CHARLIE Eastwood reckons DXDT Racing’s line-up for next season’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is “as strong as any” when it comes to securing race victories.
Eastwood will play a lead role for the North Carolina-based outfit when the competition gets underway at the end of January with the Rolex 24 Hour Race at Daytona in Florida.
He will share the number 36 Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R with Alec Udell, Salih Yoluc and Pipo Derani in GTD and look to add to the machine’s already impressive victory tally.
In its maiden season on home soil, the Z06 GT3.R was the car to beat as it chalked up no fewer than 11 race wins in North America and ten in the GT World Challenge America. DXDT Racing was key to much of this success, with Udell and Tommy Milner embarking on a run of eight consecutive Pro first places in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America.
Eastwood tested the rear-wheel-drive car – which is familiar to him having campaigned it in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship – at a sun-kissed Daytona last month.
“I am really looking forward to joining DXDT Racing,” said Eastwood. “The line-up we have in GTD is as strong as any on paper, especially as we had a strong test with the team at Daytona recently – there is such an amazing bunch of guys and girls within DXDT Racing.
“You can see why they had so much success in GT World Challenge America across 2024 because they have so many great qualities and so many great people working for them.
“I was looking forward to the season before the test, and now I cannot wait to get started since the test. I think we have a really good chance to get some big results, which I am gunning to make sure happens in 2025 in what will be my second full year with Corvette.”
He added: “To have the opportunity to race a Corvette in America as a factory driver is an absolute honour and I really hope that we can win some big races in the Z06 GT3.R.”
The car shared by Eastwood, Udell, Yoluc and Derani is one of five Corvettes being fielded in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – the first time since 2007 so many cars wearing the Peace and Purity badge will compete in the track-based series.
Teams will get to tackle the three-and-a-half mile Daytona road course under in daylight and darkness on January 25th and 26th. Seven days prior to this, the traditional ROAR Before the Rolex 24 will give drivers the chance to test in front of spectators for the very first time.