Corvette Racing will continue with its split strategy of fielding one factory entry in IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA’s World Endurance Championship.
On the home front, GTD Pro is where Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor will pursue their third championship as teammates. Fellow champion Tommy Milner, who has spent the season competing for Corvette in the WEC, is set to return home and join Garcia and Taylor as the third driver in the V8-powered Corvette C8.R for IMSA’s endurance rounds at Daytona, Sebring, and Road Atlanta.
In addition to his racing duties, Milner will spearhead the driving side of the brand’s testing and development efforts to ready the new Corvette Z06 GT3.R for its debut in 2024.
Looking to the WEC, Corvette will transition from its current GTE Pro class which will be shuttered at the end of the season and enter the GTE Am category which requires a pro-am driver lineup. Corvette factory Pro driver Nicky Catsburg will welcome IMSA champion Ben Keating as his Am co-driver; the third member of the driving rotation will be named at a later date.
“We learned a great deal this year about running dual programs in both IMSA and the FIA WEC – all of which will benefit the Corvette brand going forward,” said GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager Laura Wontrop Klauser. “In IMSA, we will return to GTD Pro against a very competitive group of manufacturers while laying the groundwork for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Similarly, Corvette Racing’s FIA WEC program allows us the opportunity to continue growing the global presence of Corvette in a world Championship.”
Corvette Racing’s move to a single entry for the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will feature Keating, who ranks as one of the most talented and passionate gentleman drivers in endurance racing.
“I really love the format of the World Endurance Championship and GTE Am,” Keating said. “I’ve really wanted to race a Corvette for a long time and have been chipping away at this to make this happen because I want to race what I sell. I’m in the unique position of enjoying cars as a vocation and a recreation. This is something I’ve been dreaming of for a long time. I’m incredibly excited for this opportunity.
“I know that Corvette Racing is really excited about the program and I am too. There’s just something special about the 100th anniversary of Le Mans, the last year of GTE-spec cars and something special with an American driver racing for an American team. I’m excited that when – not if! – we win a race that we will hear the U.S. national anthem. I haven’t had that because I’ve driven for British and German teams. So this will be awesome. The Corvette fans are crazy and fanatical! Getting to represent a brand that I sell and be part of that community is something that’s important to me and I’m excited about it all the way through.”
Comments