Corvette unveils fastest, most powerful model ever in Dubai

"Corvette is about passion, excitement and emotion - it inspires everyone at GM, from design to engineering, manufacturing to marketing. It encourages us to go the extra mile - to stretch beyond the status quo, and do things we've never done before. We like to say that there's a little bit of Corvette in every Chevrolet. Well, let me tell you - there's a little bit of Corvette in everything we do at GM."

said Terry Johnsson, managing director, General Motors Middle East.

The Z06 was in good company at the weekend's event, launched track side as some of the leading makes of the automotive performance world battled for victory in Round 10 of the FIA GT Championship.

Present at the Middle East launch of the Z06 were Corvette race drivers Anthony Kumpen, Bert Longin and Mike Hezemans of the GLPK Racing team, who followed their previous round's GT1-class victory at Zhuhai, China victory with a third placing behind Ferrari and Maserati in this weekend's race.

"The Z06 offers an impressive combination of professional motor sports technology, race-bred performance and on-road style," said Anthony Kumpen, driver for the GLPK Racing team. "As a professional racer, I was very impressed with this latest addition to the Corvette line up, which has always distinguished itself by its consistency, value and outstanding performance. I thoroughly enjoyed my time behind the wheel of this high-performance machine."

The Z06 directly benefits from experience garnered through hundreds of races with both the Corvette C5-R and C6-R models. They have amassed an impressive array of trophies in the last 5 years, including four American Le Mans Series championships and four historic 1-2 victories at the legendary 24 hours of Le Mans race in France.

"The Z06 is our dividend from competing so successfully in endurance racing over the years," said Chris Probert, regional marketing manager for Corvette. "It combines the strong attributes of the sixth-generation Corvette with the spirit, technology and know-how from the race programme to form an extreme performance supercar with outstanding credentials."

While the components and specifications of the street and competition engines are tailored to their specific environments, the thought process behind them is identical. Both the Z06 and its C6-R race sibling are powered by 7.0 Litre V-8 engines with dry-sump lubrication systems, CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled)-ported aluminium cylinder heads, titanium valves and connecting rods, forged steel crankshafts and deck-plate honing of the cylinders.

Boasting the most powerful engine ever built for a passenger car by GM, a host of race-bred technological refinements, a unique body structure and expressive design and convenience features, the Corvette Z06 is sure to capture the imaginations of high-performance vehicle enthusiasts across the region - if they can manage to keep up with it.