Corvette Racing at Sebring: ‘The Ultimate Test’

Corvette GT3 program looking to add to brand’s rich history of 12 Hours success

DETROIT (March 13, 2024) – The new-look Corvette Racing program is headed to one of the toughest and most extreme tests in all of motorsports – the 72nd running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Cadillac.

The rough-and-tumble Sebring International Raceway in central Florida is steeped in Corvette Racing lore with countless tests plus 29 races during a quarter-century of Corvette competition. That should bode well for the fortunes of the four Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R entries entered for this America’s oldest sports car race.

Two of the Corvette GT3 cars are entered in each of the GT classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – a pair for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports in GTD PRO and an additional two for AWA in GTD.

The goal for each team is to put Corvette back on the top step of the podium – a place Corvette Racing has stood 14 times leading into this year’s running. Operated by Pratt Miller Engineering, the Corvette factory team has tasted victory each of the last two years – 2022 in GTD PRO and 2023 in the GTE Am class of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The current Corvette/PMM team tested the Corvette Z06 GT3.R at Sebring in November in order to gather valuable data on the first-year car ahead of the season’s most grueling race across the bumps and concrete of the 3.74-mile, 17-turn Sebring circuit. The lineups remain the same from the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona: Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella in the No. 3 Oshkosh / Mobil 1 Corvette with Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg and Earl Bamber sharing the No. 4 Oshkosh / Mobil 1 Corvette.

The six Corvette factory drivers have a combined 11 victories at Sebring.

In GTD, the AWA team will make its second start with the Corvette brand after debuting at Daytona. The squad enjoyed a solid Sebring 12 Hours a year ago in LMP3 with the No. 13 trio of Orey Fidani, Matt Bell and Lars Kern finishing second in class.

They will team again in this year’s race while 2023 fourth-place LMP3 finishers Anthony Mantella and Nico Varrone – a winner last year for Corvette Racing in the FIA WEC’s 1,000 Miles of Sebring – are set to drive with Rolex 24 teammate Thomas Merrill.

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.

Celebrating Mobil 1’s 50th Anniversary

To mark the 50th anniversary of Corvette technical partner Mobil 1, both the No. 3 and No. 4 Corvettes from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports will contest Sebring with special Mobil 1-inspired liveries. Both cars – plus the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R in GTP – will feature celebratory Mobil 1 gold along with the Mobil 1 Pegasus, which throughout its history has symbolized speed and power within the brand. The Mobil 1 brand and its partners will be highlighting the brand’s legacy and future at Sebring, as well as off the track through the rest of this monumental anniversary year.

For more than 25 years, the Mobil 1 brand has been an integral part of the Corvette Racing program. It was the only lubricant used by the factory racing effort dating back to the first on-track tests of the Corvette C5-R in 1997. The Mobil 1 brand continues as a primary sponsor of the Pratt Miller-run Corvette Z06 GT3.R team, and since 1993 has been the factory fill for all new production Corvettes.

Chevrolet Motorsports Display, Ride and Drive Return to Sebring

In addition to the many happenings on the racetrack at Sebring, fans will have plenty to see and experience from Chevrolet. That’s because two locations at the circuit – Chevrolet’s Motorsports Display and the Chevrolet Ride and Drive – will be full of Chevy vehicles that spectators can learn more about throughout the weekend.

The Chevrolet Motorsports Display opens at 9 a.m. Thursday and Friday plus 8 a.m. Saturday in the Sebring Midway. Numerous Chevrolet vehicles and other highlights include:

• The Corvette Z06 GT3.R showcar along with the 2023 Corvette Z06 coupe
• Corvette Stingray convertible
• Additional Chevrolet products such as Traverse Z71, Blazer EV RS, Silverado 1500, Colorado ZR2, Tahoe RST, Silverado 2500HD
• An example of the LT6.R engine in the Corvette Z06 GT3.R
• An opportunity to receive a 2024 Chevrolet Motorsports t-shirt

Also beginning Thursday, fans visiting the Sebring Skidpad outside of Turn 17 can sample a Chevrolet vehicle for themselves at the Ride and Drive event. Starting at 9 a.m. each day, spectators have the chance to test a wide variety of Chevrolets including Blazer RS, Tahoe High Country, Silverado 1500, TrailBlazer Active and Trax Active.

The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Cadillac is scheduled for 9:40 a.m. ET on Saturday, March 16. The race will air on USA Network from 4-10 p.m. ET with full streaming coverage on Peacock at 9:30 a.m. ET. IMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions beginning at IMSA.com along with Sirius 216, XM 207, SiriusXM Online 992 and 100.9 FM at the circuit.

CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“After coming to Sebring for more than 15 years, the race still amazes me. It really is unlike any other event we do with the combination of the track, the bumps and the fans that turn out every year. I’m fortunate to have won many races at Sebring in different categories and generations of the Corvette and I hope that continues with the Z06 GT3.R. Already we have some notes and data from testing over the bumps late last year so that should help us arrive with a good baseline. We were fast at Daytona and immediately competitive, so let’s see if all that together will mean more success for Corvette at Sebring.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m looking forward to Sebring a heck of a lot. The way last year’s race worked out still perplexes me! So now it will be cool to go there and try to get my first Sebring GT win, after coming home second a few seasons ago. Having driven the car there in testing, it felt good. It was probably the most challenging track I’ve been on so far in trying to get used to the ABS with the bumps throughout. We’ve made gains with the car since the test but difficult to know what those are like and how relevant they are to the Sebring track and the surface. As we gain general understanding of the car and the tires, things are going in a positive direction.”

DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Sebring is an event that starts in the day and ends at night, which is very unique. The track is very cool with a lot of history behind it. It’s definitely one of the highlight races in IMSA. I’ve always heard that the Corvette is a very good car around Sebring, and that’s exciting as well. I’ve raced two times there and came second and third. Hopefully if we are on the podium, we will be on that missing step.

“This is no secret or mystery – winning at Sebring is more exciting than winning at a lot of other places. It’s a race where a lot of things happen over the 12 hours. There is so much history behind it. It’s a very cool event. I’ve only raced there twice but already feel like I know the track very well. I feel like I have raced there a lot more, but I have done a lot of laps on simulators over the years. That makes it easier to get to grips.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m always excited to go to Sebring. It gives us a chance to see how the Z06 GT3.R will be in a configuration that will carry on through the rest of the year. We’ve done a lot of testing at Sebring, including with this car. Historically the Corvette racecars have always been very strong over the bumps, and this car seems no different than previous generations. So we’re anticipating a good race from our side. As always, Sebring is famously rough on equipment and drivers! I’m confident we’ve addressed the issues that we experienced in testing and at Daytona. I’m super happy with how driving with Earl and Nicky ended up. They both did a fantastic job, as expected. I’m going into the weekend with high hopes and expectations. But it’s still a new car and a new season. We’ll see how things go once we get on track for practice.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“The last couple of years at Sebring have been good for me personally, winning there and dominating in WEC and then the year before with Antonio and Jordan we won in IMSA. So it’s been quite good and I look forward to continuing that streak. I do have high hopes. Yes, Daytona was difficult but the car already showed some good pace. I do not believe we were too slow to fight for a podium. Maybe we could not have fought for a win, but there some small technical issues which we should struggle with less going forward. We have had more time to discover the time, and a 24-hour race is not the easiest race to start with. The team continues to progress and we have improved the car from where it was weak in Daytona. So we should be strong there. The team knows how to set up the car really well at Sebring, and I believe they know exactly what to do so we can extract the most speed out of it. I like the car, we have a great team and great teammates. I cannot wait for Sebring to come so we can fight for a victory.”

EARL BAMBER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“The debut of the Corvette at Daytona was exciting. We showed that we had good form to run at the front. When we tested at Sebring, the car also was really strong. Of all the GT3 cars recently that I’ve driven, the Corvette is one of the stronger packages, and at Sebring it was really good too. The Pratt Miller guys have been working hard to rectify the small teething things we had at Daytona, and I think we’ll come out swinging at Sebring. It’s a track that has suited Corvette for a long time. Doing my first race with them, I can see why they beat us and won so many championships when you look at the side of the truck. I’m looking forward to getting down there and giving it a good shot at another endurance racing classics.”

AWA PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“A great deal of commitment and focus is required in order to be able to succeed at Sebring, but it’s an exhilarating race from start to finish. We’ve meticulously prepared for this event and have spent a lot of time trying to fine-tune our No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, so I’m feeling confident that our hard work will pay off. Even though the first race of the year didn’t go our way, we’re here to embrace the challenge and push ourselves until we get the results we know we’re capable of.”

OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“We’ve done very well at Sebring in the past and we’ll be doing everything we can to have another strong result here again. I’m ready to get back in the car and showcase all of our efforts. We know we have it in us to compete at the front of the pack and contend with the best in the field, now it’s just a matter of putting all the pieces together. It’s a long race, and anything can happen, but I believe in our ability to rise to the occasion.”

LARS KERN, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m really looking forward to what is my favorite race on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar. Even though it’s a 12-hour race, there’s no holding back from the first lap onwards. Sebring always has an amazing atmosphere, it’s such an incredible event with some of the most passionate fans out there. We completed a good test last week and I can’t wait to hop back into our Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Although our experience at Daytona stung, we feel well prepared to tackle these bumps next weekend and come back stronger.”

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

“The Sebring 12 Hours is always one of top IMSA events. I’m really looking forward to it, especially having won there last year in WEC with Corvette. Even if Daytona this year wasn’t kind to us and we had some issues with our Corvette, everyone at Corvette Racing and AWA did a lot of work to sort things. We feel ready for Sebring. I feel like we have a strong package and a strong lineup, so we will give our all. Sebring is a tough track and a tough race with the legendary bumps. With the race starting in the daytime and finishing at night, the car balance changes a lot so you have to be on point in order to have a good car to finish the race, so that’s the main goal. We will work hard throughout the week and see where we end up.”

ANTHONY MANTELLA, NO. 17 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Sebring is the ultimate test of skill and endurance, and it’s a race we all collectively greatly look forward to. The intensity and physicality are part of what makes this event so unique, and we’re very determined to do well here and show that our No. 17 Agritainer Corvette Z06 GT3.R has the competitive edge to fight at the front of the GTD Class. Following a difficult opening round at Daytona, we’ve all contributed a great deal of time and energy into making sure we have a strong understanding of the car, and we are fully focused and committed to moving forward and concentrating on the next task.”

THOMAS MERRILL, NO. 17 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I can’t wait to get back into the No. 17 Agritainer Corvette Z06 GT3.R. We’ve spent some time with the car following Daytona to work out some of the kinks, so I’m confident we’ll be returning stronger at Sebring. Historically, the Corvette has always been strong over the bumps, so I’m optimistic that we will be able to put on a strong performance as well. Still, this is probably the most competitive GTD field we’ve seen, so it won’t come easy, but we’re ready to rise to the occasion and show what we’re capable of. Can’t wait to get started!”

2024 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Points

GTD PRO Drivers Standings
1. Alessandro Pier Guidi/Daniel Serra/Davide Rigon/James Calado – 376
2. Laurin Heinrich/Michael Christensen/Seb Priaulx – 355
3. Bryan Sellers/Madison Snow/Sheldon van der Linde/Neil Verhagen – 319
4. Alex Riberas/Mario Farnbacher/Ross Gunn – 300
5. Alexander Sims/Antonio Garcia/Daniel Juncadella – 290
8. Nicky Catsburg/Tommy Milner/Earl Bamber – 254

GTD PRO Teams Standings
1. No. 62 Risi Competizione – 376
2. No. 77 AO Racing – 355
3. No. 1 Paul Miller Racing – 319
4. No. 23 Heart of Racing – 300
5. No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – 290
8. No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – 254

GTD PRO Manufacturers Standings
1. Porsche – 355
2. Aston Martin – 302
3. Chevrolet – 290
4. Ford – 274
5. Lamborghini – 268

GTD Drivers Standings
1. Daniel Morad/Indy Dontje/Philip Ellis/Russell Ward – 364
2. Francois Heriau/Kei Cozzolino/Miguel Molina/Simon Mann – 340
3. Albert Costa Balboa/Alessandro Balzan/Cedric Sbirrozzuoil/Manny Franco – 325
4. Alessio Rovera/Charles Scardina/Onofrio Triarsi/Riccardo Agostini – 303
5. Maximilian Goetz/Mikael Grenier/Mike Skeen – 273
18. Anthony Mantella/Charlie Eastwood/Nico Varrone/Thomas Merrill – 152
21. Alex Lynn/Lars Kern/Matthew Bell/Orey Fidani – 117

GTD Teams Standings
1. No. 57 Windward Racing – 364
2. No. 21 AF Corse – 340
3. No. 34 Conquest Racing – 325
4. No. 023 Triarsi Competizione – 303
5. No. 32 KorthoffPreston Motorsport – 273
18. No. 17 AWA – 152
21. No. 13 AWA – 117

GTD Manufacturers Standings
1. Mercedes-AMG – 371
2. Lamborghini – 328
3. Porsche – 312
4. McLaren – 284
5. Lexus – 275
6. Chevrolet – 255

Source:
Corvette Racing at Chevrolet

Related:
Manufacturers Ask IMSA to Retake Control of BoP for Sebring and Rest of 2024 Season
Corvette Racing at Qatar: Lessons Learned in WEC Opener
Corvette Racing at Daytona: Rolex 24 Final Report

Subscribe Now: