The Corvette Z06 GT3.R just rocked up to Mount Panorama for the first time and, hand on heart, it made one hell of a first impression. The #2 JMR Corvette didn’t take the win; that went to the GMR Mercedes-AMG after one of the wildest Bathurst 12 Hours in memory. But what the American muscle car did at its first crack at the mountain tells a bigger story.
Here’s what we took away from it.
Chevrolet Has Officially Arrived In Australia
For years, the Corvette has been this slightly mythical thing in Australian car culture. We’ve seen them on telly smashing around Daytona and Le Mans, but having one actually turn laps at Bathurst? That’s a statement. GM’s presence in the 12 Hour isn’t just a one-off cameo either. It’s a proper declaration that the brand sees this part of the world as worth showing up to.
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And in a paddock stacked with Porsches, BMWs, Mercedes and Ferraris, a Corvette sticks out like a loud American at a wine bar. Which is kind of the point.
It Was Genuinely In The Fight
This wasn’t some feel-good backmarker story.
The JMR Corvette was running at the pointy end of the field and was competitive enough that when it eventually hit trouble, the safety car was called to recover it. That’s not a car making up the numbers. That’s a car the rest of the field had to account for.
On a circuit as unforgiving as Mount Panorama, with nine safety cars and a red flag thrown into the mix, just surviving is hard enough. Being in contention is something else entirely.
Corvette Gave The Europeans Something To Think About
Here’s the thing. BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, Ferrari, these brands have been doing the GT3 thing at Bathurst for years. They’ve got the data, the development kilometres, the factory support networks. And then this big pushrod V8 from Kentucky rolls in and runs with the lot of them.
The top ten was a wall of German and Italian machinery, and the Corvette was right there mixing it before its race unravelled.
There’s something deeply satisfying about watching a front-engined American brute go toe-to-toe with mid-engined European precision on one of the most technical circuits on earth.
Expect More Corvettes On The Grid In 2027
A strong debut gets people talking, and more importantly, it gets team owners reaching for their chequebooks. Customer racing is the whole game in GT3, and privateer teams around the Asia-Pacific region will have been watching this weekend closely.
If the car is fast, reliable and not a nightmare to run, you can bet there’ll be more Z06 GT3.Rs on the Bathurst grid next year. The pipeline from “impressive debut” to “multiple entries” is shorter than you’d think in this world.
The Race Itself Was An Absolute Blockbuster
Nine safety cars. A red flag. A splattered Kangaroo. A leader was taken out by a horrifying high-speed collision (thankfully, Ralf Aron is stable in the hospital). And then, with 40 minutes left, the two cars running first and second made contact at Hell Corner and wiped each other out of contention, handing the win to the GMR Mercedes that started 29th on the grid.
You couldn’t script it.
Maxime Martin, Mikael Grenier and IWC Ambassador Maro Engel drove a flawless race to pick up the pieces, giving Mercedes its fourth Bathurst 12 Hour win and Engel a victory he’s been chasing for over a decade.
If this was Corvette’s first taste of Bathurst, they picked one hell of a race to show up to.
