Press Release:
CORVETTE RACING AT FUJI: Front-Row for TVR, No. 81 Z06 GT3.R

Koizumi starts seventh as both TF Sport Corvettes make Hyperpole for first time

 
GOTEMBA, Shizuoka, Japan (September 14, 2024) – Tom Van Rompuy and TF Sport’s No. 81 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R will start on the front row of the LMGT3 category for the Six Hours of Fuji as both of the team’s Corvettes made the 10-minute Hyperpole session for the first time this year.


Van Rompuy posted the second-fastest time in Saturday’s 10-minute Hyperpole session that set the top 10 spots on the grid ahead of the seventh round for the FIA World Endurance Championship. He set a best lap of 1:40.975 (101.097 mph) in the Corvette that he shares with Rui Andrade and factory driver Charlie Eastwood to miss the Z06 GT3.R’s second pole position of the season by just 0.082 seconds.


The biggest story, however, was both TF Sport Corvettes making Hyperpole, thanks to Hiroshi Koizumi’s strong performance in the No. 82 Z06 GT3.R. The Japanese driver advanced for the first time while Van Rompuy finished in the top-10 for the third straight event and fifth time this season.

 
Koizumi’s best lap at his home track came on his final effort – a 1:41.310 (100.724 mph) – in the Corvette that he will drive with Sebastien Baud and Corvette factory driver Daniel Juncadella. It equaled the best starting spot for the No. 82 Z06 GT3.R of the season, matching the position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

 
Both Corvettes were within 0.3 seconds in the first 12-minute qualifying session ahead of Hyperpole, showing the continued strength in pace and performance of the Z06 GT3.R.
 

TF Sport is coming off a strong showing two weeks ago at Circuit of The Americas, where the No. 82 finished eighth in class – thanks to Juncadella’s strong performance in the final three hours – and the No. 81 ran as high as second before being hit by another LMGT3 competitor.

 
As evidenced by qualifying, momentum is on the side of TF Sport heading to Fuji Speedway. It’s a track the team knows well, having scored two race wins, a runner-up and a pair of pole positions in its previous four trips to the 2.84-mile, 16-turn circuit less than two hours outside Tokyo.
 

The Six Hours of Fuji is scheduled for 11 a.m. Japanese Standard Time (JST) on Sunday / 10 p.m. ET on Saturday. MotorTrend TV will air live television coverage from 9:30-11 p.m. ET on Saturday plus 3-4:30 a.m. ET on Sunday. Full live streaming coverage of the race will be available on the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans also will stream audio coverage of Sunday’s race.


TF SPORT POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES

TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R - STARTS SECOND IN LMGT3: “It’s a very good starting position. Thanks to the team for keeping on working on the setup to give me a really good car. It felt really good and felt good on the lap. It’s really tight, but we’re on the front row. It’s a good position from where to start tomorrow, and hopefully we can gain one more.

“It was a really tight qualifying session, and everyone was bunched tight together. We have a really strong car especially for the race tomorrow. We are in a really, really good window. So I’m really happy with the result today, and we will fight for a podium and try to go for a win tomorrow.”


RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 TF SPORT CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Things are really good so far. FP1 was a little tricky for everyone because the track was pretty dirty. As it cleaned up and into FP2, I think the car balance shifted a lot. For us, we learned the car is still quite strong. From the changes we made already for COTA, we saw that we had a lot of pace and were happy with the progression things had taken. We’ve maintained that for Fuji. It’s a completely different track with different characteristics, but the Corvette still seems quick and strong compared to our competition, so I’m happy with that.”

(Race prospects) “It’s hard to say. Everyone always has a little bit left in the bag. The most important thing is the feeling that we have in the car and the car balance. We were quite happy at the end of FP2. There are still some small tweaks to be made, but it’s always good when you can end a Friday on a high note and you don’t have so much left to do on setup with Free Practice Three and qualifying. Now it’s about fine-tuning things. It was warmer today and closer to race conditions so it was good to see for our race setup.”


HIROSHI KOIZUMI, NO. 82 TF SPORT CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R - STARTS SEVENTH IN LMGT3: “I was happy to get into my first Hyperpole! I was aiming for pole position but ended up with P7. In tomorrow's race, we will win it! This is my first race at Fuji in a year but in a new car with the Corvette and my team at TF Sport. So I'm feeling both excited and nervous! I haven't had very good results so far this year, but I'll do my best to achieve a slightly better result for the Japanese fans here at my home track. Our aim is for the podium and hopefully the top step."


DANIEL JUNCADELLA, NO. 82 TF SPORT CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Since COTA, we have been very competitive. The Corvette has been very nice to drive, and we have been up there for every session. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a result in the COTA race due to some penalties. Now here for Hiroshi at Fuji, he can really feel it’s his home race and he has some extra performance in him! This is a great starting position, and we have high expectations for tomorrow.”

Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick

Press Release:
CORVETTE RACING AT FUJI: Rising Sun, Rising Corvettes

Confidence growing at TF Sport after strong pace for Z06 GT3.Rs at COTA

DETROIT (September 10, 2024) – The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R will make its debut in Asia this weekend as TF Sport moves to the Six Hours of Fuji and the seventh round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Coming off a strong performance two weeks ago at Circuit of The Americas, hopes are high for a podium finish – and maybe more – in a deep and highly competitive LMGT3 class.

Corvette factory driver Daniel Juncadella led the No. 82 Corvette, which he shares with Sebastien Bourdais and Hiroshi Koizumi to an eighth-place finish in class.

Both of the team’s Z06 GT3.Rs showed impressive pace with the No. 81 Corvette of factory driver Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy running as high as second before being hit by another LMGT3 competitor and eventually retiring from the race.


Despite that, momentum is on the side of TF Sport heading to Fuji Speedway. It’s a track the team knows well, having scored two race wins, a runner-up and a pair of pole positions in its previous four trips to the 2.84-mile, 16-turn circuit less than two hours outside Tokyo.

Eastwood was part of a GTE Am victory (2019) and runner-up finish (2018) with TF Sport. In addition, Juncadella contested the GT World Challenge Asia weekend at Fuji last season and scored an overall pole position. His Japanese teammate, Koizumi, is set for his home race and will make his second career WEC start at the circuit having debuted in the series at last year’s event.


From an engineering perspective, TF Sport can lean on learnings from the Corvette C8.R’s previous two appearances including last year when the program finished second in GTE Am after claiming pole position.


The Six Hours of Fuji is scheduled for 11 a.m. Japanese Standard Time (JST) on Sunday / 10 p.m. ET on Saturday. MotorTrend TV will air live television coverage from 9:30-11 p.m. ET on Saturday plus 3-4:30 a.m. ET on Sunday. Full live streaming coverage of Free Practice 3, qualifying and the race will be available on the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans also will stream audio coverage of Saturday’s final practice and qualifying, plus Sunday’s race.

TF SPORT PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Fuji is a track and a place that I absolutely love, as was Austin to be fair. I’ve had some good success at here in the past, and my first win in WEC was at Fuji. Both the track and the place are really nice places to be. Car-wise, we were so strong at COTA. It shows the commitment and work that both the team and Corvette Racing are doing in the background to keep this car moving forward. So I’m really hopeful again going into Fuji. Although we haven’t a result we wanted so far this year, I feel one is just around the corner. We’ll be going for that. I think this type of track will suit our Corvette. We just need to start putting the weekends together.”


RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Fuji is a special place. It’s always a pleasure to go to Japan and such a beautiful country. The culture is incredible. A lot of drivers that I know always takes a few days to explore Tokyo, drive around and go to Mount Fuji. It’s that kind of place where you take things in. It’s such a beautiful place. As far as the track goes, it’s incredible and amazing. It has a good complex and combination of corners with a super-long straight and then a really fast first sector. It’s pretty high up on my list of favorites.”


DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I was at Fuji last year in GT World Challenge Asia. It’s a track that I really love. I was on pole, and it was just about the time I was having my meetings with Corvette Racing to finalize my contract! So I have a pretty good memory of that weekend because I didn’t have a lot of sleep because I was excited for those new prospects. But those are really good memories from Fuji because it is a track I really enjoy. On top of that, Hiroshi is a Japanese driver and if there is one track where he is going to be very competitive, I think Fuji is the one. He’s going to be excited, and I’m massively pumped. I love Japan. We’ve had a very competitive car the last couple of races. The Corvette has been getting better and better. We seem to be improving reliability-wise and pace-wise. Everything has been going in the right direction. I’m really excited. There has to be a race where we have a chance in the last two hours, and I hope it’s Fuji.”


HIROSHI KOIZUMI, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "It is very exciting for me to race at Fuji Speedway, my home track, with TF Sport and our Corvette. I feel confident for this race because I know the track and our car is very fast. I am hopeful good performance from myself so that we can have our best finish of the year."


SEBASTIEN BAUD, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It was my first time racing in America at COTA and this will be my first time in Japan. It’s very nice because we have had a lot of driving and racing in a lot of countries. It’s great because I get to do this in a Corvette as this is my dream to do this in a World Championship. It is the home race for Hiroshi, which is good. I hope we can visit some places with him! But for me it is very important to have a good result at Fuji. I’m a competitor and I think we are better as a team as we have learned more about the Corvette. The car is good, and I think we can definitely be on the podium.”


2024 FIA World Endurance Championship Points

LMGT3 Drivers Standings

1. Aliaksandr Malykhin/Joel Sturm/Klaus Bachler – 118

2. Morris Schuring/Richard Lietz/Yasser Shahin – 90

3. Augusto Farfus/Darren Leung/Sean Gelael – 84

4. Alex Riberas/Daniel Mancinelli/Ian James – 81

5. Alessio Rovera/Francois Heriau/Simon Mann – 50

21. Daniel Juncadella/Hiroshi Koizumi/Sebastien Baud – 14

23. Charlie Eastwood/Rui Andrade/Tom Van Rompuy – 11


LMGT3 Teams Standings

1. No. 92 Manthey PureRxcing – 118

2. No. 91 Manthey EMA – 90

3. No. 31 Team WRT – 84

4. No. 27 Heart of Racing Team – 81

5. No. 55 Vista AF Corse – 50

16. No. 82 TF Sport – 14

17. No. 81 TF Sport – 11

 CORVETTE RACING AT Fuji: By the Numbers

• 2: Previous appearances at the Six Hours of Fuji for the Corvette Racing program

• 11: Victories in the first year of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R

• 13: Hours difference between Fuji and Detroit in the Eastern Time Zone. That means this weekend’s race will begin Sunday morning in Japan but late Saturday night Eastern Time

• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001

• 28: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Barber Motorsport Park (the latest), Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portimão, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen

• 38: Hours of racing left in the Corvette Z06 GT3.R season covering WEC, IMSA and GT World Challenge

• 51: Number of drivers in Corvette Racing entries since 1999. DXDT Racing’s Bryson Morris joined the list at Road America in GT World Challenge America

• 71: Years since Corvette was introduced to the world on Jan. 17, 1953 in New York City. A total of 300 cars were produced that year

• 138: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 116 in IMSA, nine at Le Mans, three in the FIA WEC and 10 in GT World Challenge America

• 304: Event starts by Corvette Racing entries since 1999, starting with that year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona. No. 300 came in early August at Road America in IMSA

• 390,295.42: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon and more than halfway back!


Corvette Racing at Fuji Speedway

2022

No. 64 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 5th in GTE Pro

2023

No. 33 Corvette C8.R: Nicky Catsburg/Ben Keating/Nico Varrone –2nd in GTE Am

Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick

Press Release:
CORVETTE RACING AT BARBER: Eight is Great!

Milner, Udell sweep Pro class in No. 63 Z06 GT3.R as DXDT takes a double win


BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (September 8, 2024) – Momentum and luck went the way of Tommy Milner and Alec Udell again as the pair drove DXDT Racing’s No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R to its seventh and eighth straight GT World Challenge America Pro-class victories at Barber Motorsports Park.


Milner and Udell set a record for consecutive victories in the Pro class with their fourth consecutive weekend sweep. More importantly, the results set up a winner-take-all showdown for the Pro Drivers and Teams championships at next month’s Eight Hours of Indianapolis to close the season with the No. 63 duo second in the standings but only seven points behind.


Barber also marked the second consecutive double-win for DXDT Racing with the Z06 GT3.Rs also picking up a second Pro-Am victory for Bryan Sellers and Bryson Morris following Race One in the newly minted No. 64 Corvette.


Saturday was a showcase all the way around for DXDT and the No. 63 Corvette. Udell captured pole position for the first of two 90-minute races and led for the bulk of his opening stint. Factory driver Milner cycled through the lead and withstood a massive challenge from the second-place BMW with the two cars running less than a second apart for the better part of 25 minutes to the end.


Meanwhile, Morris advanced from third to second in his opening stint with Sellers chasing down and eventually passing for the class lead and win with a little less than four minutes remaining. It marked the second victory in three races for the new pairing.


In Race Two, the outlook appeared dim for another win for Milner and Udell. The Corvette started second in class but sixth overall, and Milner survived multiple rounds of contact on the opening lap but held his position in class. He swapped over to Udell with 50 minutes to go. The DXDT pit crew was more than two seconds faster in the pitlane than the class-leading BMW, which got Udell that much closer to the front.


Following a full-course yellow and restart with 20 minutes left, Udell was comfortably in second and pushing to catch the leader when the BMW had to pit with a fuel issue, allowing the Corvette to speed past for the unlikely victory.


Sellers and Morris came up just short of another Pro-Am podium and placed fourth in class.


DXDT Racing closes the GT World Challenge America season with its two Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs at the Eight Hours of Indianapolis – part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge – from Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 2-6.


DXDT RACING CORVETTE POST-EVENT QUOTES

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "It was very hard today, for sure. We got lucky at the start. I got hit twice on the left-rear and thought something was broken or wrong, but I think the track was just super-dirty. We were lucky to get away with that one. As we expected, we weren't the fastest car. Alec did a great job and we had a great pit stop. This DXDT team just excels in every area. I'm really proud to be part of this race team and to drive this Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Everyone keeps asking about the championship and I didn't want to talk about it for a long time. But after today for us, things are falling into our hands. Now it's a discussion, and I'm happy to go to Indy with a good chance to win it."

(On Saturday’s win): “We knew track position was going to be big. We didn't think we had the fastest car out there, but this Corvette was amazing on the tires at the end. The 99 pushed me very hard and probably could have made it a little harder for me, for sure. I'm super-excited for DXDT and Alec my teammate. This team... unbelievable. I could never have dreamed this."


ALEC UDELL, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “The 99 BMW was quick all weekend and really showed their pace in the race today. We were just trying to hitch a line to them and drag as far as we could. It's a bummer for them, but Tommy and I will pick up the pieces and we'll take the win. You take what comes to you. We maximized what we had today and just got lucky that the 99 had an issue, which you never like to see from a racing perspective but it's racing and we've all been on that side of the game before. Great job and really happy for the team today."


BRYAN SELLERS, NO. 64 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: (on teammate Bryson Morris after Saturday’s Pro-Am win) "He's young but has the racing IQ of someone with decades of experience. He’s done an outstanding job for us. It’s not easy to come into a team full of veterans and be the young guy, but he fits in perfectly and performs exceptionally well. His first stint was incredible – super consistent – and we're just thrilled to have him on board. He’s someone who's going to grow and become a major force in this sport."


BRYSON MORRIS, NO. 64 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "It feels great to have two wins now. I’m getting more and more comfortable with the car, and of course, Bryan has been a huge help in that. I’m grateful he was able to finish strong and bring home the win. A big thanks to everyone and congratulations to DXDT for their double podium."


Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick