It's a new year, and a new era for Corvette fans. The C8 generation has gone the mid-engine route, which means its racing variant, the C8.R, is mid-engined, too.

The race car made its debut last October, but the car shown at the time wore a silver livery with splashes of yellow. That's not the color setup everyone recognizes.

Now the C8.R adorned in the more traditional yellow livery has made an appearance. The number 3 car, set to be driven by Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia, was shown on Twitter by Taylor.

The yellow-based livery is similar to the design of that found on the C7.R race car with a handful of American flags thrown into the mix.

Yellow Chevrolet Corvette C8.R race livery, photo by Richard Prince

Yellow Chevrolet Corvette C8.R race livery, photo by Richard Prince

2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R race car

2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R race car

2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R race car

2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R race car

Together with the gray number 4 car, to be piloted by Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, the yellow C8.R will be seen in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's GT Le Mans category where it will face off with the latest Porsche 911 RSR and Ferrari 488 GTE. It's unclear if the Ford GT will campaign again privately or via some avenue other than Ford itself for the 2020 season, as the automaker has ended its racing program for the GT.

While the C8.R resembles the road car upon which it's based, the race car's engine is a naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V-8 with dual overhead cams and a flat-plane crank. It sounds like no other Corvette race car in history. The new V-8 hasn't been confirmed for a road-going version of the C8 yet, but an announcement is expected before race season begins to meet homologation rules. Expect this engine to be in the C8 Corvette Z06 with a twin-turbocharged setup possibly finding its way into the next ZR1.

It's unclear how much power this new flat-crank 5.5-liter V-8 can produce, but in the C8.R it'll be limited to the regulation mandated 500 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque.

The silver number 4 car was previewed at the 2019 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October while the yellow number 3 car will likely make its formal debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January, which is the opening race of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.