Corvette Racing at Le Mans: Six-Hour Update

No. 33 C8.R driving back through field after early-race mechanical, safety car issues

LE MANS, France (June 10, 2023) – Corvette Racing on a mission – attempting to drive back through the field after a couple of issues in the opening quarter of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Ben Keating was back in for his second run the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, which ran 15th in the GTE Am class as the Centenary Le Mans race entered the seventh hour. Keating, Nico Varrone and starting driver Nicky Catsburg rotated through the Corvette as dusk began to fall on the 8.5-mile track.

Catsburg established a strong pace early from the lead before the first of two safety-car periods in the first six hours. The team elected to take fuel early to gain an advantage in the first stint and re-emerged in 12th. Disaster struck not long after as the Corvette crew had to replace the right-front damper after Catsburg radioed in that something didn’t feel right.

The service in the garage was a quick change but it still put the C8.R down two laps. Class pole-winner Keating – who got in the Corvette while the damper was still being fixed – began to claw back time before heavy rain pelted parts of the circuit.

Keating survived the deluge, and Corvette race engineers called him to the pitlane for wet tires. The race’s second safety car period came out moments later, giving the team hope of gaining a lap back because the C8.R would be ahead of the class leader in a train behind one of the three safety cars. For reasons unknown to the team, a group of cars – including the GTE Am leader – were allowed to exit pit lane before the next of the three safety cars came around. The mistake meant that the Corvette was trapped behind the class leader and couldn’t advance around the track to catch back up after all the safety car queues moved.

Undeterred, Varrone drove a speedy triple stint that saw him make up more than a half-lap on the field with times between four and seven seconds quicker than the rest of GTE Am.

The next Corvette Racing update is scheduled for 4 a.m. CT/10 p.m. ET.

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“It was very strange. Everything was going fine. The car was running great and was all good. Out of nowhere, prototypes passed me and after that I had a weird feeling. Maybe this was because I had to go off-line and had some pickup, but it wouldn’t disappear. The car was moving around a lot and it wouldn’t disappear. The car was moving around a lot under braking and at all speed. So I told the guys that I think we had an issue. When we got it into the pitlane, it was the damper and we lost two laps. The crew still did an awesome job and couldn’t have done it quicker. It’s really tough, though, to come back from this spot. It seems like a disastrous race with the safety cars. But our main competitors in the championship are out of the race, so even with zero points we will still lead the championship. So we need to focus and get as many points as possible. Maybe we can get back on the lead lap. I kind of doubt it, but we will never give. Let’s see. The car is definitely fast, and everything went well. So I know we have a good car.”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“We had a great start but also an unexpected mechanical issue on the car. We are racing back. The team decided that I should get some of time out of the way. It was so treacherous. There were cars going off everywhere. Before they said anything about rain, I went into the Porsche Curves and it was a downpour. I just went straight and didn’t want to turn the wheel because I was afraid I’d be afraid. The next time around there, I was tip-toeing around and told the guys that I thought I was giving up too much time. They told me I was going to box and have a driver change, and I was very grateful for that news! The moved looked brilliant at the time. We put wet tires on and everyone else should have had to stop for wet tires. But the long safety car and the officials’ messing up the safety car procedure at pit exit didn’t help us and we didn’t get our lap back. But there’s a lot of time left. We’ll keep going.”

Source:
Corvette Racing at Chevrolet.com

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