German Car Zone

Next year will see the introduction of a single GT class in the American Le Mans Series and the Corvette Racing team will be going for gold after throwing in the towel on the 2009 Championship. In preparation some heavy revisions have been made to the racing car by introducing a new Corvette C6.R which is based on the production ZR1. The new regulation means Corvette will be competing with the likes of Ferrari, BMW, Panoz, Ford, Porsche and Aston Martin.The C6.R will be sharing more componentry with its street brother than ever before. That includes the aluminium frame and chassis structure, the steering system, the aerodynamic package and the body design."One of the many benefits of the Corvette Racing program has been the opportunity to demonstrate the technology transfer between the race car and the production car," said Mark Kent, GM Racing manager. "The global movement toward a single GT class will allow us to compete head-to-head with more marketplace competitors while increasing both the production content of the Corvette C6.R race cars and the relevance of racing to our customers. This is a step that positions Corvette for the future of production-based sports car racing worldwide, and a move that is perfectly aligned with GM's marketing and business objectives in racing."‘Vette fans want to hear more words like these, that their cars are just as good as those put on the racing track. Providing power for the rest of the 2009 season is a 6.0-litre V8 which is based on the 7.0-litre LS7.R that was used in the GT1 version. It now makes 470hp (350kW), a drop of 120hp (90kW). An even smaller 5.5-litre V8 is being developed to run at the start of the 2010 season. The 6.0-litre runs on E85R ethanol racing fuel. The driver lineup has not been changed with Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen sharing the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R. Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta will drive the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6. R. Antonio Garcia and Marcel Fassler will join them at Petit Le Mans. Corvette debuts the new car at the Acura Sports Car Challenge at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio on August 8.

Source: General Motors

I think they look like worthy replacemnets for the current C6R...

The 2010 season of the ALMS seems to be very interesting!

This is marketing through racing.