Corvette Z06 GT3.R "feels like a race car again" – Taylor

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emailBy Richard S. James | January 27, 2023 12:46 PM ET

Jordan Taylor is going into his second year of driving something of a ‘Frankenvette’, a car designed for one class and tire and adapted to a different class. It hasn’t always worked as well as the team, or he and teammate Antonio Garcia, would like. The new Corvette Z06 GT3.R, however, is designed from the ground up to work on a variety of tires used by GT3-based series around the world, and Taylor, who has done several tests with the latest GT3 car, says the difference is huge.

“The [C8.R GTD] was designed for GTLM around the [bespoke] tire and now the new car is designed around customer tires,” Taylor explained. “So right from the first three laps, you could already feel that the car suits the tire better. It works way better. It feels like a race car again.

“I think it’s a huge step forward from a GTD perspective for us from from the Corvette side. Going back and forth… at one of our tests this year, we had both cars at the same track at the same time, and going from car to car was night-and-day difference of how the cars handled and work the tire. The guys definitely did a good job from the design aspect to nail that and, really, I think it’s going to be a really great product for Corvette. Whichever customers end up with them in the future, I think they’ll be very happy with it.”

The FIA-homologated Corvette Z06 GT3.R will be eligible for many championships around the world, including GTD and GTD PRO in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and GT World Challenge America. The first customer deliveries are expected later this year.