DXDT Racing spent its first weekend challenging for the podium during its debut weekend with the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in GT World Challenge America competition. Both Bryan Sellers and Scott Smithson showed promise in the No. 08 Pro-Am entry as the team gets ready to expand to two cars in two weeks at Circuit of The Americas.
The Sellers/Smithson duo recorded a weekend-best result of sixth in Sunday’s 90-minute sprint race after the car retired from Saturday’s opening round. While the result may disappoint, the promise of the first-year Corvette GT3 car in customer hands continued to grow with strong reliability and pace from both drivers.
Sellers began Sunday’s race from fifth but moved into podium position early in his first career stint in a Corvette. He handed off to Smithson with a little more than 40 minutes remaining, and the DXDT Z06 GT3.R held the position but well behind the lead pack.
Smithson’s confidence in the Corvette grew and his times dropped with each lap. He drew to within two seconds of the Pro-Am leader inside the final 10 minutes before a late-race spin ended hopes of a podium finish.
The team spent the early part of the Sebring event focusing on car familiarization with Corvette Racing support engineers on-hand to assist with updates from the IMSA and FIA WEC GT3 programs. DXDT’s use of Chevrolet’s Driver-in-the-Loop simulator was key in event preparation as well.
The Corvette car count in GT World Challenge America will double at the next round at COTA on May 18-19 with the addition of the No. 63 Corvette Z06 GT3.R for Alec Udell and Corvette factory driver Tommy Milner.
DXDT RACING POST-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES
BRYAN SELLERS, NO. 08 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “You can look at the weekend in one of two ways. You can choose a negative or a positive view, and I think the positive view is the way to go. We were delivered a great car from Corvette Racing, Pratt Miller and GM. Our whole team took to the car very quickly, and it performed like we wanted it to perform. We had a solid racecar. For me, this gives me hope for the future that we can turn this into something pretty great. I’m proud to be a part of it. We certainly have some things that we need to address moving forward, as I’m sure everyone does. But we need to make sure we dig in to get those things done and give ourselves the best opportunity to compete for a win moving forward to COTA.
“To be honest, it’s a big honor to be a part of this Corvette program in any capacity. I’ve spent my whole career watching Corvette and Pratt Miller win races. To be a small part of that organization is quite an honor. I’m very happy with the relationship we’re starting to form and happy with the way they operate. I’m looking forward to an increased relationship into the future.”
SCOTT SMITHSON, NO. 08 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It was a big learning weekend for me… just learning the balance of the car and how it races. Yeah, I feel like I let the team down and I never like to lose out on a podium when everyone did a great job and the car was there. I just made a mistake. But we have learned a lot. I feel like going into the next race, there are still some little bugs and getting used to everything about the car from the controls and other things to get familiar with and get past that part of it. Overall, the team did a great job. GM did a great job. Corvette Racing and Pratt Miller did a great job. I feel like the result was all on me, but it was a good learning weekend.”
(On his stint Sunday and chasing down the class leaders) “I think that was all about the car. They put together a really good car that races really well. It’s a long-run car that got better as I drove it, even as hot as it was. The front tires went away a little bit so I was dealing with some understeer, but it’s really good for long runs.”
“I’ve been so impressed by everyone jumping in. They’re willing to help with anything we need. There is a lot of knowledge, and yes this is a new car. The entire group is all-hands-on-deck. The attitude and willingness is phenomenal. It’s great support, and they put together an awesome car.”
CHRISTIE BAGNE, CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R PROGRAM MANAGER: “It’s gratifying to see DXDT race the Corvette Z06 GT3.R for the first time and immediately show competitive pace in GT World Challenge America. The communication between the team and our Corvette Customer Support group has been outstanding since our announcement last year at Indianapolis. Both sides learned a lot this weekend that will benefit DXDT for the next event at COTA with the Pro-class Corvette making its debut. We are looking forward to great things out of this new program for Chevrolet Motorsports and Corvette Racing.”