Chevrolet Repeats as IMSA GTD PRO Manufacturer Champion With the Corvette Z06 GT3.R
Chevrolet closed out the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as the GTD PRO Manufacturer champion for the second year running. The title was settled at the 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Saturday, October 3, and it's Chevrolet's 16th GT-class manufacturer championship since Corvette Racing started in 1999.
It also adds to some impressive history. Chevrolet now has six GTD PRO and GT Le Mans manufacturer titles in IMSA since 2014, more than any other make, and this is the fourth manufacturer championship for the mid-engine, eighth-generation Corvette.
A Season Built on Consistency
Andrea Hidalgo, program manager for Corvette Racing, told GM News the season came down to consistency. Because IMSA awards points for qualifying as well as the race, "you can win the championship without ever winning a race," she said.
The results back her up. The No. 3 and No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs each finished outside the top 10 only once all year. The No. 3 of Antonio García, Alexander Sims and Marvin Kirchhöfer won Chevrolet's home race in Detroit, and the No. 4 of Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone reached the podium four times. The No. 4 crew also took home the BDO Knows Strategy Award for its race-day strategy and the Michelin All Hands for the Win Award for spending the least time in pit lane over the season.
The No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R at Petit Le Mans. Photo: Chevrolet / GM News
How Road Atlanta Played Out
Petit Le Mans was a wild one. Corvette Racing's post-race report counts a race-record 17 full-course cautions and a red flag for lightning, and all three Corvettes in GTD PRO led laps at some point. The No. 3 led twice for 61 laps and looked headed for a podium before a late flat left-rear tire dropped it to eighth. The No. 4 arrived with Milner and Catsburg leading the drivers' championship, but late-race contact, including Catsburg being pushed into the gravel by a rival contender who was penalized for it, ended that run and left the car 12th.
That left the clincher to DragonSpeed. Running the No. 74 Corvette as a one-off GTD PRO entry, Giacomo Altoé, Casper Stevenson and Sébastien Bourdais finished sixth in class, which was enough to secure the manufacturer title.
There was more to celebrate in GTD. 13 Autosport won IMSA's Bob Akin Award for the third year in a row, with Orey Fidani the highest-scoring bronze-rated driver in the class, and that comes with an invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2027. DXDT Racing's No. 36 Corvette also came back from four laps down to finish third in GTD, the team's first podium of the season.
The Work Between Races
Hidalgo credits a good share of the championship to what happened away from the track. Testing through the season produced new powertrain settings to help drivers get more out of the car, and the team leaned hard on its driver-in-loop simulator, with drivers and engineers re-running each race afterward so the virtual model kept matching what happened on track.
What's Next
That development continues through the off-season, along with finishing an "Evo" upgrade package for the Z06 GT3.R aimed at better aerodynamics, reliability and serviceability. Chevrolet begins its bid for a third straight GTD PRO title at the Rolex 24 At Daytona on January 30–31, 2027.
If you're already counting down to Daytona, our Corvette Racing apparel is a good place to start, and you'll find the No. 4 and No. 13 Z06 GT3.R race cars in our Corvette diecast collection too.
Sources: GM News, Chevrolet and Corvette Racing. Photos courtesy of Chevrolet / GM News.