Corvette Racing has a full weekend coming up with two high-profile entries for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third round of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

As part of the showcase with IMSA’s GTP and GTD classes, two Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs are set for Saturday’s 100-minute street race on the famous 11-turn, 1.968-mile street circuit in southern California. Both have their own unique storylines:

No. 13 AWA Corvette: Matt Bell/Orey Fidani
Reigning Rolex 24 At Daytona GTD class winner AWA and its drivers made their first appearance at Long Beach a year ago and finished an impressive sixth in class.
The result served as a springboard for the rest of the season, which culminated in the Bob Akin Award for Fidani as the highest points-scoring Bronze driver in GTD. The award landed AWA an invitation to this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the momentum carried over to the Rolex 24 victory in January

No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette: Robert Wickens/Tommy Milner
One of the most followed and unique entries in this year’s race, DXDT Racing’s Corvette is equipped with a Bosch hand-control electronic braking system for Wickens who lost the use of his lower body in a racing crash in 2018 and Corvette factory driver Tommy Milner, who did the initial shakedown and testing of the hand-control system.
The No. 36 Corvette is a collaboration between Bosch, Chevrolet, Pratt Miller and DXDT Racing.

Long Beach will mark Wickens’ first race in a Corvette Z06 GT3.R. His impressive resume pairs well with the Corvette Racing program, whose history of success includes 140 race victories around the world, 117 of them in IMSA competition along with 14 Manufacturers championships for Chevrolet.

General Motors and Chevrolet have long been committed to accessibility for customers and employees. Upon hearing of Wickens’ interest in GTD, Chevrolet helped to bring Bosch, Pratt Miller and DXDT together to bring him into the Corvette family.

“Everyone within Chevrolet and Corvette Racing is excited to be part of this project,” said Mark Stielow, director, Chevrolet Motorsports Competition Programs. “Chevrolet’s commitment to accessibility and innovation in motorsports drove investment in this project.
We all support Robert’s drive to compete at the highest levels of motorsport and are proud to partner with groups like Bosch, Pratt Miller and DXDT Racing to realize part of that dream.”

In addition to the 100-minute IMSA race, two Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will contest a pair of 40-minute sprint races in SRO Motorsports’ GT America series, Blake McDonald in the No. 11 Corvette for DXDT Racing and Ross Chouest in the No. 50 Corvette for Chouest Povoledo Racing.

Chevrolet and the Corvette brand have been a fixture at Long Beach since the Corvette Racing program first visited Long Beach in 2007. In 17 visits, Corvette GT cars have captured eight victories, with two additional in the Corvette Daytona Prototype era. Combined with results from the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Chevrolet boasts a total of 22 victories in the Grand Prix’s two premier events.

The Grand Prix of Long Beach for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. PT on Saturday, April 12.

The race will air live on the USA Network starting at 5 p.m. ET with full streaming coverage on Peacock, which also will stream Friday’s 8 p.m. ET qualifying session. IMSA Radio also will air Friday’s qualifying and the race at IMSA.com along with XM 206 and SiriusXM Online 996.

CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m looking forward to getting back to Long Beach. It was my first time there last season, and it was the surprise of the year for me. I loved the circuit and the event as a whole; it was a great experience.
We had great pace too, as we have so far this year, so I’m hopeful and confident that we’ll be able to put together another competitive showing.”

OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Long Beach is a very challenging but also really exciting track. It’s so narrow and unforgiving, and with so little room for error, you know you have to be precise and make the right decisions. It’s a change of pace from Daytona and Sebring, but we’ve shown our consistency, and I’m looking forward to proving our competitiveness in the sprint races as well.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m excited to go back to Long Beach for a number of reasons. First off, it’s a really unique event with all kinds of history behind it great drivers, great cars and fantastic races. I’ve been fortunate to win there four times, a couple under some pretty crazy circumstances!
Second, it’s obviously a real privilege to be asked to team with Rob in this race. It’s such a big moment for him, for DXDT Racing, for Corvette, all the partners and racing in general. We all have high hopes going into the weekend.
The Corvette and the hand-control system have been solid in testing. Both Rob and I know the track very well. So we’re all optimistic of being able to race and challenge for a podium and hopefully the win.”

ROBERT WICKENS, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“After finally getting my first taste of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R in Sebring a few weeks ago, I have been counting down the days until Long Beach. My first race with DXDT and finally my first race of 2025.
It is going to be a very steep learning curve, but I am thankful I have a strong team behind me and a great teammate in Tommy Milner to help get me up to speed. Hopefully when we look back on this event on Saturday night, we can be proud of what we accomplished together.”