During the summer of 2005, a decision was made to transform selected Z06 road cars into a new breed of racer to compete in the world's top GT3 championships.

The first series to introduce this new GT3 class was the SRO and FIA's GT3 Championship. The first export car (vin #83 Z06) was sent to Team Carsport Europe owned by Toine Hezemans for evaluation. Based on their racetrack test results, Team Carsport saw instant potential in the car. Hezemans contracted Callaway Competition (in conjunction with Corvette Europe) to convert the street Z06 into a GT3 Z06R. Director Ernst Woehr jumped at the chance to work on the new Z06.

 

The first car was stunning. After a great inaugural season in the form of 2 teams, a new group of teams took interest in the car for 2007. The first customer teams to take ownership of the new car included Peka Racing of Belgium, Rene Snel, Chris Kissling in Germany, and the Czech based MM Racing.

With new teams, names, sponsors, and drivers, the Z06R looked even stronger for the 2007 season. After several strong finishes, the car notched up its first win at the first round of the Belcar Series at Zolder.

Also claiming their first win was Martini-Callaway at Monza with a thrilling pass on the outside of the RPM Viper. The Z06R later went on to claim wins in Brno (back to back) , as well as in Dubai. The win in Dubai propelled Callaway to claim the first title win for the car (Team champions).

New for the 2008 season, the Z06R will be seen with even more teams and new mechanical updates including a new six speed sequential gearbox.