As part of its promotion of the Redline special edition, Corvette Racing will take a single entry to the FIA World Endurance Championship’s final round of 2018, the 6 Hours of Shanghai. The team is celebrating 20 years of racing this season, and their first race in history in Asia will mark the close of their anniversary year.
Within those 20 years, the American team has entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 19 consecutive races. This is the first time in its racing history that Corvette will enter in another WEC round that is not Le Mans, even though it did take the grid for the joint WEC/American Le Mans Series round at Sebring in 2012.
At 86th Le Mans race last weekend, Corvette took their two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship cars to the Circuit de la Sarthe, trying to secure their ninth class victory at the prestigious 24-hour race. By the end of the 24 hours, their best placed car was the #63 in the hands of Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Mike Rockenfeller.
“Corvette is a global icon that we are excited to be bringing to race in China – the second largest market for Chevrolet.” General Director of Chevrolet for SAIC-GM, Scott Lawsom, told Motorsport.com.
Mark Kent, the Director of Motorsports Competition for the manufacturer added: “Corvette Racing has proven itself as a world-class racing program. Competing in the Shanghai race provides us an additional opportunity to test ourselves against the top manufacturers and teams in the FIA WEC.”
The manufacturer chose the Shanghai race for its one-off WEC entry to showcase the competitiveness and performance of the Corvette C7.R ahead of the Redline special edition launch in China. The usually bright yellow Corvette will wear a special Redline livery to mark the occasion.
The driver line-up for this car is yet to be announced.
