Corvette Racing gives an encore to the 6h of Portimão, where Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nicolas Varrone take the second consecutive victory of the 2023 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
After the success of Sebring, the LMGTE AM Class saw once again the C8.R #33 that the excellent Keating had placed in Pole Position in Saturday’s Qualifying despite being forced by the Success Ballast to load 30kg of ballast on board .
At the start of the race it was the American’s turn to carry out the first part, in which he found himself fighting at loggerheads with the Porsche of the fierce Sarah Bovy, while the Ferrari of Diego Alessi momentarily took the lead.
Keating put on a show together with the Iron Dames girl and then gave way to the young Varrone, confirmed to be very fast and with a really interesting prospect for the future, taking first place again in the second half of the race.
Overtime, however, fell to Nicky Catsburg, who in the final stint had to deal with a furious Alessio Rovera at the wheel of the AF Corse #83 Ferrari, who with fast laps grabbed the Dutchman, with whom he drove up to the on the last lap success was played out, arriving as a matter of meters in just 0″260.
#33 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R: Ben Keating, Nicolas Varrone, Nicky Catsburg
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
“The final battle? It takes two to put on a show and hats off to Alessio for running so clean. Today he was much faster than us and had a big advantage on the pace. It’s one thing to close in to close the gap, a It’s another thing to pass someone,” said the Catsburg ‘catenacciaro’ after crossing the finish line.
“I noticed he had a bit of understeer as he approached me, so luckily we were able to keep him behind. The traffic made the race very interesting, I would say, in the closing laps. But it’s a great result for us and unexpected.” .
“I really struggled to keep up with his pace, but somehow we managed it. The team was amazing today. We gained six or seven seconds at every pit stop. It’s an incredible feeling!”
#33 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R: Ben Keating, Nicolas Varrone, Nicky Catsburg
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
For his part, even Keating can’t help but enjoy the second win in a row: “The team impressed me a lot. I was completely amazed by their speed in tire changes, and they did it all day long. Everyone made a incredible work and I’m obviously happy with the result, but I wasn’t expecting it. That makes it even sweeter.”
“The start was interesting for me. I didn’t mind losing the lead, given the chaos between the LMP2s. I just wanted to stay close to the leaders, which I was able to do for the first 12 laps or so. Later I struggled to choose the tyres. I also had four warnings about the track limits, so if I had had one more we would have ended up with penalties.”
“I was afraid all the time of accidentally making a mistake, I had to change my riding style and be a little more conservative, going down a gear on downshifts. It’s difficult for a rider. Luckily, I think I did what I had to “.
“The stops were also great, this team is really amazing. I don’t know how much Sarah was ahead of me in the first stint, but we finished ahead of them… an incredibly good stop and a great job from the team.” .
#33 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R: Ben Keating, Nicolas Varrone, Nicky Catsburg
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Finally Varrone, who takes home another record in the second race in the WEC: “I’m really happy, thanks to Nicky and Ben for the great race and to the Corvette Racing team. Today they were the fastest in the pits, he made the difference and that’s why we won in the end. At every stop we had something like six seconds behind coming out of the pits, so I’m really happy for them.”
“The end of my first stint was good and we got back into the lead. From then on it was a bit difficult with the tires and the heat. We struggled a lot at the end. In the second I was able to be more consistent and the car it felt better, it was more balanced. I managed to create a gap which then had Nicky by the end of the race. It was really stressful watching him from the outside! ‘would have done. Two wins at the start of this season is not bad.”
Laura Wontrop Klauser, Head of GM, commented: “It was a great day for Corvette Racing. The team did a phenomenal job, as well as the drivers, everyone achieved their goals and worked with excellent pit stops. Nicky has fighting and defending the lead at the end was really exciting to watch. We are all incredibly pleased with today’s results and the start of our first season in LMGTE AM with two wins for the C8.R Corvette.”
Read also:
