Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs looking to add second IMSA victory following CTMP win
DETROIT (July 31, 2024) – With the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R’s first win in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship now in the rear-view mirror, next up – naturally – is trying to get its second.
The next round of the IMSA schedule – and the Corvette Racing program’s 300th all-time start – is a natural fit for both the back-to-back attempt and the Corvette brand as a whole. Historic Road America has long been a playground for Corvette race and production cars for more than 60 years, evidenced by thousands of testing miles and eight IMSA victories for Corvette Racing cars dating back to 2002.
Three of the first-year Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will be in action across two classes in Sunday’s IMSA SportsCar Weekend event at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course in rural Wisconsin.
In GTD PRO, Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports will look to make it two straight wins after a 1-2 finish at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park a little more than two weeks ago.
Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims capped a stellar weekend for the team at the Chevrolet Grand Prix with a race win, class pole position and fastest race lap in the No. 3 Corvette.
They led teammates Tommy Milner – who recently won both rounds of GT World Challenge America at VIR in a Corvette – and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Z06 GT3.R across the finish line for the program’s 71st 1-2 finish in IMSA … the most for any team in the series.
As the Corvette Racing factory program, the Pratt Miller team has recorded eight victories at Road America over the years – the most recent coming with the Corvette C8.R in 2020. That also was the last time the team finished off the class podium at the circuit.
In GTD, AWA is hoping to rebound after an unfortunate early end to its home race at CTMP. Orey Fidani and Matt Bell will again team in the No. 13 Corvette for their first race around Road America in the Z06 GT3.R. The track has been good for the pairing lately with consecutive LMP3 podiums the last two years, including a runner-up finish in 2022.
Despite being spun out and having to retire the previous race, Fidani continues to lead the Bob Akin Award standings, with the highest points-scoring Bronze driver at the end of the year earning an automatic entry to the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The IMSA SportsCar Weekend race at Road America is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. CT on Sunday, August 4. The race will air on CNBC from 6-9 p.m. 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 PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s always nice to come into a race having won the previous one. The entire team has worked very hard to get us into these positions, and it was nice to finally deliver the first IMSA win for the Z06 GT3.R. Getting a second this weekend at Road America will be very tough. Still we know that there is more to winning races that outright speed. We need to keep taking chances and being clever with our strategy to put us toward the front. From there, we know that anything can happen as we have seen with a few Corvette wins at Road America over the years.”
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “In terms of what the car can do, the Corvette is really good in cornering and on the brakes so with the heavy braking zones we should be good. Sections like the Carousel and the Kink should be quite exciting to drive. It’s a great track and fun to drive. It’s a lovely set of corners and a cool track to race one with a lot of places to overtake. It should be a good weekend.
“These to me are the type of tracks that I really enjoy. It rewards seat-of-the-pants, high-risk and high-reward driving. With multi-class racing, it’s an added craziness where you have to pass in corners where ordinarily you’d never think of it. Everyone on track has to respect each other and make it work. It’s what makes me get up in the morning and do what we do.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s really nice to do so much more racing this year. Going from the same platform across two different series, but being back in IMSA full-time and now adding GT World Challenge, this stretch of the year is always busy. It feels like one weekend leads right into the next one. You get very familiar with the car and really get a chance to get deep down into the details and manipulate the car in such a way with setup to get it exactly to where you want it to feel. Doing the two series gives you a chance to in some ways fine-tune your driving even more. From my perspective it’s all good. It’s busy for sure but this is something I’ve wanted to do for the last two or three years – doing more racing. Getting that opportunity, I’m excited for this stretch to do a lot of racing toward the end of the season. I feel like both programs are hitting their stride a little bit. We’re knocking on the doorstep with Pratt Miller of getting a win. Podiums are great but the team is pushing really hard for wins. So I feel like we’re close here. Obviously we’ve already had some great success with DXDT Racing at COTA, and we definitely want to keep carrying that momentum forward.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “This part of the calendar that is the most challenging one but also the one I have looked forward to most. That’s because it is all of these cool tracks that I haven’t been to before yet, and now I get to experience them. The first was Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, and that went quite well from the start. It was really enjoyable to push the limits on a new track from the get-go. We tested a few months ago at Road America, and that for sure helps. It’s very challenging and nice to push your own boundaries and be useful to the team and not a liability or someone that is holding back the team. It’s a nice challenge and I am enjoying it so far.
“Road America is one of those places like CTMP. It’s high-commitment with a lot of risk versus reward. If you go off, you’re going to have a big issue. When you haven’t been somewhere and you have to work yourself up to the limit, you need some time and we don’t have that time. So you need to push your own limits a lot to get there are quickly as possible. The Kink, the Carousel and those kinds of corners aren’t scary but tricky and places where you need to be brave.”
AWA PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES
MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Another iconic track on the IMSA calendar, I love going back to Road America. I had my first podium with Orey and AWA there back in 2022 and we managed to do it again last year, so we want to keep that pattern going. The whole team is highly motivated for this one, we put ourselves in a great position for an awesome result at CTMP before being taken out, and we all want to finish that job this weekend!”
OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “As a driver, Road America is a stop on the calendar that we all look forward to every year. It’s fast, it’s intense, and it requires full commitment and concentration from start to finish. This is a track that we’re very familiar with. We know we can do well here again, and I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’s unforgiving by nature, but that’s exciting because it means we should have good opportunities that we can capitalize on.”
2024 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Points
GTD PRO Drivers Standings
- Laurin Heinrich/Seb Priaulx – 1955
- Ross Gunn – 1857
- Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 1835
- Alexander Sims/Antonio Garcia – 1774
- Bryan Sellers/Madison Snow – 1679
- Nicky Catsburg/Tommy Milner – 1676
GTD PRO Teams Standings
- No. 77 AO Racing – 1955
- No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 1857
- No. 14 Vasser Sullivan – 1835
- No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – 1774
- No. 1 Paul Miller Racing – 1679
- No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – 1676
GTD PRO Manufacturers Standings
- Porsche – 2001
- Aston Martin – 1892
- Lexus – 1879
- Chevrolet – 1859
- McLaren – 1743
GTD Drivers Standings
- Philip Ellis/Russell Ward – 2090
- Patrick Gallagher/Robby Foley – 1750
- Parker Thompson – 1648
- Mikael Grenier/Mike Skeen – 1521
- Albert Costa Balboa/Manny Franco – 1508
- Matthew Bell/Orey Fidani – 1283
GTD Teams Standings
- No. 57 Windward Racing – 2090
- No. 96 Turner Motorsport – 1750
- No. 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsport – 1521
- No. 34 Conquest Racing – 1508
- No. 12 VasserSullivan – 1455
- No. 13 AWA – 1283
GTD Manufacturers Standings
- Mercedes-AMG – 2185
- Lexus – 1788
- Aston Martin – 1765
- Lamborghini – 1729
- Porsche – 1721
- Chevrolet – 1518
Corvette Racing at Road America (wins in bold)
2002
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GTS (Fellows pole; Gavin fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins – 1st in GTS
2003
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Oliver Gavin/Kelly Collins – 5th in GTS (Gavin pole, fastest race lap)
2004
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GTS (Beretta pole, fastest race lap)
2005
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin pole, Beretta fastest race lap)
2006
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 1st in GT1
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1 (Gavin fastest race lap)
2007
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1
2008
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O’Connell/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GT1
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 3rd in GT1 (Gavin pole, fastest race lap)
2009
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 3rd in GT2
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 6th in GT2
2010
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Johnny O’Connell – 4th in GT2
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 3rd in GT2 (Gavin pole, fastest race lap)
2011
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 14th in GT
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 5th in GT
2012
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 6th in GT
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GT
2013
No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GT
No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GT
2014
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 6th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM
2015
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM
2016
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 6th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM (5th to 1st in final 15 minutes)
2017
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM
2018
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLM (Garcia fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTLM
2019
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM (Gavin pole, Milner fastest race lap)
2020
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM (Garcia fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTLM
2021
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM (Taylor pole)
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 3rd in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap)
2022
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 3rd in GTD PRO
2023
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 3rd in GTD PRO
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