Curran, Said to Drive Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R in GT Masters

Eric Curran and Boris Said have been named as the first two drivers of the new Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R, which will be sponsored by Whelen Engineering. Both drivers are veterans in working with Sonny Whelen and Whelen Engineering.

The ADAC GT Masters championship is one of several international championships the car is slated to compete in. Curran hopes to run the full schedule in the German-based GT Masters, subject to any conflicts which may arise with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The car cannot, however, run in North America, per Curran to Sportscar365. GM’s lone GT3 product slated for 2016 would be the Cadillac ATS-V.R.

Curran will add races that this car competes in, to his full-time campaign in the WeatherTech Championship, where he’ll drive the Whelen-backed No. 31 Action Express Racing Corvette DP with Dane Cameron for a second successive season.

“It’s really exciting to be entering into yet another program with Whelen Engineering,” Curran said. “Sonny Whelen has been a close friend, sponsor, and teammate of mine for nine years, so to be venturing into a new program combined with Callaway Cars is a really big deal.

“All the guys at Callaway have been good friends for over 15 years and I’ve done a lot of work with the Callaway Car Company. Boris and I have been teammates for many years in the Whelen Engineering GT Corvette. It’s exciting to be teammates with Boris again and to combine all these things made in America.”

Said, meanwhile, is a Callaway veteran, having driven Callaway products in various championships dating to the 1990s.

“I’m excited to be back in a Corvette with Whelen and Eric,” Said said. “We had many great years together in the past and to do it all over again with my good friends at Callaway is the perfect fit.

“I’ve always said that Corvette teams should all have American drivers and an American sponsor. This is how it should be. This Whelen Callaway GT3 Corvette is the coolest looking race car I’ve ever seen and we get to drive it!”

The Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R was unveiled on October 3 at the ADAC GT Masters Season Finale at Hockenheimring in Germany.

The new car replaces Callaway’s Z06.R GT3, one of the most successful cars in the history of ADAC GT Masters with 23 victories.