Corvette Racing at Daytona: It’s a New Era!

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports, AWA to debut Corvette Z06 GT3.R

DETROIT (Jan. 16, 2024) – A new season of racing marks a new start to the Corvette Racing program. The three-day Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway is the annual preview ahead of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which will look very different for familiar with the Corvette brand.

Instead of one or two Corvette GT cars running around the 3.56-mile infield road course as has been tradition for the 25 years, a quartet of the new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R racecars are set for the Roar – one week before the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The quartet of Corvettes will be spread out in two classes of the WeatherTech Championship: Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports in GTD (GT Daytona) PRO and AWA in GTD. Nine GM factory drivers dot the roster of four cars.

• Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports: Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, Daniel Juncadella (No. 3 Oshkosh / Mobil 1 Corvette); Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg, Earl Bamber (No. 4 Oshkosh / Mobil 1 Corvette)

• AWA: Orey Fidani, Matthew Bell, Lars Kern, Alex Lynn (No. 13 Corvette); Anthony Mantella, Nico Varrone, Thomas Merrill, Charlie Eastwood

The official competition debut of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R comes almost 15 months from the first time the initial test car turned its wheels for the first time on a track. Since that time, continued testing and development has come at circuits around the United States and at Chevrolet’s Driver in the Loop (DIL) simulator.

The Corvette Z06 GT3.R is Chevrolet’s first car built to global GT3 regulations. It’s based on the production Corvette Z06 supercar with the two sharing a significant amount of DNA.

The racecar is built on the same production aluminum chassis frame – from Chevrolet’s Bowling Green (Ky.) Assembly plant – as the road-going Z06. Similar carbon-fiber splitters for front downforce, and the surface area from the top of the windshield to the rear of the Z06 remained intact on the Z06 GT3.R. That includes side air ducts behind the doors — directly inspired by Z06 production road car — that help to cool the engine, transaxle and rear brakes.

The similarities carry over to the hand-built 5.5L, flat-plane crankshaft V8 engine in the Z06 GT3.R. Both original from the Bowling Green factory with the racing version sharing 80 percent of the production content from the Z06, including the crankshaft, connecting rods, cylinder heads, fuel injectors, coils, gaskets and a variety of other sensors.

Corvette’s latest racing challenger benefits from a legacy of previous race- and championship-winning racecars. Three previous generations of Corvette – C5-R, C7.R and C8.R – have visited Victory Lane at Daytona with the program claiming four previous class victories. The goal for this year’s Rolex is to claim Victory No. 5… and No. 6.

The Roar Before the 24 is set for Friday-Sunday with GTD PRO and GTD qualifying for the Rolex 24 scheduled for 1:55 ET p.m. on Sunday. The session will stream live around the world on IMSA.com.

CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 OSHKOSH / MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’ve raced the Rolex 24 many times but I think I’m looking forward to this year more than almost any previous ones. Obviously we have the new Corvette to debut in a race for the first time, and that is exciting for all of us. It’s a new chapter for us as drivers and everyone at Corvette and Pratt Miller. The Z06 GT3.R has a lot of potential as we’ve seen in testing so let’s see how things play out first at the Roar. Sharing the No. 3 car with Alexander and Dani also is something new for me, and I’m very happy about it. Of course Alex has a good history with this team, and Dani is a very tough and fast competitor as he has proven against us in the past. I’m happy to race with him and not against him!”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 OSHKOSH / MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It’ll be great to do some more laps in the new Corvette and get a better feeling for it following the testing we’ve already had. We keep improving things, which is what you want. There are some things that I’m still trying to get my head around like the ABS, so having some more laps is always a good thing. It’s cool and exciting to get the season kicked off. The Roar is a nice, soft start to the year with three days at Daytona. Hopefully the weather is friendly for us. It should be nice. Overall I’m looking forward to getting everything kicked off with Antonio, Dani and the team. I’ve never worked directly with Antonio, Dani or Andy Ramsey, our engineer. So it will be nice to start working together in a more competitive environment as the season progresses. So far it seems like it is a recipe for good things to come.”

DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 3 OSHKOSH / MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It’s a very special week coming up for me. It’s a new challenge and new beginning in my career to join one of the biggest brands in the racing world. Being part of this lineup in the No. 3 Corvette and all the legacy behind being a Corvette factory driver and joining such an experienced and successful team like Pratt Miller Motorsports is very special and very unique. I’m massively excited for everything. The year starts with a big highlight because you could say this is our biggest race of the year. That makes it even more exciting on top of it. Also with the Z06 GT3.R… when you add all these things together, I really have to come into these weeks controlling my expectations and motivations. It’s like when you’re young and back for the first day at school. I have to control this excitement and focus and go day by day. I’ve enjoyed this process and working with this group that I got to know in December. I feel very good within the team. I’m excited and looking forward to jumping on track and seeing how things are at this Roar.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 OSHKOSH / MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m ready to go racing. With 2023 being a little bit different year for me with more testing and less racing, coming to Daytona I’m even more anxious and geared up to go racing full-time. There has been a lot of simulator testing – just about a year before the car first hit the track – which is similar to what we did with C8.R. The level of anxiousness for me is a little higher because I’ve not raced full-time for more than a year. This should be a fun year racing with Nicky and adding Earl at the longer races. This team operates as one team and there’s always been collaboration between both cars. It’s a great atmosphere within the team, and I’m happy that’s continuing with the guys we have this year.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 OSHKOSH / MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m looking forward a lot to starting my first full season in America and with Corvette in IMSA. It’s a big challenge starting with Daytona and such a big race. It will be extra-tough for us because we are coming with a new car built to the GT3 regulations. We will use every single minute at the Roar that we can to improve the cars for the Rolex 24. I’m massively looking forward to working again with the Corvette team, with Tommy and Earl. I also can’t wait to see the GTD PRO class to see where we stand in that field to see if we will be competitive.”

EARL BAMBER, NO. 4 OSHKOSH / MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m really looking forward to the Roar and of course the Rolex 24. This is a big moment for Corvette in debuting the Z06 GT3.R. I was really lucky to be a tiny part of the development, and from what I’ve experienced so far the entire group has done a fantastic job. I’m keen and eager to get on the track and work with the team at Pratt Miller. There were many years where I battled and fought them throughout GTLM. In joining them, I can see why they put up such a tough challenge. It’s a great organization. Joining my good friend Nicky, with whom I won the Nurburgring 24 Hours so there’s a lot of great vibes there. And having Tommy with all his experience with this car through the test and development program is great as well. It’s eyes forward into Daytona, and we’ll give it our best shot.”

AWA PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

ALEX LYNN, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m really looking forward to the Roar and the Rolex 24. Of course it’s the racing debut of the new Corvette, and there has been a ton of work put in by Corvette, Pratt Miller and GM. It’s a thrill to play a small part of it and get the enjoyable job of driving. It’s a fantastic car, and we’re excited to start off 2024 with one of the biggest races in the world. It’s a huge honor. Every time you drive in a Corvette, you fight for the win. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going there with the dream of coming home with a new watch. Going into the Roar, there is still a lot to learn and see and size up the competition. The emotions are a lot of excitement of getting Stateside and getting going.”

NICO VARRONE, NO. 17 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m super excited to go back to the Roar – this time with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R. It’s the first time for us in official sessions, and it will be awesome to see the results of the work of a lot of people over the last couple of years. As a team, AWA we haven’t had as much running as we would have wanted, but the car is well-developed with a lot of running and testing. For us, both the Roar and Rolex will be races against the clock to find out what the car likes and doesn’t like in terms of setup, electronics and other things we need to work on and catch up in order to be a contender. But this will be an exciting challenge and super fun. I like our lineup. so everything goes well, we should have a good couple of weeks.”

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 17 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“For both AWA and myself, we’re still relatively new to the Z06 GT3.R. We still have plenty to run through. Ultimately the Roar is an event in its own right, but really it is a test item for the big one the next week for the Rolex 24. We have plenty of testing items to go through, all the drivers need more time in the car, but already things are in a fantastic place from the test we did before December. I’m looking forward to getting back into the car and into my first event and race weekend as a Corvette factory driver. It should be a good one.”

Source:
Corvette Racing at Chevrolet

Related:
[PIC] Corvette Racing’s Chassis No. 1 Z06 GT3.R Revisits the Corvette Assembly Plant
[PICS] AWA Racing Takes Delivery of Two Special Corvettes
[PICS] First Look at Corvette Racing’s New Z06 GT3.R in its Traditional Yellow/Black Racing Livery

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