Development of the C6.R was an evolution of the C5-R rather than an entirely new design. Unlike the C5-R, which debuted several years after the C5 generation road car, the C6.R and the C6 generation Corvette were developed concurrently. This allowed design elements to cross between race and road car, enabling use of more exotic features while still meeting homologation requirements. Racing elements were also adapted to the Corvette Z06, which the C6.R shares its exterior styling with.
Much of the road-legal C6 framework was retained, with increased use of weight-saving aluminium. The road car's switch from pop-up headlamps to permanent integrated designs improved airflow over the front of the race car. The large grille opening eliminated multiple separate openings on the C5-R, serving both brake cooling ducts and downforce generation.
The C6.R retained the Katech-built 7.0-litre V8 from the C5-R, now more closely based on the LS7 from the Z06. This engine, designated LS7.R, won the Global Motorsports Engine of the Year award in 2006. Like the C5-R, the C6.R lacked a rear window; instead a small video camera was integrated into the rear bumper with a cockpit monitor providing rearward visibility. An air conditioning system was added, requiring a large suction fan at the rear and intakes in the side mirrors.
In 2007 the C6.R debuted a variable displacement system that disabled half the cylinders during caution periods to save fuel. It failed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year and was removed. By the end of 2007, six C6.Rs had been built by Pratt Miller. A seventh car was built on a C5-R chassis with C6.R bodywork for show purposes only, making its public debut alongside the C6 Corvette at the 2005 North American International Auto Show.
Corvette Racing began 2005 with two new C6.Rs, entering the full American Le Mans Series season from the start. The Prodrive Aston Martin DBR9 won the opening round at Sebring - Corvette Racing's first loss since late 2003 - but Prodrive then returned to Europe, allowing Corvette Racing to win every subsequent race. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans the team outlasted the quicker DBR9s for a 1-2 in GT1, finishing fifth and sixth overall.
In 2006 Prodrive concentrated on the American Le Mans Series. Corvette Racing avenged their Sebring defeat and ultimately won the championship by three points at the final race. At Le Mans, the Aston Martins again faltered on reliability, leaving a C6.R to finish fourth overall and win GT1. The Aston Martin-Corvette battle set a distance record for homologated GT cars that remained unbroken as of 2022.
In 2007, with Prodrive back in Europe, Corvette Racing was the only GT1 entrant in nine of twelve ALMS rounds, winning their third consecutive championship. At Le Mans, Aston Martin finally maintained its pace and won GT1, leaving Corvette Racing second. For the Canadian round at Mosport, a third C6.R was entered in white and red colours honouring Ron Fellows, matching a limited-edition road car, with Fellows driving his home race.
Corvette Racing ran the GT1 C6.Rs in the early 2009 ALMS rounds before retiring them after the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans to focus on the new GT2 programme. Two GT1 cars were entered in the LMGTE Pro category at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans; one finished 23rd overall, the other was not classified.
On 9 September 2008, Corvette Racing announced it would contest GT1 only through the first half of the 2009 ALMS season, then switch to a newly designed GT2 car after Le Mans. The GT2 car uses a 6.0-litre V8 producing 470 BHP, derived from the 7.0-litre LS7.R. For 2010 the engine was further reduced to 5.5 litres under new ALMS GT class regulations, also bringing a weight penalty that advantaged the competing Ferrari F430 GTC - whose 4.0-litre V8 produced a similar 500 BHP. The GT2 car took styling cues from the then-new Corvette ZR1 road car and featured a new aluminium frame, smaller splitter and rear wing, and steel brakes.
The GT2 car debuted mid-2009 at Mid-Ohio; in its third race, the No. 3 car of Jan Magnussen and Johnny O'Connell won at Mosport after a battle with Risi Competizione.
At the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, both factory GT2 Corvettes retired through engine problems and a collision involving Anthony Davidson's Peugeot. The sole Corvette finisher - the GT1 C6.R of Luc Alphand Aventures - took second in class. The Corvette was clocked at 182 mph down the Mulsanne Straight, the fastest GT car that year across GT1 and GT2.
For 2011 the GT2 car gained a paddle-shift transmission and won the GTE-Pro class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2012 the car grew 50 mm wider at the wheelwells under new regulations, improving stability and mechanical grip. Corvette Racing scored second at the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring, won at Long Beach, and took the 2012 GT Team's and Driver's championship with four class wins. At the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans the No. 74 lost a wheel overnight due to a missing nut, causing gearbox damage and an unclassified result; the No. 73 suffered tyre issues and a broken steering rack, finishing fifth in class. In 2013 Corvette Racing won the ALMS GT championships again with five victories including the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Like the C5-R, factory-used C6.Rs were sold to private teams after replacement by newer chassis. Corvette Motorsport, based in Belgium, coordinated European privateer promotion.
GLPK-Carsport was formed by Belgian entrepreneur Paul Kumpen and Toine Hezemans following a merger of PK Carsport and Carsport Holland. After running the C5-R in 2005, Hezemans purchased one of the two C6.Rs used by Corvette Racing that season for the FIA GT Championship. Drivers Bert Longin, Anthony Kumpen, and Mike Hezemans scored a victory at Paul Ricard and a third place at the Spa 24 Hours.
In 2007, GLPK-Carsport dissolved and the Carsport Holland side merged with Jean-Denis Deletraz's Phoenix Racing to form a new team. With Marcel Fassler and Fabrizio Gollin joining, they won the Spa 24 Hours, defeating the Vitaphone Racing Maserati, and won again at Nogaro, finishing fourth in the teams' and third in the drivers' championship. In 2008 the team scored several pole positions and two wins; Fassler was subsequently hired by the factory Corvette Racing squad.
After the 2007 split, PK Racing reverted to a C5-R before switching to a Saleen in 2008. In 2009 they returned to the C6.R, merging with Phoenix Racing following Hezemans' withdrawal, and won twice including the 24 Hours of Spa.
Belgian PSI Experience debuted in the Le Mans Series and FFSA GT Championship in 2006, winning at Ledenon in FFSA and finishing third at the 1000 km of Spa in LMS. From 2008 the owner lent both cars to Dany Lallemand and Kendy Janclaes of DKR Engineering. In 2009 the operation was rebranded as Sangari Team Brazil - the first Brazilian team in FIA GT - with drivers Enrique Bernoldi and Roberto Streit. In 2011 the team ran in the FIA GT1 World Championship with drivers Michael Rossi, Jaime Camara, Dimitri Enjalbert, and for one round, Matteo Bobbi.
Luc Alphand Aventures purchased a C6.R for the Le Mans Series and received factory support from Pratt Miller. Corvette Racing drivers Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta assisted the European campaign. The team entered the 2007 Spa 24 Hours in FIA GT, finishing sixth. For 2008 the team beat Team Modena's Aston Martin to the Le Mans Series Team and Drivers Championship.
Selleslagh Racing Team became the first customer Corvette team, purchasing a C5-R in late 2001, and won Belcar Championships in 2005 and 2006. In 2008 drivers Christophe Bouchut and Xavier Maassen scored their first FIA GT Championship win at Monza. For 2010 the team competed in the FIA GT1 World Championship under the Mad-Croc Racing banner. In 2011 the car ran as Exim Bank Team China with Mike Hezemans and Nick Catsburg, taking a pole and third place at Silverstone.
French team Larbre Competition was the first privateer to run the GT2 C6.R. After a DNF at the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring they won the GTE-Am class at the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans and claimed the GTE-Am championship of the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. In 2012, running two GT2 Corvettes in the FIA World Endurance Championship GTE-Am class, Larbre repeated at Le Mans - car No. 50 driven by ex-Peugeot Sport driver Pedro Lamy taking the lead with under an hour remaining from the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 997 GT3-RSR. The car finished 20th overall.
Pratt Miller produced the C6RS, a street conversion of the Corvette Z06 sharing components with the race car, powered by a Katech Performance 8.2-litre engine rated at 600 HP and 600 lb-ft of torque, with a top speed of 202 mph. Production began in April 2008 with a planned run of 25 units; only seven were ever built. An E85 ethanol version was created with Jay Leno and shown at the 2007 SEMA show. A convertible version was unveiled at the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring.
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