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CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Eight-Hour Report

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TF Sport Corvette trio on lead LMGT3 lap in tough class battle LE MANS, France (June 13, 2026) – Three of TF Sport’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs each spent time in the top-10 of LMGT3 after driving from the back of the field in the opening eight hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The No. 33 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating was the highest-placed of the three remaining Z06 GT3.Rs in the race. Keating was eighth in class and wrapping up his final stint of the race as the clock struck midnight. 
After missing the first two races of the year, the Corvette favorite drove five stints at the start of the race from 17th at the start and was on his fourth stint into the ninth hour. Nicky Catsburg drove the middle three stints of the opening stanza and got as high as third in class.
The No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF had dropped to 16th at the eight-hour mark but only because the team pitted Salih Yoluc and put in Charlie Eastwood for his second run in the Corvette. The Corvette Racing factory driver drove the first and last stints of the opening eight hours in the No. 34, which he raced from 25th and last in class at the green to as high as seventh. Yoluc and Peter Dempsey each took a turn at the wheel in the early parts of the race, as well.
TF Sport’s No. 2 Corvette, largely crewed by Johor Motorsports Racing personnel ran in the top-10 as deep as the seventh hour before falling back on its 10th pit stop of the race. Ben Green was in the car at the eight-hour mark and ran 11th after a fortunate break where the No. 2 was able to stay out during the race’s first safety car period. Both Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Lorcan Hanafin drove multiple stints in the Corvette, which went from 19th to 11th at the eight-hour mark.
13 Autosport was an unfortunate retirement in the fifth hour after a collision on track damaged the No. 13 Corvette beyond the point of repair.
Corvette Racing’s next report will come at the 16-hour mark.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R IN-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I think we’re good but I don’t think we have an advantage. We need other people to make mistakes. We need stuff to happen really because we are a little far behind. Obviously we are front-loading Ben a lot so it also makes sense that we are a little behind. So far so good. No mistakes. The car is clean. The pit stops are good, and Ben has done a good job so you can’t ask for more.”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It was good for the most part. On that last stint, I lost it one time in Tertre Rouge and really scared me. When you’re driving the car, you have no idea what’s going on in the race around you. I feel like I was driving the car very hard but I did not feel I was very fast. It’s hard. Yes I passed some people and I got passed by others. I have no idea where we are! I’m just trying to do the best job I can.”(On his first stints of the season) “I’ve been here enough that it’s OK. The good news is that my elbow doesn’t hurt nearly like did Wednesday. So that’s a good thing. I wasn’t 100 percent sure I would be able to do five stints to start the race. But I feel pretty good.”
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “You have to be at the front here so we wanted to be pretty aggressive. Fortunately there wasn’t a single bump in any corner which is pretty hard to do when you’re trying to through 15 or 16 cars. But we got into the top-10 which is a solid result. We felt that was a good time to get Salih in the car and get him into a good rhythm. Smooth as butter. As the driver level got better as I got farther ahead, I started to maybe take less risk and got into a nice rhythm. We have to double these tires so in the heat we can’t go too aggressive on them.”
LORCAN HANAFIN, NO. 2 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “First stint done, which is kind of the hardest part. You sort of know where you stand and how the track conditions are. The last time I drove was late Thursday, so it’s been a couple of days. It’s in quite a good window, I think. It’s a bit of a cat-and-mouse game at the minute. Some people are pushing for 10 laps and others are trying to save and do 11. Right now it’s about trying to play the strategy right, staying nice and clean, not making mistakes, keeping our noses dry until the morning when the sun comes up and the race really starts. Everyone has been OK on track, so far. There have been a couple of incidents but no slow zones or safety cars yet. It seems that everyone is playing nice but I’m sure as the race progresses, tensions rise and tempers shorten. So we’ll see how it goes.”
HH PRINCE JEFRI IBRAHIM, NO. 2 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’ve done a triple before at Spa and I thought it would feel quite long. But the car felt great. I was trying to keep up the pace, maximizing the tires and learning as it goes… trying to adapt to the car and the tires. The plan was to do a double-stint, but the team told me if I wanted to do a triple then I could. They asked me and I felt pretty good about it and was confident. Because the stints here are shorter here it’s a little easier compared to Spa. There it’s constant corners and high-Gs. But I wouldn’t say it’s easy here at all. You’re having to push as hard as you can to keep the pace up. The Hypercars were quite nice, to be honest. They are easier to drive than with the P2. It’s great seeing all the Hypercars – especially the Cadillacs – flying past on the Mulsanne Straight is great. They sound amazing too!”
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Eight-Hour ReportTF Sport Corvette trio on lead LMGT3 lap in tough class battle LE MANS, France (June 13, 2026) – Three of TF Sport’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs each spent time in the top-10 of LMGT3 after driving from the back of the field in the opening eight hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The No. 33 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating was the highest-placed of the three remaining Z06 GT3.Rs in the race. Keating was eighth in class and wrapping up his final stint of the race as the clock struck midnight. 
After missing the first two races of the year, the Corvette favorite drove five stints at the start of the race from 17th at the start and was on his fourth stint into the ninth hour. Nicky Catsburg drove the middle three stints of the opening stanza and got as high as third in class.
The No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF had dropped to 16th at the eight-hour mark but only because the team pitted Salih Yoluc and put in Charlie Eastwood for his second run in the Corvette. The Corvette Racing factory driver drove the first and last stints of the opening eight hours in the No. 34, which he raced from 25th and last in class at the green to as high as seventh. Yoluc and Peter Dempsey each took a turn at the wheel in the early parts of the race, as well.
TF Sport’s No. 2 Corvette, largely crewed by Johor Motorsports Racing personnel ran in the top-10 as deep as the seventh hour before falling back on its 10th pit stop of the race. Ben Green was in the car at the eight-hour mark and ran 11th after a fortunate break where the No. 2 was able to stay out during the race’s first safety car period. Both Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Lorcan Hanafin drove multiple stints in the Corvette, which went from 19th to 11th at the eight-hour mark.
13 Autosport was an unfortunate retirement in the fifth hour after a collision on track damaged the No. 13 Corvette beyond the point of repair.
Corvette Racing’s next report will come at the 16-hour mark.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R IN-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I think we’re good but I don’t think we have an advantage. We need other people to make mistakes. We need stuff to happen really because we are a little far behind. Obviously we are front-loading Ben a lot so it also makes sense that we are a little behind. So far so good. No mistakes. The car is clean. The pit stops are good, and Ben has done a good job so you can’t ask for more.”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It was good for the most part. On that last stint, I lost it one time in Tertre Rouge and really scared me. When you’re driving the car, you have no idea what’s going on in the race around you. I feel like I was driving the car very hard but I did not feel I was very fast. It’s hard. Yes I passed some people and I got passed by others. I have no idea where we are! I’m just trying to do the best job I can.”(On his first stints of the season) “I’ve been here enough that it’s OK. The good news is that my elbow doesn’t hurt nearly like did Wednesday. So that’s a good thing. I wasn’t 100 percent sure I would be able to do five stints to start the race. But I feel pretty good.”
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “You have to be at the front here so we wanted to be pretty aggressive. Fortunately there wasn’t a single bump in any corner which is pretty hard to do when you’re trying to through 15 or 16 cars. But we got into the top-10 which is a solid result. We felt that was a good time to get Salih in the car and get him into a good rhythm. Smooth as butter. As the driver level got better as I got farther ahead, I started to maybe take less risk and got into a nice rhythm. We have to double these tires so in the heat we can’t go too aggressive on them.”
LORCAN HANAFIN, NO. 2 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “First stint done, which is kind of the hardest part. You sort of know where you stand and how the track conditions are. The last time I drove was late Thursday, so it’s been a couple of days. It’s in quite a good window, I think. It’s a bit of a cat-and-mouse game at the minute. Some people are pushing for 10 laps and others are trying to save and do 11. Right now it’s about trying to play the strategy right, staying nice and clean, not making mistakes, keeping our noses dry until the morning when the sun comes up and the race really starts. Everyone has been OK on track, so far. There have been a couple of incidents but no slow zones or safety cars yet. It seems that everyone is playing nice but I’m sure as the race progresses, tensions rise and tempers shorten. So we’ll see how it goes.”
HH PRINCE JEFRI IBRAHIM, NO. 2 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’ve done a triple before at Spa and I thought it would feel quite long. But the car felt great. I was trying to keep up the pace, maximizing the tires and learning as it goes… trying to adapt to the car and the tires. The plan was to do a double-stint, but the team told me if I wanted to do a triple then I could. They asked me and I felt pretty good about it and was confident. Because the stints here are shorter here it’s a little easier compared to Spa. There it’s constant corners and high-Gs. But I wouldn’t say it’s easy here at all. You’re having to push as hard as you can to keep the pace up. The Hypercars were quite nice, to be honest. They are easier to drive than with the P2. It’s great seeing all the Hypercars – especially the Cadillacs – flying past on the Mulsanne Straight is great. They sound amazing too!”
CORVETTE RACING au Mans: Après huit heures de courseLe trio de Corvette de TF Sport dans le tour de tête de la catégorie LMGT3 au terme d’une lutte acharnée LE MANS, France (le 13 juin 2026) – Trois des Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R de TF Sport se sont tour à tour classées dans le top 10 de la catégorie LMGT3 après avoir remonté le peloton au cours des huit premières heures des 24 Heures du Mans.
Les Corvette n°34 du Racing Team Turkey et n°33 – les deux voitures engagées par TF Sport pour l’intégralité du championnat du monde d’endurance FIA – occupaient les 12e et 13e places après le premier tiers de la course, mais se trouvaient en bien meilleure position qu’au départ. Charlie Eastwood, pilote officiel de Corvette, a effectué le premier et le dernier relais des huit premières heures au volant de la n° 34, qu’il a fait passer de la 25e et dernière place de sa catégorie au départ à la 7e place avec Salih Yoluc au volant.
Ben Keating était en pleine phase de son dernier relais de la course à la huitième heure, pour sa première course de la saison au volant de la Corvette n°33. Après avoir manqué les deux premières courses de l’année, le favori au volant de la Corvette a effectué cinq relais en début de course, partant de la 17e place, et en était à son quatrième relais à la neuvième heure. Nicky Catsburg a piloté les trois relais du milieu de la première partie de la course et s’est hissé jusqu’à la troisième place de sa catégorie.
La Corvette n° 2 de TF Sport, dont les membres d’équipage provenaient en grande partie de Johor Motorsports Racing, a couru dans le top 10 jusqu’à la septième heure avant de reculer lors de son 10e arrêt au stand de la course. Ben Green était au volant à la huitième heure et occupait la 11e place après un coup de chance qui a permis à la n° 2 de rester en piste pendant la première période de voiture de sécurité de la course. Le prince Jefri Ibrahim et Lorcan Hanafin ont tous deux effectué plusieurs relais au volant de la Corvette, qui est passée de la 19e à la 11e place à la huitième heure.
La n° 13 d’Autosport a malheureusement dû abandonner à la cinquième heure après qu’une collision en piste a endommagé la Corvette n°13 de manière irréparable.
Le prochain rapport du Corvette Racing sera publié à la 16e heure.
CE QU’ILS DISENTCHARLIE EASTWOOD, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°34: « Il faut être en tête ici, alors on était plutôt agressifs. Heureusement, il n’y a pas eu aucun problème dans les virages, ce qui est assez difficile à éviter quand on essaie de se faufiler entre 15 ou 16 voitures. Mais on a réussi à se hisser dans le top 10, ce qui est un bon résultat. On a estimé que c’était le bon moment pour faire monter Salih dans la voiture et lui permettre de trouver un bon rythme. Tout s’est passé comme sur des roulettes. À mesure que le niveau des pilotes s’améliorait et que je prenais de l’avance, j’ai peut-être commencé à prendre moins de risques et j’ai trouvé un bon rythme. On doit faire durer ces pneus, donc avec la chaleur, on ne peut pas les malmener trop. »
NICKY CATSBURG, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°33: « Je pense que tout va bien, mais je ne crois pas que nous ayons l’avantage. Il faudrait que les autres commettent des erreurs. Il faudrait vraiment que les choses bougent, car nous sommes un peu à la traîne. Évidemment, nous misons beaucoup sur Ben dès le début, donc c’est normal que nous soyons un peu en retard. Jusqu’ici, tout va bien. Pas d’erreurs. La voiture est en bon état. Les arrêts au stand se passent bien, et Ben a fait du bon travail, on ne peut pas demander mieux. »
BEN KEATING, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°33: « Ça s’est plutôt bien passé dans l’ensemble. Lors du dernier relais, j’ai perdu le contrôle une fois à Tertre Rouge et ça m’a vraiment fait peur. Quand on est au volant, on n’a aucune idée de ce qui se passe autour de soi pendant la course. J’ai l’impression d’avoir piloté très fort, mais je ne me sentais pas très rapide. C’est difficile. Oui, j’ai dépassé certains pilotes et d’autres m’ont dépassé. Je n’ai aucune idée de notre position ! J’essaie simplement de faire de mon mieux. »(À propos de ses premières relais de la saison) « Je suis déjà venu ici suffisamment de fois pour que ça aille. La bonne nouvelle, c’est que mon coude me fait beaucoup moins mal que mercredi. C’est donc une bonne chose. Je n’étais pas sûr à 100 % de pouvoir enchaîner cinq relais pour démarrer la course. Mais je me sens plutôt bien. »
LORCAN HANAFIN, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°2: « Le premier relais est terminé, c’est en quelque sorte la partie la plus difficile. On a une idée de notre position et de l’état de la piste. La dernière fois que j’ai ropulé, c’était jeudi soir, ça fait donc quelques jours. Pour l’instant, c’est un peu un jeu du chat et de la souris. Certains poussent pour faire 10 tours, d’autres essaient d’économiser leurs pneus pour en faire 11. Pour l’instant, il s’agit d’adopter la bonne stratégie, de rester prudent, de ne pas faire d’erreurs et de garder nos nez au sec jusqu’au matin, quand le soleil se lèvera et que la course commencera vraiment. Tout le monde s’en est bien sorti sur la piste jusqu’à présent. Il y a eu quelques incidents, mais pas encore de slow zones ni de safety cars. On dirait que tout le monde joue le jeu, mais je suis sûr qu’au fur et à mesure que la course avance, la tension monte et les esprits s’échauffent. On verra donc comment ça se passe. »
SA LE PRINCE JEFRI IBRAHIM, 2 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°2: « J’avais déjà fait un triple relais à Spa et je pensais que ça allait me paraître assez long. Mais la voiture se comportait très bien. J’essayais de maintenir le rythme, d’exploiter au maximum les pneus et d’apprendre au fur et à mesure… en essayant de m’adapter à la voiture et aux pneus. Le plan était de faire un double relais, mais l’équipe m’a dit que si je voulais faire un triple, je pouvais le faire. Ils m’ont demandé et j’étais plutôt d’accord, je me sentais en confiance. Comme les relais sont plus courts ici, c’est un peu plus facile qu’à Spa. Là-bas, ce sont des virages enchaînés avec des forces G élevées. Mais je ne dirais pas que c’est facile ici pour autant. Il faut pousser à fond pour maintenir le rythme. Les Hypercars étaient plutôt sympas, honnêtement. Elles sont plus faciles à vivre avec que les P2. C’est génial de voir toutes ces Hypercars – surtout les Cadillac – filer à toute allure sur la ligne droite de Mulsanne. Et elles font un bruit incroyable ! »

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