A Win for the Ages! How Corvette Racing Came Back to Win at Le Mans

Before this year’s 100th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Corvette Racing made no secret just how badly the team wanted to win its final GTE race there.

Not surprisingly, accomplishing that feat wasn’t easy and took a dedicated effort from the entire team to pull it off.

The three C8.R drivers, Nicky Catsburg, Nico Varrone, and Ben Keating explain in their own words just how Corvette Racing was able to overcome tremendous odds both before and during the legendary endurance race to rally for the title Sunday.

First, the crew had only hours to repair serious damage to the car sustained Wednesday when Nico Varrone lost control at Tertre Rouge Corner with only minutes left in the first practice session.

With time ticking, the crew went to work and installed several new parts, including right side suspension, right side brakes, floor, fascia, rear wing, decklids, seat belts, right side front and rear fender, ride side door, right side rocker, and more.

Their hard work allowed Nicky Catsburg and Ben Keating to take class pole by more than a second Thursday night and avoid having to start at the very back of the pack – a scenario that would likely have prevented Corvette from winning the race.

But the trouble was far from over for the Corvette Racing team. Two hours In, the car had to come back to the garage for a quick fix of a failed damper. While the crew worked fast, it still wasn’t enough to keep the car from having fallen two laps behind once the repairs were done.

At that point, even the team wasn’t optimistic about their chances of winning.

“We joked about going home,” Catsburg said. “Thankfully the car was back to normal and felt good.”

Varrone also thought it was “impossible” to rally from such a deficit, “but somehow we came back like crazy with great strategy and timing,” he said. “The decisions we made paid off. The car was mega.”

The strategy included being cautious in the wet conditions, with Keating explaining that more than half the class would eventually retire from the race, “which was a big part of our fightback.”

“Some of our biggest (WEC) competitors didn’t make it; second, third, fourth place in the championship were all wrecked,” Keating said. “I don’t know if I’ve had a race like this with this many retirements.”

After Keating’s triple stint during the night, Varrone started the “day shift” with a triple stint of his own, including putting up the best GTE time of the event to make up more than half a lap on the field.

“I felt like I was in the right moment, at the right time on track,” Varrone said. “The car was better through the high-speed corners and in the last sector when the track warmed up. I had clean laps and managed to do the fast lap. I am really happy because after Wednesday my confidence was down. I was so angry with myself. So gaining that confidence back, setting the fastest lap, was so satisfying.”

Also satisfying was Corvette’s return to the lead by the end of the 17th hour, and Catsburg was even able to continue to pull away during the closing moments.

“I’ve never taken the finish here,” Catsburg said. “I didn’t know it was so super-crazy on the in-lap, so that was nice. That it’s the 100th anniversary makes it special. That it’s the last year of GTE makes it extra special. That it’s the last year of the C8.R makes it extra special. I’m so happy for the whole team because I feel like we should have already won it in the years before. So it’s sweet for this to happen this year.”

The win at Le Mans was Corvette Racing’s third in four tries this season, and another victory at Monza next month could cement the class title in the WEC, even before the final two races at Fuji and Bahrain.

Source:
Corvette Racing at Chevrolet.com

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