Corvette Racing has confirmed it will contest the upcoming FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Spa as part of its preparations for the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American team previously confirmed it would race the season-opening 8 Hours of Portimao, however the WEC was forced to reschedule the Portimao event until later in the year due to a scheduling conflict with the 89th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which was postponed until August due to COVID-19. The 6 Hours of Spa, previously set to be the second round of the six-race season, will now serve as the season opener and will give Corvette Racing an opportunity to re-familiarize itself with the FIA WEC rulebook.
“Competing at Spa will provide the Corvette Racing team a bit of a refresher on specific rules and strategy methods that are unique to FIA WEC races,” the team said in a statement. “Pitstop operations and safety car procedures are among the biggest differences in IMSA and WEC competitions.”
Corvette Racing veterans Antonio Garcia and Oliver Gavin will share the No. 63 LM GTE Pro entry at Spa, which will mark the first time the experienced duo have shared a car in their long careers with Chevrolet. Gavin stepped away from his full-time role with Corvette Racing at the end of the 2020 season, but said at the time that he would continue to explore “opportunities to represent Chevrolet and Corvette Racing in the future.”
“It’s exciting for me to get back and work again with everyone at Corvette Racing,” said Gavin. “And I get to drive with Antonio for the very first time as my Corvette Racing teammate!
“We’ve been teammates inside the team for so many years, traveling so much together and sharing houses at Sebring, Daytona and many other places. For us to be able to go and race together at Spa will be very special.”
A total of five cars have been entered in the LM GTE Pro class for the 6 Hours of Spa, including two Ferrari 488 GTE Evo entries fielded by AF Corse and a pair of Porsche 911 RSRs from Porsche GT Team. Corvette Racing will also receive technical support throughout the weekend from French team Larbre Competition, which fielded privateer Corvettes in the FIA WEC until 2018.
The FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa is scheduled for June 13th, with racing set to kick off at 1:30 p.m. local time in Belgium, or 8:30 a.m. EST.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more GM motorsports and racing news, IMSA racing news, Corvette Racing news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comment
Good to know