Corvette Racing didn’t have the day it wanted at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Texas on September 1st, 2024, but The Bow Tie did clinch one decent point-paying position at its home track over the weekend.
TF Sport’s Daniel Juncadella powered through the pack in his No. 82 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, crossing the line eighth in the LMGT3 class in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) when the checkered flag fell on the six-hour event. Juncadella shared drive time with Hiroshi Koizumi and Sebastian Baud, who scored points for the fourth race this season.
Juncadella assumed control of the No. 82 Vette with approximately two hours and thirty minutes left in the race. He was handed a 15th-place running position and galloped toward the front of the field, halving his finishing position by the time the clock ticked down.
“It was clear that we were going to be very competitive today,” Juncadella said. “I had no doubt that if I got in the car in the last two hours in contention for a top result that we would get it. Hiroshi surprised me in the first stint. That was very good from his side, but unfortunately the second one, he struggled a bit more. We were only about 90 seconds down. Whenever I jump in the car, I take every race with the same approach and give 100 percent. There is always something to learn. I thoroughly enjoyed those two-and-a-half hours driving a really fast Corvette.”
The No. 81 Corvette Racing team didn’t fare so well. Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrande, and Tom Van Rompuy were taken out of a potential podium finish after mid-race contact with the No. 85 Lamborghini dealt serious damage to their race car. The team attempted to replace the toe link, which had been broken in the crash, but the No. 81 Corvette sustained terminal damage and had to be retired.
“This is one that slipped away, definitely,” Eastwood said. “The Corvette has been incredible from FP1 all the way through. Unfortunately, the contact Rui had from the Iron Dames popped the toe link out on the rear-left. The car was grabbing and things down the straight pretty badly, but we still had a pretty good pace even with it not being 60 percent right. We just tried a few things, but it still wasn’t right. There was no point putting anything at risk and called it a day. It’s a shame.”
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Good job 82 for doing what Chevy can’t 👏👏👏👍