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CORVETTE RACING AT SPA: Knowing the Way Forward

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Pair of Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs aim to follow Imola script to get to the front early STAVELOT, Belgium (May 8, 2026) – TF Sport’s pair of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will start Saturday from familiar spots in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Six Hours of Spa following two qualifying sessions in the LMGT3 class Friday.
The No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette of Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc and Peter Dempsey advanced out of the first qualifying session and into Hyperpole for the second straight race. Dempsey, the team’s Bronze-rated driver, was fifth in the opening 15-minute qualifying session followed by Yoluc’s run in Hyperpole that put the Corvette on the fifth row of the LMGT3 grid.
Meanwhile the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Blake McDonald will start 14th in class after just missing the top-10 in the first session. The trio showed, however, that the starting spot can mean very little by the end of the race.		Corvette Racing Media Resources Documents | Statistics | Photos | Factory Driver Bios | Chevrolet Newsroom
The Catsburg/Edgar/McDonald trio came from 14th at the start of the season-opening round at Imola to a runner-up finish at the end. McDonald raced his way into the top-five there, and both Edgar and Catsburg led in their stints before coming home in second place. The sister Corvette had a similar run going as Yoluc went from 10th to sixth in class at the start before a technical issue retired the No. 34 in the late stages.
Eastwood showed good pace early in the Spa week with the fastest LMGT3 time in Friday’s opening free practice session in the red Corvette, and Dempsey went slightly quicker than his factory teammate in the second practice.
While the one-lap gap to the LMGT3 front-runners was significant, the TF Sport team is counting on superior tire management and strategy to again work its way forward in the race, which goes green at 8 a.m. ET / 2 p.m. CET on Saturday. Live streaming coverage plus timing and scoring is available through a subscription on FIA WEC Plus with additional live streaming on the HBO Max app in the U.S.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s been a pretty straightforward weekend. We started as good as we could with P1 in FP1. The Corvette felt great right out of the box. We tested here about six weeks ago, and it went really well. We ended up P10 in qualifying. There were a couple of cars that seemed very good over one lap, but the ones at the front definitely we know that the Corvette has better degradation than them which seems to be a huge factor over the stint here. I think it will play into our hands in the longer stints but we’re in a good spot for the race. We just need to get some points on the board. Imola didn’t go to plan, obviously. We need to get a solid result… no mistakes, no drive-throughs for track limits and all that stuff. Le Mans is just around the corner and we need a bit of momentum behind us going into the big one.”
PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s been good so far. We’ve been building, really, and trying to rebound from the disappointment at Imola. Free practice went well. Our car feels good but the tire deg is really high here for all so I think we’re in a decent spot to start the race tomorrow and try to get a bit of redemption from Imola. Everyone is maybe not showing their full cards yet, but we feel like we are in a good window. The balance feels good, and it seems we’ve improved from where the team was last year. Hopefully we can manage the deg better than everyone else, have good stops with no penalties and see where we end up.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I feel like we had a very good start at Imola. We should have won that race; our Corvette was super-fast but we had some bad luck on our last two pitstops. But it was a super-nice fight with the BMW at the end. So very close but a good start to the season.”We are a lot heavier now (than Imola due to success ballast) so that will not help us here. I feel like the gap in (practices) was a little bigger than anticipated. We need to see how to drive around that, which will be difficult. The sister car was super-fast so we will see if we can learn a bit from them.”
BLAKE McDONALD, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I think the weekend has gone OK for us. We’re carrying 24 extra kilos of success ballast and I’m not sure how much that is helping us. It’s also a big track to work up to in general. I have been here before, but every time you come here it almost feels like the first time working up to Eau Rouge and Blanchimont and everything. On my personal side I feel like I’ve made good progress but this is a very stiff field of Bronzes so I think everyone has made that step even a bit more than me. The P1 time seems very unachievable by our car, but that is how it goes sometimes. I think in general we have a very good racecar. We started P14 in Imola and finished P2 and almost had a win there. I’m not going to let this session hold me back too much. I’m going to give it hell tomorrow like I always do. Ultimately that will make me better and stronger for ELMS later this year. It’ll be critical in that regard. I’m disappointed we didn’t get into Hyperpole but still proud of myself at the end of the day so I’m happy overall.”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’m excited to be here at the track even though I’m handicapped with the elbow. It’s a nice environment and makes me hungry to get back in the car. The recovery is going well and there’s no doubt that I will be ready to go in Le Mans. It’s very nice to be a spectator at one of these events. I get to sleep as late as I want, eat breakfast, have coffee, come to the track whenever I feel like being here instead of having to make the early-morning drivers meetings and everything else! So it’s quite relaxing and very nice to be a spectator at the track.”
CORVETTE RACING AT SPA: Knowing the Way ForwardPair of Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs aim to follow Imola script to get to the front early STAVELOT, Belgium (May 8, 2026) – TF Sport’s pair of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will start Saturday from familiar spots in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Six Hours of Spa following two qualifying sessions in the LMGT3 class Friday.
The No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette of Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc and Peter Dempsey advanced out of the first qualifying session and into Hyperpole for the second straight race. Dempsey, the team’s Bronze-rated driver, was fifth in the opening 15-minute qualifying session followed by Yoluc’s run in Hyperpole that put the Corvette on the fifth row of the LMGT3 grid.
Meanwhile the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Blake McDonald will start 14th in class after just missing the top-10 in the first session. The trio showed, however, that the starting spot can mean very little by the end of the race.		Corvette Racing Media Resources Documents | Statistics | Photos | Factory Driver Bios | Chevrolet Newsroom
The Catsburg/Edgar/McDonald trio came from 14th at the start of the season-opening round at Imola to a runner-up finish at the end. McDonald raced his way into the top-five there, and both Edgar and Catsburg led in their stints before coming home in second place. The sister Corvette had a similar run going as Yoluc went from 10th to sixth in class at the start before a technical issue retired the No. 34 in the late stages.
Eastwood showed good pace early in the Spa week with the fastest LMGT3 time in Friday’s opening free practice session in the red Corvette, and Dempsey went slightly quicker than his factory teammate in the second practice.
While the one-lap gap to the LMGT3 front-runners was significant, the TF Sport team is counting on superior tire management and strategy to again work its way forward in the race, which goes green at 8 a.m. ET / 2 p.m. CET on Saturday. Live streaming coverage plus timing and scoring is available through a subscription on FIA WEC Plus with additional live streaming on the HBO Max app in the U.S.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s been a pretty straightforward weekend. We started as good as we could with P1 in FP1. The Corvette felt great right out of the box. We tested here about six weeks ago, and it went really well. We ended up P10 in qualifying. There were a couple of cars that seemed very good over one lap, but the ones at the front definitely we know that the Corvette has better degradation than them which seems to be a huge factor over the stint here. I think it will play into our hands in the longer stints but we’re in a good spot for the race. We just need to get some points on the board. Imola didn’t go to plan, obviously. We need to get a solid result… no mistakes, no drive-throughs for track limits and all that stuff. Le Mans is just around the corner and we need a bit of momentum behind us going into the big one.”
PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s been good so far. We’ve been building, really, and trying to rebound from the disappointment at Imola. Free practice went well. Our car feels good but the tire deg is really high here for all so I think we’re in a decent spot to start the race tomorrow and try to get a bit of redemption from Imola. Everyone is maybe not showing their full cards yet, but we feel like we are in a good window. The balance feels good, and it seems we’ve improved from where the team was last year. Hopefully we can manage the deg better than everyone else, have good stops with no penalties and see where we end up.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I feel like we had a very good start at Imola. We should have won that race; our Corvette was super-fast but we had some bad luck on our last two pitstops. But it was a super-nice fight with the BMW at the end. So very close but a good start to the season.”We are a lot heavier now (than Imola due to success ballast) so that will not help us here. I feel like the gap in (practices) was a little bigger than anticipated. We need to see how to drive around that, which will be difficult. The sister car was super-fast so we will see if we can learn a bit from them.”
BLAKE McDONALD, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I think the weekend has gone OK for us. We’re carrying 24 extra kilos of success ballast and I’m not sure how much that is helping us. It’s also a big track to work up to in general. I have been here before, but every time you come here it almost feels like the first time working up to Eau Rouge and Blanchimont and everything. On my personal side I feel like I’ve made good progress but this is a very stiff field of Bronzes so I think everyone has made that step even a bit more than me. The P1 time seems very unachievable by our car, but that is how it goes sometimes. I think in general we have a very good racecar. We started P14 in Imola and finished P2 and almost had a win there. I’m not going to let this session hold me back too much. I’m going to give it hell tomorrow like I always do. Ultimately that will make me better and stronger for ELMS later this year. It’ll be critical in that regard. I’m disappointed we didn’t get into Hyperpole but still proud of myself at the end of the day so I’m happy overall.”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’m excited to be here at the track even though I’m handicapped with the elbow. It’s a nice environment and makes me hungry to get back in the car. The recovery is going well and there’s no doubt that I will be ready to go in Le Mans. It’s very nice to be a spectator at one of these events. I get to sleep as late as I want, eat breakfast, have coffee, come to the track whenever I feel like being here instead of having to make the early-morning drivers meetings and everything else! So it’s quite relaxing and very nice to be a spectator at the track.”

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