24h Le Mans
Corvette Racing brought the LMGTE Am era to a close with a stunning victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary.
The last appearance of LMGTE Am cars before the arrival of LMGT3s in 2024 turned into a race for survival, with 12 of 21 entrants failing to make it to the finish line! Corvette Racing's Chevrolet Corvette C8.R knocked it out of the park even after dealing with shock absorber troubles. Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nicolas Varrone clinched the American constructor's ninth category win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (and the first for a mid-engine Corvette).
Mark Stielow, Chevrolet Director of Motorsports Competition Engineering: "Corvette Racing has won Le Mans in-class for the ninth time, and it is even more special during the centenary celebration of this race."
Ben Keating: "After the first hour when we had to replace the right-front damper, I thought there was no chance. Even when I went to sleep at midnight angry because we didn’t get our lap back because race control messed up, I thought it was over and I was so mad. To wake up and I think we were running in P4 a few hours later, I was baffled. I didn’t understand how in the world we were there. All of our strategy completely went out the window. We had everything lined up and planned exactly how we were going to do it. Nico got sick and I didn’t plan on doing any driving, and I ended up driving from 02:00 to 05:00. I didn’t plan on doing any driving in the rain, and I ended up having a stint in the rain. Everything got turned on its head. It turned out that it was exactly what we needed to get our laps back. The way we won is special. To feel like it was out of reach and then watch this team claw back and get victory out of defeat’s grasp was really special. It was really nice to feel like I was a part of that. It’s one of those deals where you can look at every member of the team on this win, and you know everyone contributed."
Corvette Racing's #33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R won the category ahead of ORT by TF's #25 Aston Martin Vantage AMR and GR Racing's #86 Porsche 911 RSR-19. Three different marques on the podium: a perfect epilogue for LMGTE Am era at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The category will be replaced next year by LMGT3 with Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren and Porsche set to compete.
Saturday 10 June 2023, 16:03 local time. Corvette Racing's #33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R at the Arnage Corner three minutes after the start. The American GT was under attack by AF Corse's #54 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, ORT by TF's #25 Aston Martin Vantage AMR and the rest of the LMGTE Am field. Twenty-four hours later, Ben Keating/Nicky Catsburg/Nicolas Varrone took the top step on the LMGTE Am podium, giving Chevrolet its ninth win at the race. Keating realised a dream by winning with a Corvette whose production version is sold in his dealerships.
