Corvette Racing at SPA: On to Le Mans

Photo Credit: TF Sport for Corvette Racing

No. 33 Corvette trio retains points lead after difficult day at Spa Six Hours

STAVELOT, Belgium (May 10, 2025) – TF Sport and its two Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs are turning the page after a difficult Six Hours of Spa and focusing fully now on the 24 Hours of Le Mans…the biggest race of the FIA World Endurance Championship season.

Both the No. 81 and LMGT3 championship-leading No. 33 Corvettes finished outside the top-10 and in non-points paying positions Saturday at Spa-Francorchamps. The No. 33 Z06 GT3.R of Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating was the highest-finishing Corvette in 13th place, followed by the No. 81 entry of Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy.

The seemingly lone bright spot for the weekend is the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette will carry the Drivers and Teams points leads into Le Mans, which serves as a double-points race.

Both TF Sport Corvettes struggled for pace throughout the weekend. Neither made the top-10 in LMGT3 qualifying Friday, and that deficit played out in the race. Two safety car periods in the opening half Saturday brought differing strategies for the two Corvettes in an attempt to gain track position early. It worked initially with the No. 81 running as high as third near the three-hour mark before momentum shifted away from the TF Sport camp.

The only blemish for either car was a pitlane penalty for the No. 81, and the No. 33 squad ran a clean race throughout.

TF Sport’s next race in the FIA WEC is the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 14-15. Their two Corvettes will be joined by AWA’s No. 13 Corvette from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

TF SPORT POST-RACE QUOTES

DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“A disappointing weekend. We had no chance at all to score points all weekend. I feel like we came in with some hopes but unfortunately this was not the way I wanted the weekend to go. There’s not much to say. The team did a great job, my teammates drove well and I drove well. That seems it was good enough for P13. Hopefully things are different in Le Mans. If we keep this trend from the last couple of races, I’d be surprised if we have a chance to fight. So hopefully things turn around for Le Mans.”

JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“In terms of car balance, I feel everything was pretty good. Our tire degradation was pretty good as well, so everything felt good. But we’re missing a lot of lap times compared to the other cars and also acceleration. So it makes it pretty much impossible to overtake anyone, and then when there’s someone behind it’s almost impossible to defend. It’s a shame for all of us drivers and the team. Going into the weekend, we knew it was going to be hard. We haven’t had any mistakes or penalties. We’re just missing pace. When it’s a long green-flag run, we just seem to drop back, which is a shame.”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I would say this is not racing. This is driving around the course waiting for someone else to make a mistake. I feel like it’s a waste of time to be here, and I’m quite angry about it. We’ll run around and wait for bad things to happen to other people for another three hours. I’d really like to wish everyone well. I don’t like to wish any harm or bad luck to anyone else. But that’s the only way we’re going to make up positions.”

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Not the weekend we wanted at all. It was somewhat expected but maybe slightly worse than we thought. The positives, if you look at any, is that again the team has executed again a really good race. Nothing wrong with pitstops and strategy. We just didn’t have the ultimate pace to go forward. The next one is Le Mans, and it’s the one where you have the most pitstops… 24 or 25 stops. For the team to go in with the pace that they’re doing on the tire changes and things, I know these guys can make the difference if we have pace on track. I’m looking forward to it but happy to get this one behind us.”

RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It was difficult. I struggled a lot with the car balance. I got in with second-stint tires from Tom and that felt pretty good. I couldn’t maximize the new tires though. Everyone around was being pretty aggressive, and we had a lot of contact which was unfortunate. It was my fault on the penalty. I just left the pitlane with the red light and I saw it too late. We knew it was going to be a difficult weekend but we kept on fighting.”

TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It was a little tough but I’m happy with my stint. We are struggling with the tires but I think everyone was struggling a bit, too. The tire pressures are very high to drive with. All in all, I’m happy with my stint. I had to really focus to not make any mistakes. For where the car was, we have maximized things.”

Source:

CorvetteRacing.com

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