Third GTD PRO pole for No. 4 Z06 GT3.R, Sims P5 in No. 3 Corvette
INDIANAPOLIS (September 21, 2024) – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R will start from the GTD PRO pole position for Sunday’s six-hour Battle on The Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after Nicky Catsburg’s effort in Saturday’s 15-minute qualifying session.
Catsburg set a best lap of 1:23.209 (105.521 mph) in the Corvette that originally qualified second in class, just 0.059 seconds from pole position. However the GTD PRO pole-winning car was penalized in post-qualifying technical inspection, elevating Catsburg and teammate Tommy Milner to the point in class as the duo tries for their first class victory of the season and second for the Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports team.
Alexander Sims will start fourth in GTD PRO behind the wheel of the No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R that he shares with Antonio Garcia. His lap of 1:23.298 (105.409 mph) was one of six cars that were separated by less than two-tenths of a second in qualifying around the 2.439-mile, 14-turn circuit.
Given the large number of cars – 56 entries between the four classes – qualifying took on a little added importance, which is unique in an endurance race. The gap from the front of GTD PRO to ninth in the final practice Saturday morning was just 0.43 seconds.
The Pratt Miller-run Corvettes have shown strong performance at each of the three previous endurance rounds this season – Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen. Chevrolet leads the Endurance Cup Manufacturers Championship with just Indianapolis and the 10-hour Petit Le Mans left in the season. Points at Indianapolis will be awarded at the three- and six-hour marks.
In GTD, AWA will start 20th in the largest class in the race after Orey Fidani’s lap of 1:25.722 (102.428 mph) in the No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The team has positive momentum on its side with back-to-back, top-six finishes in class… one of only four entrants in GTD to accomplish that feat in the last two races. A year ago, AWA won at Indianapolis in the LMP3 class.
Fidani and Matt Bell also scored maximum points for the Bob Akin Award in the last round at VIR to grow Fidani’s lead in that championship. If he can hold that position Sunday and at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Fidani and AWA will earn an automatic invitation to the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMGT3 class.
The TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks is scheduled for 11:40 a.m. ET on Sunday. The final three hours will air live on NBC starting at 3 p.m. ET with live streaming at 11:30 a.m. on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.com outside the U.S., plus IMSA Radio’s flag-to-flag call at IMSA.com, XM 206 and SiriusXM Online 996.
CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s nice to be on pole for tomorrow. It’s a shame for the 77, but at the same time it’s a nice surprise for me and the team. Qualifying is a little irrelevant when it comes to these long races. But it is good to be there. It proves that we have done good work in practice and what we are doing is working. We can build on that for the race, and I’m very pleased with where we are starting.”
(Is starting up front in a field this large important?) “I wouldn’t say so. Here you will have more opportunities to do something different in strategy and so on. But you never want to be at the back or in the middle. The track is relatively tiny and tight, and it will be really intense tomorrow. Especially if it rains and it’s wet, you definitely do not want to be far from the front.”
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s one of those where the time from pole is not so bad relative to where we were this morning. It felt like we were struggling. It was difficult to predict how the car was going to be this afternoon judging on the new-tire run this morning in colder temperatures. I was a bit alarmed by the change of balance between the two sessions, and I didn’t predict that very well on the first push lap I did. By the time I tried a second push lap, the tires were gone anyway. But it’s OK.”
(Will track position from the start be key even in a long race?) “I think it will be really difficult to overtake on pure pace with cars around you that are likely to be on a similar pace. Traffic is going to play a big part in how you work that during the race. It’s so easy out there to have a mistake here or there, and in the wrong place it can cost you a ton of laptime. We’ll have to try. In a six-hour race it’s hard not to make mistakes but we’re going to do the best we can. If it’s a green race, I don’t know if we can do much on strategy because it’s quite tight on the pit window, so we’ll have to see.”
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