IMSA Laguna Seca This Weekend

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The two-race western swing for Corvette Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship wraps up this weekend with the season’s first full-field sprint race for the three Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3.R teams.

The 36-car Monterey SportsCar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will feature four of the GT3-spec Corvettes in the series’ two GT classes. After AWA and DXDT Racing contested a 100-minute contest in Long Beach for GTP and GTD, the GTD PRO field including two Corvettes from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports rejoins the grid as the Corvette Racing program looks to extend its lengthy history of success at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn circuit on the doorstep of the Pacific Ocean:

1. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – GTD PRO: Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims (No. 3 Corvette); Nicky Catsburg, Tommy Milner (No. 4 Corvette)
2. AWA – GTD: Matt Bell, Orey Fidani (No. 13 Corvette)
3. DXDT Racing – GTD: Alec Udell, Robert Wickens (No. 36 Corvette)

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca is one of three tracks – Sebring and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta later this year are the others to play host to Corvette Racing entries every season since the program’s debut in 1999. The track record in Monterey is impressive: eight class victories for Corvette Racing since 2004 and 12 total manufacturer wins for Chevrolet.

PRE-EVENT NOTES

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports: The GTD PRO squad is making its 27th straight appearance at Laguna Seca in search of a ninth race win. Of note, Antonio Garcia and Tommy Milner each have three victories apiece in Monterey with Alexander Sims recording one. Garcia and Nicky Catsburg each have a pole position.

The PRO-class Corvettes qualified first and second in class a year ago, led by Catsburg’s pole run. He and Milner went on to finish third for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R’s first podium result. Garcia and Sims started the season strong with a runner-up GTD PRO finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The pairing finished fifth a year ago at Laguna Seca after an unfortunate early-race yellow that cost the No. 3 Corvette track position.

AWA Racing: Matt Bell and Orey Fidani have the one Corvette victory of the IMSA season at the Rolex 24 in the No. 13 Corvette. This also is the team’s final race ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a berth the squad earned via Fidani’s Bob Akin Award going to the top points-scoring Bronze driver in GTD – at the end of last season.

That road to Le Mans began a year ago at Laguna Seca with the first event Akin Award for Fidani, Bell and AWA. The No. 13 Corvette finished 11th in class and ran in the top-10 much of the race’s second half in AWA’s first race as a team at the circuit.

DXDT Racing: The Monterey SportsCar Championship marks the second race for Robert Wickens in DXDT Racing’s No. 36 Corvette equipped with electronic hand-brake controls.
After a successful debut at Long Beach, Wickens will team at Laguna Seca with Alec Udell, part of DXDT’s endurance lineup for 2025 and the GTD pole-winner for the 2023 race and went on to finish third in class.

Although Udell has one WeatherTech start to his credit at Monterey and Wickens will make his first Sunday, they both have experience and success in the Michelin Pilot Challenge series Udell was third in 2021 and Wickens was third in TCR during 2023 and 2024.

The Monterey SportsCar Championship is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET / 12:10 p.m. PT on Sunday.
The race will air live on NBC with full streaming coverage also on Peacock. IMSA Radio will air Saturday’s final practice and qualifying plus Sunday’s race at IMSA.com along with XM 206 and SiriusXM Online 996.

SELECT CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’ve been coming to Laguna Seca for many years, and it’s always a highlight for me. It definitely helps when you go there with a fast car, and I think we did last year for the first race there with the new Corvette.
There are quite a few things we took away with the new track surface which should help us on the setup from the start. With passing being tough, we need to be fast right away from practice to give us the best chance to be up front in qualifying and the race.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It will be good to go back to Laguna Seca and see if we can right ourselves after some tough luck at Sebring. The Corvette has been strong so far this year, so I’m confident we can turn around things in the championship with a good showing this weekend.
Last year the race went away from us pretty early, but I think we showed good pace, which is encouraging given that this is a tough track to get right, especially with a new car. Hopefully we can put what we learned last year to good use.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Last year’s race at Laguna Seca was a little bit of a turning point in the first year of the Corvette GT3 car. We were able to put together a good weekend, get our first podium and put ourselves on a course where we could really compete for race wins in this class. Now is the perfect time to get on that roll again, heading toward the busiest part of our schedule so we can pick up some points and gain ground in the championship.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It had been a long time since I raced at Laguna Seca prior to last year. But I was happy to be back and to have a fast Corvette as well, with pole position and a podium finish with Tommy. We need more of that this year to get back into the GTD PRO championship after the first two races. It’s encouraging that we have had a good pace, so hopefully things turn our way this weekend.”

MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m excited to get back in the AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R at Laguna Seca. It’s a historic track and the team has done a great job with giving Orey and I a consistently fast car to race with this season, it’s been really enjoyable on that front all year.
The last couple of results haven’t gone our way due to mistakes from others in the field, but we’ll be aiming for a clean run and to get back on the podium this weekend.”

OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m looking forward to returning to Laguna Seca. The whole team at AWA has been working so hard, and we’re determined to bounce back strong here. This is a track I really enjoy, it’s got so much character, and it always makes for a good race.
We’ve got a great car in the Corvette, and I’m feeling more and more confident and comfortable with it after each session.
We’re ready to fight for a result that reflects the effort everyone’s putting in.”

ALEC UDELL, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Laguna Seca is an awesome place, no other spot that’s better to get in. The Corvette Z06 GT3.R was strong there last year, so I’m looking forward to seeing what it brings. Our primary goal is to come home with a win this season. Everyone on the team has been working super hard, and we’re scratching at that.
The step-up has been a challenge, which we knew it would be, and we’re all ready for it. The potential is there. In IMSA competition is so stiff you’ve got to nail everything perfectly. That’s exactly what we’re working toward.”

ROBERT WICKENS, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Laguna Seca can’t come soon enough. After a lot of positives from Long Beach, it’s time to put it all to good use. I learned so much in my first race weekend with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R and DXDT Racing. I am really looking forward to getting back in the car and getting to work with Alec as my teammate.”

 

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GTD PRO was led by AO Racing and “Roxy,” the pink No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Laurin Heinrich’s best time of 1m21.418s was more than 0.5s up on the next-fastest car in its class.
In second place was the No. 3 Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Antonio Garcia led his fellow Spaniard, Albert Costa, in the third-placed No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3.

Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Pratt Miller Corvette was fourth-fastest, followed by Dan Harper in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

Robby Foley set the early pace in GTD, turning in a 1m21.920s to lead the way in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW.
Frederik Schandorff was second-fastest in class driving the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, followed by the No. 23 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari of Riccardo Agostini in third.

Agostini’s co-driver Onofrio Triarsi spun off at Turn 4 during his turn behind the wheel, and other GTD drivers had their own off-track excursions Forte Racing’s Misha Goikhberg, Triarsi’s Sheena Monk in the No. 021 Ferrari and Vasser Sullivan GTD PRO driver Aaron Telitz also took trips through the sand.
GTD points leader Philip Ellis was fourth-quickest in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Practice two starts Saturday morning at 9:55 a.m. PT (local time).

RESULTS

 

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Second practice completed for both GTD Pro and GTD classes

 

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The Pratt Miller Motorsports factory Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs finished first and second in GTD PRO, led by the No. 4 of Nicky Catsburg with a 1m21.187s, a tenth and a half up on the No. 3 of Alexander Sims.

The No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 was third fastest, though the yellow and pink Ferrari did have a minor scare when the car began to emit smoke from the rear.
A flush of gearbox fluid seemed to fix the issue and the car continued without any further trouble.

Completing GTD PRO’s top five was the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, and the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3.
Kenton Koch and Korthoff Competition Motors led the way in GTD: Koch set a 1m21.502s in the No. 32 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO. Behind Koch, the No. 45 WTR Lamborghini was second quickest, followed by the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus.

DXDT Racing’s Robert Wickens set a personal best of 1m22.596s and has turned 45 laps so far in his specially equipped No. 36 Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

UP NEXT:

Qualifying for the Monterey SportsCar Championship starts this afternoon at 3:15 local time, airing on Peacock in the U.S. and on the official IMSA YouTube channel and IMSA.TV in most countries around the world.


RESULTS

 

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Qualified

Thanks to a superb lap from Giacomo Altoe in the final seconds of GTD PRO qualifying, DragonSpeed’s “hypebeast” Ferrari 296 GT3 will start on the class pole position for the second straight race.

With its new Anti-Social Social Club livery, the No. 81 Ferrari looked quick throughout the 15-minute session, but it seemed as if the Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs wouldn’t be toppled.
The No. 4 of Nicky Catsburg set the initial benchmark before Alexander Sims in the No. 3 set a 1m20.673s to take provisional pole halfway through.

Altoe chipped away at the deficit but could seemingly do no better than second place, but on his last flying lap, he drove the yellow and pink Ferrari up to pole position with a 1m20.608s.

Sims got kicked down to the second row of the grid after the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Dan Harper set a 1m20.644s right at the checkered flag.
The No. 3 Corvette will start third, ahead of the No. 77 AO Racing “Roxy” Porsche 911 GT3 R of Klaus Bachler who was fourth-quickest.

The margins were razor-thin here as well Altoe, Harper, and Sims were covered by just 0.065s.

Catsburg rounded out the top five, then it was Andrea Caldarelli in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 in sixth, and GTD PRO points leader Frederic Vervisch in the No. 65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3 in seventh.

Korthoff Competition Motors’ No. 32 Mercedes-AMG GT3 will start on the pole in GTD as California native Kenton Koch set a new class lap record, edging out the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette for pole position by 0.009s.
Koch set the initial benchmark time with a 1m21.010s, before others including Heart of Racing Team’s Casper Stevenson and DXDT’s Alec Udell broke the 1m21s barrier. Koch’s next flying lap, a 1m20.810, broke the course record set last year.
Udell came around second later but his 1m20.819s wasn’t enough to dislodge Koch from the top spot.

Stevenson ended up third in his No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with a 1m20.933s, and then it was Onofrio Triarsi, who qualified an impressive fourth in the No. 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari the one that had been rebuilt after its heavy crash at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

GTD Championship leader Russell Ward and the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG were fifth, followed by Danny Formal in the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini.
The Monterey SportsCar Championship starts Sunday at 12:10 p.m. PT (local time) airing on Peacock in the United States and in most other countries on the official IMSA YouTube channel and IMSA.tv.

UPDATE:
The No. 27 Heart of Racing Vantage failed post-qualifying inspection and will have to start at the back, moving Triarsi up to 3rd, Winward to 4th and WTR Lamborghini to 5th on the grid.

 

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If you can get USA TV station, NBC
Watch the IMSA race today, Sunday at 3 PM to 6 PM ET on NBC TV

Race is 2 hours, 40 minutes long
The IMSA Monterey SportsCar Championship from the 2.2-mile,
11-turn Laguna Seca circuit in Salinas, Cal.
This is Round 4 of 11 in the 2025 season.

 

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If interested in NASCAR, starts at the same time 3 PM ET on FOX Sports 1 station

The AdventHealth 400 from 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.
Kyle Larson (No. 5 car) and Ross Chastain (No. 1) won Cup Series races here last year, and both are in playoff position after 11 races in 2025. Larson (wins at Miami and Bristol) is second in points to William Byron (No. 24).

 

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In GTD class both TF sport Corvettes sucked and finished in the back of this class

In GTD PRO after a victorious GTD cameo in Long Beach, AO Racing’s Laurin Heinrich and Klaus Bachler drove the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R to the top step of the podium. It was the first win for AO’s pink “Roxy” livery in IMSA.
Bachler ran second behind polesitter Giacomo Altoe in the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3, but an effective undercut allowed Heinrich and the No. 77 Porsche to grab the lead after the first round of pit stops.

Altoe’s co-driver Albert Costa spent the middle stage behind his countryman Antonio Garcia and lost significant time to Heinrich. While the No. 81 Ferrari got past the No. 3 Corvette later on, the 10s gap to the in-form Heinrich was too much for Costa to overcome.
The No. 77 Porsche coasted to victory, ahead of the No. 81 Ferrari, and the No. 3 Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Garcia and Alexander Sims, on the podium in third.

Andrea Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli finished fourth in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, and the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO finished fifth, salvaging a solid result after Dan Harper took an early drive-through penalty for a false start.
Winward Racing, Russell Ward, and Philip Ellis took their second GTD win of the season in the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3, in a race where three different teams had their turn at the front.
Ellis emerged in the lead after the final round of pit stops after running third behind the leading No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 and the second-placed No. 32 Korthoff Competition Motors Mercedes-AMG.

The No. 57 Mercedes-AMG finished 5.5s ahead of the No. 12 Lexus of Parker Thompson, who made a brilliant sprint from sixth to second on the opening lap, and co-driver Jack Hawksworth.

On the final lap, the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari of Manny Franco and Daniel Serra swiped the final GTD podium place from the No. 32 Korthoff Mercedes-AMG. Serra got by Seth Lucas, who tried his best to hold onto third after co-driver Kenton Koch led the opening stint of the race from pole.

Forte Racing’s No. 78 Lamborghini driven by Misha Goikhberg and Mario Farnbacher drove quietly to fifth place, followed by the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer, in sixth after coming back from a drive-through penalty due to Skeer’s collision with Casper Stevenson’s No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin.

RESULTS

 

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Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports returned its No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R to the GTD PRO podium as Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims finished third in Sunday’s Monterey SportsCar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The result gives the duo two podiums in three GTD PRO races this season following their runner-up finish at the Rolex 24 At Daytona to start the season. It also is the second straight podium finish in Monterey for the Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller squad after Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg were third a year ago.

Milner and Catsburg were sixth in class this time around in their No. 4 Corvette following an unexpected late-race pitstop.
The duo ran as high as second in the opening portion of the race but suffered a refueling issue on what was to have been Milner’s final stop for service with a little more than an hour to go.

In GTD, DXDT Racing’s push for a potential victory took a hit early on. Alec Udell, who qualified second in class, attempted to bring the No. 36 Corvette in just past the 45-minute mark for its first stop and driver change to Robert Wickens.
Another GTD car, though, left its pitbox just as Udell was about to pull in, which resulted in contact between the two cars.
Udell had to drive through the pitlane, and the offending car was called for penalty.

Wickens got in the DXDT Corvette 10 minutes later for his first double-stint in GTD competition. Despite finishing 10th in class, Wickens gained valuable data and experience behind the wheel of the No. 36 Z06 GT3.R, which was equipped for the second race with a new electronic braking system from Bosch.

The No. 13 AWA Corvette of Matt Bell and Orey Fidani finished 13th in GTD with Bell racing his way to second place in the Bob Akin Award standings for the team. The team’s next race is its first appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month.

The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the GTD PRO Corvettes is the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic on May 30-31.

CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER POST-RACE QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I didn’t plan to have to fight at the end! For some reason I had some issues with a lapped car and that brought me closer to fourth place. I knew they would have a fuel advantage on the last stop.
They seemed to be a little stronger, but I was more concerned about tire life, especially in the last stint. We stopped quite a bit early in the window, so I was concerned about saving tires in thinking about maybe a yellow flag at the end. We probably were missing some pace compared to the other two cars ahead, I think.
We saw that last year. I’m sure things will come our way down the road.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“With it being a green race, if you gained on the first stop, then you lost it on the next on in terms of pit timing. It kind of worked out as I expected. Maybe not dropping back to fifth at the start. That wasn’t part of the plan, but how the racing went I was maybe a little tentative.
The BMW squeezed me and clipped me slightly, so I was behind him with a little bit of a gap because I had to breathe out of the throttle. I was waiting for what would happen in the brake zone, but by then the Porsche was alongside me. That’s the way it goes. Other than that, the Corvette felt nice.
That was probably the pace we had. I think we were about the third-fastest car this weekend, and that’s about right. Well done to the team. Pratt Miller did a great job, and the Corvette was working well. It’s where we were.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“At the end of the day, a tough race for us. It’s tricky to pass here but my first stint wasn’t very good. We tried something different from normal, that didn’t work. The car on the second stint felt much better and the pace was better. But we lost a position or two in my first stint.
We had the issue in the pits there with needing fuel late. I don’t exactly know what happened there. Normally, fuel shouldn’t be a concern, but something obviously went wrong. A frustrating day and not what we wanted. On to the next one in Detroit.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It seems like a pretty typical IMSA race for me in that I don’t understand what’s gone wrong. Everything to me felt quite OK. I brought the car in virtually in P2 and then stuff happened. There was something wrong with the fuel, I guess, but by that time we were P5. I don’t really sometimes understand how we go backward.
But taking the positives, I felt like the Corvette was in a excellent window as we hoped. Last year we struggled in the race with balance and today was a lot better. I had an unfortunate situation where I lost a lot of time because my radio cable got stuck on the steering wheel in the race. So I had four laps where I lost some time reconnecting it. Other than that, I thought we did everything OK but didn’t end up with a result.”

MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It was a tough race for us today. AWA gave us a great car, it felt great as usual. We just had a bit too much work to do. It was a difficult race for us last year as well, so this just seems to be our challenging event each season.
I’m really looking forward to Le Mans and Watkins Glen. I’m really happy with the team and with our Corvette.”

OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“This race was a bit of a challenging one. It was hard to get a feel for the track, but the team did a great job executing, as they always do. We’ll take everything we learned from this weekend and move forward.
Very excited to be heading to Le Mans soon, and getting back to another longer race at Watkins Glen after.”

ALEC UDELL, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“We were unfortunate to be on the back side of luck today. It was a great step forward starting on the front row and so narrowly missing the pole this weekend. I didn’t maximize the first lap as much as I wanted to, but I think we had a good car and solid pace to run up front that first hour until we were hit in the pitlane.
Just some bad luck from our neighbors in the pitlane which sent us into a bit of a tailspin to recover. The DXDT crew did a good job getting creative and adapting the strategy to help us in the end, but we just really needed some yellows to fully recover. This team has a lot to be proud of, new to IMSA and running strong.
It’s been a great weekend with Rob, and I’m really looking forward to running the rest of the sprint races with him.”

ROBERT WICKENS, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“A really tough race for us. Alec had a good first stint, and we settled into a nice rhythm. On our first stop, we got hit by one of the Ferraris. They were launching from their stop as it were coming in, and they just drove into the side of us. It didn’t allow Alec to get into pitbox so we basically had to serve a drive-through penalty plus probably a 10-second hold. Yeah it sucks.

From there, we changed strategies to try and extend to be in a better fuel position for later in the race. We really needed a yellow to try and get us back in the fold, but unfortunately the race went green the whole way. So my stint was more or less trying to manage the car and try to find opportunities, but none of them came.

I thought on the final stint our pace was strong. Although we were a lap down, I was behind the P3 car the entire stint, so that’s encouraging. It’s not what we all deserved. It’s a bummer that now Long Beach and here have ended in something where we deserved more.
That’s motorsport, and I’m looking forward to my next race with the team at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.”

 

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Here is the full 3-hour race video

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