Garcia Hails “Very Important” First IMSA Win for Z06 GT3.R

Antonio Garcia said Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports had been “knocking on the door for a long time” to secure the first win for the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship after leading a 1-2 finish in the Chevrolet Grand Prix.

Garcia crossed the line aboard the No. 3 Chevrolet to record the new-for-2024 car’s first WeatherTech Championship win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday.

The victory for the Spaniard and co-driver Alexander Sims came as part of a run from pole position for the No. 3 crew, with Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg finishing in second.

Milner was notably part of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R’s first win in global competition in May, when the car won back-to-back races at the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS round at Circuit of The Americas.

However, Garcia added that the first WeatherTech Championship win was a “very important” milestone for the brand in the car’s debut season.

“It’s always special to have a first win for the car,” Garcia said.

“I’m really proud of that, proud of the Pratt Miller guys. I mean, Tommy already [won a race] in SRO.

“Now we finally get this car to win in IMSA, which was very important and that’s where we really want it.

“We almost had like a perfect weekend. We led most of practice, amazing pole position by Alex and then we just run P1 all the way through.

“It looked easy but it was kind of difficult, especially with the last restart with all the GTDs ahead of us.

“So it was interesting, but again fantastic to have Corvette 1-2 finally, not only in qualifying but [also] in the race.”

Garcia noted that the team “had been knocking on the door” for the car’s maiden series win prior to arriving in Canada, with he and Sims notably finishing third at Watkins Glen and Milner and Catsburg scoring a podium at Laguna Seca.

“This ranks pretty high in my career,” the Spaniard said.

“I got the first win for C7.R and C8.R, so this is brilliant! I’m happy with that! I’m so happy for the team. We’ve been so close.

“The pace has been there all year but we just didn’t quite make it or had issues or we weren’t in the right position.

“We’ve been knocking on the door for a long time. We finally got it to happen so I’m very happy for everyone at Corvette Racing and the Pratt Miller team.”

Sims, who secured pole on Saturday and took the start, praised the handling of the No. 3 car, saying it was “on absolute rails” for the opening phase of the race.

“It was working really well in that opening hour or so,” said Sims.

“Pretty difficult honestly after the pitstops, some people took half a set of tires and we didn’t.

“So it was a bit squirrely and tough to hang onto at times, but I enjoyed pushing flat out. I had a few moments, but that’s part of it.

“You expect to have to do that when you are leading. Just a well executed race and we had good pace.”

After the third and final restart of the race, Garcia came under pressure from teammate Catsburg, with the two separated by just 0.408 seconds at the finish line.

Despite the close finish between the two cars, Sims maintained that he wasn’t stressed about the outcome of the race watching from the pit wall.

“Nicky is a proper professional, he knows what he’s doing,” Sims said.

“We all know how important getting a 1-2 is for the team. Obviously if there had been a genuine racing situation where he could have passed, I’m sure he would have gone for it.

“But at the same time, it’s pretty hard to pass legitimately here when you’re only maybe one or two tenths quicker here or there.

“I guess no real opportunity presented itself and he was going to be smart the whole time, I’m sure.”