Corvette’s Milner puts Daytona BMW spat in the rear-view mirror

Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner says he feels it’s time to “move on” after the controversial incidents between Paul Miller Racing’s BMWs and his No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the closing stages of the Rolex 24 At Daytona back in January.

Ahead of Saturday’s Sebring 12 Hours, Milner reflected on the battles at the sharp end of the GTD PRO field between the two teams when frustrations boiled over. It, of course, ended with the now-iconic image of him sticking an arm out the window of his car and gesturing to Augusto Farfus, whom he felt went too far in blocking him to assist the sister car’s charge while running more than 50 laps down.

“I’ve rewatched some of it again, and in reality, my initial reaction maybe is not how I feel at this moment,” he said. “It’s rough driving though — it’s understandable in some ways, but it’s pushing the limits every year and went over the line a little.

“In some ways, I am not surprised, based on an earlier interaction I had with the No. 48 earlier in the race. I knew it was going to be rough and difficult to pass. It’s still a little frustrating, but the response from people inside and outside of IMSA has been on my side, if you want to put it that way.

“At the end of the day, it was an exciting moment. It’s not exactly how I wanted to go and I am sure it’s the same for them, but it’s got people talking about IMSA, and it’s brought a spotlight on our class.”

The reaction continued long after the race finished and prompted Milner to raise money for the American Eagle Foundation by selling shirts featuring an artistic impression of his “bird flip.” Emails with requests to purchase shirts are still coming in by the day, but sales have now been stopped to allow him to concentrate on his racing and give his credit card a break.

“I got my first paycheck of the year from the team, that helped clear things with the credit card!” he said with a grin. “I thought we might get 200 orders total, 500 at the high end, but we got that in two hours. So eventually I had to stop it for my own sanity — we stopped taking orders at 4715 shirts sold and $25,000 raised for charity.

“The response blew me away. I know people in the paddock that have bought them, I won’t name them because they’re with other teams! I’ve also already been flipped off by people in the paddock (in jest). So I’m expecting all sorts when the fans show up Friday and Saturday in big numbers…”

However, with the Rolex 24 in the rear-view mirror and the race at Sebring coming right up, Milner wants to draw a line in the sand and reset the relationship between the two teams.

“I’m sure IMSA is salivating over the attention and the stories,” he said. “I mean, they’ve got us parked next to each other here in the paddock! But the whole point is to win races and not be mired in controversy. We wanted to win and not be known for sticking my hand out the window and fighting with a competitor like that.

“What’s done is done. I have no issue with the No. 1 car from Paul Miller. I feel bad for them and for the other contact at the end of the race with Nico (Varrone), all it did was make our race worse.

“It doesn’t make sense to carry bad feelings. You’ve got to move on, or we won’t allow ourselves to achieve good results if we are thinking about how to get them back in some way. We’ve just got to focus on ourselves and run our own race here in Sebring, it’s hard to have expectations these days in this class. We will see how we stack up come Saturday.”

On the other side of the fence, Paul Miller’s drivers feel the same way, with both Daniel Harper and Max Hesse telling RACER that there’s “no bad blood.” A more gentlemanly affair is therefore expected on Saturday night.

“I think, at least from our point of view, it’s all good now. It’s going to be clean and hard racing here, and there’s nothing to worry about,” Hesse, driver of the No. 48 BMW with Harper, Jesse Krohn, said.

“As drivers, we want to win so bad,” Harper added. “The excitement and buzz came out in that moment in Daytona, and when it all cooled down, all the drivers and teams were all together and 100 percent with each other.”