BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – Corvette Racing is officially back.
Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor chased down the leaders Sunday and won the GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class of the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The victory was the first for the team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship since March 2022. Before the slump, Corvette had won five of the previous seven season championships in IMSA GT classes.
“It’s perfect,” Taylor said. “The Chevrolet Grand Prix, to be in a Corvette here, kind of our stomping grounds … it’s a classic Corvette victory.”
Taylor pitted from fourth place just 33 minutes into the race. Garcia replaced him and drove the No. 3 car up to second place in just 10 minutes and into the lead shortly after that. The two combined to hold the lead to the finish of the two-hour, 40-minute race.
“We deserved this win for a long time,” Garcia said. “We came so close many times. We were really struggling to pace at most of the races. … Finally, we got what we deserved.”
The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), co-driven by Patrick Pilet and Klaus Bachler, finished second on the team’s home soil as the race ended under caution.
Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon brought the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 home in third place to keep the GTD PRO points pressure on the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 co-driven by Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth, who put the car on pole Saturday but finished fourth Sunday.
Barnicoat and Hawksworth continue to lead the WeatherTech Championship GTD PRO standings with 2,110 points. Juncadella and Gounon are currently second, 96 points behind, while Garcia and Taylor closed to within 109 points of the lead with five races still remaining on the calendar.
Corvette’s timing was as flawless as its on-track performance. As Taylor and Garcia celebrated their victory in Canada, their teammates celebrated a championship in Italy.
A fourth-place finish in the Six Hours of Monza helped Corvette Racing and co-drivers Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nico Varrone clinch the championship in the GTE Am class of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The victory at CTMP and the championship at Monza were especially gratifying in light of news last month that Corvette Racing will shift its attention toward support of customer teams in 2024.
At CTMP, strategy and a never-give-up attitude were credited for ending the 13-race IMSA slump.
“We made some good strategy calls early in the race and jumped two of the guys,” Taylor said. “Antonio just stayed out of trouble on that last restart and just drove it to the finish. It’s finally great to be back in victory lane. Hopefully this will kind of kick-start the second half of the year for us.”
Magical Season Continues for No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW
There were no miracles this time, just victory for Paul Miller Racing in what is becoming another magical season for the team.
Two weeks ago, the buzz focused on a miraculous second-place finish by Paul Miller Racing. This time, a miracle wasn’t required.
Madison Snow got the team’s No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 into the lead early and Bryan Sellers got it to the finish line first as PMR claimed victory in the GT Daytona (GTD) class.
“It’s awesome,” Snow said. “I think Bryan and I finished third here once before, but the podium has been a little bit elusive for us. Being able to finish on the top step is awesome.”
The team’s third victory of the season padded its lead in the driver and team standings. Sellers and Snow now have 1,974 points, holding a 212-point lead over No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 co-drivers Roman De Angelis and Marco Sorensen, and a 219-point advantage over Aaron Telitz and Frankie Montecalvo in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3.
The No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW previously won this season at Sebring and Long Beach.
In the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen last month at Watkins Glen International, Snow, Sellers and Corey Lewis brought the No. 1 back from a three-lap deficit to finish second.
This time, the road to success was far less bumpy. Snow drove to the lead just 10 minutes into the race, and the two maintained control from there.
“Madison drove a great stint at the beginning,” Sellers said. “The best part is, you really love going out there and mixing it up. … They keep you on your toes the whole time.”
The race ended under caution, with the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO co-driven by Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff finishing second. The No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 co-driven by Mike Skeen and Mikael Grenier finished third.
“I thought it was going to get tough in the last few laps,” Sellers said. “The yellow helped us, again, but I would have loved to battle it out with them.”