Win for No. 13 Corvette is first in a 24-hour race for Corvette Z06 GT3.R 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 26, 2025) – The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R started its second season of competition by winning one of the biggest races the world as AWA and drivers Matt Bell, Orey Fidani, Lars Kern and Martin Kirchhöfer captured the GT Daytona (GTD) victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona to start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The No. 13 Corvette crossed the finish line by 1.454 seconds for the 21st victory for Chevrolet in the Rolex 24 and the fifth for the Corvette Racing program since 1999. AWA’s victory was its second in three seasons at Daytona, also the first in a 24-hour race for the Corvette GT3 and 12th since debuting at the Rolex 24 a year ago.

Five Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs entered the race with two making the podium. Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella placed second in GTD PRO in Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ No. 3 Z06 GT3.R.

GTD PRO Corvette Z06 GT3.R Results

· No. 3 Corvette – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, Dani Juncadella – Runner-up in class

· No. 4 Corvette – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg, Nico Varrone –– Seventh in class

· No. 91 Corvette – Trackhouse by TF Sport – Ben Keating, Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen, Connor Zilisch – Ninth in class

AWA’s victory began to take shape past the halfway point. Both Fidani and Kern completed the minimum drive time in the first 13 hours to set the stage for Bell and Kirchhöfer to drive most of the remaining 11 hours with Kern giving the pair a stint’s worth of a break before going the rest of the way.

The GTD race swung in favor of AWA inside the final seven hours when Bell stopped for fuel and tires and retained the class lead. The class running order went back and forth the rest of the way with Bell taking the lead for good with 20 minutes left and running as low as fourth after a restart with 40 minutes to go. 

As joyous as the win for AWA was, the fate of the No. 4 Corvette from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports was just as heartbreaking. After cycling up and down in the GTD PRO order, Tommy Milner moved into the lead inside the final two hours but his attempt to extend his lead over the second-place No. 1 car was repeatedly blocked by that car’s team entry. That allowed the No. 1 to get to the back of Milner’s Corvette, which suffered rear damage that required multiple stops to repair.

Despite that, the No. 4 squad remained in contention with Varrone racing his way up to second before the trio eventually finished seventh. The wild late-race chaos also saw Sims go from seventh to second inside the final hour.

The No. 91 Trackhouse by TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Ben Keating, Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch took the fight to the GTD PRO regulars and consistently ran in the class’s top half for the majority of the race.

DXDT Racing’s No. 36 Corvette was on pace for a solid result in its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut before retiring at the halfway point with Charlie Eastwood moving toward the front.

The next race for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R program is 1812KM of Qatar – the opening race of the FIA World Endurance Championship – on Friday, February 28. The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 15.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “All race we were going everywhere, basically. We solved a wiring problem during the night, and the car got back to being alive. We were lucky our crew could fix that, and the car was back in contention and fast. Ever since I drove it at night, we at least had a chance. I don’t think it would have made a ton of difference, but it’s a shame that penalty that I had, which from my point of view, was a little bit on the edge and avoidable from both sides. Such a shame. That put us on our back foot, and no yellows for three hours, at least. That was painful because if there were a yellow, we could have made our way to P1 and P2. I think we were both fast enough to be P1 or 2 or be up front on regular strategy instead of gambling on our strategy. Here you only want to win, but the good thing you can take is championship points for manufacturers, drivers, and teams. We’ll go up from here. And congratulations to the AWA guys on their win in GTD with their Corvette.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Right at the end for the last few hours, things really chopped and changed a lot for everyone in the field, really. But our Corvettes were working really well. We maybe didn’t have the pace overnight, but during the day things really came to us and we had the laptime. It was just a little bit difficult to race in a pack with a couple of the other manufacturer cars who were particularly fast on the straights and weaker in the corners, which is where we made our laptimes. Honestly, from where things looked like a few hours from the end, second is pretty good. But when you’re fighting super close for the win, you can’t help as a sportsman to feel disappointed not to get the win.”

Considering where you were a year ago…

“I thought that exactly too. Here we had a near flawless race. Our Corvette held up really, really well. The whole team did a fantastic job to execute so much of the race so well. It was a good start for the year.”

DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’ve had some time to cool down and to be honest, it’s an amazing result to finish second. A great start to the year. Really thankful to the team. They made us believe in winning, and we ended up just short. Alex is an absolute legend. That last 30 minutes gave us the shivers and made us dream about the victory. We just came short. It is what it is. Tomorrow will taste way better and I think looking at the overall performance and where we’re coming from one year ago, it’s fantastic. So really happy for the Pratt and Miller guys, everyone at Corvette Racing. They gave us a fantastic Corvette GT3 car and that was good fun.”

AWA heads to Le Mans; Chevy wins GTD PRO Endurance Cup Manufacturers title.

BRASELTON, Ga. (October 12, 2024) – Corvette Racing’s three Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs teams encountered mixed fortunes in the 10-hour Petit Le Mans on Saturday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, but Chevrolet claimed a key long-distance championship and the No. 13 AWA team punched its ticket to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

AWA driver Orey Fidani clinched the season-long Bob Akin Award with the No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R at the end of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s season finale. The award goes to the top points-scoring, Bronze-rated GTD driver at each race and for the season with the additional prize of an automatic entry into the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans for the year-long winner.

Fidani, Matt Bell and Lars Kern finished 12th in GTD and fourth among Akin-eligible cars Saturday night. For the season, Fidani and Bell were the highest-finishing Akin pairing in three races.

«Congratulations to Orey Fidani and all of AWA on securing the Bob Akin Award and an automatic entry into the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Christie Bagne, Corvette Z06 GT3.R Program Manager. “To see their hard work and effort lead to this accomplishment is something in which they and everyone at Corvette Racing can take a high level of pride. We’re excited for AWA’s future and can’t wait to welcome them to Le Mans next summer.»

That wasn’t the only season-long award for the Corvette program after Saturday. For the fourth time since 2015 – and first in GTD PRO – Chevrolet won the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturers Championship. The Endurance Cup is a collection of the five IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races, including Petit Le Mans.

“It is very gratifying for Chevrolet to win our fourth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturers Championship,” said Mark Stielow, Director, Chevrolet Motorsports Competition Engineering. “We are very proud and pleased as a company to achieve this in the first year of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R in IMSA’s premier long-distance races.”

Those accomplishments offset a tough race for the two GTD PRO Corvettes from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports. The No. 3 Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella placed fifth in class after a frantic 10 hours that saw the trio lead three times but also suffer brake issues that required two extra pit stops in the race.

That the No. 3 team made the race was an achievement. The Corvette suffered right-rear chassis damage in a crash during Thursday’s night practice, and mechanics worked into early Friday morning to patch and weld the damaged portion back together. Garcia qualified the No. 3 Corvette fourth in class and remained in contention through the end.

The result was good enough to clinch third place in the GTD PRO Drivers and Teams standings for Garcia and Sims, and the No. 3 Corvette team, respectively.

The No. 4 Corvette of Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg and Earl Bamber showed strong form early from its second-place starting position. Milner was at the wheel when he was hit by an LMP2 car with the impact damaging the front and rear suspension on the right side of the car. The No. 4 crew worked quickly to repair it and get it back in the race, albeit more than 50 laps down. The trio finished 12th in class. 

The Corvette Z06 GT3.R program will return to IMSA competition at January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.

CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It looked really good from the start until we had our first brake issue that put us a lap down. We kind of kept it there and with the lack of yellows that’s all we could do… just carry on and stay there. It was a gut-check race the whole way. With two hours to go, the last issue more or less put us out of it. We did fight our way back but needed some more yellows and action on track to get something good to happen. The guys did an amazing job. It was a difficult season with some challenges for all of us. I think we deserved a few more wins this year, but that’s the way it is. I’m proud of how the team worked and responded even in hard times – just like Thursday night and trying to repair the whole car just in time for qualifying. It’s a hard job for them but it was nice to fight for the win for them.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It was a typical Petit Le Mans. All sorts of things happened in the race, unfortunately probably one too many things for us. We had issues with the brakes early in the race with the caliper. We’re not entirely sure what happened when I went out toward the end. Immediately the brake pedal was really long… potentially a lack of fluid from the previous issues. We’ll diagnose and understand that better for the future. It put us one or two laps down. Although we finally got back on the lead lap, there were so many cars between myself and the leader that I couldn’t really make my way through enough. But I had fun. I had a really eventful last stint carving through a lot of GTD cars. I’d say the second half of the race was pretty clean. There were very few yellows and not too much mayhem. There was probably a lot less carnage than people expected. It was a joy to drive the Corvette as always. The whole Pratt Miller team did a great job to give us all a great, fast, consistent racecar after Thursday. I can’t thank them enough. Unfortunately we had those two issues that put us back too much.”

Garcia’s late charge sends him, Sims to P3; AWA wins second straight Akin Award in GTD

INDIANAPOLIS (September 22, 2024) – Corvette factory drivers Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims climbed back on the podium in GTD PRO on Sunday in the six-hour Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course to lead the contingent of three Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs in the next-to-last race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Garcia drove the final three hours in the No. 3 Corvette from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and went from fifth to third in the final two laps to secure third place. It was the first podium for the Garcia/Sims duo since their victory in July at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Rain dominated the first half of the race, which saw three separate full-course yellow periods in the first 100 minutes. Sims and the No. 3 Corvette went toward the head of the class as the first GTD PRO car to take wet tires during the first yellow. A steady rain settled in not long after, with Sims taking the lead following a short pit stop during another full-course yellow.

A third caution period, this one for almost an hour, kept Sims out front until the rain stopped for good in the third hour. The No. 3 Corvette did lose some time having to make two stops 30 minutes apart to switch to slick tires just before the halfway mark.

Garcia drove the rest of the way in the No. 3 Z06 GT3.R, including a hard-fought battle during the final hour with the No. 14 Lexus and No. 23 Aston Martin for the final podium position. A restart with 55 minutes remaining set the stage for the finish with Garcia falling from fourth to fifth inside the final half-hour. He fought to regain the spot with five minutes left and gained another to third and the podium with two laps to go.

The GTD PRO pole-winning No. 4 Corvette of Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg finished 11th in class after losing four laps due to contact and subsequent repair with 75 minutes to go.

Catsburg led the first 15 laps from pole before making the team’s first stop during the initial full-course yellow. The No. 4 Z06 GT3.R was assessed an avoidable contact penalty near the one-hour mark before Milner was hit from behind by a prototype, which necessitated a lengthy stop to repair damage to the right-rear of the Corvette.

Both Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and AWA close the IMSA season with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans on Saturday, October 12 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Those last laps were tough. We had a good call to pit before a yellow, but the way things unfolded it kind of helped the ones that stayed out. So we lost a little track position to some of the cars that were ahead of me when we got to the last restart. The restarts with these guys and being so close is not easy. I made up a few places but with how hard the race was for everyone, there were times where I got caught in traffic and lost some spots. I thought we were done when the (No. 23) Aston Martin passed me, but somehow I regrouped and put everything together to get back up there to them. Maybe I had a little more than them with the tires or made some good choices. With two or three laps left, that’s it. It’s time to go! It was either a podium, fourth or fifth. I went for it, and it worked. It would have been nice to win, but I’m happy with where we finished.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I was very happy that Antonio was in the car! He did a really, really good job. I really enjoyed the wet laps at the start of the race, so it was probably the right way around for the both of us. Antonio did a great job to keep in the fight. From the outside, I thought once Antonio got held up and passed by the Aston, I thought it would be hard for him to get back past with the pace situation as it was. Thankfully he stayed with them and kept fighting with them to the end… quite literally! It was great to watch.”

ALTON, Va. (August 25, 2024) – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports suffered an uncharacteristic tough day at Virginia International Raceway as mechanical gremlins impacted both of the team’s Corvette Z06 GT3.R entries during the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR.

The No. 4 Corvette of Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg finished eighth in GTD PRO, a spot ahead of teammates Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia in the No. 3 Z06 GT3.R.

The result for AWA’s No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R was a bright spot as Orey Fidani and Matt Bell finished seventh in GTD. Adding to that was the No. 13 Corvette’s position as the highest-finishing car in IMSA’s Bob Akin Award standings for the second time this year.

After a run of trouble-free races during the summer, separate issues plagued the No. 3 and No. 4 GTD PRO entries. Catsburg lost time when the Corvette wouldn’t restart after a pit stop with an hour to go. He and Milner did finish on the lead lap and were buoyed by the race’s only full-course caution with a little more than 30 minutes to go but couldn’t advance up the order.

Garcia started second and ran third at the time of the No. 3 Corvette’s first pit stop at the 49-minute mark. Sims rejoined fifth and was getting up to speed before the car lost power on the backstretch. Following a couple of attempts to reset the power cycle, the team brought Sims back to the garage to replace the power steering pump.

Sims also was at the wheel when the No. 3 suffered a suspension issue with 45 minutes to go.

In GTD, Fidani drove the No. 13 Corvette for the first 47 minutes and gained a spot in class before handing off to Bell. The No. 13 went from 13th at the time of the stop to its final position in the final two hours, including a hectic fight through the field after the yellow with high track temperatures and high tire degradation.

With the result, Fidani grew his lead in the Akin Award championship with the highest points-scoring Bronze driver at the end of the season earning an automatic entry to the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Michelin GT Challenge at VIR is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 25. The race will air live on USA starting at noon ET with live streaming on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.com outside the U.S. IMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions beginning with Friday afternoon’s opening practice at IMSA.com with the race call also on XM 206 and SiriusXM Online 996.

CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS POST-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: «Today is what it is. No one wants to have issues, but that was the reality today. As has been common this year, we showed decent pace and were holding our own in third with Antonio. I think the pit cycle was going to be pretty favorable for us on strategy. As far as I understand it, we would have effectively been first in that middle stint once all the pit cycles were finished. I felt pretty comfortable out in front of the Aston Martin, and we were holding our own. That’s when the car cut out on me, and the power steering failed. After a few laps, I understood why these are designed to have power steering. This isn’t a formula car in terms of the steering weight where you could get through it. But after four or five laps, I knew it wasn’t going to last. I just tried to give the guys enough time to at least preempt what we needed to do in the garage, but it was a big change and set us way back. That’s the way it goes, unfortunately. The suspension issue was pretty bizarre. There was no contact on my side, and Antonio looked like he had a completely clean race. We need to understand the two issues, and try to react and come back stronger.”

Fifth and sixth for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller; season-best fifth in GTD for AWA

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (August 4, 2024) – The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R recorded top-five finishes in both GTD PRO and GTD on Sunday at the end of a chaotic IMSA SportsCar Weekend event at Road America.

The No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports entry of Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims finished fifth in the GTD PRO class, with the AWA duo of Matt Bell and Orey Fidani matching that result for their best GTD finish of the season in their No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The GTD PRO pole-sitting No. 4 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner placed sixth in the hectic race.

The two-hour, 40-minute contest looked more like a short-track race with six full-course caution periods. Two yellows inside the final hour worked against the three Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs, all of which looked to be in good shape on fuel strategy going into the final 70 minutes.

The first unlucky break against the Corvettes came on the opening lap as Sims went spinning from second place after contact from another GTD PRO car, a dive-bomb move that sent the No. 3 off-track and into the gravel. Recovery crews quickly pulled Sims back onto the track with minor damage to the suspension of the car.

That left class pole-sitter and leader Nicky Catsburg as the lone Corvette at the front of the field, and the No. 4 he shared with Tommy Milner led the first 10 laps before stopping for tires and fuel during the first caution period of the race. A handful of GTD PRO cars stayed out to jumble the running order, which put a greater premium on track position.

Both the No. 3 and No. 4 Corvettes attempted to manage their fuel usage across the final 75 minutes to regain the top positions, but two full-course yellows in quick succession alleviated all fuel concerns for the full GTD PRO field.

In GTD, Bell and Fidani were the day’s top movers by gaining 16 positions overall and 10 in class for their first top-five finish of the season. Fidani drove the first 46 minutes before Bell took over to the end. He was involved in multiple battles with other class competitors – five and six cars at a time – but stayed clean to the end.

The result meant that Fidani continues to lead the Bob Akin Award standings, with the season championship going to the top Bronze-rated, points-scoring driver.

The next race in IMSA for the Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs is the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway on August 23-25.

CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS POST-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “The first lap led to our whole race. The opening contact damaged the car somewhat, and from that point on we had to gamble on a different strategy, save fuel and do something different. In a way, it got us some positions but when it came time to fight at the end, the car wasn’t where it needed to be. We definitely tried to squeeze as much as we could out of it. It’s a shame. It was a little mistake (by the 64) but it hurt the momentum of our race.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “Rocky (Mike Rockenfeller) came and apologized. I know that there was nothing malicious in it. It was just a mistake, and we all make mistakes. That’s the way it goes. I have to give great credit to the Corvette, which held up pretty well for a decent hit. We had a little movement in the rear toe, and we could finish the race with it. Well done to the recovery crew to get me out of the gravel so quickly. That kept us on the lead lap and in the race. We came away with fifth which isn’t what you want after starting on the front row, but under the circumstances it could have been race over at that point. It was a good recovery. That’s racing, and we’ll go on to the next one.”

Sims, Garcia lead way to first IMSA win for Z06 GT3.R in Chevrolet Grand Prix.

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada (July 14, 2024) – Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia led a 1-2 class finish for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R on Sunday as Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports swept to the top of GTD PRO in the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Sims and Garcia in the No. 3 Corvette delivered the first victory for the Z06 GT3.R in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The pairing began from pole position and led 109 of 113 laps en route to a 0.408-second victory over Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Corvette following a late-race restart.

«Congratulations to Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and the No. 3 team on winning the Chevrolet Grand Prix today at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the first victory in IMSA with the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R,” said Scott Bell, Vice President, Global Chevrolet. “This is one of the world’s toughest categories of racing with a strong and deep field of GT manufacturers and teams. The high levels of performance, reliability and execution from the Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports drivers, crew and engineers were evident throughout the race. We congratulate them and the entire team for the hard-earned, 1-2 GTD PRO finish today.»

The Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports team has been knocking on the door of the elusive first win in the WeatherTech Championship since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March with leads in the last five races. Milner and Catsburg gave the Z06 GT3.R its first podium finish at Laguna Seca with Garcia and Sims finishing third in the last round at Watkins Glen.

Closing the deal this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was fitting as the Corvette Racing program won for the 13th time at the circuit. Garcia went back-to-back in class after scoring a victory last year with Jordan Taylor in the Corvette C8.R.

Sims and Milner each drove the first half of the race with Milner making the first move for a driver change to Catsburg in hopes of leap-frogging the sister Corvette. Sims pitted two laps later from the lead with Garcia re-emerging ahead of the No. 4 Corvette for the run to the end.

Garcia’s lead remained between five and seven seconds until a full-course yellow with 16 minutes to go. That bunched up the GTD PRO field with a number of GTD-class cars ahead of them at the restart. Both Garcia and Catsburg worked their way through the slower cars to keep their positions to the checkered flag.

The next race for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R in IMSA is August 2-4 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – GTD PRO RACE WINNER: «This is huge for the entire Corvette program. I’m glad that we could finally get the first win in IMSA for the Z06 GT3.R and to get my first win with Alex. We just need to carry on like this and build on the things we have been doing. More wins will come.

«This ranks pretty high in my career. I got the first win for C7.R and C8.R, so this is brilliant! I’m happy with that! I’m so happy for the team. We’ve been so close. The pace has been there all year but we just didn’t quite make it or had issues or we weren’t in the right position. We’ve been knocking on the door for a long time. We finally got it to happen so I’m very happy for everyone at Corvette Racing and the Pratt Miller team.»

(On the late-race restart) «I thought about it right before the yellow. I was sure there was quite a big potential to have a yellow  at the end. It seems like it always happens. I think I was being gentle with the tires that I had so I was able to push at the end. It was tough to be in the middle of the GTDs. They were fighting and we were fighting. But I was able to stay ahead of him. It was fantastic to bring a 1-2 for Corvette Racing.»

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – GTD PRO RACE WINNER: «It was nice. To be able to lead the race from the get-go is always the place you want to be. The pace of the Corvette has been good for most of the season, to be honest. We’ve definitely gotten stronger as the season has gone on. Everything worked really well from the start. Tommy got past the Lexus, so I knew I had him behind me. It’s always nice when you have your teammate right behind you. The car was working well all week. I felt like I was in a good rhythm. I love driving around this place. Antonio was a very good, safe set of hands to bring it home.»
“Superb. We’ve had some pace this year at times. The car has been so good today. We were able to execute a really nice race and to be able to generally manage things from the front which is what you generally want to do. The Corvette has worked super-well this weekend. Pratt Miller has done a great job. We nailed the strategy, coming up aces when we needed to. It’s been a wonderful weekend.»

(On the late restart against the No. 4 Corvette): «You never know what Nicky is going to do! He’s a bit of a wild card! He’s a fantastic driver as well. He’s the best of the best basically. I’m sure he knew what he was doing, and I’ve got full confidence in Antonio as well. They are the perfect guys to bring it home one-two for the team. We all know how important it is to get this result. It’s amazing to get two wins here, but I want more.”

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 23, 2024) – Antonio García and Alexander Sims scored the season’s second podium finish for the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a third-place result at the Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday.

The No. 3 Corvette from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports ran up front in GTD PRO, fell down the order following an early-race brake change and then challenged for the win late in a topsy-turvy enduro at Watkins Glen International that was severely impacted by rain. It was the first podium finish for the Garcia/Sims duo, following a similar finish for the No. 4 Corvette at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

While luck went the way of Sims and García at the end, it was the opposite for Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Z06 GT3.R, which had to pit for a fuel splash from the lead on the final lap. The duo ended up seventh in the final GTD PRO standings.

In GTD, AWA’s No 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Matt Bell, Orey Fidani and Lars Kern finished seventh in class following a similarly chaotic race and a number of drive time-related penalties to GTD competitors. The trio fought from deep in the field and briefly ran in the top-five before the Corvette was caught out on-track in a heavy downpour on slick tires and went off-track. The trio’s result did, however, unofficially grow Fidani’s lead in the Bob Akin Award standings, which goes to the highest points-scoring Bronze driver in GTD.

Three separate periods of rain had increasing impacts on the race. The first significant shower hit just shy of halfway and resulted in a crash for two GTD cars that brought out the third full-course yellow of the day. All three Corvettes had elected to stay on dry tires and jumped up the order as the pit closed – the No. 4 to second and No. 3 to third in GTD PRO, and the No. 13 to ninth in GTD.

More rain meant more chaos nearly 30 minutes later as the No. 4 Corvette pitted during a brief but heavy shower on the frontstraight for rain tires. Another full-course yellow neutralized the field again, and Milner was left on grooved tires with the track drying quickly. Once the race went green, he had to stop for slick tires and fell down to 10th.

The biggest downpour arrived with a little less than two hours to go. García, the No. 77 Porsche and No. 14 Lexus were the only GTD PRO cars to make it into the pitlane for rain tires before the pits closed for the sixth time. After 25 minutes behind the safety car with standing water on the track, officials red-flagged the race.

It resumed with 35 minutes left and the field behind the safety car. With the three leading cars in class having to pit for slick tires, Milner assumed the lead and drove a stunning final stint to keep the No. 4 Corvette out front before having to make the last-lap stop.

All three Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will be back in action for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday, July 14.

CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS POST-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCÍA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – THIRD IN GTD PRO: “I’m happy with this. Considering we were on the front row the last two races and didn’t convert, it feels like today we got one back. It was an amazing job by Corvette Racing and Pratt Miller guys to change the brakes. They had the skills to almost keep us on the lead lap. Yes we lost some track position but after that, the car was good and every single strategy call was the right one. I had one of the scariest half-stints in my life when a whole set of our tear-offs on the windscreen came off and then came back on. So I had a triangle in front of me and I couldn’t see to my left. Somehow I made up several positions on the restart, but it was very scary to just keep the car on track. I just couldn’t see anything. Fortunately we got it fixed after the yellow, and it was made better when we were on the same strategy as the Porsche and Lexus to go on wet tires. It was the right call and it would have been nice to run four or five laps in the rain but we couldn’t take advantage of that. It’s also a shame for the No. 4 guys. With all the flag sequences, I think they deserved it. But it’s nice that we were able to get the first podium for Alex and me, and for the Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports team. Now we need to keep the momentum. We know we are fast; we just need to convert and hopefully a win is around the corner.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – THIRD IN GTD PRO: “To be honest with the weather forecast coming into this weekend, it kind of exactly panned out how we expected with a mayhem-filled race. We started up front and had a nice comfortable stint before we had to change the front brakes. The guys did an amazing job to change everything, and we almost got out without falling off the lead lap, which was pretty impressive. So our race went south for a little while but as with IMSA you’re able to get back in the race and we did. The guys made some great calls and the car was fast. It’s great to get a podium; it felt like we came back into contention where we should have been. It’s cool to get our first podium with the No. 3 Corvette. Antonio did a brilliant job in the end to almost get second. It was really tight out there, and I enjoyed it.” 

DETROIT (June 1, 2024) – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and its two Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs were dealt cruel hands Saturday as the program’s effort to post a victory on the streets of downtown Detroit came up short.

The No. 3 and No. 4 Corvettes finished 10th and ninth, respectively, in the GTD PRO class of the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It brought an end to what had been a fantastic weekend with the Corvettes returning to race in Detroit – and for the first time on the city’s downtown street circuit.

Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Corvette led the Z06 GT3.R effort, followed by class pole-sitter Antonio García and Alexander Sims. The pair of yellow Corvettes began the race first and second in class with hopes of finishing that way for the Z06 GT3.R’s first win in IMSA.

Disaster struck first and at the start for the No. 3 Corvette. García had to pit at the end of the first lap with an alternator problem. By the time he rejoined the race, he and Sims were well down the order and treated the rest of the race as an extended test session for the first-year Corvette.

That moved Milner to the class lead. He quickly opened a lead of more than two seconds in the opening 20 minutes and set the fastest GTD PRO race lap along the way. He made the No. 4 team’s only pit stop with a little more than hour to go and handed over to Catsburg, who rejoined after taking just fuel but under a full-course caution period.

On the restart, Catsburg was spun from the lead at the end of the Detroit circuit’s long backstretch. The Corvette suffered damage to the front-left corner but was able to continue to the end of the race.

The next IMSA event for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday, June 23.

CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS POST-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCÍA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: «Not the day we wanted. The most difficult part of the race was the start with all the GTPs and GTD PROs together. But we got through it 1-2 which is what we wanted. To me that was 50 percent of the race. But then to be called into the pits, I couldn’t believe it. A very tough and cruel day for us.»

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “These are never going to be easy events, but it seemed like in practice and qualifying that we were going to have a nice, sensible race at the front of the field. Not long after the start, it became obvious that this wasn’t going to be the case on our car. It was a huge disappointment and tough. Everyone is working hard but we can always find ways to get better.”

No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R records third-place finish in topsy-turvy GTD PRO race

MONTEREY, Calif. (May 12, 2024) – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports climbed the GTD PRO podium for the first time this season as Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner finished third Sunday at the Motul Corse de Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R led the Corvette GT3 effort in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s annual stop in Monterey. Antonio García and Alexander Sims finished fifth in GTD PRO in the No. 3 Corvette, which had its race compromised by an early full-course caution.

In GTD, the AWA duo of Matt Bell and Orey Fidani placed 11th in class with the No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R but won the Bob Akin Award, which goes to the highest-finishing GTD entry with a Bronze driver.

Catsburg led early in GTD PRO from pole position and a strong pace early with García right behind. The two Corvettes consistently ran within one second of each other while building a gap of upwards of three seconds to the third-place car in class.

Catsburg was the first of the Z06 GT3.Rs to make its first stop with four tires, fuel and a driver change to Milner at the 45-minute mark. But an issue on the pit stop and then a full-course yellow near the 50-minute mark turned the race on its head.

García was set to pit the No. 3 Corvette when the yellow came out but had to wait until the GT pits opened with the field behind the safety car. He handed over to Sims, who left the pits in seventh place and mired in out-of-class GTD traffic.  Meanwhile, Milner restarted second in class but was shuffled back to third by the eventual class-winner not long after the green flag dropped.

The No. 3 Corvette was the first of the GTD PRO contenders to make its final stop, opting for right-side tires and fuel with less than 70 minutes left. The strategy pushed Sims from sixth when he entered the pitlane to fourth after the class pit cycle ended. Milner came back in for four tires and fuel about 10 minutes later after inheriting the lead and re-emerged third. The rest of the race went green with the Corvettes unable to make up ground in traffic.

The AWA Corvette had a noteworthy day, as well. Fidani drove the first 46 minutes from the seventh row of the GTD grid, and Bell moved the car into the top-10 just past the midpoint of the race. The team had to serve a drive-through penalty after its final pit stop due to a pitlane infraction, but Bell raced his way up three spots to secure the Akin award for AWA. Winning the season championship is the main objective for the team, which would earn an automatic entry into the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The next IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R program is the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic on the streets of downtown Detroit on Saturday, June 1.

ANTONIO GARCÍA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: «We were covering the 9 car because we split strategies between our cars. The McLaren pitted a lap before us – I don’t think they anticipated the yellow – and the team told me to push because we were pitting on that lap. I came out of Turn Nine and saw the yellow coming. And that was our race. It looked really good before that. It wouldn’t have been a nice battle with the 77, the 9 and the 4. I’m sure we would have cycled to the front after that. It’s a shame they didn’t allow everyone to pit before it went yellow for a little piece on the track. It really dictated our race.»

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: «The yellow dictated everything for us. We were all quite happy with the situation beforehand. I was up on the pit wall with the team ready for Antonio to come in that lap but saw the pit closed light come on. I was hoping Antonio was just immediately around the corner and had made it in. So unfortunately that compromised us significantly and put us at the back of the group. Then we went to a more aggressive fuel strategy and pitted early. That did cycle us back forward a bit, but we were up against it fuel-wise and had to save every lap as no yellows came out. There were some nice battles but it was unfortunate that we got caught out early.»

AWA Leads Corvette Contingent at Finish

SEBRING, Fla. (March 16, 2024) – The No. 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R led the contingent of first-year GT3 Corvettes at the end of Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Cadillac. The trio of Orey Fidani, Matt Bell and Lars Kern placed ninth in a 22-car GT Daytona (GTD) field at Sebring International Raceway in the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Sebring was the second race for AWA as part of the Corvette program following a debut in January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona. The No. 13 trio completed 314 laps and finished on the lead GTD lap in a largely trouble-free run.

Fidani drove two stints in the early part of the race, including the opening laps after all four Corvettes started from the rear of the field due to a post-qualifying technical infraction. But the No. 13 Orlando Corporation Z06 GT3.R team steadily worked its way through the field and ran as high as third in class before a successful fight in the closing hour to maintain its top-10 finish.

The No. 3 Oshkosh/Mobil 1 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella looked as if it would take the honors as the highest-finishing Corvette in the race before being hit from behind and spun off track in the waning laps while running second in GTD PRO.

The biggest mover early was Sims, who started the race and went from ninth to first in the first 67 minutes to set the table for a race-long fight for the class win with a special Mobil 1 gold livery to mark the company’s 50th anniversary.

Garcia drove a double-stint before Juncadella put in a strong three-hour drive in the hottest part of the day as the No. 3 Corvette remained in the hear t of the fight. An untimely full-course yellow and an emergency pit stop for fuel with less than three hours to go pushed the team back down the order, but solid driving and strategy put Juncadella back into the lead inside the final 70 minutes.

Late-race chaos saw Juncadella jostled around by multiple cars, the final being the impact that knocked the No. 3 Corvette off the circuit with six minutes to go.

The No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R lost time in the first half of the race trying to sort clutch issues while trying to remain in GTD PRO contention with servicing during pit stops. Near the halfway point, the team elected to change a clutch component and lost multiple laps in the process.

AWA’s second Corvette – the No. 17 Z06 GT3.R in GTD – retired early in the race with an electrical problem.

The next IMSA round for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R program is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – featuring the GTD class – on April 20 from the Long Beach (Calif.) Street Circuit.

DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: «There were some pretty poor driving standards at the end from many cars. I just got fully rear-ended into the braking zone at Turn Three. I was just a passenger and there was nothing I could do. It’s a shame because we lost a podium probably – P2 or P3. Two corners before I got run wide by the Ferrari as well. It was very hectic out there and people were acting over-aggressive. It gets dark here and there’s not much (camera) footage so people start believing there are no rules. It was a bit too much. It’s a shame because after the last stop when we jumped everyone to the lead. I thought we maybe had it. But restarting through the GTD cars was a complete mess. I got overtaken before the green by the 14. We were lacking a little bit of top speed unfortunately late to fight the others. But the Z06 GT3.R was good and I was happy. I enjoyed the experience of returning to Sebring. It was just a bittersweet ending. We’ll analyze and get better for the next one.»

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: «We struggled a little bit in practice, but at the end of Thursday we had a feeling that we understood what that was and qualifying seemed to go well. In that first race stint, it was good to just get into it. It seemed like the car’s pace throughout the whole stint was pretty strong. But I tried to be sensible as well and not take too many risks and be too crazy early in the race.»

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: «It was a standard GTD race with a lot of warriors. The ABS in these cars allow people to throw it in and pray for the car to stop. It’s not ideal. It was a great job by Alex and Dani. We lost A/C from the third hour so it was very hard on us. It’s a shame we didn’t come out with a decent result. I’m not saying we deserved the win but I think we did deserve a strong result.”