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CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: 16-Hour Report
TF Sport moves into position to challenge for race win; AWA still going strong
LE MANS, France (June 15, 2025) – TF Sport and the No. 81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R surged into the lead just past the halfway point of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in what is shaping up to be a back-and-forth fight for the LMGT3 victory.
Charlie Eastwood moved the Corvette into the lead in class with a little more than 11 hours left in the race after solid driving from him and teammates Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy in the first half. Van Rompuy completed his minimum drivetime with more than eight hours to go, leaving it to Andrade and factory driver Eastwood to challenge for the LMGT3 win the rest of the way.
A victory would be the 10th for the Corvette Racing program at Le Mans and third at the 24 Hours of TF Sport.
AWA’s No. 13 Corvette continued to impress in its Le Mans debut. The team ran as high as sixth in the early part of the race’s second half and continued to push for a top-10 finish going into the last eight hours.
The three Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs worked their way up through the LMGT3 field in the opening third of this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans with both TF Sport and AWA running in or near the top-10 after eight hours. All three drivers – Matt Bell, Orey Fidani and Lars Kern – took turns driving in the nighttime hours, which featured the race’s first safety car period.
TF Sport’s other Corvette – the No. 33 of Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating – continued driving back from a mechanical problem earlier in the race that cost the trio two laps in the garage. The trio kept pushing in hopes for a top-10 finish and FIA World Endurance Championship points.
Corvette Racing will distribute a post-race report following the finish of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER QUOTES
RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "The safety car was really lucky. It came out at a good time for us and put us right in the mix. So far so good. Our car is good. We haven't made many mistakes. Everyone is driving really well. The team is doing a good job. Fingers crossed we can keep this up."
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "I really enjoyed the first stint. I think it went quite well, and the race was going how we wanted. Ben did a long stint... five stints in a row to get quite a lot of his drive time. We were still on the lead lap, which was the aim of our strategy. We assumed there would be a safety car at some point to help us. It's a shame what happened on the pit stop, though. We lost two laps and it's going to be quite difficult to get that back. We'll need a lot of luck. I've enjoyed driving in the race. It's just a shame to have that issue."
LARS KERN, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I have to say this is the best race I’ve ever participated in. Chevrolet and AWA have given us a mega Corvette. It’s getting better and better over the run. I really enjoyed driving it. I was even asking for a fifth stint! They didn’t keep me in but I have to go back out after Orey and Matt again for a quadruple. I’m really looking forward to driving the car again. It’s absolutely epic out there… really nice.”
Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: 16-Hour Report
TF Sport moves into position to challenge for race win; AWA still going strong
LE MANS, France (June 15, 2025) – TF Sport and the No. 81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R surged into the lead just past the halfway point of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in what is shaping up to be a back-and-forth fight for the LMGT3 victory.
Charlie Eastwood moved the Corvette into the lead in class with a little more than 11 hours left in the race after solid driving from him and teammates Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy in the first half. Van Rompuy completed his minimum drivetime with more than eight hours to go, leaving it to Andrade and factory driver Eastwood to challenge for the LMGT3 win the rest of the way.
A victory would be the 10th for the Corvette Racing program at Le Mans and third at the 24 Hours of TF Sport.
AWA’s No. 13 Corvette continued to impress in its Le Mans debut. The team ran as high as sixth in the early part of the race’s second half and continued to push for a top-10 finish going into the last eight hours.
The three Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs worked their way up through the LMGT3 field in the opening third of this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans with both TF Sport and AWA running in or near the top-10 after eight hours. All three drivers – Matt Bell, Orey Fidani and Lars Kern – took turns driving in the nighttime hours, which featured the race’s first safety car period.
TF Sport’s other Corvette – the No. 33 of Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating – continued driving back from a mechanical problem earlier in the race that cost the trio two laps in the garage. The trio kept pushing in hopes for a top-10 finish and FIA World Endurance Championship points.
Corvette Racing will distribute a post-race report following the finish of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER QUOTES
RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "The safety car was really lucky. It came out at a good time for us and put us right in the mix. So far so good. Our car is good. We haven't made many mistakes. Everyone is driving really well. The team is doing a good job. Fingers crossed we can keep this up."
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "I really enjoyed the first stint. I think it went quite well, and the race was going how we wanted. Ben did a long stint... five stints in a row to get quite a lot of his drive time. We were still on the lead lap, which was the aim of our strategy. We assumed there would be a safety car at some point to help us. It's a shame what happened on the pit stop, though. We lost two laps and it's going to be quite difficult to get that back. We'll need a lot of luck. I've enjoyed driving in the race. It's just a shame to have that issue."
LARS KERN, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I have to say this is the best race I’ve ever participated in. Chevrolet and AWA have given us a mega Corvette. It’s getting better and better over the run. I really enjoyed driving it. I was even asking for a fifth stint! They didn’t keep me in but I have to go back out after Orey and Matt again for a quadruple. I’m really looking forward to driving the car again. It’s absolutely epic out there… really nice.”
Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick