Pratt & Miller # 4 Corvette finishes 3rd in a memorable race at Road America
Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg piloted the Pratt & Miller # 4 Z06 GT3.R Corvette to GTD PRO class third place in the chaotic six-hour IMSA Motul Endurance SportsCar Grand Prix 6-hour race at Road America.
Catsburg later said that 2nd place and a chance to win was jeopardized by caution flags late in the race that finished under caution.
The same could not be said for Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims in the Pratt & Miller # 3 Z06 GT3.R, due to an ill-fated attempt by Sims to pass the # 65 Ford Racing Mustang GT3 Evo of Frederic Vervisch on the outside heading into turn 3. While you can’t blame Sims for trying, the result was getting shoved into the gravel trap, damage to the right rear and a 10th place finish.
Sandy Mitchell and Andrea Calderelli in the # 9 Lamborghini Temerario GT3 won the GTD PRO class. Popular Canadian Team owner Chris Pfaff, with an investment stake in Mosport (CTMP) now bids farewell to IMSA to focus on building the track into a year-around facility.
Casper Stevenson, Giacomo Altoé, and Alec Udell in the DragonSpeed # 81 Z06 GT3.R Corvette finished 4th in the GTD class, by far their best result of the season. Similar to Catsburg’s fate, Altoé’s pass for 3rd was dashed coming just after the final full-course yellow flew with 10 minutes to go.
Matt Bell, Lars Kern and Orey Fidani in the Team 13 Autosport # 13 Z06 GT3.R Corvette placed seventh in GTD, their best result since Sebring. Kern was running fifth, got bumped off track and lost several spots on a restart but Bell made up an incredible 11 spots doing a double stint with 2 hours to go. They regained the points lead for the Bob Akin championship that carries a coveted invite to Le Mans.
Charlie Eastwood, Mason Filippi and Robert Wickens (substituting for Salih Yuloc) in the DXDT # 36 Z06 GT3.R Corvette got the worst of late race contact and finished 14th in GTD, spoiling an otherwise strong run.
IMSA lengthened this year’s race to 6 hours, a move that drew 30% more fans and paid off in spades.
And by gosh, even a straight axle Corvette spotted in the Corvette Corral.
Photo credits: Visors Down (Pete Gorski), Victory Image, Mike Bratton
