Corvette Z06 GT3.R Evo Set to Be Eligible for N24 Next Year

Photo: JEP/SRO

The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Evo is set to become eligible for the Nürburgring 24 next year, with General Motors currently working on a kit that would allow the Pratt Miller-built machine take part in the Eifel endurance classic.

Corvette Racing program manager Andrea Hidalgo revealed to Sportscar365 that work is underway to meet all of ADAC’s technical requirements that had previously prohibited the car from contesting the N24 or running in NLS races on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

It comes after customer team JMR Johor Racing had to skip this year’s race, which counted as a round of Intercontinental GT Challenge.

Chevy became a registered manufacturer in SRO’s globe-trotting GT3 series for the the first time this year.

“This year we’ve had a team trying to do IGTC with the asterisk of that we can’t compete at the Nürburgring,” Hidalgo told Sportscar365.

“We’re currently working on a kit for that. We hope to have that ready for next year so our customer teams will be able race there, because right now they cant, even if they wanted to.”

The kit is being built on top of the Evo updates to the car that will debut in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, meaning a non-Evo Corvette would not be eligible for the Nordschleife.

Hidalgo provided an overview of what the kit will entail: “The regulations require a certain sound limit,” she said. “One of the big ones is the anti-lift. Every car that races there has to have the anti-lift traction control to prevent the car from going airborne.

“The third big one is the fuel fill, which at the Nürburgring is a [regular gas pump].

“And along with any series, it’s the scrutineering and electronics. They’re always a little bit different with each championship.”

She said it’s “the hope” that everything will be in place for the car to be eligible beginning with the start of the 2027 NLS season, which would allow customers sufficient time to prepare for next year’s N24, which is scheduled for May 27-30.

When asked if there was any motivation from the production side of the program to have the GT3 car be eligible at the Nürburgring, given GM’s recent track record runs with pre-production Corvette ZR1 and ZR1X models, Hidalgo said “that’s part of it.”

“That’s why GM cares so much about having the race car at that circuit because it’s kind of a second home for the vehicle development engineers,” she said.

“My background prior to being in motorsports was on the production side. If you look at the history of Corvette Racing, it’s been more and more collaboration with the production side.

“I’m hoping to try and bring that even closer and have more technology transfer between the production Corvette and the race car.”

Hidalgo said it’s currently unclear how many Z06 GT3.R Evos could tackle next year’s race, although suggested that a more focused rollout would be preferable.

“It depends on what our customers want to do,” she said. “Like anything, ramping it up slowly is better.

“If we have five cars racing there, for sure that would be difficult. Of course we’ll support whoever wants to run there.”

Corvette factory drivers Alexander Sims and Nicky Catsburg, both former overall winners of the event, took part in this year’s race in Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II and Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 machinery, respectively, with blessing by GM.

This was understood to be granted in the event that the Corvette would be eligible to compete next year, in order to have works drivers with recent N24 experience.

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