TF Sport and members of the Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3.R program are eager to take all the lessons and all the experience from their past 18 months together and turn it into a victory in the world’s biggest sports car race.

Two Corvettes from TF Sport are part of the LMGT3 grid for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans starting with Sunday’s Test Day and the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The pair of entries are part of a three-car Corvette contingent among the 24 cars in the class for this year’s event, which kicks off with Sunday’s annual Le Mans Test Day and includes fellow Corvette team AWA.

The TF Sport squad is going for a third class win at Le Mans the Corvette Racing program can make it 10 victories since 2001.
The team’s trio of Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating lead the WEC’s LMGT3 Drivers Championship standings on the strength of a victory at Qatar in their No. 33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Across the garage, the No. 81 Corvette lineup of Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy are hoping to join their teammates as race winners for TF Sport in the trio’s second year together at Le Mans.

Each of the six drivers have different previous experiences at Le Mans. Eastwood and Keating are both past-winners of the race with Keating twice a winner, including in 2023 in a Corvette C8.R. Andrade is a past runner-up, Van Rompuy has two previous starts, Juncadella debuted last year and Edgar is a Le Mans rookie.

Two three-hour sessions are on the schedule for Sunday’s Test Day, which is the first time since last year’s final lap that cars will have the chance to run on the full 8.47-mile Le Mans circuit – a mix of permanent racetrack and public roads. The Test Day is valuable with only a three-hour Free Practice on Wednesday ahead of the first round of qualifying later in the day.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET / 4 p.m. CET on Saturday, June 14. MotorTrend will air the full race live in the U.S., with full live streaming of all on-track sessions including qualifying and Hyperpole will be available through the MAX app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans also will provide live streaming audio coverage of all sessions as well.

TF SPORT PRE-EVENT QUOTES
DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Le Mans is such an incredible place. The track itself is one that on paper you don’t think is a challenge because there are a lot of long straights and there aren’t that many corners for such a long track. You’d think it is fairly easy but it’s incredible the aura that the place has. There is something you can feel and it’s impressive. I was grateful to experience that for the first time last year.

“It’s a big thing that we have had pretty flawless races so far. The team has really taken a step forward in the right direction. It’s no secret that the driver lineup is incredibly good. Both Ben and Jonny are really, really good. Having Tyler (Neff, race engineer) with us this year brought us some fresh ideas and experience with the Corvette.
The Z06 GT3.R is in its second year and we have a season of experience with it in the bag so that helps a lot in terms of reliability and many other things. It’s a great year to be part of this lineup and this team.
We’re having very clean races and that also pays off with consistency for scoring results and points.”

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

I am looking forward to competing in my first 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s a race I have watched for a long time and have always been interested to compete in so it is amazing I have finally got the opportunity to do so. If we can carry on the great work everyone has done this season then I am confident we will have a good result as we have managed to execute all three races very well so far this season. The whole team has done an amazing job.

“I cannot wait to drive the track for the first time, I am sure it will be very enjoyable in the Corvette Z06 GT3.R. It is very exciting to be racing alongside Ben and Dani at this race. Ben has had lots of success here with both Corvette and TF Sport so I am sure he will have lots of helpful advice for me, and Dani raced here last year with the Corvette so he will also be able to help me a lot as well.”

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

“So far this season, the team has performed FLAWLESSLY! It has been very impressive and it is why we have seen the results. It’s no surprise given my past history with both TF Sport and the Corvette. There’s no reason to think we can’t keep the same incredible team performance for Le Mans.

“My first memory of Le Mans was in 2014 when I went as a spectator not knowing anything about it. I slept on the floor of the hospitality tent. I walked many miles. I felt like a little kid where everything was a new experience. To me what makes Le Mans special is that excitement and energy surrounding the event everything from the public scrutineering to the parade to the race itself.
This is a result of the history and mostly because of the fans. Le Mans is not a race. Le Mans is an event.”

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

“We haven’t had the performance or results on our side, but the thing I’m really hopeful about is that as a crew, as a team and as a Corvette program, we’re executing some excellent races.
When you get to Le Mans, it’s what I actually love so much about it – even over other 24-hour events it’s not like Daytona where you have so many cautions, and you can get back into the race and back onto the lead lap. In Le Mans, if you make a mistake in the first hour, then you have to be very fast to make that back up.

With the energy side of things, we’ll probably have 27 or 27 pit stops. Our guys have gotten super-quick at tire changes and the strategy has been very good in the last few events. When you add that up across 26 stops versus just four stops, it can make a big difference in the pitlane.

“On top of that, both Rui and Tom especially Rui as he is doing a geo-program in ELMS and then straight into a WEC race are driving incredibly well, love the car and are able to extract speed out of it.
So from our side when you look at the lineup, we’re pretty strong in that regard.
No, we didn’t have a great race there last year but as a team and a car, we’ve made massive strides in a lot of areas so hopefully that will play into our favor.”

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

“I’m very excited to be back at Le Mans as always. For us, it’s definitely the biggest race of the year and the one everyone wants to win. Last year was difficult, but we’ve made steps forward as a team, and I know my teammates and I are ready for the challenge ahead.

“I personally definitely feel stronger this year, which is a good confidence boost going into Le Mans. It’s a very long race and all three drivers need to be at their very best in order for the team to perform well. So hopefully I can keep my personal momentum going so we can fight for the win.”

Corvette, Ford Biggest Winners in LMGT3 BoP

In the BoP for the LMGT3 class, the biggest winners appear to be the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R and the Ford Mustang GT3, both of which have been handed power increases and weight decreases compared to last year’s race.

While all seven of the cars in the class that raced last year will run with a lower minimum weight this time around, the Corvette and the Mustang are only two of three to have also been given an increase in power below 200 km/h.
The Corvette and Mustang are now both at P1 meaning one percent below their theoretical maximum power compared to P4 and P5 respectively last year.
However, the Corvette has a negative Power Gain value of 4.6 percent, versus minus two percent last year, while the Mustang is at zero.

At the same time, the Corvette now weighs in at 1333 kg, down 14 kg from last year’s race, while the Mustang tips the scales at 1318 kg, down 9 kg.
Only the Porsche 911 GT3 R, at 1315 kg, is lighter than the Mustang, but last year’s winning LMGT3 car has been given a reduction in base power to P4 from P3.

The only other car to have both gained power and lost weight is the Lexus RC F GT3, but its weight decrease is just a single kilogram, to 1354 kg, and while its power goes up two percent to P2, this is tempered by a minus 3.7 percent Power Gain.
Heaviest of all is the new-for-2025 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo at 1360 kg.

AWA Racing’s Orey Fidani said a win in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans would create the “perfect season” in his mind after the team won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in the GTD class in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in January.

Alongside full-season WestherTech Championship GTD co-driver Matt Bell, Michelin Endurance Cup driver Lars Kern, and Marvin Kirchhöfer, who joined AWA in Daytona, Fidani won the 24-hour Florida enduro with the Canadian-based team.
The team received an auto-invite to join the Le Mans grid this year after Fidani received IMSA’s Bob Akin Award for Bronze-rated drivers in 2024.

Next week’s twice-around-the-clock classic will be the team, Fidani and Kern’s Le Mans debuts.
When asked what an LMGT3 class victory in the team’s one-off No. 13 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R would mean for he and the team, Fidani told Sportscar365: “In combination with the Daytona win this year, that would be, for me, a pretty perfect season regarding everything else left go. That would be pretty awesome.”

He added: “It’s our first time here, so we’re just working hard and trying to aim for a good result, but most importantly, just having fun.
“To tell you the honest truth, I approach everything the same. I don’t overthink it, I just get in and go.
“I’m excited for a little bit of everything right now. I’m just soaking in everything that’s going on around me. I think to get out on track and start going is going to get me pretty excited.”

As the first Canadian team to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in recent memory, AWA has wrapped its LMGT3 challenger in a special Canadian-inspired red livery, featuring red and white coloring with large maple leaves on the Corvette’s roof and hood.
“It’s super important,” Fidani said. “That [livery] was really, really big for us. I think as a Canadian team and a fellow Canadian, we want to leave our mark here.

“I am super happy to be able to fly a big Canadian flag out here and let the world see the car. I’m super happy about it.”
Bell: AWA Will Do “Everything They Can” For A Le Mans Win
Bell said he and AWA will do “everything they can” to achieve a positive Le Mans result in what is the team’s first overseas race outing.
Unlike his two teammates, the British driver will be making his third 24 Hours of Le Mans start next week after contesting the 2022 and 2024 editions of the race in the LMP2 class.

“Everybody comes racing to win, don’t they?” Bell told Sportscar365. “It’s the cliché everybody says, but we are here.
“It’s going to be a lot to learn. First time for most of the guys on the team. It’s my third Le Mans, so I’m trying to steer everybody in the right direction.
“There’s a good mix of experience and new people here, and we’re here to win. We’re not here to make up the numbers. We’ll do everything we can to achieve that goal.”

Despite this being the team’s and two of its drivers’ first time at the race, Bell said he remains “cautiously optimistic” about AWA’s chances of success next weekend.
“This is the team’s first trip on foreign soil,” he said. “We are at the pinnacle of our sport and the biggest race in the world.
“We started with the biggest win on home soil with Daytona. We learned a lot from that race. Le Mans is a very different kettle of fish, but we’re coming here cautiously optimistic that we should be competitive.

“I’m passing on as much experience as I can possibly can to both Orey and Lars.
“We’ve come in early, and we were prepared for this for a long time. We crossed the checkered flag in Road Atlanta [last year] and the planning started then.

“I made sure that we came and did a bit of a ‘reccy’ last year, and I got them to do the Road to Le Mans race themselves, so they’ve got a bit of experience on the track too with the Kessel Racing guys. I’ll be imparting as much knowledge as I can to try and help everybody on the team.”