AWA’s Matt Bell fastest of Corvette Z06 GT3.R

IMSA

Jan 20

The group of five Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs set for the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona completed their three days of testing at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday with the four teams focused ahead to next weekend’s twice-around-the-clock classic.

The Rolex 24 marks the start of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the second season of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R program. After claiming 11 race wins and the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturers Championship in GTD PRO during 2024, optimism is high heading into Daytona.

The five Corvettes combined to complete 980 laps for nearly 3,500 miles – valuable track time considering there are only three practice sessions and qualifying across Thursday and Friday of the coming week before the green flag falls Saturday.

The gaps in both GTD PRO and GTD were razor-thin with all five of the Z06 GT3.Rs well entrenched in the top-10 of their respective classes.

GTD PRO class

Antonio Garcia with #3 Corvette – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports did set the pace among the GTD PRO Corvettes with the fourth-fastest time across the weekend in 1:48.242 (118.401 mph) during Saturday afternoon’s running. Alexander Sims and Dani Juncadella are Garcia’s co-drivers in #3 Corvette.

ANTONIO GARCIA, #3 OSHKOSH / MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “The most important thing from this weekend is definitely miles. You need miles and go toward your program for the race. For this race as always, it doesn’t really matter where you start. At some point, you’re going to cycle to the back of the field and then back to the front with the yellows. Unlike Le Mans where you have to be up front from Lap One, here you can sit back a little bit and stay out of trouble. But you need to know as much as possible your setups, how to react to track changes and different approaches. That was the goal last year, and we learned more about that this year.

“The GT class splits will be something that helps the overall racing this year. It was always a strange feeling where you were mixing fights in two different classes. I don’t think the GTD cars wanted us in that, so it’s nice that we are split now so we can have our own race and not interfere with each other. This is a good step forward.”

Connor Zilisch was the fastest of Ben Keating, Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen with #91 Corvette – Trackhouse by TF Sport in 1:48.435 (118.190 mph) – ninth-fastest in class.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN, #91 WEATHERTECH CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Things have been pretty simple so far. Learning the ABS and electronics has been the biggest thing. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve driven a car with electronics like this. Understanding and putting your trust in those is difficult, especially for myself. But you get into a flow reasonably quickly. So yeah, it’s all been good.

“The simulator session (before the Roar) was incredible. Having that opportunity to do that work, I’m very thankful for that now. The way that Chevrolet has integrated us from a part-timers perspective, they’ve treated us like we are full-time. They’ve been great and the Corvette drivers have been great. I’ve texted back and forth with Dani Juncadella a couple of times, and he’s been awesome. It’s what I’m used to in IndyCar. The Team Chevy family is full of good people.”

Tommy Milner in #4 Corvette – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports he co-drivers with Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone was 10th-fastest in class in 1:48.515 (118.103 mph)

TOMMY MILNER, #4 OSHKOSH / MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “This is the first opportunity in the offseason after the guys have had a chance to look at everything, to come with some new setup options and ideas. There were things that can be tidied up through the experience of last year. It’s the first chance to prove those things. Then it’s about miles, getting all three guys in the car and getting new guys who are on the team comfortable in their positions. You try to get yourself as prepared as possible not just for the Rolex but for the season. With Nico joining the team, it gives him a good chance to get comfortable again with the team and engineers, do some driver change practices and all that kind of stuff. It’s all a little bit of housekeeping things that you need to do and an opportunity to work on the car to make sure we have our Corvette as strong as we can have it coming into the race.”

GTD class

In GTD, AWA’s Matt Bell put the #13 Corvette fifth class with a 1:48.169 (118.481 mph) in Friday’s opening test for the quickest Corvette lap of the weekend. Bell’s co-drivers are Orey Fidani, Lars Kern and Marvin Kirchhöfer.

MATT BELL, #13 SABELT / SONIC / PROJEKT CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "It's like a different planet compared to last year. The team is a better spot, the Corvette is in a better spot and the team is in a better spot with the car. It's hugely positive on that side of things. I feel like we feel as well-prepared as we have been coming here, even the year we won it. From a preparation standpoint, I think we are as good as you could possibly get going into the Rolex 24."

Charlie Eastwood co-driving #36 Corvette – DXDT Racing with Pipo Derani, Alec Udell and Salih Yoluc was 10th fastest in class in 1:48.389 (118.240 mph).

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, #36 MOBIL 1 / SuCo CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We’re on-track with things. DXDT Racing, although its their first full-season IMSA race, they’ve got a lot of great people that have done a lot of IMSA races, especially this one. One of our guys, this is his 42nd Daytona! But then we also have the likes of Bryan Sellers, who has been amazing to work with and is teaching us a lot. We’re on top of the strategy side and are trying to put us on the right side of all the scenarios of what can potentially go wrong in the race or lose you the race… whether that’s doing tricky pit stops, managing the tires and managing the race itself. Twenty hours of the race will be making sure we have a clean car for the end. Hopefully we have enough pace to be there at the end.

“You definitely wouldn’t think this their first race in IMSA, I’ll guarantee you that. It’s a really, really nice bunch to work with, which helps because there are no egos or wrong-doings within the team. To have that attitude in that we’re all still learning in individual ways. Everything is going as well as it can at the minute.”

24 Hours of Daytona WeatherTech schedule

Thursday, January 23, 2025 WeatherTech Championship’s sessions are programmed as follow:

Practice 1 from 10:05 AM to 11:35 AM ET
Qualifying from 2:10 PM to 3:40 PM ET
Practice 2 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM ET

Friday, January 24, 2025 WeatherTech Championship’s sessions are programmed as follow:

Practice 3 from 11:20 AM to 12:20 AM ET

The Rolex 24 goes green at 1:40 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 25 with qualifying on Thursday, January 23. The race will feature live television segments on NBC and USA and flag-to-flag coverage on Peacock in the U.S., and IMSA.com for international viewers.

AWA’s Matt Bell fastest of Corvette Z06 GT3.R

GTD PRO class

GTD class

2024 winners aiming for another overall victory

Incredible consistency between works drivers