TF Sport’s pair of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will fill the fifth row of the LMGT3 class for Sunday’s Six Hours of Soa Paulo and the resumption of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The No. 33 Corvette of Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating class winner to start the season in Qatar lines up ninth after Keating advanced to the 10-car Hyperpole session for the first time this year to put both TF Sport entries into the final round of qualifying.
Teammates Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy will start 10th in the No. 81 Corvette with the driving trio looking to continue the momentum from a third-place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Eastwood and Andrade were winners in the European Le Mans Series last weekend at Imola in another TF Sport Corvette.
Van Rompuy also advanced to Hyperpole for the fourth time in five races.
The improved pace of the Corvettes from the last six-hour race at Spa was evident from Friday’s first session.
Juncadella and Eastwood were third and fifth, respectively, in LMGT3 at the end of the day, and Edgar improved on both his teammates with the weekend’s fastest Free Practice time in class.
Entering Sāo Paulo, the No. 33 Corvette sits third in the LMGT3 Drivers and Teams standings with the No. 81 Z06 GT3.R sixth.
The Six Hours of Sāo Paulo is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, July 13. Full live-streaming coverage will be available on the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the United States.
TF SPORT QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
"It's the first time our car has made it into Hyperpole this year. Even when we haven't done that, we have had good races. So I'm quite confident for tomorrow. It's a shame not to be higher up but one-lap pace is never our strongest point; we're always much better in the race, so our pace will be much better tomorrow. I'm happy to make it any Hyperpole and the car was great to drive again, as it usually is."
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
"Traditionally in the World Endurance Championship, I would say one of my specialties has been qualifying.
So far this entire season, this is the first time I've put Jonny into Hyperpole and my first time in the top-10. I'll just say it feels good!"
RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
"We wanted to aim a little bit higher for the grid, but it is super close between everybody. I think we do have a good racecar even if we are lacking a little bit in our qualifying setup. We are quite good on our tires in what will be a long race. Let's see what we can do from here."
TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
"I'm quite happy with the first session. To get both cars into Hyperpole is quite nice. I think we have an excellent racecar for the race, so I think we can progress through the order.
We have to keep it clean, do our own thing with good strategy. I think we have a good weapon in-hand to make up some positions tomorrow."
