IMSA Rolex 24 hour race with 5 C8 Z06s

[teamzr1]

With the first 6 hours of the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona complete, Colin Braun drove Acura Meyer Shank Racing to the lead after a full course yellow restart brought about by possibly the highest-profile retirement of the race.

Andy Lally’s final IMSA race as a full-time driver and Magnus Racing’s last IMSA race for the foreseeable future has come to a disappointing end.
Lally brought the No. 44 Aston Martin to a halt at Turn 2.
With fluid pouring out from under the car, the engine failure brought out the third full course yellow of the race.

As he walked out of his car, Lally waved to the fans at Daytona International Speedway.

“Not the final lap around here I was hoping for,” he said. “Right after I got onto the power, there was a huge explosion. I’m pleased the guys had given me perfect earpieces, I could feel the compression through the car. I’ve never had a failure like that in 25 years here.

It’s a massive shame for the whole team, and in particular for John Potter, who did a fantastic triple-stint to start right on the pace. It’s not the way to finish this story anyone else would have wanted. It’s the end of this chapter.

“I’ll take a few days to think about it, but I’m excited about the next chapter for me [as the new President of Trans Am]. I’m hugely grateful for everyone who’s played a part in my driving career, and in particular, of course, my family here at Magnus Racing.”

When action resumed, Braun overtook Earl Bamber in the No. 31 Cadillac and Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche 963 to grab the lead of the race.

Nasr is still second for Porsche Penske Motorsports, ahead of Bamber and Kamui Kobayashi in their respective Cadillacs.

Mathias Beche took the lead in LMP2 for PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports in the No. 52 ORECA. He leads Riley’s Felipe Fraga and CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s Colton Herta.

Deeper into their respective stints, Connor De Phillippi leads GTD PRO in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ahead of Nico Varrone in the No. 4 Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R. Behind them, Jesse Krohn in the No. 48 BMW leads the No. 3 Corvette of Daniel Juncadella.

In GTD, Frederik Schandorff kept the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari ahead of the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Tom Sargent and the No. 021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari of James Calado.

The 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 is the second official retirement of the race, joining the No. 63 Lamborghini SC63. A team source confirmed an apparent engine failure for the No. 75. A visibly upset Jules Gounon told RACER, “It’s tough to take after two weeks here to be out by 7:00 p.m. I had the same last year out at 6:00 p.m. I’ll try again next week [at Bathurst].”

TDS Racing’s ORECA is also back running after a gearbox change following its West Horseshoe incident earlier in the race.

Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 93 Acura ARX-06 returned as well, though 40 laps down after its left-rear wishbone mount sheared off. Mechanics needed to take out the gearbox to fix the problem and eventually put the car back together again after an hour of repairs.

So far, 197 laps have been completed with three full course yellows and two official retirements.

HOUR 6 STANDINGS

https://racer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/85/2025/01/Hour-6.pdf

 

[teamzr1]

The eighth hour of the Rolex 24 At Daytona started under yellow and soon saw another restart, one that claimed six cars in a chaotic incident as cars entered the infield.

Louis Deletraz in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R lost control exiting Turn 2, twitched and spun off into the barrier to his right, the car’s momentum then carrying him back across the track into traffic.

Nick Boulle couldn’t avoid the stranded Cadillac and struck Deletraz, before Chris Cumming hit both the No. 40 and the No. 2 United Autosports ORECA of Boulle. Trying to avoid that pileup, Jordan Pepper in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini ran into the side of the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW of Max Hesse.

The No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA LMP2 of Sebastien Bourdais also suffered damage in the incident after getting brushed by the other LMP2s. Despite appearing to have been collected at first, the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R was able to stop and avoid damage. Both drove away from the incident.

All other drivers were able to walk away from their respective cars without any apparent injuries.

The race resumed after a 25-minute full course yellow. Leading GTP at the moment is the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R of Jack Aitken, followed by the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Nick Tandy and the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 of Tom Blomqvist.

Sheldon van der Linde spun out in Turn 2 after contact by Neel Jani, but the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 was able to drive away and the race remained green.

Paul Di Resta and United Autosports USA’s sole surviving No. 22 ORECA leads LMP2 from Paul-Loup Chatin in the No. 18 ERA Motorsport car, followed by Jonny Edgar in the No. 99 AO Racing “Spike” car.

In GTD PRO, Ford Multimatic is back in the front, running 1-3 with the No. 65 Mustang of Frederic Vervisch leading and the No. 64 of Mike Rockenfeller just behind the second-place No. 69 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Fabian Schiller.

Franck Perera leads GTD for Forte Racing, the No. 78 Lamborghini out in front of the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin of Mattia Drudi and the No. 19 Van der Steur Racing Aston Martin of Anthony McIntosh.

Heart of Racing is down to one contending car after the No. 007 GTD PRO car lost its left-rear wheel as Roman de Angelis was contending for a place in the top five. This brought out the FCY which preceded the multi-car accident that followed.

HOUR 8 STANDINGS

 

[teamzr1]

With 9 & 1/2 hours completed
3 of the 5 Corvettes are within striking range

 

[Invetterate]

Is this it Mark?

Doesn't start until 1.30 EST - so 6.30pm UK?

Thanks, Bill!

 

[teamzr1]

Hour 18

The sun is rising over Daytona International Speedway as we enter the fourth quarter of the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona.

With six hours left and 585 laps completed, Porsche Penske Motorsport is in command of the GTP class. Nick Tandy and Matt Campbell are fighting hard but fair for the lead as they pursue one another through traffic. Tandy in the No. 7 Porsche 963 has built a bit of a lead to the No. 6 of Campbell, now around five seconds at the interval.

Over 30 seconds behind the leading Porsches, the No. 24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 is third, ahead of the No. 60 MSR Acura ARX-06 and the No. 10 WTR Cadillac V-Series.R, at the end of the lead lap.

It is still cold but expected to get warmer as the end of the race approaches.

We’ve had 10 full course yellows but none since around 3:30am when the Inter Europol Competition LMP2 had its breakdown, and 13 official retirements including the No. 5 Porsche, No. 40 Cadillac and No. 63 Lamborghini from GTP.

AO Racing leads LMP2 at the interval with its No. 99 ORECA 07 LMP2. Christian Rasmussen has a six-second advantage over the No. 8 Tower Motorsports car of Job van Uitert. Colton Herta runs third in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR car, with the top three all very much in contention for the LMP2 win.

The No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports ORECA has rejoined the race after extensive repairs — miraculously so after Chris Cumming was involved in the six-car pile-up at Turn 2 last night, which took out the No. 2 United Autosports USA car.

GTD PRO is kicking off as the pace begins to rapidly pick up. Madison Snow set the fastest lap of the race in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO this hour, and just minutes ago he forcefully overtook the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Klaus Bachler for the class lead.

Dennis Olsen runs third, waiting to pounce in his No. 65 Ford Multimatic Mustang GT3, with the No. 3 Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia in a distant fourth but definitely not out of the hunt, ahead of the No. 69 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3.

AWA leads GTD at the interval courtesy of a strong drive from Englishman Matt Bell, who now has a narrow lead over the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG of Ralf Aron in second.

Aron has a buffer to Korthoff Competition Motors’ Kenton Koch in third, then the Ferraris of Conrad Laursen for AF Corse and James Calado for Triarsi Competizione.

The No. 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Matt Bell was out front in GTD after the then class-leading No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo was handed a drive-through penalty for a pit lane infringement in the previous hour.

HOUR 18 STANDINGS

 

[teamzr1]

With 3 1/2 hours to go

3 Corvettes in GTD Pro class are in 2nd, 5th and 7th places
1 Corvette out of 2 in GTD class is in 1st place

 

[teamzr1]

Lots of good Corvette Facebook updates

Corvette Racing Fans

Corvette Racing Fans. 59,599 likes · 1,684 talking about this. World Wide Fan Page for - North Americas top racing team - Corvette Racing. Follow us for news updates and live race streaming.

www.facebook.com

 

[teamzr1]

Porsche Penske Motorsports’ Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor won the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona, giving Penske and Porsche back-to-back GTP and overall victories in the twice-around-the-classic.

The No. 7 Porsche 963 won by 1.335s after completing 780 laps around Daytona. It gave Vanthoor his long-awaited first Rolex 24 win, and gave Tandy an unprecedented “Grand Slam” of 24-hour endurance race victories with overall wins at Le Mans, Nurburgring, Spa-Francorchamps and now Daytona.

Meyer Shank Racing’s Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist denied Penske and Porsche a 1-2 finish, driving the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 to second place as Blomqvist overtook the No. 6 Penske Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell and Kevin Estre with just five minutes left.

The Ford Mustang GT3 got its first victory in global competition as Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ Frederic Vervisch, Chris Mies, and Dennis Olsen grabbed a closely fought win in GTD PRO aboard the No. 65 Mustang.

They led an all-American GTD PRO podium with the No. 3 Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella fighting to second place, ahead of the No. 64 Ford of Mike Rockenfeller, Sebastian Priaulx, and Austin Cindric.

Tower Motorsports’ John Farano, Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastian Alvarez and Job van Uitert ran away with LMP2 in the final 25 minutes, taking the class win after multiple rivals suffered misfortunes.

And Canadian team AWA with drivers Orey Fidani, Matthew Bell, Lars Kern, and Marvin Kirchhöfer gave the Corvette Z06 GT3.R its first IMSA GTD victory and AWA’s second Rolex 24 class win in three years.

Just past the top of the hour, the No. 24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 began to bounce wildly down the backstretch. Dries Vanthoor needed repairs desperately to get to the flag.

Seconds later, the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini (GTD) of Danny Formal suffered a broken left-rear suspension while running third in class. He pulled off at the exit of Speedway Turn 4, but the full course yellow was deployed once again.

The No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche and No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 had to come in for an emergency splash of fuel right away, it compromised them as they needed to come in again and dropped down the GTD order.

The GTP leaders took fuel to the end and left in the order they came in, with the No. 6 Porsche of Matt Campbell in front. But the LMP2 class turned upside down: ERA Motorsport had just brought the No. 18 ORECA in for a stop just before the yellow, and Paul-Loup Chatin only needed to bring the car in for a splash to jump from fourth to 1st!

Fast pit work from Pratt Miller Motorsports put Nico Varrone’s beaten No. 4 Corvette up front in GTD PRO and AF Corse pulled a blinder to get Riccardo Agostini’s No.50 Ferrari up to the lead in GTD.

And with 38 minutes left, the safety car peeled off, and the race came down to its final sprint finish. Vanthoor couldn’t make Turn 1 and let Nasr through into second, and suddenly Blomqvist’s Acura was back in contention. Dennis Olsen and Laurin Heinrich muscled their way to the front in GTD PRO, and Mattia Drudi likewise took the lead in GTD before Matt Bell took the AWA Corvette to the lead the next lap!

Vanthoor’s left-front tire began to rub violently against the bodywork in the Le Mans chicane, and he couldn’t fight off Blomqvist, who slipped into third. Eventually, Vanthoor limped the No. 24 back to the pits. BMW’s challenge for the overall win at Daytona was done.

Olsen moved clear of a hard-fighting GTD PRO pack, as Alexander Sims’ opportunism allowed him to slip up into second place while battling three-wide with Laurin Heinrich and Fabian Schiller.

Heinrich got front-end damage and Rexy’s challenge for the win was extinguished as the reigning GTD PRO champion tumbled down the order quickly. Sims’ Corvette wouldn’t let Olsen’s Ford get away as the two American giants were 1-2 but with a big slide out of the West Horseshoe, Sims was in the crosshairs of Van der Linde.

Nasr and Campbell weren’t in the clear with 30 minutes left Blomqvist had caught the leading Porsche duo, and Meyer Shank Racing was back in the window for the overall win! Simultaneously, Drudi bumped Bell out of the way at Turn 1 to take the GTD lead, Aston Martin ahead of Corvette as neither driver was willing to give ground.

With 25 minutes to go, Chatin, the Alpine man, was hit and spun by the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports car of Mathias Beche. Beche received a drive-through penalty to put Bourdais up in the lead again, this time to stay.

Nasr cranked the pressure up big time on Campbell, as they approached the leading GTD PRO quartet, Campbell got held up in the traffic, allowing Nasr to get a big run through Speedway Turns 1 and 2. The Brazilian passed Campbell below the double yellow line on the backstretch an illegal move in the Daytona 500, but here in IMSA it was picture perfect!
Nasr grabbed the lead in the No. 7, and while Campbell made another attempt into the tri-oval, he couldn’t stay ahead through Turns 1 and 2.

As Olsen and Sims ran tail-to-nose in GTD PRO, Bell came back at Drudi, and retook the GTD lead for AWA with 16 minutes to go. With 12 minutes left, another BMW vs. Corvette flashpoint happened as Van der Linde and Sims banged fenders out of the infield and onto the banking. Sims ultimately held the position, but Olsen was driving away.

Just seconds later, Sims and Van der Linde got backed up into Turn 1, and Nico Varrone hit Van der Linde, spinning the No. 1 BMW out of podium contention. Varrone picked up a drive-through penalty for spinning Van der Linde.

GTP, GTD PRO and GTD leaders all overlapped with nine minutes left. Campbell lost out, Blomqvist tried a lunge around the outside of Turn 1 with six minutes to go, but the Anglo-Swede couldn’t get a good exit and Campbell held onto second…at least for one lap, before Blomqvist made the move and made it stick for second the next time by.

PROVISIONAL RESULTS

 

[teamzr1]

Ford Multimatic Motorsports delivered the maiden race victory for the Ford Mustang GT3 by taking the GTD Pro class honors in the 63rd Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Dennis Olsen, sharing the No. 65 car with Chris Mies and Fred Vervisch, secured the win for the Blue Oval by storming past the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R at the final restart with 38 minutes to go.

Olsen then held firm as the sister No. 3 Chevrolet, piloted by Alex Sims, closed up to within a handful of tenths, remaining right on the bumper of the Ford throughout the final 20 minutes.
The Norwegian then got a breather as a battle between Sims, the No. 4 Chevrolet of Nico Varrone and Kelvin van der Linde’s No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO ended in tears when the South African was tagged into a spin at Turn 1.

The clash between Corvette and BMW served as the conclusion to a heated battle between the two brands that saw the Nos. 4 and 1 cars clash, with Milner and Connor De Phillippi at the wheel.
This came after the sister No. 48 BMW car, delayed after getting caught up in a multi-car collision in hour eight, got involved in the battle as Augusto Farfus sought to aid De Phillippi in the fight for the win.

Farfus received a penalty for blocking for his efforts, after which De Phillippi and Milner came to blows on at the International Horseshoe with bodywork damage for the latter
A caution caused by the No. 88 Pecom Racing Oreca 07 Gibson threw the Corvette squad a lifeline and kept it in contention, but it could not prevent the Blue Oval from taking the first Rolex 24 win for its GT3 challenger upon its second start in the event.

Sims, Antonio Garcia and Daniel Juncadella finished second, ahead of the No. 64 Ford piloted by Mike Rockenfeller, Seb Priaulx and Austin Cindric in third.
Van der Linde, De Phillippi, Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen came home in fourth, ahead of the No. 69 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, which completed the top-five.

The No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 crossed the line sixth in class, with the No. 4 Chevrolet seventh after serving a drive-through penalty for the contact with Van der Linde.
A physical, late-race battle that resulted in contact ripped the nose of the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, leaving Laurin Heinrich, Klaus Bachler and Alessio Picariello classified in eighth ahead of Trackhouse by TF Sport.

Multiple significant contenders were eliminated in the opening half of the race, with the No. 75 SunEnergy Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo falling victim to a cracked oil tank, while the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 and No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW were both taken out of contention in a multi-car collision in hour eight.

AWA Gives Corvette GTD Victory

Orey Fidani, Lars Kern, Matt Bell and Marvin Kirchhoefer secured a breakthrough victory for AWA in the GTD class.
The No. 13 Corvette finished 1.454 seconds ahead of the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Adam Adelson, Elliott Skeer, Tom Sargent and Ayhancan Guven.

Bell came out on top after a late race battle with the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Mattia Drudi, with the two drivers trading the spot back and forth on multiple occasions.

Drudi, who shared the No. 27 car with Tom Gamble, Zach Robichon and Casper Stevenson, then also lost out to Guven’s No. 120 Porsche.
The No. 13 Chevrolet led much of Sunday morning, but a late caution with just over two hours to go reshuffled the order.
This promoted the No. 120 Wright Porsche to the class lead, while the No. 13 car was wrestled down to fourth place by the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini and No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG.

All three took turns at the head of the field, but the No. 45 was eliminated with suspension failure in the final hour, the caution for which came right at a time that forced the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG and No. 120 Porsche to pit for emergency service to take on fuel.
This then left Drudi clear to challenge Bell’s No. 13 Chevrolet for the class win, capturing the race lead with a big dive up the inside into Turn 1.
However, Bell returned the favor with an overtake on the Aston Martin into Turn 6 with 17 minutes to go.

The No. 57 Winward Mercedes-AMG ended up finishing fourth in class, with Russell Ward, Indy Dontje, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje recovering after initially going seven laps down after an early throttle pedal issue that took the car to the garage.
Turner Motorsport completed the top five in class with its No. 96 BMW driven by Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher, Jake Walker and Jens Klingmann.

 

[teamzr1]

Win for No. 13 Corvette is first in a 24-hour race for Corvette Z06 GT3.R

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 26, 2025) – The Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3.R started its second season of competition by winning one of the biggest races the world as AWA and drivers Matt Bell, Orey Fidani, Lars Kern and Martin Kirchhöfer captured the GT Daytona (GTD) victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona to start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The No. 13 Corvette crossed the finish line by 1.454 seconds for the 21st victory for Chevrolet in the Rolex 24 and the fifth for the Corvette Racing program since 1999. AWA’s victory was its second in three seasons at Daytona, also the first in a 24-hour race for the Corvette GT3 and 12th since debuting at the Rolex 24 a year ago.

Five Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs entered the race with two making the podium. Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella placed second in GTD PRO in Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ No. 3 Z06 GT3.R.

GTD PRO Corvette Z06 GT3.R Results

• No. 3 Corvette – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, Dani Juncadella – Runner-up in class
• No. 4 Corvette – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg, Nico Varrone –– Seventh in class
• No. 91 Corvette – Trackhouse by TF Sport – Ben Keating, Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen, Connor Zilisch – Ninth in class

GTD Corvette Z06 GT3.R Results

• No. 13 Corvette – AWA – Matt Bell, Orey Fidani, Lars Kern, Marvin Kirchhöfer – First in class
• No. 36 Corvette – DXDT Racing – Charlie Eastwood, Pipo Derani, Alec Udell, Salih Yoluc – 20th in class
• AWA’s victory began to take shape past the halfway point. Both Fidani and Kern completed the minimum drive time in the first 13 hours to set the stage for Bell and Kirchhöfer to drive most of the remaining 11 hours with Kern giving the pair a stint’s worth of a break before going the rest of the way.

• The GTD race swung in favor of AWA inside the final seven hours when Bell stopped for fuel and tires and retained the class lead. The class running order went back and forth the rest of the way with Bell taking the lead for good with 20 minutes left and running as low as fourth after a restart with 40 minutes to go.
• As joyous as the win for AWA was, the fate of the No. 4 Corvette from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports was just as heartbreaking. After cycling up and down in the GTD PRO order, Tommy Milner moved into the lead inside the final two hours but his attempt to extend his lead over the second-place No. 1 car was repeatedly blocked by that car’s team entry. That allowed the No. 1 to get to the back of Milner’s Corvette, which suffered rear damage that required multiple stops to repair.

• Despite that, the No. 4 squad remained in contention with Varrone racing his way up to second before the trio eventually finished seventh. The wild late-race chaos also saw Sims go from seventh to second inside the final hour.
• The No. 91 Trackhouse by TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Ben Keating, Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch took the fight to the GTD PRO regulars and consistently ran in the class’s top half for the majority of the race.
• DXDT Racing’s No. 36 Corvette was on pace for a solid result in its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut before retiring at the halfway point with Charlie Eastwood moving toward the front.

• The next race for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R program is 1812KM of Qatar – the opening race of the FIA World Endurance Championship on Friday, February 28. The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 15.

• JESSICA DANE, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER:

“Congratulations to Andrew Wojteczko, drivers Orey Fidani, Matt Bell, Lars Kern and Marvin Kirchhöfer and all of AWA for their incredible victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R. What this team has achieved in one year with the Corvette is nothing short of phenomenal.
Thank you to AWA and every person and partner who contributes to Corvette Racing’s success.
There is no better way for AWA to start the season and the team’s road to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”

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

“This means absolutely everything. 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.
AWA gave the four of us car to do it. IMSA is the hardest championship in the world. Our competitors gave us a hell of a run.

I had to work so hard to get on top of those guys but we managed to make it work and bring it home in the last 10 minutes.
Thank you to the competition for making it this hard, and thank you to AWA and my teammates to get us over the line.”

The winning pass: “Honestly, I can’t remember a thing. There were PRO cars, there were GTD cars… I don’t remember that. I’ll have to watch the video later! Every time there was a car in front of me,
I was trying to overtake it. I asked the guys to stop giving me updates on the radio. I just a GT car and wanted to pass it. That’s all I was focused on. I can’t thank my teammates and everyone enough.
That’s one beat up Chevrolet Corvette but they make them tough in Detroit!”

More on the win: “That was so tough. The competition here in this series is the best in the world. The AWA team gave me the best car in the world. The AWA team gave me the best car in the world. I couldn’t have asked for a better Corvette to take on the best here. There was some hard, hard racing… really hard but fair all the way. I have to give credit to our competitors. That was proper racing and why I love this race series. I hope the fans enjoyed it as well. I can’t thank AWA, Corvette, GM and my teammates. Everyone did such a good job giving us a car to go to work in.”

 

[teamzr1]

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

“This was always a dream, but I didn’t think about it before coming here two weeks ago.
I think I drove my best-ever race in this one, the car was hooked up, my teammates drove really well and everything just came together. This is huge boost for the team and myself heading to the 24 Hours Le Mans. If we can this one, I think Le Mans also is a possibility as well.
We’ll take that energy from here and roll it forward into that. But first, let’s try going for the 12 Hours next at Sebring!”

• LARS KERN, NO. 13 AWA CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I thought this is something that would never to happen to me. I lost out on a big win on the Nurburgring once where I was pretty sure that we had it. So I kind of thought I’m just the unlucky guy. Today, we all did our job but then at the end, we were discussing who was going into the car and I put my money on Matt. And we were all like ‘yeah, he can do it.’ What he did at the end and how the car performed over the whole race was just incredible.
We knew on pace that we had an edge on everybody because the car was just absolutely epic to drive. Loved it.

That’s why all of us had great pace in the race. But then at end it was just pure carnage and chaos. The way he managed it was incredible.
The team with so many hiccups and so many gremlins with refueling and stuff, we always found a solution for it. It’s unreal.”

What does this do for you and for the team going to the other 24-hour race: “We were laughing a couple of days ago that if we win this, it’s a good test for Le Mans. So we can continue like this. I think that’s our approach.”

• MARVIN KIRCHHÖFER, NO. 13 AWA CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“How I’m describing this one, I don’t know. I’m lost for words. What an amazing race. I mean the result is one thing, but if you look behind the scenes, AWA, GM, Chevy and everyone, the amount of work everyone put in to have a great race and then actually winning the race in the last 30 minutes, I mean it’s absolutely amazing. Thanks to everyone for the support to Chevy, to AWA, they welcomed me in the best possible way.
As we said, quite nice way to start one race, one win. Hopefully, there’s a few more coming.
Amazing result, and just very, very thankful for everyone on the team involved to win the Rolex 24.”

• ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“All race we were going everywhere, basically. We solved a wiring problem during the night, and the car got back to being alive. We were lucky our crew could fix that, and the car was back in contention and fast. Ever since I drove it at night, we at least had a chance. I don’t think it would have made a ton of difference, but it’s a shame that penalty that I had, which from my point of view, was a little bit on the edge and avoidable from both sides. Such a shame. That put us on our back foot, and no yellows for three hours, at least.

That was painful because if there were a yellow, we could have made our way to P1 and P2. I think we were both fast enough to be P1 or 2 or be up front on regular strategy instead of gambling on our strategy. Here you only want to win, but the good thing you can take is championship points for manufacturers, drivers, and teams. We’ll go up from here. And congratulations to the AWA guys on their win in GTD with their Corvette.”

• ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Right at the end for the last few hours, things really chopped and changed a lot for everyone in the field, really. But our Corvettes were working really well. We maybe didn’t have the pace overnight, but during the day things really came to us and we had the laptime. It was just a little bit difficult to race in a pack with a couple of the other manufacturer cars who were particularly fast on the straights and weaker in the corners, which is where we made our laptimes. Honestly, from where things looked like a few hours from the end, second is pretty good. But when you’re fighting super close for the win, you can’t help as a sportsman to feel disappointed not to get the win.”

Considering where you were a year ago: “I thought that exactly too. Here we had a near flawless race. Our Corvette held up really, really well. The whole team did a fantastic job to execute so much of the race so well. It was a good start for the year.”
• DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’ve had some time to cool down and to be honest, it’s an amazing result to finish second. A great start to the year. Really thankful to the team. They made us believe in winning, and we ended up just short. Alex is an absolute legend. That last 30 minutes gave us the shivers and made us dream about the victory. We just came short. It is what it is. Tomorrow will taste way better and I think looking at the overall performance and where we’re coming from one year ago, it’s fantastic. So really happy for the Pratt and Miller guys, everyone at Corvette Racing.
They gave us a fantastic Corvette GT3 car and that was good fun.”

• TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R

On the incident with No. 48: “That’s not what IMSA is about, sports car racing is about. 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. It’s just like I said, not how sports car racing should be. It’s disappointing.
I don’t have an issue with 1 car. Those guys are in their own race. It’s just the sister car that’s out there just to be a nuisance. Poor sportsmanship, poor driving, just embarrassing on their part.

“It sounds like they timed their pit stop to come out in front of me. On their previous stint, they waited for me until I got close, then held me up for a bit but for whatever reason, either he pit or got the black flag, then came out and did it again. Their only goal is to race dirty. Again, it’s just disappointing. It’s not how this kind of race should go. I was content for a while just to sit behind him. I’m not a big believer in spirits and those kinds of things, but if karma was going to work, it would be a good time today.”

More on the incident “Basically that’s not what IMSA and sports car racing is about. Hard racing between competitors is totally fine. I have no issue with the 1 car. At the end of the day the driver of the 48 should be embarrassed, the team should be embarrassed a car that’s only out there to slow us down isn’t what this race is about. I have no issue with the 1. They’re still in the hunt. We’ll continue to race them clean as we have.”

“In the end what hurt us the most was to continue to stay out after they had a blocking penalty to block more.
Whoever was in the 48 really slowed me up in (Turn) Three and got me a little bit crossed up and put me into the 1. The car isn’t totally right for sure. There’s lasting damage from all of that for sure, not to mention the problems we had with the bumper. Hopefully that is fixed now.
It’s just disappointing.
The team at Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports has done a great job all race long. I’m really proud of our guys. Nicky and Nico have done a great job all race long. It’s a shame for us to work that hard to put us into contention to have a good result and for it to be spoiled like that was pretty pathetic.”

 

[teamzr1]

If you missed seeing the race
look at the fricking crap BMW team did to prevent Tommy Milner to win the race

An angry Corvette racer Tommy Milner says the allegedly “dirty” tactics used by a BMW driver during the Daytona 24 Hours this weekend aren’t “what racing is all about.”

With less than three hours to go, the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R was leading the GTD Pro class when Milner says Paul Miller BMW’s Augusto Farfus who was several laps back began using aggressive blocking tactics ahead of him to give his teammate Connor De Phillippi, who was in second, a chance to make up ground.

Farfus did wind up with a drive-through penalty for the blocking, but his tactics also forced Milner to make a costly mistake.
The Corvette driver suffered body damage to the left side of his bumper cover when it clipped doors with De Phillippi as the BMW tried to go around him.
As Farfus was heading to the pits for his penalty, an irate Milner gave him the middle finger as he passed by.

Farfus was the least of Milner’s worries, though, as his pit crew didn’t have enough time to tape up the loose bodywork on the Corvette. Milner returned to the race now in second place, but then had to endure a mechanical black flag and a return to the pits after the repair failed on the track.

“It is team racing here, but not like that,” Milner said in an interview with IMSA Radio. You got a car that’s laps down, out of the race, whose only job is basically helped a teammate and not like that lap after lap after lap, blocking, blocking, blocking and waiting for me.

“Like I said, it’s not how sports car racing should be. It’s disappointing. I don’t have an issue with the number one car [De Phillippi] those guys are in their own race. It’s just the sister car that is out there just to be a nuisance. It’s poor sportsmanship, poor driving. Just embarrassing on their part.”
Milner furthermore accused Farfus of twice timing his pit stops so that he would come out just in front of Milner, adding that the BMW team “should be embarrassed for that kind of racing.”

“Their only goal is to race dirty,” he said. “Again, it’s just disappointing. It’s not how this kind of race should go.”
In the end, the No. 65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports lineup wound up winning GTD Pro with Christopher Mies, Frederic Vervisch and Dennis Olsen sharing the driving. Olsen closed out the win by nearly two seconds.

Alex Sims in the No. 3 Corvette finished second, while the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3, driven by Mike Rockenfeller, Seb Priaulx, and Austin Cindric, completed the podium.

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[teamzr1]

While everyone at Pratt Miller and Trackhouse by TF Sport, for that matter, will exit the paddock Sunday frustrated after Ford’s Mustang prevailed in GTD PRO, AWA’s achievement in the 22-car strong GTD class is still reason for the General Motors concern to celebrate.
Mirroring the Mustang GT3, the Corvette Z06 GT3.R has a 24-hour win under its belt now, too, after enduring a tough debut marred by mechanical woes at last year’s Daytona event.

The difference is this achievement came via the efforts of a private team. For Corvette Racing’s young customer program, the win could prove to be vital for the car’s future in GT3 racing globally.
Ahead of the race, everyone at AWA was confident not only in the capabilities of their car but also in their level of preparation. The team looked entirely at ease with the car and the event this year, snatching the win in a huge 22-car field stacked with high-quality teams from nine manufacturers.

British pro driver Matt Bell was in at the end of the race and, frankly, put in the most impressive performance of his racing career, fending off attacks from multiple cars including Heart of Racing’s Aston Martin driven by the hard-charging Mattia Drudi.

“Honestly, I can’t remember a thing,” he said when asked to recall his winning move. “There were PRO cars, there were GTD cars… I don’t remember that. I’ll have to watch the video later. Every time there was a car in front of me, I was trying to overtake it. I asked the guys to stop giving me updates on the radio.

“I just saw a GT car and wanted to pass it; that’s all I was focused on. I can’t thank my teammates and everyone enough.
That’s one beat-up Chevrolet Corvette, but they make them tough in Detroit.

“This means absolutely everything,” Bell, continued. “To me, to my teammates Orey (Fidani) and Lars (Kern) 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 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.

“AWA gave the four of us a car to do it.

“IMSA is the hardest championship in the world. Our competitors gave us a hell of a run. I had to work so hard to get on top of those guys, but we managed to make it work and bring it home in the last 10 minutes.

“This all feels like a dream, a dream that we hope won’t end.”

The result is massive for the championship, the brand, the car and the team’s future.
Now, as a result of its performance this weekend, AWA finds itself in with a chance to achieve something truly special in June.

“This is a huge boost for the team and myself heading to the 24 Hours Le Mans for our debut,” 2024 IMSA Bob Akin Award winner Orey Fidani said. “If we can win this one, I think Le Mans also is a possibility as well. We’ll take that energy from here and roll it forward into that.”

That’s for tomorrow, though. Right now, it’s time for the team to pop the champagne corks stateside.

 

[teamzr1]

Two years ago, Ford announced the birth of the Mustang GT3 customer racing program. Last year, the car made its debut to lackluster results, grabbing more headlines for shedding its bodywork than for running at the front of the field at any point.

What a difference a year makes the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona was the stage for the Blue Oval’s fresh start. Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ new-look trio of Christopher Mies, Frederic Vervisch, and Dennis Olsen finally gave the Mustang GT3 its first win anywhere in the world after a fruitless first season across IMSA, FIA WEC, and GT World Challenge America.

Ford’s veteran stalwart Mike Rockenfeller expressed concerns that his pole lap in qualifying wouldn’t translate to real results come race time, yet at the end of a rough and tumble race, the factory-backed Mustangs were on the podium.

Olsen and Mies kept their heads cool near the end, as Olsen overtook the No. 4 Corvette of Nico Varrone on the race’s final restart and withstood pressure from the likes of Laurin Heinrich and Alexander Sims to secure that precious first win for Ford.

“It’s simply amazing,” Mies said of Ford’s dramatic turnaround. “When I saw the car for the first time online, I immediately got into contact with Ford and with Multimatic. I said, ‘I want to be part of it.’ I wanted the change, let’s say, after a long stint with another brand (Audi).

“We came here exactly a year ago, leading the race back then, which was fantastic for a new car. But like everyone, we had some little issues. We solved them over the year. Coming back one year later together with Ford Performance and Multimatic Motorsports is incredible.”

The No. 64 Ford of Rockenfeller, Sebastian Priaulx, and super-sub Austin Cindric sandwiched the No. 3 Corvette of Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, and Daniel Juncadella which finished a highly-spirited second.

And that should bring us to the biggest flashpoint of the race: Paul Miller’s two cars, versus the No. 4 Corvette. Tommy Milner and the No. 4 crew lost out on a real chance at the win after an ill-mannered exchange between the No. 48 car — which was no longer in contention after Max Hesse was swept up in the “big one” late Saturday night became a pain in a battle for the lead between Milner and the No. 1 BMW of Connor De Phillippi.

Augusto Farfus was the direct target of Milner’s ire. To borrow a famous Murray Walker quote, the Corvette ace told his BMW counterpart he was going for first place, and he was, but the BMW would be an impediment to Milner, and it escalated into Milner and De Phillippi colliding at the exit of the International Horseshoe.

“The situation with the Corvette and our sister car was very difficult. My intention was to support my teammate in the sister car in the fight for victory. I was aware that it was hard racing. The situation that led to the collision between the Corvette and Connor De Phillippi behind me was very unfortunate, but I had nothing to do with it directly. I stayed on my inside line,” Farfus said.

In the last 15 minutes, with Kelvin van der Linde now fighting for a podium, Nico Varrone in the No. 4 Corvette ran into the No. 1 BMW and sent the South African spinning out, eventually consolidating fourth place for the new M4 GT3 EVO in its American debut.

A partnership between Bartone Bros. Racing, RealTime Racing, and Germany’s GetSpeed produced a solid first IMSA result fifth for the black No. 69 Mercedes-AMG GT3. The quasi-defending champions at DragonSpeed would finish sixth with the No. 81 Ferrari 296 GT3.

Rexy made a stirring comeback and fought for the lead up until the final hour, but the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R suffered front-end damage in all the skirmishes, had to make an unscheduled stop, and sunk to eighth behind the No. 4 Corvette.

Trackhouse and TF Sport’s all-star effort finished ninth, but, up until the cool Connor Zilisch was spun after contact with an LMP2 car with an hour left, it looked for a moment like the No. 91 WeatherTech Corvette would reach the podium.

For the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini it was a race of unfulfilled potential, ending in the second part of that big Saturday night crash when Jordan Pepper ran into Hesse. The new partnership showed strength and resilience up to that point.

Corvette may not have gotten the GTD PRO win with the works cars, but Canadian team AWA delivered in a big way as Matt Bell and Marvin Kirchhofer carried the black and yellow No. 13 Z06 GT3.R to its first GTD win, joined by Orey Fidani the reigning Bob Akin Award winner — and Lars Kern.

Bell had to fight back after being jostled in the final restart he was down to fourth at one stage, but he eventually caught and passed Heart of Racing’s Mattia Drudi with about 16 minutes left to give AWA its second Daytona class win in three years (2023, LMP3).

“The restarts were intense, as we are always in IMSA WeatherTech racing. Honestly, my brain is fried,” said a jubilant Bell after the race. “I can’t even remember what happened. It was awesome racing, I have to say. All the competitors that we were going toe to toe with today were really hard, really fair.

“I can’t remember where [Drudi] overtook me. He got us in the pits. I just had to get my head down. If I saw a GTD car ahead of me I just tried to overtake it. I remember vaguely getting a little bit of a nose up the side coming out of Turn 5.

“We were good in the infield; we were strong in the infield. Just managed to squeeze on past and get my head down after that and try to build a gap. It was definitely fun.”

The No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche may not have been connected to the new F1 motion picture like last year, but the quartet of Elliott Skeer, Ayhancan Guven, Tom Sargent, and Adam Adelson were box-office for most of the race, culminating in Guven sprinting from fifth to second by the end.

Heart of Racing’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 completed the GTD podium in third, followed very closely by Winward Racing’s No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in fourth

When you consider what Winward Racing had to overcome losing seven laps in the garage to fix a stuck throttle pedal to get back to the lead lap and then the class lead, only to have to dig out of a hole from a pit work penalty? That is the sort of performance that made this Texas team the GTD Champions in 2024.

Turner Motorsport snuck into fifth place with the No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO towards the end, putting five different makes in the top five in GTD.

Disappointments happened, of course. Quick Lamborghinis from Wayne Taylor Racing and Forte Racing were knocked out due to damage. Only one of the seven Ferrari 296 GT3s ran a clean race with no major hiccups, and, of course, a catastrophic engine failure wasn’t how anyone wanted Andy Lally to bow out of professional sports car racing as a driver.

AWA’s win was a great story in itself, given how wretched the start of their customer Corvette Racing program was last year. Early season retirements, Anthony Mantella’s infamous sale of his Corvette just two races into the year it wasn’t ideal to say the least and yet, look where they are now.

If there were any whispers that Ford and GM’s first customer racing efforts at this level were doomed to failure after a tough start in year one, Daytona proved them wrong this weekend.

RESULTS

 

[teamzr1]

Tommy Milner said the blocking incident with Paul Miller Racing’s Augusto Farfus in the Rolex 24 at Daytona is “not what IMSA’s about” after the Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports driver suffered damage in a battle for the lead in GTD Pro.

Milner, piloting the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, was engaged in a battle with the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Connor De Phillippi when the pair encountered Farfus, driving the sister No. 48 BMW.

The team’s second car had been heavily delayed after it was caught up in a multi-car incident in the eighth hour, after which it had been repaired and returned to the track, although numerous laps down.
Milner found himself sandwiched between the two Paul Miller cars, with the No. 1 machine consistently less than a second behind.

Race control intervened not much later, handing Farfus’ No. 48 BMW a drive-through penalty for blocking Milner.
However, contact occurred on the following lap when Milner made contract with De Phillippi’s No. 1 car (who was attempting a pass on the outside) in the International Horseshoe while attempting to clear Farfus, who appeared to be slowing on the apex.

While the resulting blow caused rear left bodywork damage to the No. 4 Corvette, Milner maintained a narrow lead over De Phillippi and showed his frustration with Farfus’ actions by waving his middle finger out the window of his Corvette as the Brazilian took to pit lane to serve his penalty (pictured above).

De Phillippi was ultimately able to split back past the Corvette after it stopped for fresh tires and bodywork repairs.
“That kind of racing is not what IMSA’s about,” Milner told IMSA Radio’s Nick Daman after his stint. “It’s not what sports car racing is about.
“First and foremost, the driver should be embarrassed. The team should be embarrassed. BMW should be embarrassed for that kind of racing.

“It is team racing here, but not like that when the other car that’s laps down, out of the race, whose only job is to basically help the teammate and not like that. Lap after lap after lap. Blocking, blocking, blocking. Waiting for me.

“It’s not how sports car racing should be. It’s disappointing. I don’t have an issue with the [No.] 1 car. Those guys are in their own race.
“It’s just the sister car that’s out there just to be a nuisance. That’s poor sportsmanship, [and] poor driving. Just embarrassing on their part.”
Farfus, in a statement issued by BMW about the incident, said: “The situation with the Corvette and our sister car was very difficult.

“My intention was to support my teammate in the sister car in the fight for victory. I was aware that it was hard racing.
“The situation that led to the collision between the Corvette and Connor De Phillippi behind me was very unfortunate, but I had nothing to do with it directly. I stayed on my inside line.”

Speaking after the race, BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos also commented on the situation.
“I think this, at the end, it’s customer racing,” said Roos. “But to be honest, I don’t want to even go into detail into this because at the end it’s a give and take.
Because what happened at the end, I think in both directions it went not the way we would like to see the racing on the track.

“I think everybody has to take his points back home, and hopefully next time we do it better.”

 

[teamzr1]

Tommy Milner in the number 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R “communicated his displeasure” with the No. 48 BMW driven by Augusto Farfus. Tommy was the class leader in GTD-Pro and was fending off a challenge from the No.1 BMW driven by Connor De Phillippi when his teammate in No. 48 BMW, which was several, laps down and out of contention, began deliberately blocking the Corvette.

Despite receiving a call from IMSA’s Race Control for intentional blocking, Farfus stayed with it and deliberately held up Milner in the International Horseshoe. Trying to swerve around the blocking BMW, Milner’s Corvette hit the No. 1 BMW, damaging the Corvette’s rear fascia.
As Tommy came abreast of the No. 48 BMW, he opened the small window on the Z06 GT3.R and stuck his entire arm through and extended his middle finger, which was captured by the TV cameras:

Coverage of the race in the next few days was overshadowed by Tommy’s bird flip, which became an instant MEME. Digital artist Abel Toth celebrated the moment with a special illustration, calling it “the most iconic moment of the race.” Now, Tommy and Abel have teamed up to offer a special t-shirt commemorating the bird flip, and the profits from the sale will go to the American Eagles Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting the American Bald Eagle and other birds of prey.

The t-shirts feature Tommy’s logo on the front chest with the back showing Abel’s illustration, and they are offered in three colors starting at $20.
Tommy says on X.com that
A Daytona 24 win shirt would’ve been a bit more fun, but instead we’re going to raise some money for the @AEFeagles In collaboration with @abeltoth. All profit from the sale of these shirts will go to American Eagle Foundation:

 

[teamzr1]

Leave it to IMSA veteran Tommy Milner to turn the most heated and unforgettable moment of the Rolex 24 At Daytona into a positive.

The factory Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller driver’s encounter with BMW and Paul Miller Racing’s defensive line in the final hours of race – eventually won by Ford – ultimately led Milner to open the sliding window on his Z06.GT3.R, extend his left arm, and give Augusto Farfus the middle finger as the BMW was ordered to pit lane for a drive-through penalty for his egregious blocking of the GTD Pro race leader.

Caught on the NBC broadcast, Milner’s delivery of the bird to his Brazilian protagonist became an instant meme that helped Pratt Miller to generate 2.7 million views across its social channels.
It also created an opportunity for Milner and artist Abel Toth to collaborate on a bird-themed t-shirt that commemorates the American’s middle finger while sending the proceeds of the shirt to the American Eagle Foundation in Tennessee to care for bald eagles.

An impromptu Rolex 24 bird that’s now helping birds; Milner says more than 3500 shirts have been sold since they went online a week ago. They’ll be available until the week prior to the next race, March 15’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, before the shirt is taken offline.

“All this started on the Monday and even a little bit of Sunday after the race, I was getting lots of text messages from friends and colleagues from the racing world, talking about what had happened,” Milner said. “And I could see already the artwork there from Abel Toth, and that one really struck a chord with a lot of people, so I quickly reached out to him and wanted to see if he’d be up for collaborating on doing a T-shirt.
I noticed a lot of the fans were interested in T-shirts, so I wanted to kind of take the moment and just basically turn it turning into something good.

“Wasn’t my intention, initially. It was, ‘Let’s not allow lots of people to try to make a bunch of money off of this.’ And it wasn’t my intention at all from the beginning to try to make any money doing it.
Everything happened so fast. I had a quick message from [IMSA Win The Weekend director] JF Musial, and we were joking about the potential of me selling some T-shirts, and he right away said, ‘Turning this into something good will prevent any backlash that that would come from selling the T-shirts.’”

Just as the situation with BMW/PMR/Farfus was unexpected, what came next for Milner was another surprise.

“We were joking about flipping the bird and helping support the birds, so I reached out to the American Eagle Foundation and the executive director there,” he continued. “Actually, the email was hard to write for me because I didn’t really know how to approach the [situation]. ‘I got into a sort of little bit of a fight, so to speak, on the racetrack, and I flipped somebody off
And do you guys want to be associated with that?’

“So I sort of slow-played the email a little bit. I just explained who I was, and Jessica from AEF responded pretty quickly and said, ‘I know all about it, I’m honored that you messaged us about this.’ So that was a big relief when I didn’t have to further explain what I did. So she already understood, and she was all on board right away, and has been great from the couple phone calls that we’ve had together to help to make sure that they’re OK with being associated with this little money drive for them.”

And then there’s the part about Milner’s credit card being blown up by the unanticipated costs to create thousands of on-demand T-shirts

MP 1576: The Week In Sports Cars Tommy Milner Interview