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CORVETTE RACING AT DAYTONA: Eight-Hour Report
Corvette GTD PRO entries leading through opening stanza of Rolex 24
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 24, 2026) – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports two Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs led and ran up front for the majority of the opening hours of the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Saturday.
Alexander Sims led the GTD PRO class in the pole-sitting No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R that he is driving with Antonio Garcia and Marvin Kirchhöfer. The trio has run no lower than fifth in the race, which started under warm and sunny skies but turned significantly cooler and more gloomy with fog rolling in near the one-third mark.
While the No. 3 Corvette started and ran up front from the start, the No. 4 sister Z06 GT3.R quickly established itself as a contender with a strong charge by Nicky Catsburg at the start. He moved from seventh in class at the start to the class lead in his second stint, followed by solid drives by teammates Tommy Milner and Nico Varrone to keep the trio on the heels of the No. 3 in second place.
Both Sims and Catsburg were in the tail-end of their second double-stints to carry the Corvettes into the middle of the night around the 3.56-mile Daytona Road Course.
In GTD, both DXDT Racing and 13 Autosport positioned themselves for contending charges later in the race. The No. 36 DXDT Corvette spent much of the first eight hours in the top-10 with Salih Yoluc doing most of the early work with Charlie Eastwood and Mason Filippi each driving single stints. Eastwood ran as high as second from his fourth-place starting position, and Yoluc was 10th at the eight-hour mark.
Defending GTD race-winner 13 Autosport was ready to start its charge to the front from 14th in class with 16 hours left. Orey Fidani drove more than four-and-a-half hours to meet the minimum drivetime requirements, which put Lars Kern, Matt Bell and Ben Green in position to climb the leaderboard as other entries prepared to cycle their Bronze-rated drivers through the nighttime. It was a similar strategy to last year’s winning effort under the AWA banner.
DragonSpeed, in its first race as part of Corvette Racing, had a disappointing opening to the race. Matteo Cairoli was sent off-track by an LMP2 car while running in the top-15, and the No. 81 Corvette made contact with one of the track’s tire barriers. The collision caused a full-course yellow and damaged much of the left-side bodywork of the Corvette. But the DragonSpeed crew quickly repaired the car and got Cairoli back out for what turned into an extended test session for the team to learn more about its new Corvette.
Corvette Racing’s next update will come after the 18-hour mark.
SELECT CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER QUOTES
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "All good for us so far. In the first stint both Fords pitted before the yellows so they got out ahead of us. I just realized it was worth staying where I was unless we had a clear opportunity to pass. That kind of played out; I could save tires and fuel, and we were able to jump them on the next stop. On the restart I was lucky to be on the right side when Tommy got caught out by two prototypes. From that point on, I just followed the pace. It's still unknown how the tires are going to behave with just taking two on a stop. I was taking it a little bit cautious, but I'd say the tire held up very well. I could open the gap a little bit but the (No. 9) Lambo was coming fast but when I saw they were struggling as much as I thought then we opened it up more. The Corvette was really good at the end of the stint. It's early but so far the car is doing what I want."
(Corvette vs. Ford battle and pace?) "Last year we couldn't really stay ahead of them at any point. For sure we have more speed now and we can stay ahead. Our car is really, really good but I'm sure they will be too. Once we get to the time when it's time to single-stint the tires, it might be a little different for everyone."
(The fight with the No. 4 Corvette early) "It's not great not knowing what to do with your teammate ahead of you. If he runs into traffic, you're definitely not going to throw your car in there like you would with any other car. But it's so early in the race that it doesn't really matter who is ahead. In a way, Nicky (Catsburg) followed Alex (Sims) for most of the stint and I did the same with Tommy (Milner). Everything eventually plays out. I kept my pace and the car is really good."
(On level of aggression earlier) "I haven't been aggressive so far and trying to stay out of trouble. If I see someone really aggressive then I don't mind letting them by. I saw the Lambo flashing its lights at me from behind and I was like 'There's 20 hours to go.'"
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "The P2 cars were in a bit of mayhem going into Turn One. It was pretty daunting to go through the corner and not really know where to go and try not to run over any debris. Thankfully we got through in one piece. I was trying to keep things calm from then on, look after the car and be smart with energy management. I have absolutely no idea what other people were doing. We were at front but I don't know what the pace of everyone else was."
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "The plan is to save some fuel here early on to be a little off strategy to shorten the race at the end. The first stint was fun and really good but the second stint wasn't too much fun anymore. A P2 spun in front of me and I thought I was going to be OK but all of a sudden another one appeared that I couldn't see. Then I had more really bad P2 traffic later and lost like five or six seconds on that lap. It's frustrating but obviously it's early. We're doing what we can and taking our licks now so at the end of the race we'll be in a better position. But the car is fine... it's totally fine."
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "The start was a little wilder than I thought it would be. Everyone seemed to be super-enthusiastic to try and win the race in the first few laps. There was a lot of debris everywhere and cars going off, so I tried to stay out of trouble. I got pretty lucky on a couple of the restarts where I had a little bit of a jump compared to the guys ahead of us and I managed to take some places. It was a good first stint... saved some fuel and jumped some places. The car feels really good but it's a little early to tell yet. There will be a lot of changing conditions but at the moment it feels very good."
OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s been a really good start to the Rolex 24 for us. The opening stint was all about staying smart and not taking too many risks, and the team has done an incredible job setting us up to be competitive with our strategy. We avoided trouble at the start, hit our timing windows perfectly with the cautions, and handing over the car in a solid track position is exactly where you want to be in a race like this. Now it’s all about executing and letting the team do what they do best.”
LARS KERN, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "Everything worked really well. The car is in a good spot and feels really comfortable. Everything is going to plan. The last pit stop wasn't great on my behalf. I went two or three feet long on the stop so we had to push back. We lost two or three spots but it feels like we have the pace to get back to where we've been. The car is easy to drive and feeling really good."
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "It was a good start to the race. We seem to have pretty strong pace to sit at the front of the GTD class. We are saving quite a bit of fuel, more than most of the field, as well. All seems to be going to plan at the minute, but still it’s still early days."
SALIH YOLUC, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "All good in that run. It was a bit of a busy triple-stint out there. We have a good car so hopefully we will manage until the last couple hours and then we will attack for the win. There's a long time to go yet so let’s see where we are in the morning."
Ryan Smith
Corvette GTD PRO entries leading through opening stanza of Rolex 24
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 24, 2026) – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports two Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs led and ran up front for the majority of the opening hours of the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Saturday.
Alexander Sims led the GTD PRO class in the pole-sitting No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R that he is driving with Antonio Garcia and Marvin Kirchhöfer. The trio has run no lower than fifth in the race, which started under warm and sunny skies but turned significantly cooler and more gloomy with fog rolling in near the one-third mark.
While the No. 3 Corvette started and ran up front from the start, the No. 4 sister Z06 GT3.R quickly established itself as a contender with a strong charge by Nicky Catsburg at the start. He moved from seventh in class at the start to the class lead in his second stint, followed by solid drives by teammates Tommy Milner and Nico Varrone to keep the trio on the heels of the No. 3 in second place.
Both Sims and Catsburg were in the tail-end of their second double-stints to carry the Corvettes into the middle of the night around the 3.56-mile Daytona Road Course.
In GTD, both DXDT Racing and 13 Autosport positioned themselves for contending charges later in the race. The No. 36 DXDT Corvette spent much of the first eight hours in the top-10 with Salih Yoluc doing most of the early work with Charlie Eastwood and Mason Filippi each driving single stints. Eastwood ran as high as second from his fourth-place starting position, and Yoluc was 10th at the eight-hour mark.
Defending GTD race-winner 13 Autosport was ready to start its charge to the front from 14th in class with 16 hours left. Orey Fidani drove more than four-and-a-half hours to meet the minimum drivetime requirements, which put Lars Kern, Matt Bell and Ben Green in position to climb the leaderboard as other entries prepared to cycle their Bronze-rated drivers through the nighttime. It was a similar strategy to last year’s winning effort under the AWA banner.
DragonSpeed, in its first race as part of Corvette Racing, had a disappointing opening to the race. Matteo Cairoli was sent off-track by an LMP2 car while running in the top-15, and the No. 81 Corvette made contact with one of the track’s tire barriers. The collision caused a full-course yellow and damaged much of the left-side bodywork of the Corvette. But the DragonSpeed crew quickly repaired the car and got Cairoli back out for what turned into an extended test session for the team to learn more about its new Corvette.
Corvette Racing’s next update will come after the 18-hour mark.
SELECT CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER QUOTES
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "All good for us so far. In the first stint both Fords pitted before the yellows so they got out ahead of us. I just realized it was worth staying where I was unless we had a clear opportunity to pass. That kind of played out; I could save tires and fuel, and we were able to jump them on the next stop. On the restart I was lucky to be on the right side when Tommy got caught out by two prototypes. From that point on, I just followed the pace. It's still unknown how the tires are going to behave with just taking two on a stop. I was taking it a little bit cautious, but I'd say the tire held up very well. I could open the gap a little bit but the (No. 9) Lambo was coming fast but when I saw they were struggling as much as I thought then we opened it up more. The Corvette was really good at the end of the stint. It's early but so far the car is doing what I want."
(Corvette vs. Ford battle and pace?) "Last year we couldn't really stay ahead of them at any point. For sure we have more speed now and we can stay ahead. Our car is really, really good but I'm sure they will be too. Once we get to the time when it's time to single-stint the tires, it might be a little different for everyone."
(The fight with the No. 4 Corvette early) "It's not great not knowing what to do with your teammate ahead of you. If he runs into traffic, you're definitely not going to throw your car in there like you would with any other car. But it's so early in the race that it doesn't really matter who is ahead. In a way, Nicky (Catsburg) followed Alex (Sims) for most of the stint and I did the same with Tommy (Milner). Everything eventually plays out. I kept my pace and the car is really good."
(On level of aggression earlier) "I haven't been aggressive so far and trying to stay out of trouble. If I see someone really aggressive then I don't mind letting them by. I saw the Lambo flashing its lights at me from behind and I was like 'There's 20 hours to go.'"
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "The P2 cars were in a bit of mayhem going into Turn One. It was pretty daunting to go through the corner and not really know where to go and try not to run over any debris. Thankfully we got through in one piece. I was trying to keep things calm from then on, look after the car and be smart with energy management. I have absolutely no idea what other people were doing. We were at front but I don't know what the pace of everyone else was."
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "The plan is to save some fuel here early on to be a little off strategy to shorten the race at the end. The first stint was fun and really good but the second stint wasn't too much fun anymore. A P2 spun in front of me and I thought I was going to be OK but all of a sudden another one appeared that I couldn't see. Then I had more really bad P2 traffic later and lost like five or six seconds on that lap. It's frustrating but obviously it's early. We're doing what we can and taking our licks now so at the end of the race we'll be in a better position. But the car is fine... it's totally fine."
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "The start was a little wilder than I thought it would be. Everyone seemed to be super-enthusiastic to try and win the race in the first few laps. There was a lot of debris everywhere and cars going off, so I tried to stay out of trouble. I got pretty lucky on a couple of the restarts where I had a little bit of a jump compared to the guys ahead of us and I managed to take some places. It was a good first stint... saved some fuel and jumped some places. The car feels really good but it's a little early to tell yet. There will be a lot of changing conditions but at the moment it feels very good."
OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s been a really good start to the Rolex 24 for us. The opening stint was all about staying smart and not taking too many risks, and the team has done an incredible job setting us up to be competitive with our strategy. We avoided trouble at the start, hit our timing windows perfectly with the cautions, and handing over the car in a solid track position is exactly where you want to be in a race like this. Now it’s all about executing and letting the team do what they do best.”
LARS KERN, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "Everything worked really well. The car is in a good spot and feels really comfortable. Everything is going to plan. The last pit stop wasn't great on my behalf. I went two or three feet long on the stop so we had to push back. We lost two or three spots but it feels like we have the pace to get back to where we've been. The car is easy to drive and feeling really good."
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "It was a good start to the race. We seem to have pretty strong pace to sit at the front of the GTD class. We are saving quite a bit of fuel, more than most of the field, as well. All seems to be going to plan at the minute, but still it’s still early days."
SALIH YOLUC, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "All good in that run. It was a bit of a busy triple-stint out there. We have a good car so hopefully we will manage until the last couple hours and then we will attack for the win. There's a long time to go yet so let’s see where we are in the morning."
Ryan Smith
