Detroit, Michigan, Aug. 15 — International GT racing got a shot in the arm today with an announcement from General Motors Racing that the company is ready to sell customer versions of its very successful Chevrolet Corvette C5-R.

GM has struck a deal with chassis builder Pratt and Miller and Katech Engines to sell as many as five vehicles in 2001. GM acknowledged they had been contacted by some private teams, but no cars have yet been sold.

The factory Corvette program has been very successful this year, with an overall win in the Rolex 24 at Daytona plus a class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as in the American Le Mans Series’ events at Texas Motor Speedway, Sears Point Raceway and Portland International Raceway. The team currently leads the ALMS GTS-class manufacturers championship, and drivers Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell head the GTS drivers title chase.

Corvette brand manager Rick Baldick says providing customer cars is the next step in the program.

"It's a natural next step for the Corvette Racing program," he said. "Corvette is an elite global brand, and our successes on the track have bought a heightened awareness of Corvette's phenomenal performance capabilities worldwide.

"The Corvette C5-R's success has generated substantial customer interest in purchasing these racecars," Baldick said. "Corvette has long been the leader in the U.S. High Sports market segment. Being able to offer customer racecars adds to the brand's cachet on a global basis. It will help us communicate our world-class engineering message to sports-car enthusiasts everywhere."

Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan says that the program’s substantial groundwork has begun to pay off.

"In my view, the C5-R has begun to hit full stride in what is still a young racing career," he said. "We began in 1999 with a limited program, then found our mark and started winning races against the fastest GTS sports cars in the world in 2000 and 2001. Quite frankly, the Corvette C5-R program has achieved success faster than most expected."

The GTS class has been the least-subscribed in the major road racing series, although providing some excellent racing action between the factory Corvettes and the new Saleen S7R. The prospect of five new Corvettes should liven things up significantly.