Corvette C5R GT class Sebring

Does anyone know the story on this car. I dug up and scanned these photos of the C5R notchback taken at the Sebring 12 Hours. The team said it was a 1999 C5R with new bodywork and different engine among other things so that it could run in the GT class. Maybe to expensive for private teams, and why bother??


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This was a factory C5R.

 

Sorry, let me restate. It was a 99 factory C5R chassis modified and run in GT class by a private team at Sebring in 2002. I am not trying to prove anything, just wonder what happened to it and how it happened. GM was thinking about running both classes from what they told me. GTS with factory and GT with private teams and factory assistance.

 

The GTS factory team told me they already had built new cars and the 1999 cars were just sitting around at that point. I just wish I had the chassis number. It ran at Sebring and they were right across from the factory teams tent so I have no reason to doubt their stories. I looked it over and the cage and alot of the details looked C5R wich I saw every year starting in 1999 at Daytona and have hundreds of detailed photos of them. My guess is it has been converted back to original now or this car was actually built up from C5R parts during 2001 and 2002 with factory assistance.

 

I found out from somebody who owns and knows C5R's, this GT class car was from a batch of 1999 customer cars modified up to C5R GT class standard with GM assistance. They were supposed to make 20 of them of wich atleast 2 were brought up to C5R GT standard.

 

Sorry, I used to go to Sebring and Daytona every year and mixed up the dates. Here is the chassis history and it was a factory assisted effort as both teams told me. I don't know what the other cars chassis numbers are and don't know if this chassis number is accurate. Maybe this is the only one that raced of the supposed 20 cars.

Chassis LMGT 2000-17 - Photo Gallery - Racing Sports Cars

The owner who told me the history and owns several ALMS cars and also the Lemans 2003 C5R works car. He said he sold C5R chassis 1 and lives in the Chicago area. This photo was Sunday at the Geneva Concours near Chicago.