Solid Test Day for Corvette Quartet at Le Mans

WECLMGT3

Jun 9

From the four Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs that will contest next weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, three Corvettes were in the top-eight of the final session and within a half-second of the fastest LMGT3 car on the day.

Jonny Edgar third overall

TF Sport’s Jonny Edgar was the fastest of the Corvette drivers in the #33 Corvette that he shares with Nicky Catsburg and the returning Ben Keating. His lap of 3:56.885 (128.868 mph) was third-quickest and 0.239 seconds off the LMGT3 pace-setter. It put the trio in a good spot heading into Wednesday’s first official Free Practice ahead of a double-points race in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

JONNY EDGAR, #33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I was able to get up to speed much quicker this year having been here before. It’s much easier now knowing the track, having more experience in the car and knowing pretty much everyone in the team as well. It’s been a lot easier this year for me in knowing what to expect. Knowing from the first lap exactly where the car wants to be and feeling after a couple of laps I was already up to speed compared to last year. It does take awhile to figure everything out with this being a long lap. I definitely felt like I know what I need to do, where to break, which curbs to take, which ones to avoid… that all helps out.”

Matt Bell

13 Autosport’s Matt Bell set a late flying lap of 3:56.916 (128.624 mph) in the #13 Z06 GT3.R that he is driving with Orey Fidani and Lars Kern. The trio is back at Le Mans for the second straight year after finishing 10th a year ago.

LARS KERN, #13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “(Le Mans in 2025) definitely exceeded my expectations. You hear about it, but till you actually go and experience it, it’s two different stories. It’s absolutely in a world of its own. I was dumbfounded; my head was on a swivel and I was just taking everything in. It’s absolutely amazing. For me, there’s a better understanding of things like the slow zones and learning all that. I think we got one or two penalties because of that last year. It’s one thing looking at them on a map, and it’s another thing looking at them at speed at 300 kph. So now I have a better understanding of where those are, the rules and the procedures. Hopefully we can eliminate those penalties because I mean, it’s tough. Once you fall behind there, you never get it back.”

Charlie Eastwood seventh

Charlie Eastwood, a class podium finisher last year, finished seventh Sunday in the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette that he will race with Salih Yoluc and Peter Dempsey. Eastwood, a Corvettefactory driver, was barely two-tenths of a second off Edgar’s time.

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, #34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We do need to just start getting some proper results, and no better place for it than Le Mans. The Corvette’s always so good there. It’s been great the last two years, and it’s a great chance for us to get 50 points and a nice trophy. Obviously, the good thing on my side is I can literally do half of the race… up to 12 hours of it. So I am doing everything I can to get myself ready for those long stints, lack of sleep and try to manage the adrenaline so that you are not completely busted after a couple of stints, but I like the challenge. I did it last year. We obviously got a podium, which was great. That’s three of the last four starts at Le Mans for me with one being a win. The record there is going pretty well. But I’d like to get another win on the board, and I don’t see a reason why we can’t.”

Ben Green 23rd

A third TF Sport Corvette – the #2 Z06 GT3.R crewed by members of Johor Motorsports Racing – ended 23rd in class in the Le Mans debut of Ben Green, who set the car’s fastest time, and Prince Jefri Ibrahim. Their teammate, Lorcan Hanafin, is the only one of the three to race at Le Mans with his debut coming in 2025.

LORCAN HANAFIN, #2 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “The Le Mans 24 Hours is a race that I’ve always wanted to do, a race that I’ve always wanted JMR to compete in. It took us seven years to get here, and finally it’s happening. Unlike some of our previous endurance races, this time we have two other categories racing together at the same race. That will be the challenge of having those other cars around you as well. And it’s an iconic track, so I can’t wait to see how we go there.” Source: Corvette Racing