DXDT Racing and the Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3.R are on the verge of making history at the final race of the year for GT World Challenge America. The first-year effort between DXDT Racing and Corvette will try for its ninth consecutive race win in the series and in the process claim the Pro-class championship in Saturday’s Indianapolis Eight Hours.

A pair of the DXDT-liveried Corvette GT3s are part of the 25-car field for the season’s lone endurance race, which also doubles as a round of SRO Motorsports’ Intercontinental GT Challenge.
The event is a true race-within-a-race, with the regular GT World Challenge America field joined by a number of IGTC entries for a grid of 25 cars.

The GTWCA portion of the Eight Hours will pay double-points, which will be critical for DXDT Racing’s duo of Corvette factory driver Tommy Milner and Alec Udell.
With class victories in all eight of their races this year, Milner and Udell can take the Pro-class Drivers and Teams championships with a ninth win in the No. 63 Corvette Z06 GT3.R alongside endurance teammate Alexander Sims, also a Corvette works driver.

In the Pro-Am class, Bryan Sellers will drive with new teammates Patrick Liddy and Blake McDonald in the No. 64 Corvette, which is a two-time winner in the class this year. The Pro-Am class is the race’s most populated, with 16 entries.

The Indianapolis Eight Hours will be the second long-distance race for the Corvette GT3 in three weeks.
Three Z06 GT3.Rs contested a six-hour IMSA enduro on September 22. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports placed third in the GTD PRO class, and AWA was sixth in GTD. Each team also had the fastest race lap in their respective classes.

There will be a number of findings that Corvette GT3 customer support engineers can apply this weekend based on lessons taken from the IMSA round.
Despite a difference in tire suppliers between the two series, suspension and other points in chassis setup with validations from Chevrolet’s Driver in the Loop simulator should provide a solid baseline for DXDT’s opening sessions of the weekend.

DXDT Racing will take the green flag for the Indianapolis Eight Hours at 12:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 5.
Live coverage of both races plus timing & scoring will be available at gt-world-challenge-america.com and SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.

DXDT RACING CORVETTE PRE-EVENT QUOTES

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It’s pretty unbelievable that we are one more good result away from winning the Pro championship. I’ve been in racing long enough now to know that you can easily have highs and lows in a certain span of time. When things are good, you try to take advantage of them as long as you can because there is no guarantee that it will continue on.
So for that reason, and others, the Indianapolis Eight Hours will be a fun event.
There’s more competition coming from some really stacked manufacturers and teams just for this one.

All the things that we worked on and prepared for the previous sprint races should hopefully have us prepared for this final race. We know the team is good, my teammates are obviously proven, and we know we have a great Corvette. Now we just need to execute and put ourselves in a good position like we have in these last eight races.”

ALEC UDELL, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I am super-excited for Indy, and even that is an understatement. We’ve shown the strengths of the car in a sprint format. We’ve had quite a bit of success, and a lot of that is down to great execution and great preparation from all sides of this team.
For me, it’s awesome to have every opportunity that I can to get in the car, learn from Tommy and Alexander, learn from the engineers and soak up everything I can about the Z06 GT3.R platform. Eight hours… yeah,

I’m super-excited, definitely, and really jump in with a chance to win an endurance round.
I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t compete for an overall podium.
Other manufacturers will come with their IGTC top guns that have been running for the full season. Let’s see how we fare on American soil with American power!”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It will be cool to slot into a new environment with DXDT Racing. I know some of the team members, which is nice, and obviously I know Tommy very well. The run they have had is just phenomenal. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that happening, eight wins in a row in any sports car championship. It piles on the pressure for me joining! In all seriousness, this team and Corvette obviously have the capabilities to score a top result.

The first priority in any endurance race is to make the finish with the cleanest car and be in the fight in case there are any safety cars or anything like that.
The pace has been phenomenal, and hopefully we can continue that and deliver a race win and championship.”

Both of the DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs failed to make the Pole Shootout,
with the No. 63 Fanatec GT Pro entry of Tommy Milner, Alec Udell and Alexander Sims the best in 15th.
Milner said they’ve struggled all week and have been “miles slower” in a straight line and on power.

Milner said : “There’s nothing we can do. We’ve tried trimming, full downforce, we’ve gone everywhere with the car setup.
We all like the car; it feels good. We just don’t have any power.
It’s frustrating for sure because, being nice, we’re probably seven-tenths of a lap slower than everybody else, and it’s probably more like a second, generally.
We’re doing everything we can on our side to get the most out of it.”

There has been no indication of forthcoming pre-race Balance of Performance adjustments, although SRO Motorsports Group holds the right to make changes, as has been commonplace in IGTC events.
SRO technical director Claude Surmont is on-site this weekend.

CORVETTE RACING AT INDY: Third in Pro Race, Second in Points

Pace deficit too much for No. 63 Corvette Z06 GT3.R to overcome at Indy Eight Hours

DXDT Racing’s trio of Tommy Milner, Alec Udell and Alexander Sims placed fourth overall and second in the GT World Challenge America Pro class Saturday at the end of the Indianapolis Eight Hours in the No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

The result meant that Corvette factory driver Milner and teammate Udell finished second in the Pro Drivers and Teams championship standings, despite missing the first four races of the season.
The two set a class record by winning their first eight races, some on pace, the others on making no mistakes.

A substantial pace deficit throughout the Indianapolis weekend was too much for the team to overcome in the championship case.
The No. 63 Corvette needed to win the race to give itself the best chance of claiming the title, and things looked good in the first hour Saturday.

After starting fifth in class and 14th out of all 23 cars, Udell drove to the front in the first two hours before the Z06 GT3.R fell back into the clutches of the faster Pro cars. Sims drove for an hour before handing off to Milner with a 26-second lead, but the eventual race-winning Porsche used its performance advantage to erase that deficit in the next hour.

The two cars made contact in the pitlane on the subsequent pit stop just prior to halfway, with the Porsche hitting the side of the Corvette, which was in the fast lane and was entitled to remain in front. The hit damaged the right-front of the Corvette and left it aerodynamically hindered, with no penalty to the Porsche.

The No. 63 DXDT Z06 GT3.R ran the remaining four hours and the full race without penalties, mistakes or going off-track.

In the Pro-Am class, the No. 64 Corvette of Bryan Sellers, Patrick Liddy and Blake McDonald weren’t so fortunate.
They lost multiple laps early after having to replace part of its front suspension after contact from another Pro-Am competitor inside the first three hours.

The trio soldiered on to finish sixth among the 13 Pro-Am runners.

DXDT RACING CORVETTE POST-EVENT QUOTES

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“We can’t let one weekend cloud the season we’ve had with DXDT Racing and Corvette. It’s a great team, a real pleasure to drive with Alec and work with everyone at DXDT Racing with some help from Corvette Racing. Today stings a little bit, but that will go away quickly when we look back on the year and all we achieve. I’m very, very proud of how good this team is, how good this car was, and how impressed I was with Alec all year long. It was excellent on all sides.

Today was a great example of that. We kept putting ourselves at the front of the field with great strategy, not making mistakes, doing all the right things and giving ourselves the best chance possible. It just wasn’t going to happen for us today, unfortunately. We did everything we could to give ourselves a great opportunity.”

ALEC UDELL, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“From the start in May, it wasn’t supposed to be possible for us to contend for the championship. That speaks to the platform of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, DXDT Racing, Corvette Racing and everyone coming together to put such a competitive program together. I think that turned some heads and put us on the map. I’m happy with everyone’s performance today.
I think we extracted the maximum that we could have from the racecar. I’ve learned a ton from Tommy and got to learn a lot this weekend from Alex as well. I’m really happy with everyone on the team Bryan (Sellers), Erin (Gahagan, team manager) and David (Askew, team owner). It’s been a great program with so many people that are behind the scenes. I don’t think it has set in right now because there is still the frustration of the day. But everything that was in our control we maximized this year.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“We knew we didn’t have the ability to race at the front on pace. It was difficult in the sense that we were up front at times, and that gives you hope. You start to wonder whether the situation might resolve itself, and you might be able to hang on. But we couldn’t, unfortunately.

That’s the reality today. The Porsche guys did a good job and were really fast; well done to them. Huge credit to the DXDT team.
For their first season in this new Corvette and the amount of wins they had and the only race they didn’t win was still a third place, that’s an amazing season. I’m proud to be a small part of that.”