A couple of months after the 2020 Chevrolet C8.R Corvette was first unveiled to the world, the first race-ready example has hit the track with an eye-catching yellow livery.
This C8.R is the number 3 car and will be driven by Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia. The yellow livery will be familiar to anyone who’s seen the previous-generation C7.R racing, while offsetting the yellow paint are a handful of red, silver, and black accents.
The car will make its racing debut alongside the number 4 car, which was shown in October, at the Rolex 24 at Daytona later this month. The duo will contest the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship’s GT Le Mans category and race against the likes of the Ferrari 488 GTE and Porsche 911 RSR.
Exciting Times: New Corvette C8.R’s 5.5L Flat-Plane Crank V8 Coming To A Production Model Too
Whereas the road-legal C8 Corvette Stingray features a 6.2-liter naturally-aspirated V8 engine, the C8.R features a 5.5-liter V8 with dual overhead cams and a flat-plane crank that’s good for 500 hp and 480 lb-ft (650 Nm) of torque.
What’s perhaps the most exciting aspect of the entire C8.R racing program is that, under FIA rules, Chevrolet will need to produce at least 300 examples of a version of the new 5.5-liter V8 for a street car. At this early stage, it is unknown if the road-going version of this engine will remain naturally aspirated or if it will be supplemented by a supercharger or a pair of turbochargers. Either way, it has the potential to be an absolute fire-cracker.
Corvettes and sunsets. (Photo: Richard Prince) pic.twitter.com/iZcZeaO0sD
— Jordan Taylor (@jordan10taylor) December 30, 2019
Here it is. Our beautiful #3 Corvette C8.R for 2020. 😍😍 (Photo: Richard Prince) pic.twitter.com/PkfbFQZDgv
— Jordan Taylor (@jordan10taylor) December 26, 2019