Gordan Taylor is going into his second year of driving something of a ‘Frankenvette’, a car designed for one class and tire and adapted to a different class.
It hasn’t always worked as well as the team, or he and teammate Antonio Garcia, would like.
The new Corvette Z06 GT3.R, however, is designed from the ground up to work on a variety of tires used by GT3-based series around the world, and Taylor, who has done several tests with the latest GT3 car, says the difference is huge.

“The [C8.R GTD] was designed for GTLM around the [bespoke] tire and now the new car is designed around customer tires,” Taylor explained.
“So right from the first three laps, you could already feel that the car suits the tire better. It works way better. It feels like a race car again.

“I think it’s a huge step forward from a GTD perspective for us from the Corvette side. Going back and forth at one of our tests this year, we had both cars at the same track at the same time, and going from car to car was night-and-day difference of how the cars handled and work the tire.
The guys definitely did a good job from the design aspect to nail that and, really,
I think it’s going to be a really great product for Corvette. Whichever customers end up with them in the future, I think they’ll be very happy with it.”

The FIA-homologated Corvette Z06 GT3.R will be eligible for many championships around the world, including GTD and GTD PRO in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and GT World Challenge America. The first customer deliveries are expected later this year.

Although General Motors remains mum about potential customers for the just-revealed Corvette Z06 GT3.R, there is at least one team targeting an IMSA program with GM’s new customer-focused GT3 car.

Rebel Rock Racing, which has raced a Camaro GT4.R now in its last year of homologation in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge for several years has expressed interest in getting a car. Team Manager Robin Liddell says they’d like to run in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Michelin Endurance Challenge events with a GTD class Corvette.

“We are looking to move into GT3 and the timing of the end of the Camaro package, the state of preparation of the Rebel Rock Racing team, the availability of the new Corvette and our continuing very positive relationship with GM make it a perfect fit with our ambitions,” he said.
Christie Bagne, Corvette Z06 GT3.R program manager, said Chevrolet is targeting four Corvettes on the grid for next year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.