Corvette “Fully Expecting” New Races with GT3 Possibility

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

Chevrolet could be represented in GT races around the world by customer or factory-supported teams should the manufacturer formally commit to building a GT3 car according to GM’s sports car racing program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser

The American manufacturer, which is expected to enter the GT3 ranks in 2024, has acknowledged the positive effects of offering a customer car, per GT3 regulations, which would broaden Corvette’s reach beyond its current factory involvement in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Iconic GT3 enduros such as the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa, Nürburgring 24 and Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour could be on the cards should GM officially green-light its GT3 program.

“Once you get into the customer realm, at some point the customer is free to choose where they want to race the car,” Klauser said.

“I think from our planning purposes, we’ve been looking at all of those as we explore the idea of GT3.

“We’re fully expecting that if there’s eligibility, at some point a car might end up there.

“We’re already spec’ing out who’s got what tire and all of that to try and understand what our development plan would look like from that perspective.”

Klauser said GM would expect measured growth in a customer support program such as GT3 and would not expect to have a full grid of Corvettes in Year 1.

“As with anything, when you get into a new space you usually want to take it step by step,” she said.

“I don’t think anyone should be expecting that if we go down GT3 the first year there’s going to be 100 cars running around.

“But it would be an opportunity to slowly grow and have some impact.

“It would be great to see a Corvette at races we’ve never raced at before because GTE didn’t race there.

“We do a lot of testing and tuning at the Nürburgring with our production car. How cool would it be to go to the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with the race car? That would be great.

“These are all things we are thinking about as we’re planning the future.”

When asked if Corvette could continue its factory program in the WeatherTech Championship alongside customer entries, Klauser indicated they don’t wish to race against their customers.

This is understood to be achieved by IMSA’s creation of the GTD Pro class, which could allow Corvette customer teams to race in the Pro-Am-enforced GTD category.

“That’s definitely a path we could take,” she said. “The support side is the biggest piece.

“We’re working through and understanding how much and how do you set it up. Of course every customer wants a different level of support too

“I feel like for sure if we go down the GT3 path with the customers as that comes with it, the support side is super important to us and we want to get it right.

“We want to make sure that anyone who is running a Corvette has the opportunity to be successful with it.”

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