By Mark Robinson
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – While the championship-winning driver side of the Corvette Racing team remains the same for the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the other half of the two-car effort is undergoing change for the upcoming season.
The team confirmed Thursday that Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor, who won this year’s GT Le Mans (GTLM) driver and team championships in the No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, will pair again in the car for 2021 and be joined once more for the three longest endurance races by Nicky Catsburg.
Tommy Milner also will be back in the No. 4 Corvette that finished third in points this season. He will team for the full 2021 campaign with Nick Tandy, who for the past seven years was one of Corvette’s chief rivals with the Porsche GTLM project that closed shop at the conclusion of 2020. Tandy replaces Oliver Gavin, who announced last month that he was stepping back from full-time driving after serving with Corvette Racing for 19 years.
Partnering with Milner and Tandy in the No. 4 for the longer endurance races will be Alexander Sims, who won five GTLM races driving for BMW Team RLL in 2017 and ‘18. Both Corvettes will continue to see sponsorship from Mobil 1 and SiriusXM Radio.
“Since I’ve been racing in IMSA and at Le Mans, Corvette Racing has been the team that everyone looks up to,” said Tandy, who has 15 career IMSA wins dating to his 2012 debut. “Many operations aspire to get to the level that Corvette Racing operates at. It’s something I’ve always looked at, and it’s impressed me. The fact that the opportunity arose where I could join the team and stay racing within IMSA is a dream opportunity.”
Like Tandy, a fellow Englishman, Sims is also eager to race in a Corvette after going head to head with the iconic marque in the past. Since its 1999 beginning in IMSA racing, the Corvette program has racked up more than 100 victories to go along with 13 drivers’ championships and 14 team/manufacturer titles.
“During my two previous years in IMSA, it was clear the level that Corvette Racing is on,” Sims said. “I have such fantastic memories of battling with some of the Corvette guys, and some of those battles went against me! My appreciation and respect for Corvette Racing certainly increased. … Now, to have a chance to be in that fold and be part of the program with the absolute pros on this team is really quite special.”
Milner returns in 2021 as the veteran of the team, entering his 10th season with 15 victories under his belt. The American is excited about his new co-drivers and eager for a second season in the mid-engine C8.R that debuted so successfully this year.
“I’ve been racing against Nick for many years now,” Milner said. “I know how strong a competitor he is. Obviously, I’d much rather him be in my car and not have to fight against him! I’ve raced against he and Alexander quite a bit. They’re both true professionals, super fast on the track and their results speak for themselves. I’m excited to go race with them and work toward the goals we’ve set for 2021.”
Meanwhile, the No. 3 Corvette lineup returns intact and looks to continue its winning ways that saw Garcia and Taylor collect five victories and three second-place finishes en route to dominating the GTLM class in 2020. For Garcia, it resulted in a fourth drivers’ title, the third for Taylor.
“It’s definitely going to be difficult to top what we accomplished in 2020,” Taylor admitted, “but rolling into 2021 and learning everything we did with the C8.R, we’ll roll off stronger than we did this season. It will be great to be back with Antonio and Nicky. With having such a strong lineup, it’s good to keep things consistent. We know how each other works and what our driving styles are like. The chemistry there is very strong.”
Garcia concurred and pointed to a lack of wins at any of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races as a goal for the coming season.
“Things definitely won’t be easier in 2021 for us, but we do have a year of experience together and with the C8.R,” Garcia said. “Looking back at 2020, the only thing we missed out on was a good result in the long-distance races. We had the pace to win at Petit Le Mans, but we weren’t expected to get a win at Daytona to start the year and we had our suspension issue at the Sebring 12 Hours. Getting a real endurance win would be key as a next target for the C8.R.”