General Motors has not had a lot of success in prototype racing, historically speaking, which is why GM has stayed away from the competitive series for about 20 years. But last year GM announced that it would be returning to prototype racing with the Corvette Daytona Prototype. The General went to great lengths to make sure that this was one prototype racer that would be unmistakable to fans and racers alike
[1]And they did a bang up job. The Performance Driving Network [2] took this up-close-and-personal video of the new Corvette Daytona Prototype at the opening ceremony of at the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, Texas.
The Corvette prototype cars have a spotty history, but this year the Corvette Daytona Prototype driven by Max Angelelli and and Ricky Taylor racked up as many first place finishes as all the previous efforts combined. This included a win at the Rolex Daytona Prototype finals at Lime Rock, which helped settled the Corvette DP team into 5th place for a season. Not bad for a brand new competitor.
As the PDN video shows, while the Corvette DP looks kinda like a ‘Vette on the outside, inside it is all race car. You’ll especially want to stick around for the close-and-loud drivebys. This is one nasty-sounding Corvette, even at pit speeds. But with a next-gen Corvette right around the corner, will the Daytona Prototype program stick around? We hope so, albeit in a C7 skin.