Corvette Racing plans to roll out an Evolution package for the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the coming year, with a focus on boosting reliability and ease of maintenance, according to program manager Andrea Hidalgo.
The Pratt Miller-built machine will embark on its fourth GT3 campaign in 2027 with updates that Hidalgo describes as minor on the exterior, but featuring a series of refinements beneath the 5.5-liter V8’s skin.
“As we developed the car, there are changes that you can’t implement unless you re-homologate,” Hidalgo told Sportscar365 in an exclusive interview. “There are changes that the FIA and IMSA say, ‘Sorry but you have to go back to the wind tunnel.’”
“It’s a lot of small changes that impact things like that which causes us to go back there.”
“For example, debris mitigation: sometimes we have a lot of tire debris entering the radiator. But in order to put some kind of screen to mitigate that debris, we have to go back to the wind tunnel.”
“So it’s a collection of these type of reliability updates.”
When pressed on whether the car will show any visual differences, Hidalgo said: “It will look very similar but it will be a lot of small, reliability updates.”
“There’s [also] a little bit of drivability [enhancements]. We’re looking at a gear ratio update as well, to help the one gear stack work at all the tracks.”
“But the main focus is serviceability.”
Under FIA GT3 regulations, manufacturers are allowed to produce an Evo roughly every three or four years of each car’s homologation, with General Motors choosing to delay an extra season compared with Ferrari and Ford, which launched Evos for their GT3 machinery in each car’s third year.
Corvette’s plan mirrors the approach taken by the BMW M4 GT3 and Porsche 911 GT3 R, which advanced to Evo updates ahead of their respective fourth years of global competition.
Hidalgo, who became Corvette Racing’s new program manager in January after previously serving as a senior race engine calibration, development and track support engineer for the Z06 GT3.R, said they have been able to draw substantial lessons from the car’s initial version.
“As an engineer in motorsports, you always want to make things better,” she said. “So when you can’t because you’re not allowed to because of the regulations, it’s tough.
“It’s going to be nice to finally bundle all of these things that we want to improve and get them out there.”
The updated machine will debut in January’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, with all entrants in the series required to adopt the Evo, which can be purchased as an upgrade kit or as a complete new car.
Hidalgo said early indications point to a mix for its customer teams—“a bit of both.”
“I think many of the teams are looking at the kits rather than the new car but we will have new cars as well,” she added.
At present, it remains unclear if the Evo would be eligible for February’s Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour, an event that SRO Motorsports Group has historically fielded with previous homologations due to the lack of Balance of Performance testing before the Intercontinental GT Challenge season opener in February.
However, IMSA and SRO recently announced a joint BoP test that will take place at Daytona International Speedway in December, which could open up a new opportunity for current-generation cars to compete at Mount Panorama.
