CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: Six-Hour Sprint

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PRESS RELEASE:
CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: Six-Hour Sprint

Corvettes in GTD PRO, GTD taking steps forward into summer stretch

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DETROIT (June 19, 2024) – It’s the turn of Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and AWA to put the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R through its endurance paces this weekend for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen – the third long-distance race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.


The trio of Corvette GT3 entries are part of a 32-car field of GTD PRO and GTD cars – 11 in the GTD PRO class for all-professional teams and 21 in GTD, featuring a mix of professional and non-professional drivers. Despite its status as an endurance race, drivers and cars often approach the Sahlen’s Six Hours as a long-distance sprint.

All three Corvette Z06 GT3.R teams will look to add the list of successes for the Corvette Racing brand at The Glen – three victories including a pair in the Six Hours with two previous versions of the Corvette.


Those wins came with Pratt Miller running the factory Corvette Racing program. With the team moving toward a factory-supported effort, hopes are high for an elusive first win for the Z06 GT3.R in IMSA after starting the last two races – Laguna Seca and Detroit – from pole position in GTD PRO.


The lineups in the three Corvettes remain the same from previous IMSA rounds:

· Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims in the No. 3 Corvette for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports

· Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Z06 GT3.R, also for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports

· Orey Fidani, Matt Bell and Lars Kern in AWA’s No. 13 Corvette for GTD.


Of note, Fidani leads the WeatherTech Championship’s Aiken Award standings entering the season’s second half. The winner – as the top Bronze-rated driver in GTD – receives an automatic invitation to the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.


In addition to season championship points, The Glen also is the third round of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup – a championship-within-a-championship made up for the five long-distance races on the IMSA schedule. At Watkins Glen, points will be awarded at the three-hour mark as well as the race’s end. Entering the Six Hours, Chevrolet leads the GTD PRO Manufacturers standings by three points; a maximum of five points per segment are available at IMEC events.

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The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen is scheduled for 11:10 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 23. The race will air live on USA Network from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with full streaming coverage on Peacock. IMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions at IMSA.com along XM 206, SiriusXM Online 996.


CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “The Six Hours is a great event for a few reasons. One is that I really enjoy the track. There are excellent sections where you have a lot of mid- and high-speed cornering and some nice changes of direction. It requires a car that is compliant with all these things to be successful. And of course I enjoy the longer races where strategy and trying different things can pay off. It has been a long time since Sebring when we did our last long race as I didn’t do Le Mans, so I think this will mean a little bit more than in years past.”


ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “These circuits that are coming up are all brilliant to drive at, which is a great thing about IMSA. There are so many good circuits. To go to places like Watkins Glen is something I am looking forward to. There is always good racing, even if it is tough to overtake on. There are long, flowing corners where you can set up a corner four to five corners away from where you actually make it, which is always a nice feeling. I’m sure the Corvette will feel really good around there.

“It will be nice to use the curbing at the Bus Stop again because it was always pretty sketchy in the GTP. There are so many good points to Watkins Glen. I really enjoy the Laces corner… Turn Six is a really nice, long corner than is really tough to get right. There is always a lot of good racing at Watkins Glen and a lot of good overtaking spots. It’s tough to have the GTP cars come past you in a way that doesn’t affect your laptime. It’s a complicated racetrack with so many types of corners. It’s just a great, great circuit.”


TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’m excited about Watkins Glen and excited to get another opportunity to show what this Corvette is capable of in IMSA. To get a good result and podium at Laguna Seca, and it looked like we were poised for another good result at Detroit before some bad luck. Everyone is working as hard as they can to get a win for this program in IMSA for Chevrolet and Corvette. The six-hour format at Watkins Glen is fun for drivers and teams. It’s one where every single stint in the car makes a difference. It’s also one where strategy comes into play. Teams that may or may not have the fastest car can do some things at certain points in the race to potentially improve their position. It makes things exciting on that front. The track is amazing. We’re fortunate in the U.S. to have some very challenging and exciting tracks, and Watkins Glen is definitely one of those.”


NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: ‘Watkins Glen is one of my favorite places. It has been a long time since I have been there, although I do know it from the simulator. It is one of those very high-speed, flowing tracks with a bit of risk to it. You need to have commitment and confidence in the car. These are always tracks that I really love. So I cannot wait to get there. The surface is great with a lot of grip available, and we are all looking forward to that.”


MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "I love Watkins Glen. It's one of those iconic racetracks in the world. There are super high speeds. There isn't really a low-speed corner anywhere. It's super-high commitment, and drivers always love those corners. It's basically 3.5 miles of that and one of the highlights of the IMSA season for me. Of my top 10 tracks in the world, eight of them are in IMSA. I love the combination the old-school nature of the racetracks with one of the best - if not the best - racing series in the world. I love the way IMSA goes about the racing, and the level of competition is so high. You have the best drivers in the world in all categories. It's basically like Le Mans every race weekend in terms of quality of competition. I've always loved IMSA, and all the drivers love the old-school nature of these circuits. It's a nice little run we're getting ready to go on."


OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We’re feeling confident going into this race. Watkins Glen is a track that we know very well, and we recently completed a couple of days of testing there just last month. We’ve been showing good progress throughout the season and are continuing to learn more and more about the Corvette, and we’re aiming to keep that momentum going. I’m looking forward to another endurance race. This track is very fun to drive.”


LARS KERN, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “The team has made big steps with the car and it showed great potential in the last sprint rounds. The progress has been really promising, and it was very helpful for me to jump back in for some laps a few weeks ago during testing just to get a feel for the car again since it has been a little while since I’ve been in our Corvette. There’s a great atmosphere within the team, we have a great working racecar and we all can’t wait to hit the track.”


2024 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Points

GTD PRO Drivers Standings

1. Laurin Heinrich/Seb Priaulx – 1359

2. Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 1275

3. Mario Farnbacher/Ross Gunn – 1193

4. Bryan Sellers/Madison Snow – 1168

5. Nicky Catsburg/Tommy Milner – 1060

6. Alexander Sims/Antonio Garcia – 1057

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GTD PRO Teams Standings

1. No. 77 AO Racing – 1359

2. No. 14 Vasser Sullivan – 1275

3. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 1192

4. No. 1 Paul Miller Racing – 1168

5. No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – 1060

6. No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – 1057

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GTD PRO Manufacturers Standings

1. Porsche – 1383

2. Lexus – 1299

3. Aston Martin – 1206

4. Chevrolet – 1142

5. McLaren – 1115

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GTD Drivers Standings

1. Philip Ellis/Russell Ward – 1367

2. Patrick Gallagher/Robby Foley – 1154

3. Adam Adelson/Elliott Skeer – 1059

4. Parker Thompson – 1038

5. Mikael Grenier/Mike Skeen – 1033

13. Matthew Bell/Orey Fidani – 830

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GTD Teams Standings

1. No. 57 Windward Racing – 1367

2. No. 96 Turner Motorsport – 1154

3. No. 120 Wright Motorsports – 1059

4. No. 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsport – 1033

5. No. 43 Andretti Motorsports – 952

12. No. 13 AWA – 830

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GTD Manufacturers Standings

1. Mercedes-AMG – 1457

2. Porsche – 1208

3. Lamborghini – 1199

4. Lexus – 1178

5. Aston Martin – 1059

6. Chevrolet – 1026

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CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: By the Numbers

• 2: Wins at Watkins Glen International in 2021 for Antonio Garcia: the Sahlen’s Six Hours and the WeatherTech 240 in consecutive weeks with Jordan Taylor

• 2: Wins and pole positions in the Sahlen’s Six Hours for Antonio Garcia. He won GTLM in 2014 and 2021 and was the GTLM pole-sitter in 2019 and 2021

• 3: Victories at Watkins Glen for Corvette Racing since its debut there in 2014: 2014 and 2021 Sahlen’s Six Hours, and 2021 WeatherTech 240

• 5: Consecutive podium finishes for Antonio Garcia at Watkins Glen from 2017-2021

• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001

• 18: Victories for Chevrolet in the Sahlen’s Six Hours, ranking second among all manufacturers

• 27: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portimão, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen

• 48: Number of drivers in Corvette Racing entries since 1999 – DXDT Racing’s Alec Udell being the latest in GT World Challenge America at Circuit of The Americas

• 71: Years since Corvette was introduced to the world on Jan. 17, 1953 in New York City. A total of 300 cars were produced that year

• 129: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 115 in North America, nine at Le Mans, three in the FIA WEC and two in GT World Challenge America

• 295: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999

• 383,516.42: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing entries since 1999. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles


Corvette Racing at Watkins Glen (wins in bold)

2014

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GTLM (Team’s first race at Watkins Glen)

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM


2015

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 4th in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM (Ret., Accident)


2016

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 7th in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM


2017

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 3rd in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM


2018

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM

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2019

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GTLM (Garcia pole, fastest race lap)

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM (Accident on first lap)

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2021

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM (Garcia pole)

No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 4th in GTLM (Tandy fastest race lap)

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2021*

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM (Taylor pole, fastest race lap)

No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 2nd in GTLM


2022

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 6th in GTD PRO


2023

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 3rd in GTD PRO

* Two-hour, 40-minute sprint race


Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick