The No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R finished just inside the top 10 in the GTD class at Sebring on March 16th, 2024, the best of all four Corvette Racing teams across the line.
Sebring marked the second race for AWA Racing as part of the Corvette Racing stable, and the No. 13 Vette finished on the lead lap among 22 GTD entries. Orey Fidani, Matt Bell and Lars Kern shared the wheel of the No. 13 Vette, fighting their way from the rear after infractions forced all four of The Bow Tie brand’s race cars to start at the back. They ran as high as third before falling back in the latter part of the race, defending a ninth-place finish.
“It was pretty intense out there,” Bell said. “Obviously in Daytona we just had to circulate around a bit after that unfortunate start. It was good to be back in the GTD battle properly there. There was some intense battling, and I managed to fight my way from the back to P8, I think, so it was nice to be in the fight.”
Meanwhile, the gold No. 3 Corvette Racing machine of Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella looked strong right out of the gate, but unfortunately, it was struck from the rear as the laps ticked down. The race car spun out from second place in the GTD division, putting an end to an otherwise impressive day.
“There were some pretty poor driving standards at the end from many cars,” Juncandella, who was driving at the time of impact, said. “I just got fully rear-ended into the braking zone at Turn Three. I was just a passenger and there was nothing I could do. It’s a shame because we lost a podium probably.”
The No. 4 Corvette suffered from clutch issues early in the race, putting the team off the pace as they were forced to pit several times before eventually swapping out the clutch entirely, finishing multiple laps down. The No. 17 Corvette Z06 GT3.R was also plagued with problems, and was forced to retire early due to electric issues.
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Comments
The number 3 corvette was effectively rammed out of the race by Lexus at the very end of the race
Was it by Lexus or Porsche? I thought the #77 might have been the culprit. No one has owned up to it.
Why did the “gold” colored cars appear to be tan on the screen? Other cars had a gold hue but the Corvettes never had that color-not gold at all.
It was definitely the #77 Porsche who rammed the #3 Corvette, for which they were penalized. However, none of none of that could replace the 2nd place finish they had worked 12 hours to achieve. And the cars were actually more “bronze” than gold…who knows why?
It was definitely the #77 Porsche who rammed the #3 Corvette, for which they were penalized. However, none of could replace the 2nd place finish they had worked 12 hours to achieve. And the cars were actually more “bronze” than gold…who knows why?