The British sports car manufacturer has entered into a partnership with the General Motors brand for the new LMGT3 class of the World Endurance Championship and will field two examples of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R for works drivers Daniel Juncadella and Charlie Eastwood.
TF Sport's current deal with Corvette only covers the WEC, but team boss Tom Ferrier has revealed he would like to expand the partnership to other races in the coming years.
At the top of his list are the 24 Hours of Nürburgring and the 24 Hours of Spa, two races that Corvette has not attended since 2011.
Although Corvette cars were only sporadically used by teams on the Nordschleife in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the C6.R was once a popular choice in Belgian enduro racing, scoring two overall victories with the Carsport team in 2007 and 2009.
“I think as a team we would like to take part in the big GT3 blue ribbon races [like] Spa 24 [and] The Nürburgring will be, but not in 2024, more like 1925,” Ferrier told Autosport.
Ferrier, whose TF Sport team has previously competed in a variety of championships and enduros with Aston Martin, explained that a 2024 start at the Nürburgring and Spa would not be possible due to the delivery schedule of the third Z06 GT3.R.
“For us, we only have two cars to start the season next year,” he said.
“So predominantly WEC and then we expect the third car in the summer and try to do some one-off races in different championships and test the drivers for the following year.
“Then the plan is to have two more in 2024 [for 2025 seasons]. So possibly ELMS, GT World Challenge and Asian Le Mans. Then there will be two more [cars]and then we’ll have lots of it!”
Photo by: Chevrolet
2024 Corvette Z06 GT3R
Unveiled to the world at Daytona earlier this year, the Z06 GT3.R is Corvette's first car designed specifically for the FIA's GT3 regulations and replaces the C8.R as the brand's flagship racing car.
Corvette will run a factory-supported program next year with the Z06 GT3.R in the GTD Pro class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship and will also support TF Sport's WEC program.
Aside from additional customer entries in IMSA's GTD category and SRO-run championships, the General Motors brand has not yet announced plans for where else its Z06 GT3.R might race in 2024.
But Corvette is still open to a presence in large GT3 enduros. Laura Wontrop Klauser, General Motors' sports car racing director, is leaving it up to customer teams to decide where they want to use the brand's new GT3 racer.
“We will see what our customers want to do,” Klauser told Autosport. “So we have our IMSA customers figured out, we have our WEC customer figured out, and then we will have our SRO North America customer taking delivery of our cars that will run in 2024.
“Later in 2024 there will also be 25 deliveries for the season and it will depend on who wants to take the cars where and when they receive them.”
When asked whether a Corvette entry in the legendary Nordschleife race would be possible, Klauser said: “We are not against anything.
“We work with our customers where it makes sense. We're just making sure we're getting enough support from a parts and car perspective and looking at what else they need to do that and whether they feel like they need even more support and work through all of that. “
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