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CORVETTE RACING AT FUJI: Rising Sun, Rising Corvettes!
Sixth and seventh on the LMGT3 grid for TF Sport Z06 GT3.Rs
OYAMA, Japan (September 27, 2025) – For the second time in three races, TF Sport’s pair of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will start inside the LMGT3 top-10 following Saturday’s qualifying for the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Six Hours of Fuji.
The two yellow Corvettes will start sixth and seventh for the best combined start of the season for TF Sport as both entries hope to continue gaining ground in the class Drivers Championship with two rounds left.
The No. 33 Corvette of Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating will lead the TF Sport attack at the start of Sunday’s race, one spot and just 0.064 seconds ahead of the No. 81 Z06 GT3.R of Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy.
Keating and Van Rompuy advanced from the initial 12-minute qualifying session with Edgar and Andrade piloting the Corvettes in the 10-minute Hyperpole session. Both Corvettes previously made Hyperpole together in July at Sāo Paulo when they started ninth and 10th in class.
The No. 33 Corvette drivers sit third in the LMGT3 championship on the strength of a season-opening win of the season and remain in the hunt with 29 points to the leader and 64 points available in the balance of the season. The team faced an uphill battle with some lack of pace in practice, but the team’s pre-qualifying adjustment to the Corvette’s setup unlocked enough speed to get on the third row.
From the start of the event, the No. 81 Corvette showed its strength. Eastwood was second-quickest in the opening free practice, and Andrade set the fastest time in either Corvette in Saturday’s final practice ahead of qualifying.
The strong showings Friday and Saturday bode well for the championship hopes of the No. 81 Corvette trio, which has a second- and third-place finish to its credit this season. Eastwood, Andrade and Van Rompy are 39 points out of the championship lead with 64 points still on the table.
The Six Hours of Fuji scheduled for 11 a.m. JST Sunday and 10 p.m. ET Saturday. Full, live television coverage is available on the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the United States.
TF SPORT POST-QUALIFYING QUOTES
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "We're much happier and much better than we expected. Practice was quite difficult. The car felt pretty good but we were slower than we'd like to be. Ben did a great job to get the car into Hyperpole for me, and I'm happy with P6. I don't think we expected to be that high really, so it's definitely good. Always in the race we have better pace than in qualifying. To qualify P6 is good. It's the second-best qualifying session of the year and the best we've been in a dry qualifying session. It gives me good confidence for tomorrow and we should have decent pace."
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "I'm super proud of this team. This is a team sport and that was a team job. The car is much better than it has been in practice. It was down to the wire but we got it done when it mattered. I'm really happy with the car and with my laptime. The only thing that matters is I get it into the top-10. So to be in the top-five is extra special.
"I would have said it would have been a big challenge for us to get us into Hyperpole. I have to hand it to the team. The car is much better than it has been. I think we were second-to-last in every session before now so we weren't feeling super-confident. But the car is really good right now. The whole team has worked really well to get both cars into Hyperpole."
RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "A very tight qualy. Everyone was very close together and we knew it was going to be tough. I think I maximized the run so I'm happy with that. P7 is not too bad. Tomorrow we have a long race in which to recover. I think we have a better racecar than a quality car. There's a lot to fight for. I'm happy with the car balance and feeling good going into the race."
TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "Very happy with qualifying. From FP3, we continued to improve our car. It feels really solid for both qualifying and the race. We ended up P4 to get back into Hyperpole, which is really nice. I'm confident we have a good racecar to compete in the race."
Ryan Smith
CORVETTE RACING AT FUJI: Rising Sun, Rising Corvettes!
Sixth and seventh on the LMGT3 grid for TF Sport Z06 GT3.Rs
OYAMA, Japan (September 27, 2025) – For the second time in three races, TF Sport’s pair of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will start inside the LMGT3 top-10 following Saturday’s qualifying for the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Six Hours of Fuji.
The two yellow Corvettes will start sixth and seventh for the best combined start of the season for TF Sport as both entries hope to continue gaining ground in the class Drivers Championship with two rounds left.
The No. 33 Corvette of Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating will lead the TF Sport attack at the start of Sunday’s race, one spot and just 0.064 seconds ahead of the No. 81 Z06 GT3.R of Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy.
Keating and Van Rompuy advanced from the initial 12-minute qualifying session with Edgar and Andrade piloting the Corvettes in the 10-minute Hyperpole session. Both Corvettes previously made Hyperpole together in July at Sāo Paulo when they started ninth and 10th in class.
The No. 33 Corvette drivers sit third in the LMGT3 championship on the strength of a season-opening win of the season and remain in the hunt with 29 points to the leader and 64 points available in the balance of the season. The team faced an uphill battle with some lack of pace in practice, but the team’s pre-qualifying adjustment to the Corvette’s setup unlocked enough speed to get on the third row.
From the start of the event, the No. 81 Corvette showed its strength. Eastwood was second-quickest in the opening free practice, and Andrade set the fastest time in either Corvette in Saturday’s final practice ahead of qualifying.
The strong showings Friday and Saturday bode well for the championship hopes of the No. 81 Corvette trio, which has a second- and third-place finish to its credit this season. Eastwood, Andrade and Van Rompy are 39 points out of the championship lead with 64 points still on the table.
The Six Hours of Fuji scheduled for 11 a.m. JST Sunday and 10 p.m. ET Saturday. Full, live television coverage is available on the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the United States.
TF SPORT POST-QUALIFYING QUOTES
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "We're much happier and much better than we expected. Practice was quite difficult. The car felt pretty good but we were slower than we'd like to be. Ben did a great job to get the car into Hyperpole for me, and I'm happy with P6. I don't think we expected to be that high really, so it's definitely good. Always in the race we have better pace than in qualifying. To qualify P6 is good. It's the second-best qualifying session of the year and the best we've been in a dry qualifying session. It gives me good confidence for tomorrow and we should have decent pace."
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "I'm super proud of this team. This is a team sport and that was a team job. The car is much better than it has been in practice. It was down to the wire but we got it done when it mattered. I'm really happy with the car and with my laptime. The only thing that matters is I get it into the top-10. So to be in the top-five is extra special.
"I would have said it would have been a big challenge for us to get us into Hyperpole. I have to hand it to the team. The car is much better than it has been. I think we were second-to-last in every session before now so we weren't feeling super-confident. But the car is really good right now. The whole team has worked really well to get both cars into Hyperpole."
RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "A very tight qualy. Everyone was very close together and we knew it was going to be tough. I think I maximized the run so I'm happy with that. P7 is not too bad. Tomorrow we have a long race in which to recover. I think we have a better racecar than a quality car. There's a lot to fight for. I'm happy with the car balance and feeling good going into the race."
TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "Very happy with qualifying. From FP3, we continued to improve our car. It feels really solid for both qualifying and the race. We ended up P4 to get back into Hyperpole, which is really nice. I'm confident we have a good racecar to compete in the race."
Ryan Smith