Photo: Chevrolet
As of next year, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will never be the same. That’s because starting January 2020 at the Daytona racetrack, there will be a new monster on the block: the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
The entry will be the first time the carmaker is using a mid-engined car in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class of the series.
The C8R made its unexpected debut this week, at an event at the Kennedy Space Center, where it was shown alongside the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray convertible, the carmaker’s first hardtop Corvette.
The car shown by Chevrolet sports a brand new livery, one the carmaker says was inspired by the concepts of decades ago, especially the 1973 Chevrolet Aerovette and the 1959 Corvette Stingray Racer. That means a lot of silver, adorned with touches of yellow.
There will be two cars fielded by Chevy in the GTLM class, No. 3 and No. 4. For the No. 3, the team chose to use more yellow as to continue the “lineage of the successful GTLM racing Corvettes of the past 20 years.”
“The C8.R is much more than just a race-tuned version of the 2020 Corvette Stingray. It’s a culmination of many years of testing and development between GM Design, Propulsion, Engineering and the Corvette Racing team,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. vice president of Performance and Motorsports.
“The collaboration between these teams has allowed us to take these vehicles’ performance to the next level, both on the street and the track.”
The new Chevrolet Corvette marks a significant departure from the usual way of building the car, as for the first time, the carmaker decided to go for a mid-engine layout. Despite the challenges posed by this configuration, Chevy is confident the better weight distribution, better responsiveness and the faster acceleration time will make all the difference in the world.
Cars racing in the GTLM class are based on production models and must abide by the rules of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The C8R made its unexpected debut this week, at an event at the Kennedy Space Center, where it was shown alongside the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray convertible, the carmaker’s first hardtop Corvette.
The car shown by Chevrolet sports a brand new livery, one the carmaker says was inspired by the concepts of decades ago, especially the 1973 Chevrolet Aerovette and the 1959 Corvette Stingray Racer. That means a lot of silver, adorned with touches of yellow.
There will be two cars fielded by Chevy in the GTLM class, No. 3 and No. 4. For the No. 3, the team chose to use more yellow as to continue the “lineage of the successful GTLM racing Corvettes of the past 20 years.”
“The C8.R is much more than just a race-tuned version of the 2020 Corvette Stingray. It’s a culmination of many years of testing and development between GM Design, Propulsion, Engineering and the Corvette Racing team,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. vice president of Performance and Motorsports.
“The collaboration between these teams has allowed us to take these vehicles’ performance to the next level, both on the street and the track.”
The new Chevrolet Corvette marks a significant departure from the usual way of building the car, as for the first time, the carmaker decided to go for a mid-engine layout. Despite the challenges posed by this configuration, Chevy is confident the better weight distribution, better responsiveness and the faster acceleration time will make all the difference in the world.
Cars racing in the GTLM class are based on production models and must abide by the rules of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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