2004 Chevrolet Corvette C5.R Comes To Project Motor Racing

October 31, 2025

When A Giant Left The Stage

When Corvette Racing rolled its “Millennium Yellow” C5.Rs to the grid in 2004, the brief was simple: win everything left to win, then hand a clean baton to the incoming C6.R.

Built by Pratt & Miller for GM, the C5.R was already a serial winner by the time Sebring rolled along. In its glory years (1999–2004), it had already stacked 31 ALMS victories, class wins at Le Mans (2001, 2002), and multiple team/manufacturer titles. Eleven factory C5.R chassis were built in total, and while the factory effort would dry up post-2004, the C5.R would spend another good few years still competing at the highest levels in privateer hands.

But 2004 was to be the factory-backed C5.R’s swan song and victory lap all in one. It was also the final evolution of a car that literally made the competition tremble.

Maturity Found

The team made two pivotal hardware calls for the 2004 season, both of which paid off big-time: a switch to Michelin tyres, and the adoption of an Xtrac 6-speed sequential gearbox. The tyre move was announced ahead of the season and immediately paid off at Sebring while the Xtrac brought faster, cleaner shifts and better durability across 12- and 24-hour runs.

Under the hood, the C5.R retained its Katech-built, 7L small-block V8, an evolution of the program that began with the 6L in 1999. Sitting upfront, this was a mega OHV, dry-sump brute that delivered well north of 600 hp in period trim.

Structurally the car was a steel-monocoque Corvette silhouette with carbon-composite bodywork, with aero that was continually refined over the entire evolution.

Winning Comes Easy

The C5.R’s 2004 campaign opened with a GTS class victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring for Ron Fellows / Johnny O’Connell / Max Papis in the No. 3 car. It was Corvette’s third straight Sebring class win.

But that was just the start because, three months later, Olivier Beretta / Oliver Gavin / Jan Magnussen in the No. 64 C5.R won the GTS class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the sister No. 63 taking second place. That sealed the C5.R’s third Le Mans class victory (after 2001 and 2002) and gave the outgoing car the perfect La Sarthe farewell.

Back in the American Le Mans Series, meanwhile, the C5.R dominated the GTS class: Corvette Racing won the teams’ title, remaining undefeated throughout the season, with Fellows / O’Connell clinched the drivers’ championship, their third straight. Along the way, the ’Vettes scored GTS wins at all the big events–Lime Rock, Mosport, Road America, Petit Le Mans (Road Atlanta) and Laguna Seca.

The recipe for such overwhelming success? Pragmatism. The front-engine layout gave the team enormous setup range for long stints and mixed weather, while the low-revving V8 was easy on fuel, throttle, and virtually bulletproof by 2004.

Add the Michelin/Xtrac combo, the chassis’ carbon-composite aero and relentless year-on-year refinement, and what you had was a champion in the very prime of its career.

In IMSA’s own retrospective, the C5.R’s strike rate at the end of the 2004 season is called out as exceptional: 35 wins from 54 starts.

“Show up and win” as a calling card was never more apt.

The Handoff

Chevrolet retired the works C5.R at the end of 2004, with the C6.R taking over in 2005 to keep the silverware flowing. But by then the C5.R had done its job: three Le Mans class wins, four consecutive ALMS team/manufacturer titles (2001–2004), and a final-season double of Sebring, Le Mans and ALMS.

You can call that a mic drop if you want.

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