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CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Eight-Hour Report
TF Sport, AWA progressing forward in opening runs
LE MANS, France (June 15, 2025) – 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.
Corvette factory driver Charlie Eastwood was at the wheel of the No. 81 Corvette for TF Sport at the one-third mark of the race. He started the race sixth as he and teammates Tom Van Rompuy and Rui Andrade each rotated through with Eastwood running seventh as the race moved into the eighth hour.
The various strategies and driver rotations made tracking who had the advantage early in the class battle. After Eastwood’s opening run, Van Rompuy drove a quadruple-stint to give the No. 81 a strategic drive-time advantage going into the night before Andrade and then Eastwood took turns in the Corvette.
AWA’s No. 13 Z06 GT3.R steadily drove its way into contention in the team’s Le Mans debut. Matt Bell, Orey Fidani and Lars Kern quietly went from 24th in class to 10th after eight hours. Fidani, winner of the 2024 IMSA Akin Award to earn the team an invitation to Le Mans, drove the opening two hours with Bell and Kern picking up positions in the remaining six hours.
Bell was 12th in class going into the middle-third of the race.
TF Sport’s No. 33 Corvette ran into misfortune in the sixth hour after making solid progress of its own. Jonny Edgar had just finished his first double-stint of the race but the left-rear wheel wouldn’t come off on the pit stop. Daniel Juncadella continued on but the No. 33 team lost two laps – a huge blow to the LMGT3 championship-leading trio of Juncadella, Edgar and Ben Keating, which began 23rd in class.
Corvette Racing’s next update from the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be at the 16-hour mark.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER QUOTES
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "The first stint was pretty routine. I felt like that stint could have been a lot worse. It definitely wasn't great but not unexpected. Like always with this Corvette, the high-speed corners and degradation is really good. That's what could potentially keep us in the race. It's so strong in the Porsche Curves. Even to the guys like the Lexus who have been the standout, we seem to sort of be able to eat back into them by the end of the stint. Raceability is going to be tough but ultimately in laptime I don't think we're super far away."
TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "The plan before the race was for me to do a triple-stint. But then they asked how I felt at the end of the triple, and I was good to go for a fourth one. I got out of the car pretty fresh. I was happy with my pace. So for the moment it looks good. It's a little better than anticipated but there's a long way to go so let's see how it evolves."
DANIEL JUNCADELLA, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "We are participating at Le Mans because competing is another thing. It's pretty clear we are 8-10 kph down on the straight. We can't overtake any cars. The car is super-quick in the corners and the guys did a great job to give us a super-fast car in corners. It's just really disappointing because that's been the trend the last couple of races."
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "A good way to put it is that we're lingering. It's supposed to be racing but it feels more like lingering. We're going out there hoping to do the best we can and hoping to be there at the end. But I feel like a very fast moving chicane."
MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "There are a lot of different people on a lot of different strategies out there. So it's really difficult to place where you are. On that run there, the car felt really good. Honestly it felt a lot better than it did in testing, which is always nice. It's great when you race with the best car you've had all week. Thanks to the AWA guys for giving us that. I just had to get my head down. It was a lovely double-stint to be honest. We made up a couple of positions and made some overtakes for positions, which is a good thing.
"Our target is to try and be the best Corvette. Whether a Corvette will win the race or not is out of our hands. We're trying to maximize what we have. We feel some other manufacturers are quicker than us but it's a long race. We'll see what happens. The tow is so powerful around here. It's worth two or three seconds a lap. If you have a good driver and you can get him to tow you along, it can really help your laptime. Timing that, though, is always difficult."
OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R (two-hour triple in Le Mans debut) "That was awesome. The car is pretty good. I had a little bit of understeer, but it was a lot better than it was in the heat. Being overcast and a cool day helped us some. It was just awesome to get my first triple in this big race. It was great. I just wanted to get the car in a good spot to Matt and Lars. I had a really close call in pitlane trying to get in my box when another car did an unsafe release. But no collision and we're keeping on going."
Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick
TF Sport, AWA progressing forward in opening runs
LE MANS, France (June 15, 2025) – 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.
Corvette factory driver Charlie Eastwood was at the wheel of the No. 81 Corvette for TF Sport at the one-third mark of the race. He started the race sixth as he and teammates Tom Van Rompuy and Rui Andrade each rotated through with Eastwood running seventh as the race moved into the eighth hour.
The various strategies and driver rotations made tracking who had the advantage early in the class battle. After Eastwood’s opening run, Van Rompuy drove a quadruple-stint to give the No. 81 a strategic drive-time advantage going into the night before Andrade and then Eastwood took turns in the Corvette.
AWA’s No. 13 Z06 GT3.R steadily drove its way into contention in the team’s Le Mans debut. Matt Bell, Orey Fidani and Lars Kern quietly went from 24th in class to 10th after eight hours. Fidani, winner of the 2024 IMSA Akin Award to earn the team an invitation to Le Mans, drove the opening two hours with Bell and Kern picking up positions in the remaining six hours.
Bell was 12th in class going into the middle-third of the race.
TF Sport’s No. 33 Corvette ran into misfortune in the sixth hour after making solid progress of its own. Jonny Edgar had just finished his first double-stint of the race but the left-rear wheel wouldn’t come off on the pit stop. Daniel Juncadella continued on but the No. 33 team lost two laps – a huge blow to the LMGT3 championship-leading trio of Juncadella, Edgar and Ben Keating, which began 23rd in class.
Corvette Racing’s next update from the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be at the 16-hour mark.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER QUOTES
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "The first stint was pretty routine. I felt like that stint could have been a lot worse. It definitely wasn't great but not unexpected. Like always with this Corvette, the high-speed corners and degradation is really good. That's what could potentially keep us in the race. It's so strong in the Porsche Curves. Even to the guys like the Lexus who have been the standout, we seem to sort of be able to eat back into them by the end of the stint. Raceability is going to be tough but ultimately in laptime I don't think we're super far away."
TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "The plan before the race was for me to do a triple-stint. But then they asked how I felt at the end of the triple, and I was good to go for a fourth one. I got out of the car pretty fresh. I was happy with my pace. So for the moment it looks good. It's a little better than anticipated but there's a long way to go so let's see how it evolves."
DANIEL JUNCADELLA, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "We are participating at Le Mans because competing is another thing. It's pretty clear we are 8-10 kph down on the straight. We can't overtake any cars. The car is super-quick in the corners and the guys did a great job to give us a super-fast car in corners. It's just really disappointing because that's been the trend the last couple of races."
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "A good way to put it is that we're lingering. It's supposed to be racing but it feels more like lingering. We're going out there hoping to do the best we can and hoping to be there at the end. But I feel like a very fast moving chicane."
MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "There are a lot of different people on a lot of different strategies out there. So it's really difficult to place where you are. On that run there, the car felt really good. Honestly it felt a lot better than it did in testing, which is always nice. It's great when you race with the best car you've had all week. Thanks to the AWA guys for giving us that. I just had to get my head down. It was a lovely double-stint to be honest. We made up a couple of positions and made some overtakes for positions, which is a good thing.
"Our target is to try and be the best Corvette. Whether a Corvette will win the race or not is out of our hands. We're trying to maximize what we have. We feel some other manufacturers are quicker than us but it's a long race. We'll see what happens. The tow is so powerful around here. It's worth two or three seconds a lap. If you have a good driver and you can get him to tow you along, it can really help your laptime. Timing that, though, is always difficult."
OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R (two-hour triple in Le Mans debut) "That was awesome. The car is pretty good. I had a little bit of understeer, but it was a lot better than it was in the heat. Being overcast and a cool day helped us some. It was just awesome to get my first triple in this big race. It was great. I just wanted to get the car in a good spot to Matt and Lars. I had a really close call in pitlane trying to get in my box when another car did an unsafe release. But no collision and we're keeping on going."
Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick