Corvette C6-R Race Car Launches in Detroit for 2005 Race Season

The engine that powers the C6-R comes straight out of the Corvette Z06, or depending on how you look at it, the Z06 benefited

While based on the C6 production car, the C6-R cockpit is clearly focused on the job of winning races. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

from lessons the racing team learned while developing the engine on the track. Either way, both cars get Chevy's new 7-litre small-block V8, featuring dry-sump lubrication, CNC-ported cylinder heads, titanium valves and connecting rods, forged steel crankshafts, and plate-honed cylinder bores. Obviously the components and specifications of the street and competition engines are uniquely set up to work best in their specific environments, but Chevy says "the thought process behind them is identical."

While the new C6-R is a better machine than the outgoing C5-R, at least on paper, Chevy doesn't want to leave winning on the track up to chance. Therefore, the same six drivers who drove the automaker's C5-Rs throughout 2004, which was an "historical undefeated season" by the way, will pilot the C6-R. These include Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis in the #3 Corvette C6-R, and Oliver Gavin , Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen in the #4 Corvette C6-R.

Chevrolet will attempt another undefeated season in 2005, and with no Dodge Viper race program announced to stymie the C6-R, it will probably attain its objective.