [3] [4]
The Z06 GT3.R was launched on 27 January 2023, on the eve of the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona. [5] The reveal occurred following a two-year testing program, with virtual simulations in Chevrolet's Driver in the Loop simulator beginning in early 2021. This was followed by the car's first on-track test in September 2022, kicking off a full year of on-track development prior to customer deliveries in Q3 of 2023. [6] The car was seen testing at the Sebring International Raceway in March 2023. [7]
First news about the car's upcoming racing program(s) was revealed on June 23, 2023, with the announcement of a two-car factory supported effort in the IMSA GT Daytona Pro (GTD Pro) category, under the banner of Corvette Racing with Pratt Miller Motorsports. [8]
Five days later, on June 28, 2023, TF Sport confirmed that it would switch from Aston Martin to Corvette, aiming to field two cars in race in the new FIA WEC LMGT3 category. [9]
On 3 August 2023, the third racing program for the Z06 GT3.R was revealed, with Canadian outfit AWA switching from LMP3 class to fielding a two-car effort in IMSA GT Daytona (GTD) class for 2024 & 2025. A fourth program in GTWC America for 2024 is expected to be announced later in 2023. [10]
(key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in italics indicates fastest lap.
Year | Entrant | Class | Drivers | No. | Rds. | Rounds | Pos. | Pts. | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||||||
2024 | Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports | GTD Pro | Antonio García Alexander Sims Daniel Juncadella | 3 | All All 1-2, 10 | DAY 5 | SEB | LGA | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | VIR | IMS | ATL | 5th* | 290* |
Nicky Catsburg Tommy Milner Earl Bamber | 4 | All All 1-2, 10 | DAY 6 | SEB | LGA | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | VIR | IMS | ATL | 6th* | 274* | |||
AWA | GTD | Matt Bell Orey Fidani Lars Kern Alex Lynn | 13 | All All 1-2, 5, 9-10 1 | DAY 21 | SEB | LBH | LGA | WGL | MOS | ELK | VIR | IMS | PET | 21st* | 117* | |
Anthony Mantella Nicolás Varrone Thomas Merrill Charlie Eastwood | 17 | All All 1-2, 5, 9-10 1 | DAY 18 | SEB | LBH | LGA | WGL | MOS | ELK | VIR | IMS | PET | 18th* | 152* |
(key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in italics indicates fastest lap.
Year | Entrant | Class | Drivers | No. | Rds. | Rounds | Pos. | Pts. | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||||||
2024 | TF Sport | LMGT3 | Rui Andrade Charlie Eastwood Tom van Rompuy | 81 | TBA TBA TBA | QAT | IMO | SPA | LMS | SAP | COA | FUJ | BHR | ||
Sébastien Baud Daniel Juncadella Hiroshi Koizumi | 82 | TBA TBA TBA | QAT | IMO | SPA | LMS | SAP | COA | FUJ | BHR |
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layout, a 3.56-mile (5.73 km) combined road course that uses most of the tri-oval plus an infield road course. Held on the last weekend of January or first weekend of February as part of Speedweeks, it is the first major automobile race of the year in North America. The race is sanctioned by IMSA and is the first race of the season for the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Riley Technologies LLC is an American auto racing constructor and team specializing in the design and manufacture of complete race cars, as well as prototype development for racing and manufacturing applications.
Pratt Miller Engineering, also known as Pratt & Miller, is an American company involved in the automotive and arms industries. It was founded by Gary Pratt and Jim Miller in 1989. A defense division was added in 2013 and the company was acquired by Oshkosh Corporation in 2020. The company is headquartered in the unincorporated community of New Hudson, in Lyon Township, Oakland County, Michigan. They are best known as service providers for many of General Motors' motorsports programs, including the operation of the Corvette Racing team.
Corvette Racing is an American auto racing team established in 1999 by General Motors and Pratt Miller for the purposes of competing in sports car racing internationally. Corvette Racing was originally the official racing program for General Motors and their Chevrolet Corvette production car until the end of the LM GTE class in 2023, having utilized four generations of the Corvette to develop racing cars, although racing programs involving the Corvette have been endorsed by General Motors to varying degrees since 1956. The team is known for its yellow livery and its American fanbase.
Group GT3, known technically as Cup Grand Touring Cars and commonly referred to as simply GT3, is a set of regulations maintained by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for grand tourer racing cars designed for use in various auto racing series throughout the world. The GT3 category was initially created in 2005 by the SRO Group as a third rung in the ladder of grand touring motorsport, below the Group GT1 and Group GT2 categories which were utilized in the SRO's FIA GT Championship, and launched its own series in 2006 called the FIA GT3 European Championship. Since then, Group GT3 has expanded to become the de facto category for many national and international grand touring series, although some series modify the ruleset from the FIA standard. By 2013, nearly 20 automobile manufacturers have built or been represented with GT3 machines.
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