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.
Petit Le Mans is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 12. The first three hours will air live on NBC starting at noon followed by USA’s coverage from 6-10:30 p.m. Live streaming starts at noon ET on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.com outside the U.S. IMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions beginning with Thursday’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-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.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “The incident earlier is kind of what I thought happened. I got caught up in someone else’s accident. That was unfortunate, for sure. On the whole, not a bad year. There were some ups and downs for sure with some frustrating races but also some good moments as well. I think generally because the car was quite competitive at several rounds, expectations were really high. In reality, it was the first year for our Corvette customer program and the Z06 GT3.R. There’s a lot to learn – good and bad – and a lot to apply toward the whole program. We’ll use all that for next year and into the future to improve the car and our team. We’ll go for it again next year.”
AWA POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I couldn’t be happier or more proud right now. This is the goal we set for ourselves at the very beginning of this program coming together, and we worked tirelessly to see it through. No matter what happened throughout this season, we were always focused on the Bob Akin Championship and getting a 24 Hours of Le Mans entry, and we never lost sight of the big picture. I can’t thank Andrew and the entire AWA crew enough for all they’ve done. I love everybody on this team from the bottom of my heart. I’m so excited and I can’t wait to show what we can do in France!”
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