Corvette C7.R Revealed

Chevrolet officially took the wraps off its new GT contender Monday at the North American International Auto Show, revealing the full livery of the Corvette C7.R.

The highly anticipated GT Le Mans class car will compete in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans with Corvette Racing.

PHOTOS: Corvette C7.R Unveil Gallery

The all-new car, co-developed with the 2015 Corvette Z06, represents the closest link in modern times between Corvettes built for the race track and the road.

Powered by a 5.5-liter direct injected V8, the C7.R features a new production-based aluminum frame that, for the first time, will be built in-house at Corvette’s Bowling Green, Ky., assembly plant.

There are a number of other shared parts between the the road car and race car platforms, including in the aerodynamics.

Notable enhancements with the C7.R over its predecessor, include the use of direct injection as well as a stiffer chassis that’s 40 stronger than the outgoing GTE-spec C6.R

“In the first lap in the C7.R, the drivers felt the increase in chassis stiffness,” said Mark Kent, director of Racing for Chevrolet. “The drivers instantly noticed that the C7.R handling was better over changing surface features and rough track segments.

“This is important as our drivers don’t always stay on the smooth pavement, and are constantly driving over curbing at corner apexes.”

Corvette Racing’s four primary drivers: Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia (No. 3) and Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner (No. 4) all return for 2014 and will be joined by Ryan Briscoe and Robin Liddell for the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Twelve Hours of Sebring.

At Le Mans, the lineups will be completed by Jordan Taylor and Richard Westbrook, who are on full-season TUDOR Championship duty in Corvette DPs.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John