Press Release
CORVETTE RACING AT QATAR: TF Sport Nabs Hyperpole Spot

No. 81 Corvette to start on LM GT3 fifth row to kick off FIA WEC season


LUSAIL, Qatar (Feb. 27, 2025) – TF Sport’s No. 81 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R will start the Qatar 1812 Km and FIA World Endurance Championship season from the fifth row of the LM GT3 grid following Friday’s two-stage qualifying.


Rui Andrade qualified the No. 81 Corvette ninth in class after teammate Tom Van Rompuy advanced the Z06 GT3.R from the full-field first qualifying session. Van Rompuy, the 2024 Qatar pole-winner in LM GT3, was the ninth-quickest driver in the 12-minute opening qualifying run at 1:56.248 (104.266 mph). Teammate Andrade went faster to 1:55.424 (105.012 mph) in the 10-car Hyperpole session.


The duo will team with Charlie Eastwood in the No 81 Corvette for the second consecutive WEC season. Van Rompuy starts two rows ahead of Ben Keating in the No. 33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which just missed moving into the Hyperpole contest. He will drive with Jonny Edgar and Daniel Juncadella.


The 3.37-mile, 16-turn Losail International Circuit was the site of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R’s WEC debut a year ago. Armed with the lessons learned from the venue at year ago plus a win and runner-up finish to start 2025 in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, TF Sport is hoping to continue the momentum from last year’s double-podium finish at the season finale in Bahrain and spring ahead to championship contention in a stacked 18-car LM GT3 field.


TF Sport and the rest of the FIA WEC field will open the season with the Qatar 1812 Km at 2 p.m. Arabian Standard Time / 6 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, February 28.


TF SPORT POST-QUALIFYING QUOTES

RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I feel like our weakness so far has been the low-fuel, new-tire runs. We’ve struggled with it since the Prologue. Besides that, our car is super-strong on the long run with full fuel. We showed it earlier today. Charlie had mega pace in FP3, which is the part of the race where it counts. It’s a long race with a lot of time to move up. Obviously I’m frustrated and wish I could have done a bit better. But we have something to work toward for the next race to see if we can improve a little bit the single-lap balance. Other than that, I’m happy with the balance for this race. There is a long time to go and anything can happen.”


CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We’ve been up at the pointy end of things since we got here. The difference from this time last year is astronomical. We are in a pretty good spot. I’d say we’re slightly better when it’s hotter. The weather change hasn’t hindered us but I think it’s brought some of the cars that are using the tires too much closer. The pack actually seems close together, which is nice for the racing. From our side, it’s been seamless the last three or four days. Coming back with Rui and Tom, it’s good that we all know the car and we’ve all driven the car here. You kind of get into the business end of the performance way earlier than you would expect. With that we’ve been making some good steps forward. As always, I think long runs and tire deg are in our wheelhouse so we should be in good shape.”


DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It has been straight-forward for us. Last year we were trying to understand the car and what we could do with it in certain scenarios. Now we are fully focused on performance, and that makes a massive difference. Every season we have learned things about setup and trying to go forward. That is what makes such a difference from last year. We have a fully reliable GT3 car that we can push forward as a team.

“Hopes are high. The weather has changed quite a bit since the Prologue. The wind has picked up and the aero sensitives are something that is tricky in the Corvette. It’s such a well-made GT3 car with a big aero platform, and that has set us back a little bit during free practice. We were a bit caught by surprise with how much the wind was affecting our performance in some of the corners. We’re trying to assess those little issues and try to set up the car in a different way. Where we were in the Prologue, we were very confident and now we need to find a way around some of those wind gusts that pick up in some high-speed corners. But we have a strong lineup, a strong GT3 Corvette and a strong team. I’m confident we can score big tomorrow.”

Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick