America’s loudest GT3 statement has officially touched down, and it is not here for sightseeing. JMR Johor Motorsports Racing has taken delivery of a brand-new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R ahead of its first assault on the Bathurst 12 Hour, with the Pratt Miller-built machine air-freighted halfway around the world before rolling into Sydney just weeks out from race week.
This arrival matters. Bathurst is not a circuit you ease into and it is not a place for experimental programs. Every manufacturer that turns a wheel on Mount Panorama knows the Mountain strips away hype and exposes weak points fast. The Corvette landing on Australian soil signals that this program is ready to be judged properly, against concrete walls, elevation changes and 12 relentless hours of traffic.
The Z06 GT3.R arriving now is not a show car or a publicity exercise. It is the same platform JMR has already used to win races and stand on podiums across Asia, including success in GT World Challenge Asia and the Suzuka 1000. Bathurst simply represents the most unforgiving exam yet, and one the Corvette brand has waited a long time to sit.
JMR will field two Corvettes at Mount Panorama, with a full Pro entry supported by a factory-strength driver lineup and a second car competing in Pro-Am. That dual-car approach underlines intent. This is not about turning laps or learning for next year. It is about being competitive from the moment the lights go out.
The timing is deliberate too. With Ford’s Mustang GT3 also joining the Bathurst grid, the 2026 race is shaping up as a genuine trans-Pacific contest, American muscle interpreted through modern GT3 rulebooks and thrown straight into Australia’s toughest endurance environment.
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From the moment the Corvette clears customs, the clock is ticking. Set-up, simulation work, shakedowns and race prep now compress into a narrow window before the Mountain takes over. Bathurst does not care how far a car has travelled to get there or how good it looked on paper.
Come February 14, the Mountain will decide whether this debut becomes a statement or a lesson. Either way, Corvette is finally here, and Bathurst will not let it hide. Let’s fkn go!
