Presenting the NEW Grand AM Camaro GT.R racecar

[SMPdude]

Here are a few spy shots of the all new Number 97 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R

They guys got the engine back in today and the car is coming alone nicely.


When the 2010 season of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No.16 opens on January 30th, with the 48th running of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, a brand new Stevenson Motorsports / BryanMark Financial / VinSolutions 2010 Camaro GT.R will be on the grid and looking to kick off a great new season of racing in the GT Class. The initial shakedown of the Pratt & Miller built Camaro will come with the team’s participation in the December 8 and 9 Rolex Series test days at Daytona International Speedway. Having enjoyed a great run with the Pontiac GXP.R the last two seasons, the team decided to retain all they have learned with that chassis by swapping the Pontiac body for the new 2010 Camaro body. As Pratt & Miller Engineering built the original chassis they were the logical choice to go with to build and mount the new Camaro body.


Team owner John Stevenson:"Besides the Camaro being the hottest new musclecar in the marketplace, we have two years of experience with the chassis in the Pontiac and we can transfer the same drive train and chassis - with updates - to the new Camaro body and not lose any of our hard-earned data. All of our spare parts apply to the Camaro as well. With Pratt & Miller we are also going with probably the world's premiere chassis builder." Pratt & Miller have enjoyed a long record of success in motorsports. In the 20 years they have been in business, they have evolved from a small business designing and building race cars into an international engineering powerhouse. Today Pratt & Miller is recognized around the world as a formidable force in both motorsports and high-level engineering. They have built cars that have won virtually every prestigious production-based race event from the 24 Hours of Le Mans to the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Sebring 12-hours, and many others.


Stevenson Team Manager Mike Johnson will again head up the effort to put drivers Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell on the podium often in 2010. After two successful seasons of campaigning the Pontiac GXP.R in the Rolex Series, he will look to squeeze every last competitive drop of speed out of the new car in pursuit of the 2010 Team and Driver’s Championships.


Johnson too feels the choice of Pratt & Miller gives them the head start needed to win in the very competitive GT class. Johnson:"Two years with the GXP.R gave us more wins than any other team in GT, but we fell short both years in the Team and Driver’s Championship. For 2010 we are taking a big gamble by having to learn a new car, but most of the running gear will be the same, so we will be doing a lot of aero work at this first test. We have been so busy trying to build new cars that we really have no idea what to expect in this years championship, but the guys are working through the holidays to give us the best advantage possible. We are definitely making things difficult on ourselves, but that’s when we seem to do best." The team’s objectives for the test days are simply to learn all they can about the new chassis/body combination. Team owner Johnny Stevenson:"We intend to shake down the re- configured car as a Camaro and try to learn about and define the aero-changes between the Pontiac and the Camaro bodies."


Going into the 2010 season with a new body will undoubtedly present some challenges. Stevenson has hedged his bets by bringing back the core team that put his team among the leaders in the Rolex series the last two seasons. «Obviously, Andrew and Robin are great drivers that represent us well," said Stevenson,"and Mike is the best at race strategy and making the calls from the box. We are glad to have them all back this year." Also returning this season will be sponsor BryanMark Financial and a new major sponsor in VinSolutions (www.vinsolutions.com) an industry-leading developer of Internet-based desking, automotive CRM and Internet lead management (ILM) software. VinSolutions helps automotive dealers attract, sell, satisfy and retain their customers more profitably.

You can read more about this at www.stevensonmotorsports.com

[SMPdude]

[Scrapppy666]

Awesome!!

Apparently the truck driver ripped one of the mirrors off when backing off of the delivery truck

[jcamaro]

Nice its cool that they are keeping most of the features of the front fascia and just covering up for better aerodynamics. The stock spoiler and a high wing though? Looks like they went to the school of redundancy school.

[Camaro_Corvette]

[ssump29]

I love the pontiac spoiler. hahaha

[CamaroSkooter]

I was going to ask, why does the spoiler say Pontiac?

[jcamere94z28]

I am guessing it was a wing that was in a Pontiac car before.. and they still have to paint it to say .. Chevrolet or Camaro or whatever.


The car is going to be sick...

[SMPdude]

Originally Posted by jcamere94z28

I am guessing it was a wing that was in a Pontiac car before.. and they still have to paint it to say .. Chevrolet or Camaro or whatever.


The car is going to be sick...

Actually both of the cars were Pontiac's last season. One being out 57 GXP.R The cars have been reskined with the 2010 Camaro body.

The wings, well there are both there for a purpose. Pratt&Miller has done extensive R&D on these bodies and I assure you there is a reason for every piece that is on there.....

The mirror.....lol. Funny.... That is the Mirror off or the car we sent to Pratt to make the Carbon Molds from. GM was not able to get us a new RH mirror before we picked up the car. You would be suprised how hard it is to get some of the parts for these things.

[geminidreams]

Ya the Pontiac name just doesn't work for me.

[AKcamaro]

Looks awesome. I kinda like the headlight covers.

[96CAMaro]

Eww

[2010 SSRS]

Looks great

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

GXP resskinned? HMMM, must be a cost thing.