Corvette C5.R Roars to Life at Circuit Paul Ricard

Endless reputation was gained by the C5.R as it shook the international racing scene as a whole. Why? Because it won, a lot.

When nostalgia hits you, it hits hard. There is something about old school race cars that just feel so right. The C5.R is without a doubt an icon of its time and back in 1999, this was the car to be in if you were taking part in endurance racing. Why? This Corvette didn’t just look good, it won, a lot. The 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the C5.R won them all. There isn’t anything much better than a car can do it all and this racing car was one of them.

Many people became familiar with the C5.R through racing games such as Grand Turismo, where the car made an appearance. Chevy initially struggled to get the C5.R in production as GM was hesitant to provide factory support for the racing car. Thank goodness that that project when through, because it gained the Corvette brand a lot of respect and reputation as a serious contender in racing across the globe. Thanks to 19Bozzy92, we get to see this legend spin some laps around Circuit Paul Ricard in France, during a free practice day.

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This particular chassis seen in the video is one of the first to be built, number 002, which means it was still powered by a 6.0L V8, which was based on the LS1 architecture from the road car. From 2000 on, the 6.0 was replaced by a 7.0L, which was used for the remainder of the C5.R’s career. Only 11 of these cars were ever built and 10 of them were factory-supported cars. To say they are rare would be an understatement.

The particular aesthetic race car took the “shark-like” front end and body line of the Corvette and cranked it up to 11. After ditching the pop-up headlights and adding a large center lighting system built right into the front bumper, the body was streamlined for aerodynamics. The silhouette of car is undeniable and it will for sure go down as one of the most iconic racing cars of all time.

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The side-exit exhaust make this engine really sing in a way that can’t really compare to any other car. The downshifts are so heavy and filled with bass, they almost sound like a shotgun blast with every rev-match. The pure acceleration sound is really something else. We highly recommend you give the video a view for the in-car audio and turn up your headphones for a bit. You won’t ever hear another Corvette like it.

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