Strong driving, stellar pit work nets unexpected GTE Am victory for No. 33 C8.R
PORTIMÃO, Portugal (April 16, 2023) – Corvette Racing has gone back-to-back in the FIA World Endurance Championship with a stunning GTE Am victory in the Six Hours of Portimão for Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nico Varrone in the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
The win was a tense one as Catsburg held off in an intense final-hour fight with Ferrari’s Alessio Rovera by just 0.260 seconds. It increased Corvette Racing’s lead in the Driver and Team championships in the GTE Am category heading to the next race at Spa-Francorchamps in two weeks.
Just as in the season-opening victory in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring, Corvette Racing made zero mistakes on the track or in the pitlane. The team’s pitwork, especially, was a key difference in the result as it offset a pace difference due to 30 extra kilograms of success ballast due to the Sebring victory and championship lead.
That was never more clear than on the race’s final pit stop with 50 minutes remaining. Catsburg came in with the Ferrari hot on his heels but left with a nearly 10-second advantage after a fast tire change by the Corvette Racing crew and a quick out-lap by Catsburg. As evidenced by the winning margin, every second counted.
Keating began from pole and slid down to third during his first stint on a softer, more worn set of tires. The impact of the Corvette pit crew became evident on the initial stop by picking up a spot to move Keating up to second for his final stint on a better set of tires.
He stopped again at the two-hour mark from fifth place due to higher-ranked drivers getting in their cars during the second hour. Varrone took over and cycled the C8.R back up to third not long into his first run as the skill levels of the drivers continued to vary mid-race.
That mix plus the amount of inter-class traffic made things tough during Varrone’s opening stint but he persevered to move up to second place before he brought the Corvette back in just past the three-hour mark. Another stellar stop and another fresh set of tires gave Varrone track position and eventually the lead once the GTE Am field finished its pit stop cycle.
Catsburg got in the car for the final two stints with a little less than two hours to go, and a ferocious fight developed with Rovera and his rapid Ferrari. The two cars were separated by less than a second before the race’s lone safety-car period bunched up the field. Both the Corvette and Ferrari stopped one lap after the race resumed with Catsburg greatly benefitting from the aforementioned strong Corvette pit stop.
He made the most of it, holding off the Ferrari multiple times inside the final five laps for the victory.
Corvette Racing returns to action April 27-29 for the Six Hours of Spa – the final race before June’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTE AM RACE-WINNER: “It takes two drivers in order to do that (on the finishing battle). Hats off to Alessio for being a clean racer. He was way faster than we were today and had a big pace advantage. It’s one thing to get close in order to close the gap, but it’s another thing to pass someone. I noticed he got a little bit of understeer when he got close to me, so luckily we managed to keep him behind. Some of the traffic made it extra-interesting, I would say, in the last few laps. But it’s a mega result for us and unexpected. I really struggled to match the pace that he was doing but somehow we managed. The team was amazing today. Every pit stop, we gained six or seven seconds. This is an amazing feeling!”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTE AM POLE-WINNER: “Totally impressed today with the Corvette Racing team. I was completely blown away by their speed on the tire changes, and they did it all day long. Everyone on the whole team did an incredible job. I’m obviously delighted the result but didn’t expect it. That makes it even sweeter.
“It was an interesting start for me. I didn’t mind not maintaining the lead with some of the mayhem in the P2 field. I just wanted to stay close up front, which I was able to do for the first 12 or so laps. I struggled with my tire choice after that. I also had four track-limit warnings so if I had one more we would have ended up with a penalty. I was really worried the whole time that I’d have some accidental track limits. I had to really change the way I drove and be a little more conservative, going down a gear. That’s hard for a racer to do. Thankfully, I feel like I did what I needed to do. Unbelievable stops! This team is so incredible. I don’t know how far ahead Sarah (Bovy, No. 85 Porsche) was from me in the first stint but we came out ahead of them… just an unbelievably great stop and great job by the team.”
NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I’m really happy. Thanks to Nicky and Ben for a great race and to the Corvette Racing team. They were the quickest in the pitlane today and was the main difference and why we won in the end. On every stop it was like we would have something like six seconds (of a gap) 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 that on, it was a bit difficult with the tires and the heat. We struggled a lot at the end of that stint. In the second one, I managed to be more consistent, and the car was feeling better and more balanced. I managed to build a gap to hand it to Nicky for the end of the race. It was really stressful to watch it from the outside! It was really nervous but he did a great job, and I was sure he was going to do it. Two wins to start this season is pretty good.”
LAURA WONTROP KLAUSER, GM SPORTS CAR RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “It was a great day for Corvette Racing. The team did a phenomenal job, the drivers did a phenomenal job, everyone hit their marks and working through it with great pit stops. Nicky fighting and defending the lead at the end was so exciting to watch. We’re all incredibly pleased with today’s results and the start of our first season in GTE Am with two victories for the Corvette C8.R.”
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