Corvette GT3 drivers, teams set for long-distance title fights
DETROIT (September 29, 2026) – In more than 25 years of competition, there have been a number of big events for Corvette Racing. But there may not be many bigger than this weekend’s 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to close the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Chevrolet and Corvette Racing teams and drivers will battle not just for victory in the 10-hour Petit Le Mans but also season-long IMSA championships in both GT classes. A total of five Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will be on the grid – three in GTD PRO and two in GTD.
- Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – GTD PRO: Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, Antonio Garcia (No. 3 Corvette); Nicky Catsburg, Tommy Milner, Nico Varrone (No. 4 Corvette)
- DragonSpeed – GTD PRO: Giacomo Altoé, Casper Stevenson, Sebastien Bourdais (No. 74 Corvette)
- 13 Autosport – GTD: Matt Bell, Orey Fidani, Lars Kern (No. 13 Corvette)
- DXDT Racing – GTD: Charlie Eastwood, Mason Filippi, Salih Yoluc (No. 36 Corvette)
Leading Chase for Second Straight GTD PRO Sweep
In GTD PRO, Chevrolet and Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports are in position to sweep the Manufacturer, Driver and Team championships for the second year in a row at Petit Le Mans. The points battles are tight enough that the final standings won’t be known until the end of the 10-hour race.
Chevrolet leads the Manufacturer Championship by 68 points over Ford. Assuming the points aren’t significantly impacted by the qualifying results, as long as Chevrolet is the third-highest finishing manufacturer of the nine entered, then the Bowtie will win the GTD PRO Manufacturer Championship.
If one of the Fords is second, then one of the Chevrolets needs to be the fifth-highest finishing manufacturer to win the championship.
For the Driver and Team championships, Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg, in the No. 4 Corvette, lead the No. 1 BMW by 47 points with the No. 9 Lamborghini only 53 points behind. Given the closeness of the standings, Friday’s qualifying points distributions can make a difference in where the No. 4 Corvette needs to finish the race. The easiest way, obviously, would be for it to win and give the program its first Petit Le Mans victory since 2010 in addition to the titles.
A year ago, Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports finished second and third in class. Milner and Catsburg teamed with Nico Varrone for a runner-up finish while Garcia, Sims and Dani Juncadella were right behind.
This year’s class is bolstered by DragonSpeed’s move to GTD PRO in the No. 74 Corvette, including Sebastien Bourdais’ first race in a Corvette. He will race with team regulars Giacomo Altoé and Casper Stevenson, who recorded two fourth-place GTD finishes in the previous three races.
Akin Award in Sight Again for Fidani, 13 Autosport
In GTD, Orey Fidani is on the cusp of winning a third straight Bob Akin Award Championship in 13 Autosport’s No. 13 Corvette. If Fidani, Matt Bell and Lars Kern finish ahead of the No. 70 Ferrari, then Fidani will punch his and 13 Autosport’s ticket back to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Fidani and Bell are coming off a third-place class finish at Indianapolis and have been the highest-finishing Bronze Cup at two of the last three races. The Indy result moved the team up to fifth in the GTD Driver and Team championship standings.
DXDT Racing is hoping to end the season with another strong run in a long-distance race. Corvette factory driver Charlie Eastwood, Mason Filippi and Salih Yoluc have contended in all four previous endurance races this season – including leading late at Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen.
Petit Le Mans from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET on Saturday. It will air live on NBC from noon to 3 p.m. ET. Live and complete streaming coverage is on Peacock in the U.S. and IMSA’s YouTube channel internationally. IMSA Radio will air on-track sessions at IMSA.com, XM 252 and SiriusXM Online 996.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“It’s a little bit of a different feeling coming to Petit Le Mans with our championship standing. Still our main focus is winning the Manufacturer Championship and doing what we can to help Tommy and Nicky keep the Driver Championship within the team. Obviously I also would really like to win this race. It’s been too long since we’ve won it, and I would like to add this to my list… just like I have for a lot of years now. I’m hopeful. We typically have good cars here and we are usually toward the front at one point or another in this race. It’s one that I really enjoy and maybe this is the year to cross it off my list.”
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“The overriding aim going into Petit Le Mans is to absolutely maximize the points that both cars score toward the Manufacturer championship. Obviously we want to help the No. 4 car, and the way the championship is that is the priority. I hope we can be in a position to help them. At Indy, us finishing fourth and them finishing second is fine on paper. But we weren’t really in their race to be able to help them on strategy. I would like that to be the case.”
MARVIN KIRCHHÖFER, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“2024 was my first time at Petit Le Mans. I think it was my most favorite race that I did in IMSA. It’s one of the coolest events in the series and that’s why I’m excited to go back with the Corvette guys. The track layout is incredible. There’s always something happening so you need to be on the right side of the restarts. It’s just a great event. You drive into the dark and there’s not a lot of light, so that’s another nice challenge for our drivers. It was incredible to see how many fans came out in 2024 so I hope we will see something similar this year, and hopefully there’s a good end to the event for the Corvette and Pratt Miller guys in the championship.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“Petit Le Mans is unique in many ways. The track is very challenging – a lot of very high-commitment corners, tricky in traffic, some big curbs to hit so it’s rough on the cars at times. The track by itself is tricky in the daytime then when you go into the nighttime, it’s really dark and difficult to see in some places. If it were the sixth race of the year, it would still be a challenging event. But then when you add that it is the last race of the year, it’s 10 hours… tensions are high. If you’ve had a rough year and you want to finish on a high, you’re trying really hard to have a good race. We have teams from Europe and others that come over to add to the grid and that adds to it. Then of course there are the championships on the line. The drivers, the crew, engineers… we all bring our A-game and our best to this one.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“We still need to do the same thing at Petit Le Mans as we have all season and especially at Indianapolis. It’s going to be extremely difficult. It’s crazy with restarts in the dark. We just need to finish ahead of the BMW to make it easy. I feel like we obviously will have a good car and the team is confident. We have Nico coming… our superstar. Let’s see if we can nail it down at Road Atlanta.”
MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“It’s another big weekend at Petit Le Mans, which is how we like it. Obviously there is a lot of momentum within 13 Autosport after our podium at Indianapolis and regaining the Akin lead again for Orey. That’s our goal at the start of every year and we have a chance to realize that again. Petit Le Mans is one of my favorite races of the season, and that’s because of everything that can happen here. The traffic can be manic, the crowds are huge and you have the challenge of the race ending in the dark. It has all the ingredients of another classic IMSA race.”
OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“We are feeling confident coming to Road Atlanta. We tested last week after Indianapolis and were very happy with things. The car felt great and it was good to get some laps around the track before practice starts Thursday. It’s going to be a long race and a tough race, but these are the events where we are at our best. We’ll need to be in order to win the Akin Award again and get back to Le Mans.”
LARS KERN, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“The test last week was really good. If that’s the car that we have for the race, then I’ll be very happy. This is one of my favorite races of the year so I’m really excited to be back. It’s been great talking to Matt and Orey to see how the team is coming along. There obviously is a lot of momentum from the podium at Indianapolis. It would be great if we can continue that this weekend, wrap up the Akin Award and start planning our return trip to Le Mans.”
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“Petit Le Mans obviously is a special race every year. I did it for the first time last year, and there was a great buzz about it. It’s a long race but every single minute is so jam-packed. I’m looking forward to getting back into IMSA. When you only do the big five, it’s quite a front-loaded year with Daytona and Sebring, and then spreads out a little bit the rest of the season. So I’m looking forward to getting back with the DXDT guys and back to racing in IMSA.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 74 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“This will be my first experience in the Corvette and in a GT3 car. I haven’t driven a GT car since Le Mans 2020 but it’s always fun to try new things and discover new things, so I’m looking forward to it. Petit Le Mans is a really cool event and it would be great to have more success in a GM car. I feel like in GTs, you do keep an eye on what is happening behind you. So it’s really only a bit difficult when you are fighting in your own class with other cars. But it’s not like in P2 where you’re passing cars and you’re getting passed, which is where it’s a bit more tricky. I’ve done this with a couple of GTs in the past, and it was always good fun. You have to survive, enjoy the show and hopefully we are in the end when it matters.”
2026 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Points
GTD PRO Drivers Standings
1. Tommy Milner/Nicky Catsburg – 2729
2. Connor De Phillippi/Neil Verhagen – 2682
3. Andrea Caldarelli/Sandy Mitchell – 2676
4. Christopher Mies/Frederic Vervisch – 2605
5. Ben Barker/Dennis Olsen – 2580
8. Alexander Sims/Antonio Garcia – 2518
GTD PRO Teams Standings
1. No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – 2729
2. No. 1 Paul Miller Racing – 2682
3. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 2676
4. No. 65 Ford Racing – 2605
5. No. 64 Ford Racing – 2580
8. No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – 2518
GTD PRO Manufacturers Standings
1. Chevrolet – 2968
2. Ford – 2900
3. BMW – 2821
4. Lamborghini – 2784
5. Porsche – 2742
GTD Drivers Standings
1. Philip Ellis/Russell Ward – 2693
2. Patrick Gallagher/Robby Foley – 2687
3. Dudu Barrichello – 2577
4. Aaron Telitz/Benjamin Pedersen – 2447
5. Matt Bell/Orey Fidani – 2188
12. Giacomo Altoé – 1978
16. Mason Filippi – 1742
GTD Teams Standings
1. No. 57 Winward Racing – 2693
2. No. 96 Turner Motorsports – 2687
3. No. 27 Heart of Racing – 2577
4. No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing – 2447
5. No. 13 13 Autosport – 2188
10. No. 81 DragonSpeed – 1978
13. No. 36 DXDT Racing – 1742
GTD Manufacturers Standings
1. Mercedes-AMG – 2954
2. Aston Martin – 2860
3. Ferrari – 2844
4. BMW – 2740
5. Lexus – 2609
6. Chevrolet – 2546
Source:
CorvetteRacing.com
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