PRESS RELEASE:

CORVETTE RACING AT DETROIT: Corvettes Qualify 1-2… Again!

Garcia puts No. 3 Z06 GT3.R on class pole with Milner second in shadow of GM RenCen
 

DETROIT (May 31, 2024) – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports will roll off 1-2 in class for the hometown race for the team and Chevrolet after Friday’s 15-minute qualifying session for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic.


Antonio Garcia captured pole position in the GTD PRO class in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R with a lap of 1:09.092 (85.711 mph) around the 1.654-mile, nine-turn street circuit in downtown Detroit. He was 0.336 seconds clear of teammate Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette.


It’s the second consecutive pole position in IMSA competition for the Z06 GT3.R following a pole for Nicky Catsburg – Milner’s teammate – earlier this month at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The pair of yellow GTD PRO Corvettes also started first and second at Laguna Seca with Milner and Catsburg going on to finish third in class for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R’s first podium.


"Congratulations to Antonio Garcia on his pole-winning lap in GTD PRO with the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R on the streets of Detroit – the second consecutive pole position for our new Corvette GT3 entry in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship," said Scott Bell, Vice President, Global Chevrolet. "Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports continues to show the performance capabilities of the Z06 GT3.R, which is a testament to the work of the team, and our Chevrolet and GM engineering groups.”


Pre-race work at Chevrolet’s Driver-in-the-Loop simulator paid immediate dividends in each of Friday’s two practice sessions. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports engineers leaned on the learnings of Chevrolet’s NTT INDYCAR program to help establish a baseline for a handful of sessions on Chevy’s Driver in the Loop simulator.


That helped with the results in pre-qualifying running. Alexander Sims, who shares the No. 3 Corvette with Garcia, went fastest in GTD PRO during the opening 90-minute session. Milner paced the two-hour afternoon practice in the field’s final track time before qualifying.

The Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 1. The race will air live on USA Network with full streaming coverage also on Peacock. IMSA Radio will air the race at IMSA.com along XM 206, SiriusXM Online 996.


CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – GTD PRO POLE-WINNER: “I think it’s great. That’s the first goal we had - to get as soon as possible up front. So having another Corvette one-two really helps with that. It's nice to have two yellow Corvettes up front around these buildings. It means the whole team is running really, really good. We just need to keep everything together. Let’s hope it’s not like Laguna where we went from up there to somewhere else. So we just need to be cautious and we need to stay on track, for sure. There’s probably going to be some yellows, too. We just need to be smart. That's it."

Controlling the race from up front: "In a place like this, where it’s almost impossible to pass, it’s really good to have track position, for sure. But now we get to the point where maybe a ton of people roll the dice and maybe the whole thing changes. We've seen these things at these kinds of race tracks many, many times. The fastest race car doesn’t always win. We just need to play smart and that’s all we can do. If everything falls as it should, I think it would be great to have a Corvette one-two around the RenCen.”


TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R - QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTD PRO: “I’m definitely happy. I would like to have been P1, but I just didn’t put the laps together. I’m curious to see what the best sectors would have been. I don’t think I had quite enough for pole with Antonio going fast again on his last lap. But overall I’m happy. It’s great to be here in Detroit, in the shadow of the RenCen and having both Corvettes on the front row it’s great. That’s the first part of the job done. The second part is to go win this thing tomorrow. We have two really great cars. The guys are working really hard and well right now. As long as we do our job tomorrow we should be in a good position."

Race outlook: “It will be a challenge, no question about it. With the Lexus and the Porsche behind us, both those cars and guys are quick, obviously. Some are more aggressive than others. Passing is hard here so we’ll have to be prepared for how they normally race and be prepared to race as hard as they normally do.”


Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick

 
 
Detroit Grand Prix
May 31 - June 1, 2024
Detroit Street Circuit
DURATION: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
1.7 miles - 9 corners

Television & Online Broadcast:
Entry by Class:
GTP  (10)
GTD PRO (11)
 
 
Qualifying -Watch live IMSA TV
https://imsatv.imsa.com/
Peacock Streaming
May 31, 2024,  WeatherTech Championship:
GTD Pro:  4:40-4:55 pm ET
GTP: 5:55-5:20 pm ET
 
 
Television/Online Broadcast:
Saturday, June 1, 2024
TV Coverage Eastern Time
 
USA channel:  3:00 pm to 5:00 pm ET
 
Peacock streaming: 3:00 pm ET to 5:00 pm ET
 
 INTERNATIONAL:  IMSA TV 3:05 pm to 4:50 pm ET
http://imsatv.imsa.com/
 
 
Onboard car cameras:
 http://www.imsa.com/camera/imsatv

LIVE TIMING:
http://scoring.imsa.com/
 
 
Live Timing for mobile device:
http://scoring.imsa.com/mobile.html
 
 
RADIO:
1) Streaming on IMSA TV on IMSA.com & RadioLeMans.com  http://radiolemans.0157.org/nplayer.php
2) SirusXM 206
3) SirusXM online 996
 
 
PIT NOTES:
http://twitter.com/    @IMSA, @IMSAlive, @detroitgp, @PrattMillerMS

 
Entry List: https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/upload ... it_PreEvent_EntryList.pdf
 
 
TICKET INFO:  https://detroitgp.com/tickets/
 
 
Corvette Corral Tickets:  Note:  Corvette Corral vehicle passes are sold out. If you would like to be added to our waitlist should inventory become available   Sign Up Here
https://tickets.detroitgp.com/buy-tickets/form-car-corral

 
Event Guide
 https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/upload ... alScheduleandSR_52224.pdf

https://detroitgp.com/eventinfo/Schedule-of-Events/55234
 
http://www.visitdetroit.com/
 
https://detroitgp.com/track/About-Belle-Isle/66563
 
 
Pit Lane Assignments
https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/upload ... -Pit-Lane-Assignments.pdf


Spotters Guide:
https://spotterguides.com/portfolio/24_imsa/
 
 
Track and Event Maps:
https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/upload ... oitGrandPrix_TrackMap.pdf

https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/upload ... 024_Detroit_EventMaps.pdf
 
 
WEATHER:
https://weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/l/Belle+Isle+Park+868:19:US
 
http://www.racecastweather.com/
 
 
Hotels:
https://visitdetroit.com/
 
 
Corvette Corral
See below

PRESS RELEASE:
CORVETTE RACING AT DETROIT: Home Sweet Home

First event on downtown streets of Detroit for GTD PRO squad, Corvette Z06 GT3.R
 

DETROIT (May 28, 2024) – Chevrolet and Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports are in their own backyard this week for the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic – the first appearance in the Motor City for the program since 2021.


The pair of yellow Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs are part of an 11-car field in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTD PRO class. Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg will team in the No. 4 Corvette and are coming off the first podium finish for the Z06 GT3.R in the last GTD PRO race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.


Of note, Milner also was part of the Corvette’s first victory – two weeks ago at Circuit of The Americas for DXDT Racing in GT World Challenge America. Not to be outdone, Catsburg drove the Z06 GT3.R to its first IMSA pole at Laguna Seca.


In the No. 3 Corvette, Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims sit fifth in GTD PRO points and just ahead of their teammates. The pair was in prime position to contend at Laguna Seca before an ill-fated safety car that came out on Garcia’s in-lap barely an hour into the race.


Milner and Garcia are the only Corvette drivers who have contested Detroit, albeit on the Belle Isle circuit. They were part of a non-points GT Le Mans race in which the Corvette Racing factory team brought two Corvette C8.Rs to the island. Before that, and owing to the closeness of the Detroit race and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Corvette team’s two other appearances on Belle Isle came in 2007 and 2008 as part of the GT1 class.


The downtown Detroit circuit, which runs around the Renaissance Center and the global headquarters of General Motors, is the shortest on the calendar at nine turns and 1.654 miles around. Neither GTD PRO nor the GTP categories raced at Detroit last year (it was the same weekend as the Le Mans Test Day), so very few drivers in the field have any experience at the circuit.


To help the team prepare, Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports engineers leaned on the learnings of Chevrolet’s NTT INDYCAR program to help establish a baseline for a handful of sessions on Chevy’s Driver in the Loop simulator. That should allow the Corvette team to roll right into its setup program to be in the best possible position for Friday’s qualifying and Saturday’s race.

 
The Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 1. The race will air live on USA Network with full streaming coverage also 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: “We want to do well in Detroit. For sure the target is to win. We are running around the RenCen, so obviously it will be very important if we can win there. So I’m looking forward to it It’s a new track for me and most of the other drivers. I had a chance to do a few laps in the simulator and it looks very stressful. But I’m sure it will bring a lot of action and tight racing. I don’t know the weather is going to be, but it will be good to our own street race because I did miss racing at Long Beach this year. So I am looking forward to getting back to a street track.”


ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We did an initial run on the simulator some time ago – just to get a read on it and check to see if the track model was working and behaving itself. The Corvette felt reasonably sensible around there. It’s definitely a very bumpy circuit, as you would expect with a street track. A bit of undulation, couple of rises and slightly blind corners. It’s a busy little track and not a huge amount of speed anywhere outside the long straight. Overtaking will be pretty tough. It’s going to be pretty crazy with the GTPs. I’ve not been to Detroit before and didn’t do the previous Detroit races. It will be a cool thing for all of us. It will be nice to be there and to have a completely new experiences. Some of those are few and far between for me, so I’m looking forward to it.”


TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’ve driven in it in person in a rental car and some sim work also. It’s exciting to be in the downtown part of Detroit. Racing in the shadow of the RenCen is very cool. It’s going to be a challenging race track, for sure. It’s short but like any street track, there are a lot of places where you can get yourself in trouble. It’ll be a lot to learn as it’s a basically a new track for everybody. As with any street tracks we’ve done in the past, it’s great to be in the city and on top of everything that is happening around the race. Detroit does some unique things with free viewing areas for fans, which is something you don’t see anywhere in the world. I’m excited to go back to Detroit.”


NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I raced at Belle Isle in a Lamborghini in World Challenge many years ago. It was a cool track then. This is a home race for the team, so it makes it extra cool to go to. Some families of the crew will be out, and we’ll have some things to do around the race as well. The added pressure of it being a home race will for sure make it a very tough event. In IMSA, the practice times are always quite limited. On a street course, that makes it extra hard. It’s hard to explore the limits there. On other tracks you can go over the limit and dial it back a little bit, and then you’ve found your speed quickly. Hopefully it will be a weekend of more positive results for the Corvette.”



2024 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Points

GTD PRO Drivers Standings

1. Laurin Heinrich/Seb Priaulx – 981

2. Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 925

3. Bryan Sellers/Madison Snow – 888

4. Mario Farnbacher/Ross Gunn – 867

5. Alexander Sims/Antonio Garcia – 812

6. Nicky Catsburg/Tommy Milner – 808

 

GTD PRO Teams Standings

1. No. 77 AO Racing – 981

2. No. 14 Vasser Sullivan – 925

3. No. 1 Paul Miller Racing – 888

4. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team - 867

5. No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – 812

6. No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – 808

 

GTD PRO Manufacturers Standings

1. Porsche – 1003

1. Lexus – 947

3. Aston Martin – 880

4. Chevrolet – 877

5. McLaren – 851

 

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

 

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

 

GTD Manufacturers Standings

1. Mercedes-AMG – 1457

2. Porsche – 1208

3. Lamborghini – 1199

4. Lexus – 1178

5. Aston Martin – 1059

6. Chevrolet – 1026

 

CORVETTE RACING BY THE NUMBERS: Detroit

• 2: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Detroit – Corvette C6.R (2007-08) and Corvette C8.R/Z06 GT3.R (2020-present)

• 3: Wins in Detroit for Corvette Racing in as many starts – 2007 and 2008 in GT1, and 2021 in GTLM (although it was a non-points event)

• 8: Victories at Detroit for Chevrolet in IMSA competition. In addition to three wins for Corvette Racing, Corvette Daytona Prototypes won overall each year on Belle Isle from 2012-2016

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

• 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

• 197: 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

• 293: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999

• 378,689.70: 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 Detroit (all previously on Belle Isle)

2007

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 1st in GT1

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Olivier Beretta – 2nd in GT1



2008

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Olivier Beretta – 1st in GT1



2021 (unofficial race)

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 1st in GTLM


Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick