Corvette Racing factory driver Tommy Milner will join Robert Wickens as the co-driver of the #36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, as Wickens makes his much-anticipated IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD debut at the Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 12th.
Milner, who took GTLM class honours for the Pratt Miller-run Corvette Racing team at Long Beach in 2021, has been hands-on in the process of developing and testing the DXDT Corvette – which is adapted with Bosch’s latest hand control system, helping to get it up to speed ahead of its race debut on 12 April.
Last year, Milner and DXDT Racing delivered the Corvette Z06 GT3.R’s first win in global competition in the GT World Challenge America round at Circuit of the Americas. Milner and co-driver Alec Udell would go on to finish second in the Pro class championship with a total of seven overall race wins and eight consecutive Pro class wins.
“It’s super exciting for me to be a part of this project with DXDT and Robbie in his first race in the Corvette,” said Milner, who conducted the DXDT Corvette’s first shakedown and performance tests at The FIRM (Florida International Rally and Motorsports Park) days before this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.
“More than anything, I’m excited to go back to Long Beach, to join DXDT again, and then to help Robbie here in his first race and get up to speed in the Corvette. From what I’ve heard already from some of the team down there (at Sebring), he’s already quite quick!”
Wickens was at Sebring International Raceway for a two-day test in the adapted Corvette, completing his first laps around the circuit yesterday, and his first long-run simulations today.
Before sustaining a life-changing spinal cord injury during the 2018 INDYCAR Series race at Pocono Raceway, Wickens made one previous start in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving an ORECA FLM 09 for Starworks Motorsports at Daytona in 2017.
Wickens returned to racing in the 2022 Michelin Pilot Challenge, and won the 2023 TCR class championship driving a Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR with hand controls.
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