Corvette in “Good Spot” With Current Customer Base

Photo: Charly Lopez/DPPI

Corvette Racing is currently in a “good spot” with its Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R customer base according to program manager Andrea Hidalgo, who doesn’t expect an increase in the number of total cars on grids worldwide next year.

The Pratt Miller-built GT3 car, which will enter its fourth season in 2027 while debuting its new Evo package, has seen most of its entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with five cars between the two factory supported Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports entries in GTD Pro along with customers 13 Autosport, DXDT Racing and DragonSpeed in GTD.

TF Sport, meanwhile, represents the brand in the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series’ LMGT3 classes, while Chouest Povoledo Racing currently competes in GT America powered by AWS and Steller Motorsport in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS.

JMR Johor Racing, which ran GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS last year, stepped up to full-time Intercontinental GT Challenge competition this year.

While Sportscar365 understands that one or several of the current IMSA GTD customers could change hands for 2027, Hidalgo indicated there will not be any more cars than the current number in the WeatherTech Championship.

“We’re in a pretty good spot now,” she told Sportscar365. “Part of what distinguishes our program is that we work very closely with our customer teams.

“In racing, there’s always things you can be doing better. I think we’re pretty happy with the size of the program right now.

“At this scale, we can still interface directly with each team and have that relationship.

“If we expand too much, we’d lose a bit of that.”

Hidalgo, did, however, confirm they’re currently in talks with “some customers” for undisclosed other programs but nothing has been confirmed at this stage.

On the driver front, she hinted that FIA Silver-graded driver Jonny Edgar, who has been part of TF Sport’s WEC LMGT3 championship-leading effort, could be in line for a promotion.

“Jonny is great,” said Hidalgo. “We’re definitely going to keep an eye there depending on what happens with his FIA grading.

“But I think we’re still in a good spot with the drivers. If the FIA ratings change anything, we’ll have to look at that.

“We’ve also called on other GM drivers for some events.

“For example we had Earl [Bamber] do Bathurst. That’s always an option. We have IndyCar, NASCAR and Cadillac drivers for these one-off events.”

Corvette Still Riding High After Historic Tenth Le Mans Class Win

Hidalgo said Corvette Racing and TF Sport are still relishing their LMGT3 class triumph in last month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, which marked the brand’s tenth class win in the French endurance classic.

Edgar, who earned his first Le Mans win, was joined in the No. 33 Corvette by Ben Keating and Nicky Catsburg, who returned to the top step of the podium at Le Mans for the first time since 2023, which was the first, and only, Le Mans triumph with the Corvette C8.R.

“It’s always the goal to win,” Hidalgo said. “We always wanted that but when it happened, the impact of it really hit, being the tenth win.

“Every generation of Corvette has won at Le Mans since we’ve been racing.

“That was the last year of that car [in non-Evo configuration] and we won it, so that continued the streak of every generation.

“Having won with this one now was pretty impactful. As we’re going to the Evo, I don’t know how you will define a generation, if it’s Evo or non-Evo. It’s great to have that win and continue that streak.

“After winning, the whole impact of it unfolds. We’re still riding the high.”

With the sister No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette winning last time out in the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, Hidalgo said she is “cautiously optimistic” for the rest of the WEC campaign, which resumes next month on home soil at the Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas.

“The longer you work with the car, the more you get to know it, and the setup,” she said. “I think the engineers are feeling really comfortable with the setup directions they’re talking.

“We’re utilizing the Driver-In-the-Loop simulator as well and that’s getting in a good place. The more data you have, the more it feeds and improves those models so that you can use them to help the car.

“We’ve got some momentum there where we really understand the car, so we’re hoping to keep that momentum through the rest of the WEC season and find those gains.”

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