Virtual Version of Le Mans & ALMS-Winning C6.R Available in New Year

BEDFORD, MA. December 5, 2008: The Chevrolet Corvette is the definitive American sports car, and the C6.R is the ultimate production-based racing version of this iconic automobile. Winner of the GT1 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2006 (the most recent of Corvette’s four Le Mans triumphs), and the American Le Mans Series GT1 champion in each of the four years it has competed (running Corvette’s ALMS championship total to eight), the current version of the C6.R is scheduled to retire from the race track following a final shot at Le Mans in June, 2009. The Pratt & Miller team – with GM Racing the co-developer of the C6.R – will then field a new version C6.R in the GT2 class, where rules require use of more of the production car’s architecture and Corvette will take on Porsche and Ferrari.

“As the current C6.R prepares to leave the field of battle in the physical world, we’re very pleased to make a home for it in the virtual one at iRacing.com,” said Scott McKee, the company’s vice president of marketing. “Pratt & Miller will be taking on new challenges in the more restricted GT2 class, so the current C6.R will stand as a performance high-water mark. Our current members, and the many Corvette enthusiasts who have followed the C6.R’s competition history, will be able to experience this car’s remarkable capabilities long after the flag falls at Le Mans next summer.”

Acknowledging that the C6.R’s addition to the iRacing fleet wasn’t exactly a well kept-secret – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. dropped a hint during an interview on SPEEDtv’s Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain in early November, and Corvette Quarterly broke the full story a week later – McKee pointed out that eight of the 11 tracks on the current American Le Mans Series schedule are either already in the iRacing track inventory or in development, so iRacers will be able to experience the car’s performance on most of the tracks where it competed in the physical world.