Misfortune strikes a pair of TF Sport Corvettes in American WEC round

Rain and bad luck were the orders of the day for TF Sport in the Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas. The team’s pair of Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs finished outside the top-10 and as a result the points in the lone North American stop of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The No. 81 Corvette of Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy was the highest-finishing TF Sport entry after six hours of rainy racing. It was a cruel result after the Corvette gained eight spots during a nearly two hours of running behind the safety car and a red-flag stoppage due to an issue with one of the safety cars.

The 81 trio saw its two-race podium streak come to an end with a 13th-place finish. Van Rompuy led early following the early-race chaos, but the team lost time in the pitlane having to replace a sensor on the Corvette’s accident data recorder, to an FIA-mandated and supplied device that cost Andrade nearly a lap in the process once the driver change and service finished. The team had elected to run Van Rompuy deep into the stint in hopes of catching a virtual safety car period.

Problems also bit the No. 33 Z06 GT3.R of Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Texan Ben Keating.
Following a strong qualifying effort and a gain of three spots under the early safety-car period, the entry experienced fuel system and restart issues on the first driver exchange between Keating and Edgar.
From that point, both the TF Corvettes were in catch-up mode. The No. 33’s race ended inside the final two hours with a right-rear suspension problem that ground the car to a halt with Juncadella at the wheel
. Meanwhile, the No. 81 was at a drivetime disadvantage due to the earlier sensor failure. Factory driver Eastwood was one of the last professional drivers to get in the race, and a switch to slick tires with 34 minutes left did nothing to close the gap to the field.

TF Sport’s next FIA WEC race with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R is the Six Hours of Fuji on September 26-28.

TF SPORT POST-RACE QUOTES

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

“It was a weekend to forget, unfortunately. We struggled all weekend. Not for pace; we seemed to have a really good pace, but it just seemed to be a messy weekend for one reason for another. In the race we were good until the championship sensor failed, and we had to replace that.
That dropped us to the back of the field. We didn’t seem to have a lot of pace when it was cold and wet.

Our car thrives on the high track temps, and we couldn’t seem to get the tire switched on. We have a bit of understanding on that when we know the weather is maybe dropping as much as it did. Maybe there’s something we can do to counter that.”

TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Driving that long behind the safety is not the most exciting thing. Seeing the conditions, it was the right call. Safety-wise, it was really tricky to drive the car with some standing water and puddles. The team made a excellent call to come into the pits as soon as possible during the first safety car because it gained us a lot of positions afterward. But with the sensor failure, we were behind where we started.”

DANIEL JUNCADELLA, NO. 33 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“The weekend started very nicely with FP1 – 1-2 for our Corvettes. Since then, we have hit too many issues.
The sister car had a messy couple of free practices, but in our case everything was smooth. We qualified fifth so it was looking good for today. But after the first stint we encountered some issues getting the car started. We need to analyze since we don’t know the reason.

That put us a lap back, and the racing is pretty much an uphill trend when you are that far back. At the end, I had the mechanical issue and had to stop. Everything felt nice and felt fine. I was in the middle of other cars but a lap down; that is always annoying because you get blue flags constantly.
I had actually just let the whole field by to see how the car felt. I had a bit of fun in the wet, but then it went straightaway.
It’s a shame, but it’s better it happens when you’re two laps down than when you’re in the lead or fighting for big points.”