Following first official on-track action for Corvette Z06 GT3.R at Roar Before the 24
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 19, 2024) – The full complement of four Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R racecars hit the track together for the first time Friday – the opening day of the annual Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway.
The three-day Roar is a lead-in to next week’s Rolex 24 At Daytona and the start of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. A pair of Friday sessions and another three Saturday will lead into Sunday’s 15-minute qualifying session for the two classes in the GT categories – GTD (GT Daytona) PRO and GTD.
Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports in GTD PRO and new Corvette team AWA in GTD are running the Z06 GT3.Rs full-time in IMSA with the Rolex 24 serving as the new Corvette’s worldwide competition debut.
Factory driver Nico Varrone was the quickest Z06 GT3.R driver Friday in the AWA No. 17 Corvette at 1:46.925 (119.859 mph) to rank fourth on the day among the 23 cars in GTD. The 2023 GTE Am champion in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Corvette Racing, Varrone also won the Rolex 24 a year ago in the LMP3 class with current teammates Anthony Mantella and Thomas Merrill. They’re joined this year by Charlie Eastwood.
Varrone’s best time came in Friday morning’s session.
AWA teammate Matt Bell was ninth in class in the No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R and only 0.157 seconds off the sister car with a lap of 1:47.082 (119.684 mph) in the afternoon session.
In GTD PRO, Alexander Sims was fifth quickest in GTD PRO on Friday for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports. His best lap of 1:46.971 (119.808 mph) in the No. 3 Oshkosh/Mobil 1 Corvette Z06 GT3.R during the second session put him less than a half-second off the quickest time in class.
Nicky Catsburg was only 0.037 seconds behind his teammate in the No. 4 Oshkosh/Mobil 1 Z06 GT3.R. His best lap was a 1:47.008 (119.776 mph), also from the afternoon.
The Roar Before the 24 continues Saturday with Sunday’s GTD PRO and GTD qualifying for the Rolex 24 scheduled for 1:55 ET p.m. The session will stream live around the world on IMSA.com.
CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS FRIDAY DRIVER QUOTES
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 OSHKOSH / MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “This was a useful day. It’s been pretty smooth running where we’ve been able to make quite a few changes and get a good read on them. For me personally, each time I’ve gotten into the car it’s taken a little bit of time to adjust to the ABS again. But it’s nice to get a couple of runs into that zone. We’re working with the team, working through changes. The base setup feels pretty nice and predictable. It’s not killing the tires, and degradation seems OK at the moment. It drives like a Corvette!”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 OSHKOSH / MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It honestly was a nice day. We started at a certain baseline point and worked our way up to a better feeling car. Honestly, I feel like we still need some additional time, but it already feels like a good starting position. Today was nice. It was kind of nice to get some laps in and get ready for the race. I feel like we now need to work on some of the basics – driver changes, pulling away, stuff like that. But overall I was quite pleased.”
AWA FRIDAY DRIVER QUOTE
NICO VARRONE, NO. 17 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I feel like it was a nice day. First day of the Roar, first official practice. It was really nice to see all the Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs on track all together. In Practice 1, I think I nailed a good lap and that’s why we were near the top. There are still some things we need to work on, and we are working for tomorrow and for sure for the race. Over the lap it was quick, but you never know until it’s race day or at race time. In my opinion, there is a lot to work on. We still need to find traction. That was our biggest issue, and on a long run we were struggling quite a bit. All in all, it was good to get in the car and good to get some feeling back again. I’m looking forward to more practice tomorrow and be ready to keep improving.”
CORVETTE RACING BY THE NUMBERS AT DAYTONA
- 0.034: As in seconds – the winning margin of victory in Corvette Racing’s 1-2 finish at the 2016 Rolex 24. Up until last year’s LMP2 finish, it was the closest finish in race history
- 1: Rolex 24 class win for AWA; the team won in LMP3 in 2023. Current team drivers Nico Varrone, Anthony Mantella and Thomas Merrill were part of that lineup
- 2: Number of the overall winning Corvette C5-R in the 2001 Rolex 24. Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell, Chris Kneifel and Franck Freon completed 656 laps for 2335.36 miles in the winning effort
- 4: Number of Corvette Z06 GT3.R entries for the 2024 Rolex 24 – two from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports (GTD PRO) and two from AWA (GTD)
- 4: Rolex 24 wins for Corvette Racing as an entrant: 2001 overall, 2015 GTLM (Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen/Ryan Briscoe), 2016 GTLM (Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler) and 2021 GTLM (Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg)
- 9: Corvette/General Motors factory drivers piloting the Corvette Z06 GT3.R in this year’s race: Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, Dani Juncadella, Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg, Earl Bamber (Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller) plus Charlie Eastwood, Nico Varrone and Alex Lynn (AWA). Bamber and Lynn also are Cadillac Racing factory drivers in FIA WEC
- 14: IMSA Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001
- 24: Drivers who have driven for Corvette Racing at Daytona – Justin Bell, Ryan Briscoe, Nicky Catsburg, Kelly Collins, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Marcel Fässler, Ron Fellows, Franck Freon, Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin, John Heinricy, Chris Kneifel, Robin Liddell, Jan Magnussen, Tommy Milner, Simon Pagenaud, John Paul Jr., Andy Pilgrim, Mike Rockenfeller, Scott Sharp, Alexander Sims, Marco Sorensen, Nick Tandy and Jordan Taylor
- 27: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Fuji Speedway, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen
- 32: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999
- 71: Years since Corvette was introduced to the world on Jan. 17, 1953 in New York City. A total of 300 cars were produced that year
- 127: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 115 in North America, nine at Le Mans and three in the FIA WEC
- 284: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999
- 99,600: Total number of racing laps completed by Corvette Racing entries since 1999. Barring any issues, the program will go over the 100,00-lap mark at the Rolex 24 of Daytona
- 361,990.52: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing entries since 1999. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles
Corvette Racing at Daytona (wins in bold)
1999
No. 2 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel/John Paul Jr. – 3rd in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Scott Sharp/John Heinricy – 12th in GTS
2000
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel/Justin Bell – 2nd in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Franck Freon – 10th in GTS
2001
No. 2 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell/Chris Kneifel/Franck Freon – 1st in GTS (overall win)
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Dale Earnhardt/Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 2nd in GTS
2014
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Ryan Briscoe – 10th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Robin Liddell – 5th in GTLM
2015
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Ryan Briscoe – 1st in GTLM (Magnussen fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Simon Pagenaud – 3rd in GTLM (Gavin pole)
2016
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 2nd in GTLM (Garcia fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 1st in GTLM (Winner by 0.034 second)
2017
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 4th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 9th in GTLM
2018
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 3rd in GTLM (Magnussen pole)
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 4th in GTLM
2019
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 6th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 8th in GTLM
2020 (Rolex 24 – January)
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 4th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 7th in GTLM
2020 (WeatherTech 240 – July)
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM
2021
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 1st in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy/Alexander Sims – 2nd in GTLM
2022
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 6th in GTD PRO
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy/Marco Sorensen – 10th in GTD PRO
2023
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTD PRO
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