Genetically Modified

By opting for a mid-engine layout GM has broken with tradition with its all-new Corvette, but early indications are that the C8.R GTE racing version is likely to continue the fabled marque’s very long run of Le Mans success

- Andrew Cotton

One unbroken feature of the last 20 years at Le Mans has been GM’s Corvette racecars, competing in the GTE Pro category. It’s the longest uninterrupted run of appearances by a manufacturer team in the history of the event, and in October the company started the next phase of this long chapter in endurance racing with the unveiling of its new C8.R GTE/GTLM car.

Since the Chevrolet Corvettes first rolled down pit road at the circuit de la Sarthe in 2000 there has been a close relationship between the road and race departments. Lessons learnt from the C5R were translated into the C6 that was produced for the road, and the learnings from that were put into the C6.R that raced at Le Mans for the first time in 2005, winning the class on its debut. The C6.R fed into the C7, and the C7 into the C7.R that debuted in 2014.

However, bucking the trend, the C8.R is a totally new concept; a mid-engine design, a departure from anything that the company has raced at Le Mans before. At the launch, in Road Atlanta during the Petit Le Mans IMSA finale, both the road and race teams were tight-lipped about the new road car; the C8 Stingray. They were also a little reticent when it came to the racecar too, as it’s not yet been homologated.

The car has gone through testing and is expected to make its race debut at the Daytona 24 hours in January, if the homologation process goes well. It is then likely to pull double duty at Sebring in March, running in the WEC 1000-mile race on Friday, before the Sebring 12 hours on Saturday. This is to give the FIA a chance to see the car in competition in one of its own events, so that it can balance it before Le Mans in June.

The car completed a demonstration lap ahead of the Petit Le Mans and first impressions were that this is another crowd-pleaser.

Road and track