Manthey Racing and Richard Lietz took a second consecutive LMGT3 class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, defeating Vista AF Corse and TF Sport after a commanding run for the German squad.
The No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by Lietz, Ryan Hardwick and Riccardo Pera, finished 33.259 seconds clear of the No. 21 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Francois Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera.

After starting the race in fifth, the blue-liveried Porsche initially dropped outside the top ten in class as Bronze driver Hardwick took the start amidst higher-rated drivers.
However, the car became a firm fixture in the top three in class as Sunday evening dawned, at which point it became locked in battle with the No. 46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

Dramatically, the BMW was then eliminated from the race approaching the halfway point when electrical issues initially left Kelvin van der Linde stranded in the gravel at Porsche Curves due to a loss of power steering.

This would eventually led to retirement for the car co-driven by Ahmad Al Harthy and Valentino Rossi, with WRT’s LMGT3 effort subsequently going on to record a double DNF when the sister No. 31 BMW was also parked after it suffered damage from a collision with a rabbit.

With WRT out of the picture, the No. 92 Porsche took command at the head of the LMGT3 field and remained in that position for the rest of the race to record a second consecutive class for Manthey.

Lietz, for his part, picked up a sixth class win at the French endurance classic, adding to previous triumphs in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2022 and 2024.
Hardwick and Pera both picked up their maiden Le Mans victories, with the latter having finished second in 2020 and third in 2023.

TF Sport completed the class podium with its No. 81 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R driven by Tom van Rompuy, Rui Andrade and Charlie Eastwood.
Mattia Drudi, Ian James and Zach Robichon finished fourth in class in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, ahead of the No. 87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3 of Razvan Umbrarescu, Clemens Schmid and Jose Maria Lopez.

The No. 90 Manthey Porsche and No. 33 TF Sport Corvette came home in sixth and seventh respectively, with Kessel Racing eighth with its No. 57 Ferrari driven by Takeshi Kimura, Casper Stevenson and Daniel Serra.
Ninth went to the No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3,
with AWA recording a top ten finish on debut with its No. 13 Corvette piloted by Orey Fidani, Lars Kern and Matt Bell.

While two of the Manthey-run cars finished in the top ten in class, the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche lost multiple laps with a gear shift issue and came home in 16th.
Other LMGT3 runners to run into notable problems included the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, which retired with a torque sensor failure, and both United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos, which fell victim to drivetrain and alternator problems, respectively.

The No. 10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, which was an early frontrunner with Valentin Hasse-Clot at the wheel, lost multiple laps with engine issues.

Meanwhile, the No. 88 Proton Competition Ford and No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus had accidents at Tertre Rouge and the Porsche Curves which eliminated them.

LE MANS, TF Sport’s No. 81 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy finished on the LMGT3 podium Sunday in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the first podium finish in the world’s biggest sports car racing for the Corvette GT3 program.

All three Corvette Z06 GT3.R entries finished inside the top-10 in an incredibly deep and competitive field. TF Sport’s No. 33 Corvette of Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating drove from 23rd in class at the start to seventh by the end.
AWA and its No. 13 Corvette came from 24th in class early in the race to 10th at the finish in the hands of Matt Bell, Orey Fidani and Lars Kern.

Corvette moved forward from the early hours of the race. The only step wrong for the No. 81 was a drive-through penalty in the seventh hour. Otherwise, the race almost ran like clockwork for the lead TF Corvette, which moved into the lead just past the halfway point and was part of a back-and-forth fight for an LMGT3 podium finish.

The No. 33 Corvette trio battled back from a mechanical issue prior to the halfway point that cost Keating, Edgar and Juncadella two laps. The group battled back though to not only finish in the points but earn enough to place them third in the Driver's championship now two spots ahead of their No. 81 teammates.

AWA’s No. 13 Corvette impressed in its Le Mans debut with a 10th place finish. The team ran as high as sixth in the early part of the race’s second half and continued to push higher up in the order in the closing hours.
It was the first 24 Hours for the team, Fidani and Kern, but the entire group impressed the Le Mans crowd with their effort and Canadian-themed Z06 GT3.R.

Corvette Racing’s next event in the FIA World Endurance Championship is the Six Hours of Sao Paulo on Sunday, July 13.

CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER:

“Having all three of our Corvettes finish in the top-10 of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is an incredible accomplishment of which everyone involved can be proud. A massive thank you to our partner teams TF Sport and AWA for believing in this program and their collaborative efforts surrounding this race.

Everyone at Corvette Racing is proud of the way both teams performed and carried themselves through testing, practice, qualifying and the race. Thanks to everyone at GM Motorsports, Pratt Miller and Bosch for their collaboration. Most of all, congratulations to the drivers, team management, the crews, the engineers and everyone who contributed to this fantastic result.”

CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER POST-RACE QUOTES

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

“Amazing result.
A podium at Le Mans and my first podium this season with Corvette. Not a bad place for it. As it has been for so many races last year and this year, not one thing went wrong. Every pit stop was perfect, not a single scratch on the car for 24 hours. We didn’t have the pace, but we ended up on the podium because of that.

Once we do have the pace of some of the other cars, we’re going to win some races pretty comfortably. Amazing result for the team and delighted to finish my first 24-hour event with Corvette on the podium.”

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

We weren’t sure what to expect from the race with our pace. We knew it would be tough because we didn’t have the fastest package. But the team did an amazing job. The car was faultless all race long… so good. Every pitstop, every driver changes, every tire change. The strategy was perfect. This was a big team effort, and I’m really happy with this one.

“After the safety car about halfway, it was looking like we could fight for the top positions. At that point, there were still 12 hours to go. Anything can happen at Le Mans and usually does. The car was perfect, which speaks volumes about the work behind the scenes that Corvette Racing and Pratt Miller are putting into the package.
All three cars made it to the end. I’m really happy with this result. It’s superb!”

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

“The safety car was really lucky. It would have signed off for that at the beginning of the week or even a top-five. I’m so happy to be on the podium. It’s really a blessing. This was an amazing, tough race. The team executed it all well, and all the drivers as well.
We all did an amazing job. This feels a little bit like a victory!”

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

“It was an excellent, excellent race after the issues we had where we lost two laps. We finished two laps behind the leaders, so that says a lot about where we could have been. It’s great to see the sister car in third. They’ve been very unlucky the last year and a half with some unfortunate races.
It’s well-deserved. I’m happy for them and for Corvette Racing to score a podium at Le Mans for the first time with the Z06 GT3.R. I’m happy for the team but wish it could have been us.”

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

“After the issue, we did everything that we could. I think some cars had issues, so we managed to finish ahead of quite a few cars that we didn’t expect to. I think before the race, we would have taken P7 in the circumstances. It’s a shame because I think with how the race went with the Safety Car, would have probably been quite close to the 81 and probably in a battle between P3 and P5.

It’s a shame to not have that chance, but I’m happy we did everything possible to score as many points for the situation we had, which is good. The car is nice to drive, and the crew did a good job as always. Hopefully, we just carry that on for the rest of the year.”

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

“If you had told me we would have gotten sixth-place points after starting 22nd out of 24 cars in the class, I think I would have said thank you very much! There is a possibility that we might or coulda woulda shoulda had more, but I don’t know that we did.

Even if we didn’t have the wheel issue and the pit stop problem, with the safety car maybe we could have gotten a little more, but maybe not. I’m pretty happy with how we finished the day. We got valuable points that we needed.
Winning Le Mans is always on the bucket list, no matter how many times you’ve done it.
But my main goal is to win the championship. We’re still in that hunt for sure.”

MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It was a very long race. We knew from the start that we weren’t quite as competitive as we would have liked to be. But it was everyone’s first time here except mine, so there was a lot to learn during the event. AWA and the team delivered a top-notch performance as usual. I’m proud of the whole crew and to see all three Corvettes in the Top 10.
We like winning on this team and even if we didn’t do that today, we can be very proud of the effort. We learned a lot, and we’ll be back.”

OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“This means the world. Just finishing this race is absolutely amazing. I had the time of my life, and we’ll come back next year even stronger. We’ll do it all over again with the same people and the same team! I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I just wanted to get in this car and drive and soak up the whole event.
Furthermore, I’m happy we got to realize this.”

LARS KERN, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Just finishing this race is unbelievable.
I never thought that this event was so special. I’d seen it and heard about it, but never been here. Now that I’ve experienced it, we definitely have to come back. It’s an amazing feeling. I’m super proud of the whole team, drivers, and the crew.

Our plan was to receive zero penalties. We didn’t manage that, but those were the drivers’ fault. I think in the big picture, that’s OK.
I’m really proud of everyone and enjoyed the experience a lot.”