In the American IMSA series, a GT3-spec car will race in the GTD Pro class, and in the European FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) series, a GTE-spec car will run in the GTE Am class. The No. 33 C8.R raced against WEC cars from Porsche, Ferrari, and Aston Martin on April 16 at the beautiful Portman track in southern Portugal. After the 1000 Miles of Sebring in March, this was the second round of the WEC. Even though the Corvette team had never raced or tested on the 2.891-mile, 15-turn Portman track, driver Nico Verona had all driven other cars there. They were sure that even though they didn’t have any actual data about the way, they could still finish near the front thanks to computer simulations of how to set up the car before the race and the team’s massive win at Sebring four weeks earlier. Maintain Your Pace Cats burg said it best before the race: “Portman will be a big challenge for us.” The group is changing direction. Some teams, like the ELMS, may have a slight advantage because their cars were used in earlier championships. We will have a long way to go before we know everything. It was then that he made the suggestion, “Let’s pick up where we left off at Sebring.” During the three practice runs for the event, Corvette’s race engineers and crew carefully reviewed the computer-generated baseline chassis setup and the alternatives they came up with before getting to the track. Keating drove for the sake of the computer work in a state-of-the-art Driver in the Loop (Dill) simulator located at the GM Technical Center two weeks before the event. This was done in preparation for the event. Cats burg was in charge of the majority of the on-track reviews and fine-tuning. On the Recordings Keating stayed in the car for the entire 15-minute qualifying run. He quickly showed his competitiveness by setting the fastest time in GTE Am, just past the halfway point. But when the clock hit 12, his quick lap wasn’t enough. Later, he stated, “I made my way across and completed what I believed to be the best possible lap, and I was on the pole.” I did a cool-down lap because my tires were already warm. Then, Sarah Bovey and Diego Alessi crossed the center line in the Ferrari before me. I knew I had to finish another hard lap, and after letting my tires cool down again, it felt great to put everything to use. Keating had the fastest qualifying lap of 1:41.362 (102.713 mph), but the Corvette’s race speed was a bit slower than that of the winning Porsche 911 RSR and Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. Because the C8.R won Sebring and held the class title, it had to carry 30 kilograms of “success” ballast. This is probably why the Corvette was carrying more weight. The extra weight didn’t change how well new tires worked, but it did make it harder to control how fast tires wore down over time. Late Flag Yellow Early in the race, the No. 85 Porsche showed how good it was by taking the lead for most of the first laps. It then fell back after going off course, hitting some bumps and breaking its rear diffuser and fascia. Even though the other Porsches were slower than No. 85, there were still three Ferraris to worry about. Even though the Corvette lost a little speed in the middle of the race, it stayed near the front thanks to perfect pit stops and even better driving. Two of the Ferraris lost time while the Corvette and the No. 83 Ferrari fought for the lead and pulled away from the rest of the GTE Am field as time ran out. The only full-course caution with less than two hours left in the six-hour race shuffled the order in which the cars were running and allowed a Porsche and two additional Ferraris to rejoin the competition. Each competitor still had time for one more pit stop, and since the Corvette team passed the others in the pit lane, that stop probably decided who won the race. Corvette won its second race of the season. When they crossed the finish line, Cats burg was only 0.260 seconds ahead of Alesia Rivera in the Ferrari No. 83, who was driving it. Taking place on the podium When Cats burg thought about how hard it was to win, he praised his team and his foe for always making great pit stops. He was much faster than us and had a big-time advantage. Passing someone is not the same as getting close to them to get closer. We could keep him behind us because I saw him start to understeer a little as he approached me. I found it hard to keep up with him, but we finally got there. The teamwork today was great. We added six to seven seconds at each pit stop. This is a beautiful feeling!”
