Corvette Racing is aiming to have a “factory pool” of drivers that it can allocate to different teams for its customer racing program with the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
The General Motors brand is launching the Z06 GT3.R as a customer-focused product that will be eligible for independent teams to race in various championships globally.
GM sports car racing program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser told Sportscar365 that Corvette Racing is “still defining” how its GT3 customer support program will operate, but that the intention is for factory drivers to be on-hand.
Corvette Racing’s factory driver lineup consists of Jordan Taylor, Antonio Garcia, Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg. Other drivers have represented the team in recent major races, such as Alexander Sims who now represents LMDh manufacturer Cadillac in GTP.
Furthermore, Catsburg will share a Chevrolet Corvette C8.R with Nico Varrone and Ben Keating in the FIA World Endurance Championship this year, however the latter two are not part of the factory roster.
“I think the factory driver pool is part of the customer support program,” Klauser said.
“That’s all the stuff that we’re still defining, but the intent is to have some type of factory pool that makes sense for the customers we work with.
“I think initially, especially in 2024 when we launch, what we’re doing will be very specific to the first handful of teams that take deliveries early.
“As the program grows and we bring more and more people under the umbrella, things will adjust and modify as needed to make sure we have a healthy support program, for what the whole program looks like.”
Klauser wouldn’t say if Corvette will look to increase its roster of factory drivers, although the organization is taking a gradual approach to the launch of its GT3 program.
She has previously stated that Corvette will initially focus on the U.S. market, with up to four Z06 GT3.Rs racing in the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
For the opening year, the European side of the program is so far limited to a two-car FIA World Endurance Championship program, although the possibility for an Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli effort has also been mentioned.
“The good news is that we have some pretty stellar ones right now that we’re always talking about how we can keep our future going with them,” Klauser said regarding drivers.
“We had some guest appearances coming up throughout the years and we’ve made a lot of good relationships, just being in the two paddocks of IMSA and WEC.
“We’ve been talking to people that we know, that are running other things and coming up, and we will create a nice package and good offerings.
“Initially, it’s going to be relatively small because we’re only going to have so many cars as we ramp up.
“And then, as things get bigger, things will grow. It’ll be something that’s constantly evolving.”
Corvette Racing’s aim to deploy factory drivers to customer teams adds further weight to the question of whether it will continue to compete as a factory team next year.
The Pratt Miller-run squad has been active for almost a quarter-century as a works outfit, however the transition to GT3 brings it into a customer sales and support role.
“We’re still working through what it’s going to look like, of the first cars, who’s going to be in WEC, and we’ll announce that when we’re ready to talk through that,” said Klauser.
“We’ve been talking to teams all over the world. There’s interest from teams to run in Asia.
“I think we have a lot of demand, and we want to make sure that we set them and us up for success as we visit that demand and grow across the world.”
European Base High on Corvette “To-Do List”
Klauser described the establishment of a European customer support base as “one of the biggest things on the to-do list” for Corvette Racing in the coming months.
French outfit Larbre Competition assisted in the logistics behind Corvette Racing’s WEC debut last year, although details of the European GT3 outpost are yet to be confirmed.
“We’re starting focus in North America, and we’ll have a special arrangement with whoever’s running in WEC,” said Klauser.
“And then we know immediately that we’ve got to get our European support established. We have a couple of different options on the table, and a couple of different ways to do that.
“We haven’t picked a specific direction that we’re going to go [down]. We’re constantly evaluating and will get to that pretty soon.”