- Corvette Z06 GT3.R made its worldwide competition debut to open the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Daytona.
- Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports No. 3 and No. 4 Z06 GT3.Rs combined to lead 118 of 773 laps in incredible GTD PRO fight
- Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, Daniel Juncadella led the Corvette Z06 GT3.R runners with a fifth-place finish in No. 3 Oshkosh/Mobil 1 Corvette.
- New Corvette showed impressive performance in deep GT field with 36 entries from 11 manufacturers
- Despite retirements, first Corvette Z06 GT3.R customer team AWA logged a considerable number of laps and miles in first race with the Corvette brand
- Focus for Corvette Racing program is to learn from Daytona experiences ahead of FIA WEC race in Qatar and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in IMSA competition
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 28, 2024) – The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R showed promise during its competition debut in the Rolex 24 At Daytona with four of Corvette GT3 cars in the hands of teams Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and AWA.
Although Sunday’s checkered flag flew without a Corvette win, there are plenty of positives and lessons to carry forward to the Z06 GT3.R’s upcoming events in IMSA, the FIA World Endurance Championship and GT World Challenge America.
Both Corvettes from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports completed the full 24 hours with the No. 3 of Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella led the way with a fifth-place finish. The trio led 118 laps during Saturday and Sunday with the sister No. 4 Z06 GT3.R of Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg and Earl Bamber leading 38 additional laps.
Both of the Pratt Miller Corvettes experienced separate mechanical issues – the No. 3 had a cracked oil tank and the No. 4 had to replace a power steering pump inside the final six hours.
In GTD, AWA decided to withdraw the No. 13 Corvette (power steering) and the No. 17 Corvette (electrical), also in the last quarter of the event. The team and Chevrolet Competition Engineering will work together to determine the root causes and address ahead of the next race at Sebring. Chevrolet thanks the AWA team for its hard work and collaboration leading up to and during the Rolex 24.
Despite missing out on a fifth class victory for the Corvette Racing brand since 2001, the competition groups learned a considerable amount while running all four cars in the season-opening race. Throughout its history, Corvette Racing has prided itself in taking lessons away from the racetrack and making its racecars – and production vehicles – better. That will continue being the case as the Corvette Z06 GT3.R moves forward.
The next race for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R is the Qatar 1812 Kilometers to open the FIA World Endurance Championship on Saturday, March 2. TF Sport will field two of the Corvette GT3 racecars for the full season. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and AWA will next compete at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 16.
ANTONIO GARCIA/ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 OSHKOSH/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTD PRO:
“This is always a tough race, and this one was flat-out. The Rolex 24 is hard on equipment, and unfortunately we had our one issue. It is always great to be in the hunt and put pressure on our competitors so they may make mistakes. It’s a shame, for sure. I would have loved to be in contention late with the new Corvette. We learned a lot that we can use to push the Z06 GT3.R forward. We will use all those lessons to improve for the next race Sebring. It’s a classic event for us and we’ll definitely try to go for the win there.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 OSHKOSH/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED EIGHTH IN GTD PRO:
“Overall I’m proud of our effort today and what we showed with this new Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The pace was good and the balance was good. I think all of us as drivers were happy. Unfortunately for us, we had one main item that set us back and cost us time. But this is a new car and we’ve never seen that problem in testing. That’s why these 24-hour races in some ways feel like sprint races. This is a great learning opportunity for us, as well. There are things we will find and be better for the rest of the year. Realistically when you look at all the cars in the GT classes today, I don’t think anyone had a clean run. It shows how hard everyone was pushing, especially us. So yes, it’s somewhat disappointing because both cars led and were in the top-three for most of the race. These require perfection from everybody. Our race wasn’t perfect, but it was close. We can be proud of that.”
Source:
Corvette Racing at Chevrolet
Related:
Corvette Racing at Daytona: Halfway Report
Corvette Racing at Daytona: Six-Hour Report
Corvette Racing at Daytona: The Rolex 24 Challenge
Corvette Racing at Daytona: Rolex 24 Qualifying Report
Corvette Racing at Daytona: It’s a New Era!
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The 4 ZO6s from qualifying to the end were never a factor in the Rolex. Lexus was strong before the mishaps but Ferrari looks to be the favorite. Bring back the C7R.
“Throughout its history, Corvette Racing has prided itself in taking lessons away from the racetrack and making its racecars – and production vehicles – better. That will continue being the case as the Corvette Z06 GT3.R moves forward.”
Typical PR spin befitting of a minimalist nickel & dime operation.
If GM pursued this program with the objectives of winning races & championships (like what Porsche & Ferrari et al do) instead of it being the marketing exercise that it is, you wouldn’t see any Laura Klauser-approved pre-canned fluff pieces like this. Our rivals, for the most part, could not care less if so much as a singular street car is sold as a result of their racing programs.
This race was a disaster for the Corvette Racing program, straight up. From all-but-completely predictable inconsistencies across every practice & qualifying session to multiple problems during the race, including the customer team having problems before the race even began, we can only hope that some very serious and uncomfortable discussions at all levels take place this week. If I was the customer team, I’d be beyond pissed, especially given how selective GM was about choosing who got the privilege of purchasing & running this car, and all the publicity that surrounded it.
Enough with the “Well, we tried our best but what we learned will go into our production cars!” garbage. When have we ever seen quotes like these come from our rivals in Dearborn, Modena, Stuttgart, Munich, Tokyo or Warwick? Don’t worry…I’ll wait.
I realize that this was only the first race for this new car, but GM needs to either resource properly & adequately to pursue race wins against all rivals any given weekend with absolute brute force…..or shut it down, period.
I have owned and driven over 800,000 road miles in the 9. Corvettes I have owned oveee the past 30 years. I have also raced a C7 fully race prepared Z06. The new C8 is beautiful but I don’t like the sound of the flat crank engine. A Corvette shouldn’t sound like a Ferrari it should sound like the C7!!!!!!
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