GM Defines GT Programmes Direction
There are all sorts of shenanigans going on at GM at present – but the most interesting part for us is the strategy for GT3.
Leaving aside the stop-start progress of the many and various Camaro projects, the current interest surrounds the future for both Cadillac’s GT efforts and the forthcoming Corvette C7 GT3.
As revealed by Gary Horrocks several weeks ago Cadillac are looking seriously at a GT3 programme, specifically (and at first we believe exclusively) aimed at the Pirelli World Challenge to replace the current CTS-V.R racers.
In the meantime discussions at the start of the year saw the stalled programme at Callaway Competition to develop, build and market a Corvette C7 GT3 were given the green light once again after the German-based operation were initially instructed to cease work whilst GM made a corporate decision on future programmes.
The Corvette is now due to hit the track before the end of this year with customer cars looking set to be available for 2015. Those customers though will be exclusively in Europe as Callaway have been told quite specifically that the new car is not to be marketed in North America.
You can read this in several ways: It may be to stop a high level of in-house competition with the new Cadillac, or it could be about a corporate wish to differentiate the models used in various series.
Either way it looks unlikely at present that either TUSCC or PWC will see either a GTD or GT3 version of the C7.
Cobra Heading For GT?
In other Chevrolet-related news there has been much web chatter over the past week or so about a ‘potential’ new GTE (grey car in pics below)/ GT3 (red car) programme from…….. AC!
The now Chevy engined Cobra (that noise is the sound of purists grinding their teeth) are produced by a company in Germany nowadays and a mailshot after the Spa 24 Hours revealed part of the outline plan to take the Cobra back to contemporary motorsport.
The release talks about a new department of the company, in fact the project (whilst happening with the approval of the company) is actually being progressed by a separate entity, AC Cobra Motorsport, as an external ‘tuner’.
Suffice to say that there is a long way to go before the 5.5 litre V8 powered, and now gullwing doored Cobra has any chance of making the leap from the CAD screen to reality
The race car designs have been undertaken by ex Rollcentre collaborator Nick Couche with chassis work set to be undertaken by VA Engineering and engines from APP race engines in the Netherlands if either car comes to fruition.
Project chief Leo Kusters told DSC that the current plan is to start build later this year ahead of testing on the Nordschliefe, a VLN entry (for the GT3 car) in 2015 before widening the programme later in 2015.
That’s a hugely ambitious, and likely over-ambitious programme for an outfit that will surely need to find considerable resources to allow major progress. We wish them well !
