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Milner: Corvette Z06 GT3.R ‘Not Miles Different’ to C8.R

Tommy Milner on first impressions of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, customer racing prospects…

Image: Corvette Racing

Tommy Milner says the new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R is ‘not miles different’ to the GTE-spec Corvette C8.R, with Corvette Racing and Pratt Miller able to carry over knowledge from its previous-generation GT contender.

The longtime Corvette Racing factory ace has been designated as the lead test and development driver for the car, which will debut in 2024 to North American customers as well as selected placements in other key GT3 championships around the world.

Milner said he’s so far been impressed with the car, which completed an initial rollout in late September and had since completed tests at Mid-Ohio and other tracks in the U.S.

“It doesn’t feel miles different than what I’m used to with this platform, with this chassis,” Milner told Sportscar365.

“There are little differences here and there but ultimately the stuff we’re testing now is the same process we went through with the C8.R, the C7.R, in blending lots of simulator work with on-track stuff.

“I think realistically the sim stuff allows the engineers to try things that you maybe wouldn’t normally try in real life and then you prove them on the race track.

“We’re just going through that process now, in all the things and different options we’ve tried with suspensions, aeros, etc, and proving out the things that work in the sim to see if they work in real life.”

The lessons learned in this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign with its modified Corvette C8.R GTD has also helped speed up the development process according to Milner.

The solo GTD Pro class entry, which will continue next year, has run on Michelin’s S9M customer tire for GT3 racing and has utilized an anti-lock braking system among other modifications to bring it closer in line to fully homologated GT3 machinery.

“For us as a team, we have such a long history on a Michelin confidential tire,” Milner said.

“While the customer tire is not miles different from that, finding the last couple percent of the potential out of the customer tires and how those tires function will definitely help us with testing the GT3 car and not having to also re-learn a tire itself as well.

“Having a year of data on that tire is definitely helping the process.

“The ABS stuff, I think early on was pretty quick to figure that out in a lot of ways. That hasn’t been a huge adjustment.

“One thing too will be the process of trying different tire manufacturers.

“It will just add to the workload to the team to have to figure out a customer Michelin, a customer Pirelli, Dunlop, whatever else is out there right now.”

“Really Cool” Prospects of Global GT3 Customer Competition

Milner said he’s excited at the prospects of seeing GT3-spec Corvettes racing around the world, with the possibility of taking in new races for him such as the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour and CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

“From a driver’s perspective, to be able to race this car at basically all of the big sports car races going forward is awesome,” he said.

“There’s always been some of the big name races: Nürburgring, Spa 24 Hours, Bathurst, now all of those races are possible with this car.

“Obviously it’s up to customers and things like that that want to race those cars there but I think for the Corvette fans around the world, all of the different drivers that we’ve had come to this program we talk about some of the big-name races that we would like to race at.

“New guys that come in mention some of these races. For the Corvette fans, Daytona and Le Mans are obviously huge races — but to see this car racing at those events will be really cool.

“Bathurst would be amazing for sure and Spa 24 Hours as well. It will add to the legacy of what Corvette Racing has been and is, just adding a new chapter to this program.”

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

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