To say that Corvette Racing had an eventful 2025 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona would be an understatement. The No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of AWA Racing galloped to the GTD class victory, while in the GTD Pro class, a spat between the No. 3 Corvette and a BMW competitor dashed the team’s hopes of winning in that division.
The No. 13 Corvette Racing team – made up of drivers Matt Bell, Orey Fidani, Lars Kern and Marvin Kirchhöfer – emerged as a serious GTD class threat about halfway through the 24-hour marathon at Daytona. The victory was all but decided with seven hours left on the clock when Bell dove into the pits, taking on fuel and tires, holding onto the class lead through the cycle. While he traded the top spot with competitors for a few hours after that, he completed the winning pass with just 20 minutes left on the clock.
“This means absolutely everything,” Bell said. “To me, to my teammates Orey and Lars and Marvin. Everybody on this team has worked so hard. To think where we were this time last year and how far we’ve come to now… it’s so much hard work to do this. From the minute the checkered flag fell at Petit Le Mans, no one took a rest. No one took a break. It’s been 24-7 since then to get a car that is capable of winning the Daytona 24 Hours.”
The No. 4 Corvette Racing entry, racing for the GTD Pro win, claimed the lead inside the final two hours with Tommy Milner at the wheel. However, his attempts to keep the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO behind him were foiled by the No. 48 BMW. Held up behind the No. 48 BMW, Milner wasn’t able to outrun the No. 1 BMW. The incident culminated in contact between the No. 4 Vette and the No. 1 BMW, knocking out the left taillight and necessitating costly repairs. The team ultimately finished seventh.
Milner was understandably upset with the BMW teammates and expressed his displeasure with a choice gesture out the driver’s side window.
“That’s not what IMSA is about, sports car racing is about,” Milner said of the No 48 BMW. “First and foremost, the driver should be embarrassed, the team should be embarrassed… with that kind of racing. It is team racing here but not like that. They have a car that’s laps down out of the race whose only job is basically only to help the teammate, and not like that. Lap after lap, blocking, blocking, blocking, waiting for me.”
The No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, and Dani Juncadella finished second in the GTD Pro class, while the No. 91 Vette of Ben Keating, Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen, and Connor Zilisch finished ninth during the Rolex 24 race. The No. 36 Vette of Charlie Eastwood, Pipo Derani, Alec Udell, and Salih Yoluc finished 20th in the GTD division after retiring halfway through the race.
Comments
Team Corvette got BMW back. It cost them 3 spots but the 4th place car took the 3rd place BMW out. He was besting on the second place Vette. It was great payback.
IMSA needs to add weight to the Fords or cut weight to the Corvettes with BOP. The Changes the Mustangs got gave them a major advantage in this race.
Agree, Pony Cars like a Mustang, would not ordinarily be competitive with a true Sports Car like the Corvette, especially a mid-engined sports car.