AWA’s Corvette wins GTD ROLEX 24

IMSA

Jan 28

AWA Corvette tops GTD class with five manufacturers represented in the top 5 within 7.328 seconds.

AWA Corvette wins GTD

The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R started its second season of competition by winning the Rolex 24 At Daytona as AWA and drivers Matt Bell, Orey Fidani, Lars Kern and Martin Kirchhöfer captured the GT Daytona (GTD) victory to start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Daytona. #13 AWA’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R

The #13 Corvette crossed the finish line 1.454 seconds ahead of #120 Porsche for the fifth victory the Corvette Racing program since 1999 in the Rolex 24. AWA’s victory was its second in three seasons at Daytona, also the first in a 24-hour race for the Corvette GT3.

MATT BELL, #13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "This means absolutely everything. To me, to my teammates Orey and Lars and Marvin. Everybody on this team has worked so hard. To think where we were this time last year and how far we've come to now... it's so much hard work to do this. From the minute the checkered flag fell at Petit Le Mans, no one took a rest. No one took a break. It's been 24-7 since then to get a car that is capable of winning the Daytona 24 Hours. AWA gave the four of us car to do it. IMSA is the hardest championship in the world. Our competitors gave us a hell of a run. I had to work so hard to get on top of those guys but we managed to make it work and bring it home in the last 10 minutes. Thank you to the competition for making it this hard, and thank you to AWA and my teammates to get us over the line." Source: Corvette Racing

Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 second

Starting from pole position, #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R secured second place after 24 hours of racing. Former Porsche Junior driver Ayhancan Güven, alongside Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer and Tom Sargent celebrated a well-deserved podium finish.

Adam Adelson (Porsche 911 GT3 R #120): “The result is fantastic, but it is not perfect. When second place leaves you unsatisfied, it is clear that the team, car, and the drivers are all capable of achieving victories. Our expectations are high, and winning is our goal – we’ll celebrate wins in upcoming races, I am certain of it.” Source: Porsche

Fourth podium for Aston Martin Vantage

The Heart of Racing (THOR) finished third in the GTD class with its #27 Vantage GT3 after a stirring fightback in the closing hours, clinching a fourth podium in four years for the Vantage GT3.

From seventh on the grid, Zacharie Robichon, Tom Gamble, Mattia Drudi and Casper Stevenson led by the fourth hour as they ran a different pit sequence to most of their class rivals.

This, coupled with excellent speed on-track and execution in the pits meant that the car was still in a podium position when it was spun off the track by a rival with three hours to go and fell to sixth.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Daytona. The Heart of Racing #27 Vantage GT3.

Buoyed by Aston Martin works driver Drudi, who drove a masterly final stint in the closing hours of the race, #27 Vantage relentlessly climbed the order and with half an hour left was part of an intense three-way fight for victory.

After swapping the lead several times in a dramatic final 20 minutes, Drudi took the chequered flag in third place on his IMSA debut; his result giving the newest version of Aston Martin’s most successful racing car – the Vantage GT3 – its first podium finish at Daytona.

Mercedes-AMG fourth

WINWARD Racing #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Lucas Auer, Indy Dontje, Philip Ellis and Russell Ward end 1.942 seconds short of podium in fourth.

BMW M4 GT3 EVO fifth

Turner Motorsport finished the race with the #96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO in fifth place with the four drivers Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher, Jake Walker and Jens Klingmann.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Daytona. #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

Jens Klingmann (#96 BMW M4 GT 3 EVO, Turner Motorsport, 5th place GTD): “Looking solely at the result, fifth place for Turner Motorsport was the best 24-hour race at Daytona. On the other hand, we entered to win. Therefore, we are very frustrated. Half an hour before the end of the race, we were in second place and had done many things right up to that point. When you then finish in fifth place, at first glance you tend to see the negatives, but we gave it our all, and that was the maximum we could achieve with the overall package. I am still proud that after the BMW M4 GT3 was already capable of winning in its first two dress rehearsals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, we also had the cars in the lead for a long time here and once again proved that the car has the potential to win races. This gives me a positive outlook; we will take this experience home, continue working, and then I think it will still be a very successful season.” Source: BMW Group