Catsburg: Corvette Lost Out in GTD Pro “Lottery”

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports driver Nicky Catsburg coined the GTD Pro race in Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen to the “lottery” in that some cars came out winners or losers depending on the timing of the full-course cautions and weather.

Catsburg’s co-driver Tommy Milner appeared to be en route to the first victory for the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition until being forced to dash into the pits for fuel while leading the race on the final lap.

It came in an up-and-down day for the Pratt Miller squad, which appeared to initially benefit from staying out on slick tires during the race’s massive downpour that led to a 42-minute red flag period.

“Tommy did an amazing job late in the race in holding off the Aston Martin,” said Catsburg. “I knew he had it and we were hoping the fuel would work out, but then that got snatched away.

“It’s tough. This style of racing makes some of these races a lottery.”

The majority of the GT runners pitted to switch back to slicks during the resumption of the race, which put the No. 4 Corvette out front heading into the final restart.

“Nicky was right in that it was a bit of a lottery race for a lot of people with tire calls and things like that,” said Milner. “We did well with the tire choice except for when we snuck in just before a yellow to put wets on.

“I agreed with Tyler (Neff, No. 4 race engineer) that it seemed like the right call at the time because Turn 1 was undriveable. At the end, we had to take them back off because the track was drying too quickly.

“But we also got stuck from getting into the pit lane before the red flag, I was happy that it came. But at the end of the day, the result is what matters. And seventh place is not where we want to be.

“We did some things really well today and some things not so well. We’ll analyze those things that didn’t and be better for the next time when we go to Canada and try again.”

The No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas ended up taking the class win, their first of the season.

“We were fortunate that we were in a position to fight for the lead,” said Gunn. “I was aware that the Corvette was really, really tight on fuel. I just had to push Milner as hard as I could and not allow him to save any fuel. That worked out pretty well.

“Coming onto the home straight, with him peeling off on the last lap was definitely something I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life. An amazing team effort from everybody.

“Alex, again, like in Detroit, had a very tough stint in terms of the conditions that were thrown at him. I was on the slicks when it was raining. That was incredibly scary, to say the least. We survived the race.

“We were down but never out. I think that’s the key to these races. You always have to be giving it everything and never giving up, even with a couple of mistakes.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John