The new C7.R breaks cover at Laguna Seca, albeit it with just a little bit of camouflage.
For most of the long, three-day weekend, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca offered a view of vintage motorsports with 100s of classic race cars reliving their former glory at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion.
But for a few brief moments, thousands of fans got a chance to look into the future as Chevrolet’s next-generation Corvette C7.R race car made its public debut.
The rumors began to leak out Friday night that Chevy might have something special in mind – something that was not entirely a surprise considering the Corvette was the year’s honored model during a weekend most aficionados refer to simply as the “Historics.” In fact, Chevrolet had been giving several dozen journalists their first drive in the all-new 2014 Corvette Stingray, or C7, over the course of the previous week.
The C7.R appears to closely follow the basic shape of the new 2014 Corvette Stingray.
So, as one race wrapped up and the torturous Laguna Seca track was set for a short break before the next group of classics took to the grid, a deep rumbling V-8 burst out of the pits, shot out into the first corner and launched itself through two rapid laps.
Despite some zebra-stripe camouflage, there was no mistaking the successor to Chevrolet’s championship C6.R race car.
Manufacturers are notoriously reluctant to tip their hand ahead of race season when it comes to specific details of their latest race cars, but despite the black-and-white camo, some basic details of the new C7.R seemed obvious, including the four large air vents paired on either side of the main radiator grille, larger vents on the front fender, large air ducts in the rocker panels, and a carbon fiber rear splitter and CF wing.
The distinctive shape of the street-legal ‘Vette, along with the basic head and taillamp assemblies were largely carried over into the C7.R – the name shorthand for Corvette seventh-generation racing.
Chevrolet officials tried to stay equally tight-lipped about plans for the new race car beyond noting that it took its first official laps with factory driver Tommy Milner at the wheel.
But considering all the good press the production Stingray is getting from the media, it was no surprise that at least a few tidbits did manage to leak out, most notably the goal of the Detroit maker to begin championing the new race car next January during the GT season opener at Daytona Beach.