Corvette keeps pressure on in LMGT3 title fight

The manner of the British outfit’s win in the 6 Hours of Fuji could scarcely have been more dramatic. A rapid late run looked to have hauled the #81 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R piloted by Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy up to second place, but then news filtered through in the closing laps that the leading VISTA AF Corse Ferrari had been handed a five-second penalty for a pit-stop infringement.

With almost ten seconds in-hand over the pursuing Eastwood, Alessio Rovera still seemed safe enough, but when the #21 entry began to slow on the final tour, the Irishman closed in, taking the chequered flag just 1.990 seconds in arrears – which, once the penalty had been applied, translated into victory.

Such an outcome had seemed far from likely early on, when Van Rompuy had picked up a drive-through penalty for a Full Course Yellow infraction, but multiple further interruptions scrambled the order at various points, giving rise to a number of different strategies. 

“The race started a bit on the back foot because I caused a penalty for releasing early from a Full Course Yellow, but luckily that was negated by lots of Virtual Safety Cars and safety cars,” mused the Dutchman. “We knew we had a strong car in terms of race pace, and I have to thank the team for really great pit-stops and strategy. We took a gamble, but it paid off. It was my first win in FIA WEC, and I was super-proud to achieve it with TF Sport.”

Following Andrade’s mid-race stint, Eastwood was one of the first Pro-rated drivers to take to the track just ahead of the four-hour mark, continuing the good work. As many of the leaders found themselves obliged to pit for a late splash ‘n’ dash refuelling stop in the final ten minutes, the Corvette’s ability to go one lap longer elevated the #81 entry to second, which for the reasons already outlined, subsequently became first.

The result represented the title-chasing trio’s third podium appearance of the season – after finishing third in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and snaring the runner-up spoils in the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo – and first win together. For the evergreen Corvette, it marked a tenth series success, while for both Eastwood and Andrade, it was a fifth FIA WEC victory and second at Fuji Speedway, with the latter becoming the first African driver to triumph in two different classes in the championship. 

“We know that qualifying isn’t our forte, but we also knew the Corvette would be strong in the race,” reflected the Angolan ace. “It was quite tricky as all the LMGT3 cars were quite close together, and it was really hard to know where we would end up because different strategies by different teams were being played out, but we kept our heads down and kept pushing. 

“The safety cars definitely threw a lot into the race because we weren’t sure what the best strategy would be. Even until the end we didn’t know if it would work out, but the team did an amazing job and my team-mates were faultless throughout. Thankfully, we had the right strategy and a little bit of luck on the last lap. Since last year, we’ve been trying to get our first win together in FIA WEC and we’ve been close a few times, so it was a very special moment for all of us.” 

After the sister #33 Corvette prevailed in the Qatar 1812km curtain-raiser back in February, TF Sport is the only team to have won in LMGT3 this year with both of its cars. Returning to the Middle East for the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain on 6-8 November, the squad has strength in numbers, with the #81 sitting third in the Drivers’ classification – 24 points shy of the summit of the standings – and the #33 shared by Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating mathematically still also in contention, 15 points further back.

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