The Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3.R and TF Sport enter the second half of the FIA World Endurance Championship this weekend with solid momentum and both racecars in title contention as the series shifts to South America.
The Six Hours of Paulo is the fifth round of the FIA WEC and first event after the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It also is the resumption of a tight fight in the LMGT3 with each of the second-year Corvette GT3s looking to contend not just for a race win but also moving up in the Drivers and Teams championship standings:
No. 33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R
The trio of Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating sit third in points on the strength of their season-opening race win at Qatar. Of the three, only Juncadella has raced at Sāo Paulo and his debut at the circuit came last year.
Following the victory at Qatar and subsequent championship lead, the No. 33 Corvette was the heaviest car at both Imola and Spa-Francorchamps by more than 50 pounds. Much of that success ballast comes off for Sāo Paulo, which gives the 33 side of the TF Sport garage optimism for its first Hyperpole appearance of the season and a return to the class podium.
No. 81 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R
Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy broke through at Le Mans for a third-place LMGT3 finish and their first podium result of the year. The No. 81 Corvette squad jumped up to sixth in points to give TF Sport two cars that can contend for the race win and podium in Brazil.
Of note, Van Rompuy has advanced the No. 81 Corvette into the LMGT3 Hyperpole session in three of four races this year.
Meanwhile Eastwood and Andrade are coming off a thrilling victory in Sunday’s Four Hours of Imola in TF Sport’s European Le Mans Series Corvette entry with Hiroshi Koizumi – the first win for Corvette Racing in that championship.
The Six Hours of Sāo Paulo is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, July 13.
Full live-streaming coverage of Free Practice 3, qualifying and the race will be available on the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the United States.
TF SPORT PRE-EVENT QUOTES
DANIEL JUNCADELLA, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“The good news is we are going to lose a lot of weight. We have a gluten-free diet going to Sāo Paulo! Which is nice because we have been heavy all year. We are still third in the championship, which is fantastic after a difficult Le Mans.
I think the second half of the year we will be strong and will be fighting to get back to where we belong.”
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“This will be my first time to Brazil, so it’s a new track for me and Ben. We’ll try to learn it as quickly as possible. Luckily, Dani has been there, so I’m sure he will be able to help us a lot.
I’m sure he’ll be able to help us a lot. It’ll be nice to have as much success ballast. Obviously it’s nice to have it because you’ve obviously won something!
But I think we’ll have a tiny bit from our championship position, but much less than previous races.
So I think that should be helpful. Hopefully we can have another good weekend and score as many points as we can.”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“My main goal is to win the championship, and we are still in that hunt for sure. For the last several races, we’ve been carrying around so much success ballast. I’m glad to know that the two people in front of us in the championship are now going to be very heavy.
And we’re going to be considerably lighter. I’ve never been to Sāo Paulo. But I’ve spent a lot of time on my simulator and learning it.
So I’m looking forward to being back toward the front.”
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“Coming off Le Mans, we’re really optimistic about Sāo Paulo. The truck’s been resurfaced, so it might be quite different. We just need to keep doing what we are doing, and hopefully we have a bit more pace in the Corvette. So we are looking forward to it. Hopefully like last year, we can finish the year super-strong. We’re up to P6 in the championship after Le Mans, and hopefully we can keep pushing forward with that.”
RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“It’s really encouraging to come into Brazil after our podium at Le Mans. Our confidence is at an all-time high right now as we are going into some tracks where I feel we were strong last year.
It starts at Sāo Paulo where we learned a lot in our first time there with the Corvette.
The car already was fairly quick and competitive last year, and I hope we have more of the same this time around.”
TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“We have excellent momentum after Le Mans. Now we take that to Sao Paulo, which is a track I discovered for the first time last year. I think we should go along fairly well there.
The team is operating at a high level on both sides of the garage.
All season, the driving has been very, very good to go along with the strategy and pit stops. Let’s see if we can continue that this weekend.”
