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Three Corvette Racing entries took on the 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on October 12th, and it wasn’t an easy run for The Bow Tie by any means, capping off a tumultuous inaugural season for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
The No. 13 Corvette Racing machine, fielded by AWA Racing, was shared between Orey Fidani, Matt Bell, and Lars Kern. The trio wheeled the race car to a 12th-place Petit Le Mans finish in the GTD division and fourth among Bob Akin Award-eligible entries. In fact, the No. 13 Corvette took home the Akin Award, which goes to the top points-scoring, Bronze-rated GTD driver in each event. Fidani and Bell pulled off the best finishes among drivers vying for the Akin Award in the last three races. In winning the award, the No. 13 Corvette gets an automatic pass to the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“Congratulations to Orey Fidani and all of AWA on securing the Bob Akin Award and an automatic entry into the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Christie Bagne, Corvette Z06 GT3.R Program Manager. “To see their hard work and effort lead to this accomplishment is something in which they and everyone at Corvette Racing can take a high level of pride. We’re excited for AWA’s future and can’t wait to welcome them to Le Mans next summer.”
Meanwhile, the two GTD Pro class Corvette Racing teams had a rough go at Road Atlanta. Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, and Daniel Juncadella drove the No. 3 Z06 GT3.R to a fifth-place finish in its class, despite brake issues that necessitated two unscheduled pit stops. The No. 3 Vette recovered from right-rear chassis damage after a crash in practice.
The No. 4 Corvette driven by Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg, and Earl Bamber finished 50 laps down after being struck by an LMP2 competitor. The front and rear suspension was damaged and the Corvette Racing team worked quickly to repair it and turn it back out, but they could only recover to a 12th-place finish in the division.
Chevrolet won the GTD Pro IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturers Championship for the fourth time since 2015, which was decided via a combination of the five IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races.
“It is very gratifying for Chevrolet to win our fourth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturers Championship,” said Mark Stielow, Director of Chevrolet Motorsports Competition Engineering. “We are very proud and pleased as a company to achieve this in the first year of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R in IMSA’s premier long-distance races.”
