Spanish · Born 1981 · #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R · Corvette Racing · GTD Pro Class
Antonio Garcia has been a Corvette Racing factory driver for over 15 years — one of the longest continuous factory driver partnerships in all of motorsport. His career is synonymous with the Corvette brand in racing, and his Sebring experience is as deep as any active driver in the paddock.
Antonio Garcia was born in 1981 in Murcia, Spain. He came through karting and junior formula racing in Europe before making his career turn toward GT and sportscar racing — a decision that eventually brought him to Corvette Racing and a remarkable long-term factory partnership.
Joining Corvette Racing meant becoming part of one of motorsport's most prestigious factory programs. For decades, Corvette Racing was the flagship American GT racing effort — competing at Le Mans, winning at Sebring and Daytona, and defining what American GT racing could achieve against the best European manufacturers. Garcia became central to that effort, providing not just fast lap times but deep technical development work and institutional knowledge of the Corvette machinery.
His multiple IMSA GT championships and Sebring class victories make him one of the most decorated American GT racers of his era — despite being Spanish by birth. His identity became so intertwined with the American brand that he is often considered an "honorary" American racing driver by Corvette fans.
The Corvette Z06 GT3.R represents a significant evolution for Corvette Racing. After decades of running the C6.R and C7.R in GTE, and the C8.R as well, Corvette has now developed a GT3-specification car — the Z06 GT3.R — to compete in IMSA's GTD Pro class. This is the GT3 ruleset that allows customer teams to purchase and race the car in the same class.
The Z06 GT3.R is based on the current Corvette Z06 road car and uses a modified version of its flat-plane crank V8 engine. The car retains the Corvette's distinct sound and character while meeting GT3's standardized technical requirements. For Garcia, the transition from the factory-prototype C8.R to the customer GT3 format is another chapter in a long career of Corvette development.
Sebring International Raceway is deeply woven into Corvette Racing's history — and therefore into Garcia's career. Multiple Sebring GT class victories across different car generations give Garcia an unmatched familiarity with the circuit's demands: the bumps, the heat, the traffic patterns, the strategic pit stop windows. At a track this specific, accumulated experience translates directly into lap time advantage.
His teammates Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg bring their own substantial GT racing credentials to complement Garcia's Corvette expertise, creating a well-rounded three-car lineup for the GTD Pro fight.
Corvette Racing has competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2000, winning the GTE/GTS class multiple times and making the Chevrolet Corvette one of the most recognizable American racing cars in European motorsport history. Garcia participated in multiple Le Mans campaigns, adding the world's most famous race to his long list of Corvette Racing achievements.
GT3 is a global racing car specification that defines the regulations for production-based racing cars sold to customer teams. Cars must be homologated by their manufacturers under FIA GT3 rules — setting specific parameters for aerodynamics, weight, engine output, and safety. The result is a diverse grid of competitive cars (Porsche, Corvette, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes) that are balanced against each other through Balance of Performance (BoP) adjustments, creating close racing regardless of brand.