Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Is the First Team Announced in the New Corvette Z06 GT3.R Era
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Chevrolet and Pratt Miller Motorsports announced today a continuation of their quarter-century relationship in IMSA racing with the next generation of the Corvette to begin competition in the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports will enter two new Corvette Z06 GT3.R cars in the GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class of the WeatherTech Championship. The factory-supported effort is the first of two planned Corvette programs for the series, with additional customer racing teams to be named later.
Pratt Miller has operated the Corvette Racing program since its 1999 inception, collecting 125 race wins around the globe to date in the fully factory-supported program. The shift for 2024 sees Chevrolet developing the Corvette Z06 GT3.R to global GT3 specifications and making the car available to customer teams in racing series around the world. Continuing the alignment with Pratt Miller in the WeatherTech Championship came naturally.
“Chevrolet and Pratt Miller have collaborated for more than 25 years on the Corvette Racing program, and we are thrilled that we are able to continue together into the GT3 era,” said Christie Bagne, Corvette Z06 GT3.R program manager.
“It makes sense to have Corvette Racing with Pratt Miller Motorsports lead the competition element of the Z06 GT3.R program in the GTD PRO championship starting in 2024,” Bagne added. “We couldn’t have a better representative than the same group that has been part of the development, build and testing processes for our new Corvette race car. The learnings we will take from testing and competition will flow to our other Z06 GT3.R customer teams to ensure that the Corvette brand is a championship contender around the world.”
Chevrolet Motorsports Competition Engineering and Pratt Miller began planning for the Corvette GT3 era more than two years ago. Pratt Miller – located in New Hudson, Michigan – is the constructor of the Z06 GT3.R and its engineers have worked closely with Chevrolet Motorsports engineers on development of the car featuring a 5.5-liter, flat-plane crankshaft DOHC LT6 V-8 engine produced by the GM Propulsion Performance and Racing Center in Pontiac, Michigan. To date, more than 5,500 miles of testing have been completed, with the car currently undergoing final homologation testing in Europe.
“This is an exciting time for everyone at Pratt Miller,” said Brandon Widmer, vice president of Pratt Miller Motorsports. “We’ve experienced a lot of successes, race wins and championships with Chevrolet through the Corvette Racing program. Now we move into the GT3 era. Everyone is pleased with the progress of our testing and development programs, and new car builds are under way.
“We’re appreciative of the decades-long relationship with Chevrolet. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports is looking forward to continue showing our expertise in race operations and management to our fans, our commercial partners and new prospects as we go forward.”
