See and Hear Chevrolet's Upcoming Corvette Z06 GT3.R Racer

Corvette Racing's C8.R has competed for just three years, but a change to professional GT3 racing as IMSA's top class has already rendered the new-for-2020 racer irrelevant. The GM factory team has been given a pass to race the GT2-spec car in the GT3-based GTD Pro class throughout 2022 and 2023, but the waiver was contingent on the company making an all-new GT3 car available to customers on its current Corvette platform. Over a year before its race debut, we now have an idea of how the car will look and sound.

The new car, set to be called Z06 GT3.R rather than keeping up the brand's naming convention with another iteration of C8.R, sure looks and sounds like a Z06 racer. While the car will be less purpose-built than its GT2-spec predecessor, it seems no less visually radical in the few still shots and one fly-by video shared by GM here.

When the car debuts in 2024, it will be joined by a growing GT3 field that will also include new cars from Ford and Toyota, with the latter likely to be built as a road car and raced as a sports car in the U.S. as a Lexus. Ford's new Mustang GT3 has already been revealed, bringing with it a factory racing team similar to GM's Corvette Racing.

As a GT3 car, the Z06 GT3.R will need to be available to customers. That is a significant departure from Corvette Racing's traditional factory-focused strategy, but the team is still expected to field two Z06 GT3.Rs in the IMSA GTD Pro category when the car debuts in 2024. As factory GT racing is coming to an end with the FIA World Endurance Championship's transition to pro-am GT racing in its support class, expect private teams to hold the Corvette banner at Le Mans in 2024.

You Might Also Like

• I Get Why People Buy Subaru Foresters Now

• Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners

• The Man Who Signs Every Car