This Weekend WEC Six Hours of Portimão

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It will be a new track for Corvette C8.R Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship this weekend, but the team is hoping for a familiar result in its second race of the season.
Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nico Varrone will look for consecutive GTE Am victories in the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R when Corvette Racing visits Portugal for the Six Hours of Portimão.

The trio of drivers claimed a convincing victory in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring in their first race together to grab the early-season lead in the GTE Am Drivers Championship. It also was Corvette Racing’s first win in its first season of GTE Am competition.
But rather than a familiar track where the program has thousands of miles of testing under its belt, Portimão is an unknown commodity.

The 2.891-mile, 15-turn circuit is new to the Corvette Racing team but not new to the WEC calendar, having played host to the championship in 2021.
It’s also not new to the three Corvette Racing drivers, each of whom have competed previously at Portimão in WEC competition and other racing championships.

Varrone is the most recent driver having time at Portimão, having contested the European Le Mans Series in 2022 at the circuit. Keating was part of the GTE Am field at the circuit in the 2021 WEC event. For those who enjoy trivia, Catsburg drove a Corvette C6.R in the 2011 FIA GT1 Championship.

Although there is no real-life experience at Portimão from a team perspective, the Corvette program has done its homework in the virtual world with Driver in the Loop simulator sessions at the GM Tech Center in Charlotte, with Keating getting a couple of days work in during the last two weeks.
After Portimão, Corvette Racing will contest the final five rounds on the WEC on tracks where it gained valuable experience in last year’s championship with the mid-engine C8.R.

The Six Hours of Portimão for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 7 a.m. ET / noon Western European Time on Sunday, April 16.
MotorTrend and MotorTrend Plus will provide both live television and streaming coverage.
Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage of qualifying and the race.

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“Portimão for us will be a huge challenge. It’s a new track for the team.
Usually, some of the teams that have had cars there before in other championships like ELMS may have a bit of an advantage. It will be a steep learning curve for us.
There won’t be as much practice time as there was at Sebring. Nico was there last year, so he will be someone Ben and I can learn from. We’ve had the best season start possible, so we’re all very much looking forward to seeing what we can do at Portimão.
It will be more difficult here. Some of our competition at Sebring eliminated themselves, and I don’t think that will happen again.
We need to be on-point, but I feel like have the right team and right drivers for this race. Let’s continue where we left off at Sebring.”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

I’ve only been to Portimão once for a race event. It was a track that was very hard for me to feel like I had learned it and was up to speed. After the three practice sessions and qualifying, I still didn’t feel that way.
I remember getting on the radio after my first stint and saying that I’d like to start the whole weekend again right now. That’s how long it took me to be comfortable. It’s not an easy track to learn. It’s very different.
We will put more energy into our tires at this track than any other track we go to by a significant amount. There is a ton of elevation change, a ton of off-camber and blind corners. It takes a long time as a driver to feel like you have this place figured out. But that’s also what makes it fun.

“Every car has a track that it likes and doesn’t like. I just think the handling of the Corvette and where we can carry a higher minimum speed around these low-speed, technical corners.
We can carry the momentum better, we can handle the elevation change better and can handle the off-camber and off-balance corners better.
I’m really excited about going to Portimão in the Corvette and having one race weekend there under my belt.”

NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

I’m really looking forward to the second round of the WEC at Portimão.
We had a great start to the season at Sebring in our home race and on home soil for the team. Getting the victory there is the perfect start to our season. I really want to thank everyone at Corvette Racing for the amazing welcome at Sebring. The first race was special.
There were a lot of nerves but everyone on the team, the engineers, the mechanics, everyone there made me feel really comfortable.
Now we’ll go for more at Portimão!

“Portimão for me is a track where I have a lot of good memories in my short career. The circuit is very much like a roller coaster, so I think for every driver it’s fun. As a team, we have a lot of confidence. Based on what I know, I think this should be a good track for us.
We have the success ballast for being the championship leaders and winning at Sebring, so that will be a little bit of a disadvantage for us, but we have a great team and great lineup. I’m really confident. The aim is to try and score the most amount of points possible.
For sure, we are going for the win, but if we can’t do that, then we will maximize our result and keep getting points for the championship.”

2023 FIA World Endurance Championship – GTE Am
(After two of seven events)

Driver Standings
1. Ben Keating/Nicky Catsburg/Nico Varrone – 38
2. Christian Ried/Julien Andlauer/Mikkel Pedersen – 27
3. Daniel Serra/Scott Huffaker/Takeshi Kimura – 23
4. Simon Mann/Stefano Constantini/Ulysse De Pauw – 18
5. Davide Rigon/Francesco Castellacci/Thomas Flohr – 15

Team Standings
1. No. 33 Corvette Racing – 38
2. No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Racing – 27
3. No. 57 Kessel Racing – 23
4. No. 21 AF Corse – 18
5. No. 54 AF Corse – 15

 

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The 2.891-mile Algarve International Circuit, which will host the second round of the World Endurance Championship this weekend with a Six Hour race, comprises 15 turns and undulations that include a 16 percent drop down sweeping turns.

Nico Varrone, Ben Keating and Nicky Catsburg, who together won the GTE Am class in the WEC season-opener at Sebring, all have previous experience at the track, with Keating also spending two days in the Driver In Loop simulator at the GM Tech Center in Charlotte, NC.

Portimao is the only track on the seven-round WEC calendar at which Corvette Racing has no previous experience, but Keating and Varrone sounded optimistic that the C8.R’s handling characteristics, and the quality of the team, could help overcome that deficit in track knowledge.

Keating said: “I’ve only been to Portimao once for a race event. It was a track that was very hard for me to feel like I had learned it and was up to speed. After the three practice sessions and qualifying, I still didn’t feel that way. I remember getting on the radio after my first stint and saying that I’d like to start the whole weekend again right now. That’s how long it took me to be comfortable.

“We will put more energy into our tires at this track than any other track we go to by a significant amount. There is a ton of elevation change, a ton of off-camber and blind corners. It takes a long time as a driver to feel like you have this place figured out. But that’s also what makes it fun.

“Every car has a track that it likes and doesn’t like. I just think the handling of the Corvette… we can carry a higher minimum speed around these low-speed, technical corners, we can carry the momentum better, we can handle the elevation change better and can handle the off-camber and off-balance corners better.”

Said Varrone: “The circuit is very much like a roller coaster, so I think for every driver it’s fun. As a team, we have a lot of confidence. Based on what I know, I think this should be a good track for us.

“We have the success ballast for being the championship leaders and winning at Sebring, so that will be a little bit of a disadvantage for us but we have a great team and great line-up. I’m really confident.

“The aim is to try and score the most amount of points possible. For sure, we are going for the win, but if we can’t do that, then we will maximize our result and keep getting points for the championship.”

Catsburg, who joined Corvette Racing in 2020 as the endurance race “extra” in the IMSA line-up before becoming full-time in the team’s WEC squad for ’23, sounded a couple of notes of caution.

“It will be a steep learning curve for us,” he said. There won’t be as much practice time as there was at Sebring. Nico was there last year so he will be someone Ben and I can learn from.

We’ve had the best season start possible, so we’re all very much looking forward to seeing what we can do at Portimão. It will be more difficult here. Some of our competition at Sebring eliminated themselves, and I don’t think that will happen again. We need to be on-point.

“But I feel like we have the right team and right drivers for this race. Let’s continue where we left off at Sebring.”

 

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I will be there cheering on Corvette Racing !!!!
Should be good to meet Ben and the Team. (met others)
Hope the suns out ....

 

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In the UK watch from here

 

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First practice completed

 

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2nd practice completed

 

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Qualify completed and how they will line up to start the race

Bortolotti, Keating Secure LMP2, GTE-Am Poles

Mirko Bortolotti bounced back from early issues and a lap time deletion to claim LMP2 pole position.

The Italian charged to a best lap of 1:34.303 to put the No. 63 Prema Oreca 07 Gibson atop the timesheets in the class, a mere 0.001 seconds clear of Vector Sport’s Gabriel Aubry.
Bortolotti joined the session late after encountering car problems that called for Prema mechanics to push the car back to its pit area moments before the session was due to start.

Once the car rejoined qualifying, Bortolotti then also saw his first provisional pole lap deleted for an infraction of track limits, but managed to secure with his next time.
However, the No. 63 car remains under investigation for “behavior in the pit lane before the start of qualifying.”

United Autosports’ Phil Hanson took third, ahead of the No. 48 Hertz Team JOTA Oreca of Yifei Ye.
Albert Costa completed the top five for Inter Europol Competition.

Ben Keating driving C8.R beat Sarah Bovy and Diego Alessi to pole position in GTE-Am.
A late flyer from the No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R saw Keating reel off a best lap of 1:41.362 to claim his first pole of the season.

The No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR-19 in the hands of Sarah Bovy qualified second, 0.217 seconds down.
Diego Alessi, making his first WEC appearance at Portimao, briefly held provisional pole aboard the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo before dropping to third.
Thomas Flohr came in fourth, ahead of ORT by TF’s Ahmad al Harthy and Richard Mille AF Corse driver Luis Perez Companc.

The 6 Hours of Portimao starts Sunday at 12:00 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET).

 

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Following up on a stellar showing to open the FIA World Endurance Championship a month ago at Sebring, Ben Keating put Corvette Racing on pole position in GTE Am for Sunday’s Six Hours of Portimão, a new event to the powerhouse GT racing program.

Keating saved his best lap for last in Saturday’s 15-minute session with a 1:41.362 (102.713 mph) pass around the 2.891-mile, 15-turn Autodromo Do Algarve circuit in the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he will share with Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone. The trio already has made a splash this season with a home victory in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring in the first GTE Am event for Corvette Racing.

Algarve is the only one on the WEC calendar that is new to Corvette Racing, although Keating helped team engineers establish a couple of baseline options during his first session at Chevrolet’s DiL (Driver in the Loop) simulator at the GM Technical Center two weeks ago.

Those efforts proved valuable as the team was able to quickly work though some predetermined chassis tuning options throughout the three practice sessions to get the Corvette in shape for Keating’s magical pole run. The work also secured one additional championship point for the No. 33 Corvette team in the GTE Am Driver and Team championship standings.

The Portimão track isn’t the only new element to the weekend. The C8.R is running with an extra 30 kilograms (approx. 66 pounds) of success ballast: 15 kilos for winning the season-opening 1,000 Miles of Sebring and another 15 kilos for leading the class championship, per the GTE Am sporting regulations.

The Six Hours of Portimão for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 7 a.m. ET / noon Western European Time on Sunday.
MotorTrend and MotorTrend Plus will provide both live television and streaming coverage. Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage of the race.

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R GTE AM POLE-WINNER:

“I expected the Ferraris to be up front. In all the practice sessions, they were the quickest car, and we weren’t quite sure what we were going to be able to do. I have to give so much credit to the Corvette team. The C8.R has never been to Portimão, and neither has the team. This is not a place where you show up and do well from the beginning.

We’ve been making unbelievable, big improvements in the car every time we go out. I couldn’t believe how well the car was set up for qualifying. It’s going to be a big job of managing the tire wear. We made the gamble of qualifying on the soft tires, which we can’t race on but it’s nice to have that little bit of extra grip when you’re doing a 15-minute session for a qualifying lap. It was an exciting qualifying for me, as well. I went across and did what I thought was about as good a lap as I could do, and it was on the pole.

I decided to do a cool-down lap because my tires had gotten hot. Then I think (Diego) Alessi in the Ferrari got in front of me, and maybe Sarah (Bovy) also. I knew I had to do another big lap, and it was an incredible feeling to put it all together after letting my tires cool back down and put in another great lap. Before the session, Martin (Haven, WEC TV) we talked about if it was going to be another battle between Sarah and myself.
I said no way and that Ferrari was going to be up there, and neither Sarah nor I would be up there. I got to the end of qualifying and saw we were P1 and P2; my first thought was that Martin was going to call me a liar!”

Race outlook and starting out front: “That was our decision to go with the soft tires because track position is so important here. I have found that I may be a half-second quicker than the car in front of me, but I can’t get around them.
The series also has changed the rules for track-limit violations compared to what we’ve had previously, so I believe track-limit penalties are going to play a big role in the race.
It’s really difficult in a GTE car to follow another car and not get track limits in Turn One or Turn Four, especially. So starting up front is going to be a big advantage by just being able to manage your own track limits and control your own race.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“It’s gone pretty well. I don’t think it will be as easy as it looked like at Sebring, because it wasn’t easy.
We have 30 kilos extra now, so it will be difficult. But if we do the same as in Sebring, make no mistakes and be the best by far in the pit lane, then I feel we can get away with a podium here. It’s not going to be easy. The track limits situation will make things harder.

If we can manage not to have any penalties for that and the others will, that always helps.
Let’s see. We need to keep our nose clean and be focused on the bigger picture.”

NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“This is a really different track from Sebring, to be honest.
Sebring has a lot of bumps and this track is a bit smoother, so that’s a big change. I think we’ve done a great job since FP1.
We had big under steer, and we needed to straighten that out. The engineers did a great job to turn around how the car is handling.

We have a great car right now for the race. They were all productive practice sessions for us.
We’re going for the win, but if not, we will take the maximum points possible. For sure, the aim is always to win, and we will give it our best shot.”

 

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Ben Keating said that Corvette Racing opted for softer tires in qualifying to start the 6 Hours of Portimao from the front of the GTE-Am grid because track position “is so important” at the Portuguese circuit.

Reigning GTE-Am champion Keating claimed pole for the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship season after beating Iron Dames Porsche driver Sarah Bovy in Saturday’s 15-minute qualifying session.
The Texan was running on Michelin’s soft-hot GTE-Am tire specification, while the No. 85 Porsche 911 RSR-19 and several other cars had the harder medium option fitted.

Keating claimed pole after managing to negate the 30 kg of success ballast that his No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R is carrying at Portimao after it won the 1000 Miles of Sebring season-opener and opened an early championship lead.
“That was our decision to go with the soft tires just because position is so important here,” he said.

I have found that I may be half a second quicker than the car in front of me, but I can’t get around them.
I also think that track limits they’ve changed the rules for track limit violations for this event compared to what we have had previously. I believe that track limit penalties are going to play a big role in the race.

“It’s really difficult in the GTE car to follow another and not get track limits in Turn 1 or Turn 4 especially, so starting up front is going to be a big advantage by just being able to manage your own track limits and being able to control your own race.”
The track limits rule change that Keating referred to is an adjustment in how breaches are tallied up.

Rather than being reset at the end of each driver’s stint, the tally is accrued over the course of a driver’s entire race time.
Keating suggested that tire wear will be a challenge during the race after Corvette Racing used up a softer set of Michelin's in qualifying.
“It’s going to be a big job of managing tire wear,” he said.
We made the gamble of qualifying on soft tires, which we can’t race on. It’s nice to have that extra little bit of grip when you’re doing a 15-minute session for a qualifying lap.

It was an exciting qualifying for me as well. I went across and thought what I did was about as good a lap as I could do. It was on the pole. I decided to do a cooldown lap because my tires had gotten hot.
“Then I think [Diego] Alessi in the Ferrari got in front of me, and maybe Sarah also.
I knew I had to do another big lap, and it was just an incredible feeling to put it all together after letting my tires cool down and be able to put in another great lap.”

Bovy was unconcerned about missing out on the GTE-Am pole aboard the Proton Competition-assisted Iron Dames Porsche that she shares with Michelle Gatting and Rahel Frey.
“We know that Ben is extremely fast and at the end, I was happy with the performance I put together in quali,” said the Belgian driver.
“The target was to get on the front row. We clearly spent more time preparing the race than quali, so I think we have a very good package.”

 

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With almost 3 hours of the 6 hours of race, what the standings are

 

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4 1/2 hours completed of the 6 hours
The sole C8.R has been in command for the last hour

 

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Has to burn the hair off the Europe's elite asses as the sole American Sports Car, the Corvette
Lead most of the six-hour race and wins it !

14 cars in the GTE-Am was decided in a nail-biting battle between the No. 33 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Nicky Catsburg and Alessio Rovera’s No. 83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.

The battle between the two drivers went to the final lap, with Catsburg finishing 0.307 seconds ahead in the C8.R he shares with Ben Keating and Nico Varrone.

This is the second WEC race in a row that Corvette is won and lead in series points

 

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GTE Am came down to a duel in the final hour. Corvette Racing’s pole-sitting No. 33 C8.R and the No. 83 Richard Mille Racing Ferrari ended up in a battle for the lead in the final minutes, with Nicky Catsburg putting on a defensive masterclass to keep Alessio Rovera at bay.

“It takes two drivers to put on a show like that,” Catsburg said after the race, “but I have to say hat's off to Alessio for driving fair. He was so much faster at the end, but catching is one thing, passing is another.”

Catsburg’s teammate Nico Varrone described the atmosphere in the Corvette garage during the final hour as “stressful.”

“We are so lucky that our team helped us at every stop,” Varrone told RACER. “We were gaining six or seven seconds each time, they kept us in it. Those guys hit the gym multiple times a week and practice every day — hard work pays off.”

In the end, Rovera was unable to make the move and Corvette held on for the win, taking a commanding championship lead in the process with its second straight win to start the season. It was nevertheless a great bounce-back result for Richard Mille Racing, after crashing out of the race in Sebring.

Completing the podium was the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche, which was in the mix throughout and came home just 25 seconds off the lead.

 

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C8.R 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 pit lane. The team’s pit work, 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 under steer 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 of 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.

Furthermore, 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 pit lane 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.”