INDIANAPOLIS (September 22, 2024) – Corvette factory drivers Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims climbed back on the podium in GTD PRO on Sunday in the six-hour Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in the next-to-last race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Garcia drove the final three hours in the No. 3 Corvette from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and went from fifth to third in the final two laps to secure a podium place. It was the first top three finish for the Garcia/Sims duo since their victory in July at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Rain dominated the first half of the race, which saw three separate full-course yellow periods in the first 100 minutes. Sims and the No. 3 Corvette went toward the head of the class as the first GTD PRO car to take wet tires during the first yellow. A steady rain settled in not long after, with Sims taking the lead following a short pit stop during another full-course yellow.
A third caution period, this one for almost an hour, kept Sims out front until the rain stopped for good in the third hour. The No. 3 Corvette did lose some time having to make two stops 30 minutes apart to switch to slick tires just before the halfway mark.
Garcia drove the rest of the way in the No. 3 Z06 GT3.R, including a hard-fought battle during the final hour with the No. 14 Lexus and No. 23 Aston Martin for the final podium position. A restart with 55 minutes remaining set the stage for the finish with Garcia falling from fourth to fifth inside the final half-hour. He fought to regain the spot with five minutes left and gained another to third and the podium with two laps to go.
The Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsport crew close the IMSA season with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans on Saturday, October 12 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I was very happy that Antonio was in the car! He did a really, really good job.
I really enjoyed the wet laps at the start of the race, so it was probably the right way around for the both of us. Antonio did a great job to keep in the fight. From the outside, I thought once Antonio got held up and passed by the Aston, I thought it would be hard for him to get back past with the pace situation as it was.
Thankfully he stayed with them and kept fighting with them to the end… quite literally! It was great to watch.”
