No. 33 Corvette C8.R makes top-eight for run at GTE Am pole position

LE MANS, France (June 7, 2023) Corvette Racing fought its way into the Hyperpole session ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a heroic effort to advance from Wednesday’s initial qualifying round in the GTE Am class.

Nicky Catsburg set the best time of 3:52.228 (131.233 mph) in the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he shares with Nico Varrone and Ben Keating.
The laptime was 0.351 seconds off the quickest car in GTE Am the No. 83 Ferrari but well inside the top-eight that move on to Thursday’s 30-minute Hyperpole session to set the grid for Saturday’s race.

That Corvette Racing even made the session was astounding, as the crew repaired damage from a crash in the final hour of Wednesday’s opening practice session. All facets of the team went into repairing or replacing a number of right-side components including suspension pieces, brakes, front and rear fenders, door and rocker, plus the wing, rear fascia and deck lids, among other items.

Catsburg rewarded the team’s hard work with a time that put him P1 with a little more than 10 minutes left in the session and set off a loud cheer in the Corvette Racing garage.

Thursday’s Hyperpole session is scheduled for 8 p.m. CET / 2 p.m. ET with live coverage on MotorTrend Plus in the United States, and audio coverage via Radio Le Mans.

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R THIRD IN GTE AM QUALIFYING:

“I was concerned if we would make it!
But if anyone could do it, it’s these guys. And they did it again! This wasn’t easy at all. We only barely made qualifying and got slightly lucky with the red flags.

I had to pit again because we had some issues still with the car and there was really no time to really check before we went out. Luckily, I got a lap in that was good enough to go P3, and we are in the top-eight; that was the goal. So now we can leave behind what happened in practice and just focused forward.
It was super, super nice and cool to see. It sounds weird now, but it was a nice boost actually for everyone. It’s a good feeling to know we have made it.”

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LMGTE AM: POLE No.33 Corvette Racing

Ben Keating in No.33 points leading Corvette Racing entry takes LMGTE Am pole position and extends WEC points lead.

Corvette's 3rd pole at Le Mans in WEC, and second in GTE Am after Larbre in 2017.
Keating sets the best lap of 3m52.376s to head Ahmed Al Harthy in ORT by TF Sport by Aston Martin which takes second position on the grid.
Gap between them is 1.2s.

Thomas Flohr in the No.54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo grabs third position on grid to ensure three different manufacturers in top three.
The rest of the LMGTE Am field lines up as – No.21 AF Corse (4th ), No.83 Richard Mille AF Corse (5th ), No.57 Kessel Racing (6th ), GMB Aston Martin (7th ), No.74 Kessel Racing (8th)