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Other than Keating and Eastwood, I've never heard of these guys. Any good?
Mixed bag. Remember WEC requires one Bronze drive, a second driver either Bronze or Silver, and the 3rd driver can be any rating. The #33 and #34 cars are the regular WEC Cars. The #13 is the IMSA car, and the #2 is JMR that runs international GT Challenge, and Asian Le Mans stuff generally. The 33 car has a great lineup (although Keating was not his usual great self last year and this is his first race of the season after recovering from injury.) Haven't been super impressed with Dempsey in the 34 yet, but only been a couple of races. Yulic and Eastwood are solid in that car are solid.
For the 13 Fidani is not one of the stronger Bronze drivers but Kern and Bell are very good and comfortable with the car, so think they can be competitive -- second year for them at Le Mans so having experience from last year will help. The #2 will likely struggle. Neither Prince Jefrie nor Ben Green have ever driven Le Mans before and I don't think they've even been on track with the hypercars before (much greater closing speed differences than with LMP2), although JMR is a pretty solid team and they have plenty of endurance/long race experience.
#33 Car: Keating, Edgar, Catsburg
#34: Peter Dempsey, Yulic, Eastwood
#13: Fidani, Kern, Bell
#2: Prince Jefrie Ibrahim, Ikhwan, Green.
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Revisiting the 2001 Win!
PRESS RELEASE:
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Revisiting the 2001 Win!
Twenty-five years ago, Corvette Racing scored the first of nine class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The pair of Chevrolet Corvette C5-Rs finished 1-2 in the GTS class, one year after the program’s debut at the French classic. Here are a few thoughts from the driving crew of the No. 63 Corvette as we look back and ahead of this year’s running of Le Mans.
RON FELLOWS: “It’s funny now but wasn’t at the time! Maybe it was more fatigue-related, but Le Mans in 2001 was just SO difficult. We were doing an awful lot of driving in the rain. I personally did a total of two laps on slicks. That was it. I basically went out and then spun in the Porsche Curves; it was too wet so I went right back in the pit lane and went back to rain tires. It was either a full-wet or intermediate the entire time. It was just incredibly cold and damp the entire time.
“But at the end it was surreal to walk across the gantry to the podium at Le Mans where throngs of people were coming out of the racetrack. It’s very current-day, Formula One-like where they rush onto the track and come to the podium. Seeing, in particular, Herb Fischel when we got up on the podium, and then as we’re going back to the compound… for him to be able to walk in with the trophy, I can tell you it was the biggest smile I’ve ever seen from him! It stayed on his face for a long time! You could tell it was really personal and meant a lot. This was a culmination of a great deal of work and effort, convincing the senior management team that this is what we need to be doing for the brand – to go to and win Le Mans in our second try. Getting that win was just absolutely awesome.”
JOHNNY O’CONNELL: "We already had the experience from being at Le Mans the year before. Already that early, it was clear that the Le Mans fans loved the Corvette and we did everything we could to return that. The reception we got in 2001 blew us away more than what we felt the year before. At the track, I won't say it was easy but we definitely benefitted from the previous year. Back then, you had pre-qualifying in the spring then everyone went away to do all the preparation and then showed up again for the week of the race. So we felt like we had a much better handle on the track and how to best make the cars work around such a long lap.
"The race was crazy wet and cold. I don't think I've ever driven a race where so much of it was in the rain... it had to be something like 20 hours. In those situations where you're on the track at Le Mans, it becomes more about surviving each lap and stint because the lap is so long. One of the biggest things that gave us confidence is that we knew the cars could last. We felt that if we could stay out of the pitlane and between the lines, our chances were going to be really good at the end. And that's just how it played out. Seeing those two Corvettes come across the finish line 1-2 is a tremendous point of pride. That walk to the podium up above the pitlane and seeing the fans.... it's one of the greatest moments of my career and I'm grateful to have been able to experience it."
SCOTT PRUETT: “It was amazing to see the fans that were so hardcore about Corvette. The cars were loud and they were fast, and they looked great and the fans just embraced it and loved it. They followed it and revered the whole Corvette persona of what that meant and what that stood for.
“I wasn’t part of the first year. But when we got there in 2001, we saw that raw passion of the fans who were so excited to see the cars and see the drivers. To be part of a program that made its way to Winners’ Circle was truly fantastic.
“As a driver you hope to have a long career and a successful career. Being successful means winning those great races, those global races. I’m proud to be American and I love everything about this country. Being over there to represent the USA and to represent what we do here in our country was something bigger than I can really wrap my head around. I hadn’t expected it. You kind of know it, but you don’t really feel it. And then to be able to not only represent that, but also win the race was just so special. There were all these different levels and different layers of achievement in that one race. You go into races and you’re looking to win those races. You go into the Rolex 24 Hours and if you win that race, you win this beautiful Rolex Daytona. And that in itself is huge. But then when you start getting all these other layers into it, country and respect and pride, national pride, that just takes it to another level.”
The official practice and qualifying schedule for U.S. time zones is as follows: Wednesday, June 10 (Qualifying)
Qualifying - LMP2 & LMGT3: 12:45 PM – 1:15 PM ET / 9:45 AM – 10:15 AM PT
Qualifying - HYPERCAR: 1:30 PM – 2:00 PM ET / 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM PT [1, 3, 4] Thursday, June 11 (Hyperpole)
Hyperpole - LMP2 & LMGT3: 1:00 PM – 1:50 PM ET / 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM PT
Hyperpole - HYPERCAR: 2:05 PM – 2:55 PM ET / 11:05 AM – 11:55 AM PT [1, 2, 3] Saturday, June 13 & Sunday, June 14 (The Race)
Race Start: Saturday, June 13 at 10:00 AM ET / 7:00 AM PT
Race Finish: Sunday, June 14 at 10:00 AM ET / 7:00 AM PT
TV Race Broadcast: US:
In the U.S., the primary television broadcast for the 24 Hours of Le Mans is on TruTV TV. Following a major broadcast rights update, TNT Sports carries full live race coverage on truTV, while flag-to-flag streaming is available nationwide on Max via the B/R Sports Add-On. Also, FIAWEC+ (Global): The official streaming service of the FIA World Endurance Championship. It provides flag-to-flag coverage of the entire race week (including practice, qualifying, and Hyperpole) without commercial interruptions. It also includes exclusive onboard cameras and Live Timing
International:
Canada: FIAWEC+
Europe: Eurosport and Also the FIAWEC+
Interesting qualifying, and I have to take back what I said about Dempsey.
Le Mans qualifying is now like F1. Top 15 in the 1st session (today) and advance to next (tomorrow) and then top 10 from there advanced to the last session (also tomorrow)
25 GT Cars; Corvettes had one advanced:
#34 P1
#44 P18
#2 P24
#13 P25
So, Dempsey in the #34 was .5 seconds ahead of P2, so the car has some pace. As expected the 13, and 2 will struggle a bit when the Bronze drivers are in.
And the 34 has been disqualified from qualifying due to excessive wear on the rear strake. It will start last. So, Corvettes are in the last 3 spots on the starting grid. Yikes.
And the 34 has been disqualified from qualifying due to excessive wear on the rear strake. It will start last. So, Corvettes are in the last 3 spots on the starting grid. Yikes.
OMG!
That sucks.
Come on, guys - get it together.
I realize that in a 24-hour race, starting position is not as important as a sprint, but still . . . . .
And the 34 has been disqualified from qualifying due to excessive wear on the rear strake. It will start last. So, Corvettes are in the last 3 spots on the starting grid. Yikes.
And the 34 has been disqualified from qualifying due to excessive wear on the rear strake. It will start last. So, Corvettes are in the last 3 spots on the starting grid. Yikes.
as I recollect, the French Le Mans rule makers just flat-out hate the Corvettes.
LE MANS, France (June 12, 2026) – Friday is the proverbial calm before the story at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. All four Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs are undergoing final pre-race preparations in their garages ahead of the annual French endurance classic.
The Corvette quartet at the twice-around-the-clock classic is the largest group of Corvettes at Le Mans in 10 years. Although the four cars will start in the back half of the LMGT3 grid, optimism exists the group can race toward the front in the 25-car field. Here are a few thoughts from a collection of 12 drivers that will race through daylight, nighttime and daylight again this weekend…
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R PRE-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We made some changes to get away from some of the issues we had Wednesday. Toward the end of the last session, I felt competitive and it felt nice. We had the car balance where we want it to be. If that means we are a bit slower, all we can do is find a nice car to drive and deal with it. I have all the trust in the world in the team and in my engineer Tyler (Neff), who is also my engineer in IMSA. I can interfere but they are always smarter than I am! So I'm just going to drive to create a balance that we all like, and I'm sure we will figure it out."
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s my first race of the WEC season and it’s a double-points race. I’d have to look back a really long way to see when the last time someone won the championship but did not win Le Mans. It hasn’t happened in the last five years or so. So if you asked me to choose, I would choose Le Mans. But I also want to win the championship for the 33 car for my co-drivers, for my team, for Corvette. Since I personally no longer have the opportunity to win the championship, I want to win Le Mans. And if we win Le Mans, I think that will put my teammates, my car, my team and my manufacturer all in the best spot to win the championship.”
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: ““I’ve seen firsthand the pace that you find year on year. The biggest thing is you don’t actually really know it. If somebody said to me, ‘Where did you find a half-second from Year One to Year Two, and another half-second from Year Two to Three?’ I literally couldn’t tell them. But it’s just something about having a bit more confidence and a bit more understanding of the importance of the exits and these little bits of bumps here and there. And so many people say, ‘Oh yeah, there are tracks with just loads of straights,’ and I think it’s one of the most complex tracks in the world. And to really nail it at a proper level, it takes a lot of knowledge.”
PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’ve loved motorsport with every ounce of my body since the day I was born. My dad owned a racing team for 30 years. I now own a race team myself. I don’t enjoy anything else in life. I try to, but it’s just not the same. It’s a dream opportunity to go to an event like this and see all the different events that take place, with the drivers parade and scrutineering and everything. And to get time to interact with the fans, which I’ve kind of been lucky enough to experience... The first two events, there were fans coming up to me with old pictures of me when I was racing back 15 or 20 years ago and wanted autographs on that. So it’s crazy to think that I’ve been out of a seat for as long as I have. And there are still people there that want my autograph from such a long time ago. So get the chance to interact with the fans that come to these, I love it. I absolutely love that part of it.”
MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s the race. It’s the pinnacle of our sport. Every single series that we take part in, the goal is to win your entry there, and it’s for a reason. Above everything else, it’s the race that I desperately want to win. I’ve stood on the podium one step behind the winner, and it was amazing, but I have more hunger than ever to get on the top step.”
OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Everybody wants to try to win, but let’s try to at least do better than we did last year. You’re always trying to move forward, not backward. We’ll go out there better prepared than even last year and with a better understanding of the whole event and how it works. All that’s left is to try and get further up the order there.”
BEN GREEN, NO. 2 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “For me, Le Mans is a track that you never get to drive at unless you race there. I love learning new tracks. I love going to new environments like this. I actually went to Le Mans in I’d say 2013 or around then for a karting championship world final, and we had our end-of-season dinner in one of the rooms overlooking the start line. And it’s crazy to come back around more than 10 years later after something like that and about to be on track racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s a pretty surreal experience.”
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
