trivette

With the LeMans 24 hour race this weekend is there any speculation as to when the C7 will be racing in the ALMS series? If publicly introduced in January of '13 as expected will there be race versions already being constructed or will that have to wait for another year? Or perhaps a mid-year change of race cars? Also wondering if the current yellow will still be the race car colors or if that will be changed? Probably no definite answers to any of this yet, but something to think about. Also, whatever powerplant configuration ultimately resides in the C7 will at least partially affect what the race version will contain if the series continues to be based on production vehicles. Interesting times...

BlueOx

All we can do is wait...and speculate!

BuckyThreadkiller

My guess is that next season they will be racing a yellow C7.R just like they raced as yellow C5 and C6. They only seem to change the paint for special events - the Ron Fellows edition, Jake stripes for Monterey ... etc. I'm a little surprised they don't have a 60th anniversary livery on them like the Action Express Daytona Prototypes.

If the street car debuts in Detroit in January and the factory shuts down for C6 builds in February, then it only makes sense to have the C7.R out there for Sebring in March. They won;t have anything to hide at that point. I'm sure Pratt & Miller have a body in testing on the computer and will probably get serious with it after LeMans this weekend.

The power plant will probably be just as it always has been - a small block derived motor built to the max size ACO and ALMS will allow.

BlueOx

The question is, can they race a C7R if the C7 isn't being sold on the showroom floor? I doubt it. If the C7 isn't being produced/sold until fall of 2013, they probably wouldn't be able to race a C7R til the 2014 season.

And sure...it will be yellow!

Jinx

Last time around, the C6-R first raced in March 2005. The C6 went on sale in Q3 2004.

http://www.corvetteracing.com/histor.../racing1.shtml

IIRC the C6 Z06 debuted in January 2005 at the Detroit show. I bet we get a repeat -- a higher-performance model in January 2014 linked to the new road racer in the 2014 season. It just seems like good marketing.

.Jinx

BuckyThreadkiller

You're right. I completely forgot they have to have a certain number of cars on the road for homologation.