IMSA - 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona

[teamzr1]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The entry list for the 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona will include appropriately enough 61 cars.
The GTD-Pro class, the C8.R Corvette runs will have 7other cars in class

IMSA officials today announced that the No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG has been added to the entry list in the GT Daytona (GTD) class, bringing the class car count to 25.
The car is also expected to compete in the full IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup season, which features an eye-popping 57 entries for the four-race season in 2023.

“Having 61 cars for the 61st running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona seems only natural,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “After we previously announced a 60-car capacity for the field last month and knowing that we received more than 70 entries, our IMSA team regrouped and eventually determined that we could accommodate one more entry to match our field size from last year. This is shaping up to be a Rolex 24 and a 2023 IMSA season for the ages.”

With 25 entries from nine different manufacturers, the GTD field will be the largest of the five classes competing in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The race also features the much-heralded debut of the new Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) hybrid-powered prototype class, which will feature nine entries from four manufacturers.

The factory supported GTD PRO class will include eight entries from seven manufacturers, with 10 cars slated to compete in the LMP2 class and nine cars competing in the LMP3 class.

The green flag will fly on the 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona shortly after 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 28 with live NBC network television coverage carrying the start as well as the thrilling conclusion of the race beginning at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 29.
Additional portions of the race will be televised live on the USA network, with full, flag-to-flag streaming available in the U.S. on Peacock.

 

[Oneball]

Leading the class at the moment

 

[teamzr1]

With just about 4 hours into the 24 hours

 

[teamzr1]

After 6 Hours, standings

 

[teamzr1]

Heading into 7th hours and now 2 LMDh hybrids with electrics problems

The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 lost 20 laps after being taken behind the wall to solve electrical issues during the sixth hour of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Porsche’s challenge in the opening race of the new GTP era was dented by the setback for its No. 7 machine, which is shared by Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr and Michael Christensen.

It is the second LMDh-spec car to encounter a significant problem, after the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 developed an issue with its spec hybrid system in the first hour.
Porsche Penske Motorsport changed the battery of its No. 7 car, performing the operation in 35 minutes.

With a quarter of the race completed, Simon Pagenaud pitted the leading Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 which handed the position to Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura driver Filipe Albuquerque.
As the leader at the six-hour mark, WTR Andretti provisionally scored five points for the Michelin Endurance Cup.

Pipo Derani ran second aboard the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-LMDh, with Helio Castroneves slotting into third for MSR after taking over the No. 60 Acura from Simon Pagenaud.

Aside from the No. 7 Porsche’s electrical dramas, Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 01 Cadillac lost minor ground due to an on-track.
An LMP3 competitor hit Scott Dixon from behind as the New Zealander slowed in avoidance of the spinning Tower Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson, which had in turn rotated after contact with the MSR Acura.

TDS Racing held a one-two in the LMP2 class at the one-quarter timestamp, with Rinus Veekay in the No. 11 Oreca running just under half a minute clear of teammate Job van Uitert in the sister No. 35 machine.
Similarly, Aston Martin team The Heart of Racing held sway in the GT ranks, as Ross Gunn led the GTD Pro class and Marco Sorensen held the top spot in GTD.

Gunn powered past Tommy Milner’s No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD on the run down to the Le Mans chicane to hit the front in the Pro division.

Milner also lost a place to Jules Gounon in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, while GTD contenders Sorensen and Maximilian Goetz driving for Team Korthoff Motorsports sat between them and Gunn’s No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

 

[teamzr1]

Cadillacs were running 1-2 as the Rolex 24 At Daytona heads into the ninth hour, Alex Lynn taking the lead in the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing V-LMDh from Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Action Express Racing car toward the end of the hour. It was the 19th lead change in the race.
The No. 31 has reportedly lost telemetry, however, meaning the drivers will have to verbally report energy usage back to the pit stand.

Brendon Hartley ran third in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura, with Nick Tandy fourth in the No. 6 Porsche.
The racing has been hard-fought and traffic has continued to play a part, Hartley putting two wheels on the grass at one point while passing lapped cars.

The GTD PRO leaders are beginning to flock together.
Heart of Racing remains out front with David Pittard still driving the No. 23, but Jack Hawksworth in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F is beginning to apply pressure.

Class leaders after the eighth hour:

GTP: Pipo Derani, No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-LMDh
LMP2: Ben Keating, No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA
LMP3: Rasmus Lindh, No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier
GTD PRO: David Pittard, No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage
GT3 GTD: Mikael Grenier, No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3

 

[teamzr1]

Press Release:

No. 3 Corvette C8.R moves toward the front in GTD PRO in opening hours of Rolex 24

CORVETTE RACING AT DAYTONA: Eight-Hour Update
No. 3 Corvette C8.R moves toward the front in GTD PRO in opening hours of Rolex 24

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 28, 2023) – Corvette Racing opened the Rolex 24 At Daytona in strong style Saturday as the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R spent ample time out front during the first eight hours.

Antonio Garcia was in the middle of a triple stint in his second round in the GTD PRO challenger. All three drivers Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Tommy Milner double-stinted in their initial rotations in the Corvette. As the clock moved past the eight-hour mark, Garcia ran fourth in class and fifth of all GTD cars.

The No. 3 C8.R started fourth in GTD PRO and 11th among the GTD category. Garcia wasted little time in moving forward and gained eight overall positions and ran third in GTD PRO by the time he made his first stop shy of the one-hour mark.
He continued strong pace in the daytime and moved to second in class before he stopped to swap over Taylor.

The No. 3 Corvette benefitted from a full-course yellow just after Taylor got in the car, and he moved into the lead shortly after the restart. He drove just shy of eight hours before Milner drove in the race for the first time. The pace of some of the competing cars increased in the dark and colder temperatures, but Milner kept the Corvette clean and in contention as the driver rotation began again.

Corvette Racing’s next update will come at the 16-hour mark.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

"It's been good so far. The pace was excellent. I don't know who was starting in every car. It's tough to judge who was driving and how aggressive you could be. I tried to be careful on the start, but lost the right-hand mirror anyway. The pace seems to be wonderful. I was able to pass people; the infield seems OK and the slipstream seems to be doing the job to get by.
Of course, once you get to the front, the slipstream goes away, and you're pretty much stuck with that you have.
But it looks pretty good, but there are many hours to go.

"Coming into the race, we didn't know the pace we would have. At the start, I kind of pushed and was a little bit aggressive. I could get closer and closer to other cars and could pass them. That was something new compared to last year when we were basically just hanging around on the oval. It's good to know we can pass cars.
Let's see, it's still too early into the race, but we have pace, and we are up there. Now it's time to start tuning everything we have toward tomorrow, and let's see where we are. Tomorrow is a different day, and it's supposed to be hotter, so we'll see where everybody stands."

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

"The stint was OK. I think we were expected pace-wise. We don't have the outright pace to compete with the top guys. I think we cycled through the front through some strategy and some slower guys getting in the car. We fought to the front in my last stint.
The LMP3 cars on the restarts are as we thought. I was able to make some moves and pass some LMP3s to gap myself to the GTD field, and that helped us keep that lead through the stint. The name of the game right now is staying out of trouble, which is difficult in traffic, but so far so good."

MORE ON THE OPENING RUN:

"So far, so good. Antonio was able to get up to P3 in his stint, and then we were able to cycle to the lead and stay there for a couple of hours.
The competition is tough. We don't have the fastest car right now, but I think through pit stop cycles and strategy, we can stay out front.
There's a long way to go. Hopefully, come tomorrow morning, we'll be in a good spot."

DEALING WITH GTP TRAFFIC AND COMFORT LEVEL:

"It's not bad. I think most of those guys are somewhat conscious as opposed to previous years with the cars maybe not as reliable. So you can tell they're a little more hesitant, which is nice for us. The closing rates at places like the Kink are a little faster, but nothing too crazy. It's usually the LMP2s or LMP3s that kind of cause more issues for us."

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

The first stint for me went OK. We were close to the front when I got in, but dropped back a little bit throughout. My first stint was difficult; the tire pressure was a little too high, so that was tricky at first. The second was a lot better.
Right now, the name of the game is keeping the car in one piece and making sure we get the strategy right. We’ll see how Antonio does in his run. It seems like we were quite quick in the warmer temperatures and maybe not so much in the cooler stints, so we’ll see how it goes through the night.

RETURNING TO IMSA:

“I’m back with Brian (Hoye) again. I’ve spent a lot of years with Brian as my crew chief, so that feels very normal. I’ve been with this program for many years; I think this is my 13th season with Corvette Racing. We have a lot of new faces in some ways, but some familiar ones as well. It feels like home, no matter who’s on the car and who’s engineering the car.
The formula at Corvette Racing is shared among everyone. It doesn’t matter who’s putting on tires, who’s putting in the fuel, who’s engineering or who’s driving. We’re all trying to do the same job, and that’s to put our Corvette out front.”

 

[teamzr1]

Jack Hawksworth had the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 in the GTD PRO lead for the first time, with Daniel Juncadella (No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG), Antonio Garcia (No. 3 Corvette) and Alex Riberas (No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage) in pursuit, no GTD cars in their way.
Sean Creech Motorsports has cycled to the front of LMP3, Nico Pino now in the No. 33 Ligier, as the No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier has slid backwards.

Class leaders after the ninth hour:

GTP: Renger van der Zande, No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac
LMP2: Alex Quinn, No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA
LMP3: Nico Pino, No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier
GTD PRO: Jack Hawksworth, No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3
GTD: Kyle Marcelli, No. 93 Racers Edge with WTR Acura NSX GT3 Evo22

 

[teamzr1]

17 hours completed, C8.R still running near the top

In the GT classes, it’s the same faces with the No.79 WeatherTech Mercedes-AMG GT3 leading in GT Daytona PRO and the No.57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 leading in GT Daytona.
The No.3 Corvette C8.R, currently second, and the No.32 Team Korthoff Mercedes-AMG GT3, currently third, are both looking to join the conversation for the lead of their respective classes.

Class leaders after the 17th hour:

GTP: Renger van der Zande, No.01 Cadillac Racing V-LMDh
LMP2: Esteban Gutierrez, No.04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA 07
LMP3: Joao Barbosa, No.33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier JS P320
GTD PRO: Jules Gounon, No.79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
GTD: Indy Dontje, No.57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3

Chip Ganassi Racing ran 1-2 with nine hours remaining in the Rolex 24 at Daytona following delays for the pair of Acura ARX-06s and a trip to the garage for the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-LMDh.
Sebastien Bourdais put the No. 01 Cadillac V-LMDh out front, passing the No. 6 Porsche 963 of Nick Tandy just prior to the end of the 14th hour.

Bourdais held a 0.794-second lead over the sister No. 02 CGR entry of Alex Lynn, with Tandy having dropped to third although was due a pit stop.
Drama for the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac saw Pipo Derani slow on track prior to having limped his way to the garage with left-rear suspension damage after contact with a GTD car. Derani had been running fourth at the time.

It came after both Acura GTP class entries have faced lengthened pit stops for oil flushes, due to fuel seeping into the oil systems, according to an Acura spokesperson.
The pole-sitting No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing entry, which has been the fastest car on track, made at least three oil flushes since the start of the race, including twice in the last three hours.
Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s Acura, meanwhile, made a brief trip to the garage in Hour 13 to fix an oil filler bracket, then performed an oil flush in pit lane with Louis Deletraz at the wheel.

The WTR Andretti entry dropped two laps behind the leading GTP entries as a result of the extra service as well as a pit lane penalty for working on the car while under a closed pit.
The Heart of Racing’s Roman De Angelis took over the GTD class lead following a hard-fought battle with the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Philip Ellis.
The two GTD entries, which ran ahead of the GTD Pro pace-setting No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes of Dani Juncadella, benefitted from a drive-through penalty to the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes of Maxi Goetz for jumping the restart following the race’s seventh full course caution.

Magnus Racing’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 also dropped the running order due to a stop-and-hold plus 60-second penalty for running the red light at pit exit.
An accident by Hugh Plumb in the No. 64 Team TGM/TF Sport Aston Martin brought out the most recent yellow in the 14th hour, resulting in a lengthy period to retrieve the GTD Pro class entry.

The No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca 07 Gibson of Ben Hanley led LMP2, while LMP3 was topped by the No. 17 AWA Duqueine D08 Nissan of Nico Varrone.

 

[teamzr1]

No. 3 Corvette loses, gains back laps, positions in fast-paced middle eight hours

An up-and-down middle eight hours saw Corvette Racing re-emerge from two laps down and back into contention for a class victory as daylight approached for the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R ran third in the GT Daytona PRO (GTD PRO) class and fifth among all GTD runners after 16 hours in the season-opening race for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

The three Corvette Racing drivers – Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Tommy Milner – each drove triple-stints as they rotated through the C8.R for the second time.
Garcia, who started the race Saturday, worked with the Corvette Racing engineers to improve tire performance through his three stints. By the time he handed over to Taylor a little before the 10-hour mark, the C8.R was in a better state than when Garcia took over, as Taylor left the pitlane in the class lead thanks to a solid stop by the Corvette pit crew.

Things began to look dire near the 10.5-hour mark when the No. 3 Corvette suffered a left-rear flat tire just before Taylor came on the Turn 1 speedway banking while running second in class. He nursed the car back to pitlane even as the tire came off the wheel before the Corvette made it back to pit entry.
The team quickly changed tires but had to stop a lap later to change the Corvette’s rear brakes due to damage from the flat tire. It dropped the No. 3 C8.R to two laps down.

Critically, Taylor was able to stay ahead of the GTD PRO leader and not lose another lap before a full-course yellow just before the halfway point of the race. The Corvette Racing crew got a lap back during a pass-around before stopping for fuel and tires, and then the crew changed the front brakes a lap later to return the Corvette to full strength – and the lead lap – with just over 11-and-a-half hours to go.

Taylor gave way to Milner from the sixth position in class about an hour later, with the Corvette rejoining in fifth. Less than an hour into his opening stint, the race’s eighth full-course caution drew Milner closer to the front. He ran third in class and seven seconds from the lead as the race entered the final eight hours.

3/3) We were able to get a wave around to get our lap back (while also sneaking in a front brake change).
Since then, we've been working our way up through the pack and now sit third as the sun starts to rise.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“Things are still not bad. I don’t know where the pace will become the morning time. Temperatures will be completely different. So far the pace has been good. Overall, everyone is pushing hard, I believe. I’m sure that will lead to some mistakes.
But we’re almost halfway through and let’s see. We’re still up there and that’s good. Hopefully it comes our way a little bit. But I’m not complaining. The car feels decent. We are up front, and that’s where we need to be.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“Oh my gosh, leading for a while to begin with, and then we lost a tire and two laps.
The guys made some kind of crazy call timing-wise to where we could do a brake change and not lose any time.
Then we got a lucky yellow to get back on the lead lap and new front brakes too. It was a wild stint to go two laps down and then back on the lead lap to stay in contention. The car is still good and is in one piece.
The name of the game is still staying out of trouble. Hopefully we can make up a couple more spots now this morning and be in a good spot come sunrise.”

Evolution of the Corvette during the night: “The driving style feels kind of weird. I think the car in the cold doesn’t like to be pushed on too hard and leaned on too hard. I think it’s a driving style in the way our car works the tire. When the sun comes back up,
Antonio was really strong at the start of the race when it was warm, so hopefully that bodes well for us.”

19 Hours standings

 

[teamzr1]

20 Hours completed and C8.R now holding first place for some time

Up front, the No. 01 Chip Ganasssi Racing Cadillac continues to extend its lead over the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura two of three cars on the lead lap at the moment, the No. 02 Cadillac still in third. Scott Dixon remains at the wheel of the No. 1, while Simon Pagenaud is now in the No. 60.

GTD PRO is still a fight between Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Corvette and Daniel Juncadella in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG. Ben Barnicoat and the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RCF remains on the same lap, but have a large gap to Juncadella.
It’s Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG battling in GTD, the No. 27 Heart of Racing Vantage driven by Darren Turner holding the lead over Winward Racing’s No. 57 (Philip Ellis) and looking quite strong.

“The AMG is good on long pace, but it seems the Astons are a little better on new tires,” said Winward Racing driver Daniel Morad.

Class leaders after the 20th hour:

GTP: Scott Dixon, No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-LMDh
LMP2: Ben Hanley, No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing with APR ORECA
LMP3: Thomas Merrill, No 17 AWA Duqueine
GTD PRO: Jordan Taylor, No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette
GTD: Darren Turner, No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage

 

[teamzr1]

The lead changed in the GTD Pro class just after the restart, as Jules Gounon beat Tommy Milner into the Le Mans chicane to put the WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo ahead of the factory No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD

 

[teamzr1]

Bummer as 3 times during yellows Garcia goes into first place and when green flag waves,
you blink and each time he ends up in 3rd place.
Cost, ends race in second place :-(

GTD PRO came down to a fight between the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG, the No. 3 Corvette and the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus.
Prior to the final restart, it was a flurry of position changes between the three, but in the end Maro Engel brought the WeatherTech Racing home first to claim the victory with Cooper MacNeil, Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon.
Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Tommy Milner took second for Corvette,
with Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat and Mike Conway third for Lexus.

 

[Oneball]

They’re right there though even after the puncture and brake change so it bodes well for this year. Seems like theyre on top of tyres now too, which was the issue last year.

 

[teamzr1]

Corvette Racing started its 25th season of competition with a runner-up class finish Sunday in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Tommy Milner teamed up for the second-place GT Daytona (GTD) PRO result in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

After a drive back from two laps down in the middle of the night due to a flat left-rear tire and a rear brake change, the No. 3 C8.R moved back to not just contention for the Rolex victory, but to the lead just before sunrise Sunday morning.

The chaotic events of the middle eight hours looked like they would give way with a caution-free run of more than five hours into mid-morning. Taylor drove a double-stint for his final laps in the car and led the class multiple times.
At that point and with a little more than three hours to go, Milner took over from Taylor and drove two stints of hard, intense racing that saw the Corvette and two other competitors swap the GTD PRO lead.

Milner gave way to Garcia for an even more chaotic final one hour, 45 minutes. The top three cars – the 3 Corvette, the 14 Lexus and 79 Mercedes – swapped back and forth through three full-course caution periods in the span of an hour and 20 minutes before a final 26-minute run to the flag with Garcia coming home second in class.

An up-and-down middle eight hours saw Corvette Racing re-emerge from two laps down and back into contention for a class victory as daylight arrived Sunday. The three Corvette Racing drivers each drove triple-stints through the darkness as they rotated through the C8.R for the second time.

Garcia, who started the race Saturday, worked with the Corvette Racing engineers to improve tire performance through his three stints. By the time he handed over to Taylor a little before the 10-hour mark, the C8.R was in a better state than when Garcia took over, as Taylor left the pitlane in the class lead thanks to a solid stop by the Corvette pit crew.

Things began to look dire near the 10.5-hour mark when the No. 3 Corvette suffered a left-rear flat tire just before Taylor came on the Turn 1 speedway banking while running second in class. He nursed the car back to pitlane even as the tire came off the wheel before the Corvette made it back to pit entry.
The team quickly changed tires, but had to stop a lap later to change the Corvette’s rear brakes due to damage from the flat tire. It dropped the No. 3 C8.R to two laps down.

Teammates Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, and Tommy Milner secured a second-place finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. It feels great to be back, see you all at Sebring in March!
Critically, Taylor was able to stay ahead of the GTD PRO leader and not lose another lap before a full-course yellow just before the halfway point of the race. The Corvette Racing crew got a lap back during a pass-around before stopping for fuel and tires, and then the crew changed the front brakes a lap later to return the Corvette to full strength and the lead lap with just over 11-and-a-half hours to go.

Taylor gave way to Milner from the sixth position in class about an hour later, with the Corvette rejoining in fifth. Less than an hour into his opening stint, the race’s eighth full-course caution drew Milner closer to the front. He ran third in class and seven seconds from the lead as the race entered the final eight hours.
Corvette Racing’s next event in the WeatherTech Championship is the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 18.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R FINISHED SECOND IN GTD PRO:

“P2 at Daytona it was a bit crazy out there. With the P3 cars ahead of us, it was a lottery, especially in turns One and Three.
Everybody was getting super crazy. When you have a car with ABS, you can just go for it, and that’s what people are doing. But we did all we could. That was all we had. A lot of times, I was very surprised to be where we were. We seemed to be good on fuel, which seemed to be our only chance.
We just didn’t have the outright pace.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R FINISHED SECOND IN GTD PRO:

“The Rolex 24 is always kind of a stand-alone race for us every year. If you look at our race as a whole, we had some adversity during the night, but came from two laps down. Everyone executed well.
We were in the hunt most of the way. We didn’t have the outright pace, but it was a true Corvette Racing race where we battled our way back to second.
We started with a third-place car and finished second, so that’s a win in our book.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R FINISHED SECOND IN GTD PRO:

“Based on how everything was going in practice and in the Roar, I think P2 in the end is quite good. When you have a chance to fight for the win like that and for us to run up front for so much of the race, to miss it by that much at the end is tough.

We knew going in that the Mercedes guys were quick, the Aston was quick, the Lexus was quick. It was a great job by the team to persevere and to keep pushing all throughout the race. My teammates did a great job. We were just missing a little bit of pace at the end.
It was a good race for all three of us. We were racing super-hard and pushing super-hard. Furthermore, we just came up a little short.”

 

[teamzr1]

Corvette Racing didn’t have the “outright pace” to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona according to drivers Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia, who, along with Tommy Milner, settled for a runner-up finish in GTD Pro.

The No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD came back from a two-lap deficit to lead the race in class, totaling 201 laps up front in the around-the-clock enduro.
It came amid in a three-way battle in the closing stages that included the eventual class-winning No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Maro Engel as well as Jack Hawksworth, who finished third in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3.

The cars, mixed with the leading GTD class entries, swapped back and forth through three full-course caution periods,
although, Garcia was unable to match the pace of Engel in the final 26-minute run to the checkered flag, finishing four seconds behind.
“Based on how everything was going in practice and in the Roar, I think P2 in the end is quite good,” Milner said.

When you have a chance to fight for the win like that and for us to run up front for so much of the race, to miss it by that much at the end is tough.
We knew going in that the Mercedes guys were quick, the Aston was quick, the Lexus was quick.
It was a great job by the team to persevere and to keep pushing all throughout the race.
“My teammates did a great job. We were just missing a little bit of pace at the end. It was a good race for all three of us. We were racing super-hard and pushing super-hard. We just came up a little short.”

The Pratt Miller-run factory squad lost ground overnight after a left-rear puncture for Taylor led to a rear brake change due to the damage caused to the rear of the car, dropping them out of initial contention.
“If you look at our race as a whole, we had some adversity during the night but came from two laps down,” Taylor said. Everyone executed well.
We were in the hunt most of the way. We didn’t have the outright pace, but it was a true Corvette Racing race where we battled our way back to second.
“We started with a third-place car and finished second, so that’s a win in our book.”

Garcia, meanwhile, noted the challenges of traffic in the 61-car starting field, particularly interaction with LMP3 machinery.
“It was a bit crazy out there. With the P3 cars ahead of us, it was a lottery, especially in Turns 1 and 3,” he said. “Everybody was getting super crazy.
When you have a car with ABS, you can just go for it, and that’s what people are doing.

But we did all we could. That was all we had. A lot of times, I was very surprised to be where we were.
“We seemed to be good on fuel, which seemed to be our only chance. We just didn’t have the outright pace.”
Hawksworth: Third for Vasser Sullivan Lexus Was “All She Had”

Vasser Sullivan and Lexus scored its first Rolex 24 podium finish in GTD Pro, with Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat and Toyota Gazoo Racing driver on-loan Mike Conway combining to lead 76 laps in class.
“The Vasser Sullivan team has really been flawless,” Hawksworth said. “We had good stops, great strategy, and good reliability with our Lexus RC F GT3. The Lexus worked really well, and I think that was all she had today.

We were lacking the top speed compared to the other cars who finished ahead of us, but in the infield we were strong.
Mike and Ben drove absolutely fantastic and Vasser Sullivan guys on pit wall made all the right calls and pit stops were strong.
Just an excellent, strong race.
“I hate the opportunity to miss out, but honestly there was no way for us to have anything better than a third place today, and I’m happy with that.”

 

[teamzr1]

Here is the last 6 hours of the Rolex 24 hour race