Keating: Corvette Comeback Win an “Emotional Rollercoaster”

Ben Keating described Corvette Racing’s comeback victory to secure the final win for a GTE car in 24 Hours of Le Mans as an “emotional rollercoaster” after the team bounced back from a two-lap deficit.

Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone recovered from a damper failure early in the race to beat ORT by TF to the GTE-Am class victory with a margin of two minutes.

The Texan driver celebrated back-to-back class class victories after winning with in a TF Sport-entered Aston Martin Vantage AMR last year, while it marked the ninth win for Corvette Racing at Le Mans.

“It’s the last race of GTE at Le Mans,” Keating told Sportscar365. “The centenary race, the 25th anniversary for Corvette, all of that stuff makes it really special.

“It’s totally emotional to have the American flag, hear the American national anthem at Le Mans. You’re spraying champagne underneath the stars and stripes, pretty impressive.

“Just an emotional deal, but it was even more than that for me because we had to replace the damper within an hour of the race and I thought we were completely out of it.

“The emotional rollercoaster of qualifying on the pole and [going] two laps down. I told my wife at about midnight that we might be able to get seventh place.

“Then to wake up in the morning and go, ‘I have to rewatch the race, I have no idea how we got there.”

The Pratt Miller-run squad recovered from its two lost laps during the course of the race. While the team regained one of the laps during the third safety car period, through a wave-by, it missed an additional opportunity to get back on even footing earlier on.

During the race’s second safety car, triggered by a sudden downpour of rain in the third hour, the GTE-Am leader was released from the pits too early.

This prevented the Corvette from getting a wave-by, which infuriated Keating.

“We got completely screwed in the [second] one,” he said. “We should have gotten a pass-around and we didn’t.

“I was very angry about this when we should have gotten it and we didn’t because the guy at the end of pit lane made a mistake and race control chose not to correct it.

“I thought, ‘That’s it, we’re done, our race has been ruined by race control.’ I was so angry by the whole thing.”

A recovery drive through the night meant the Corvette emerged as a victory contender on Sunday morning.

A strong stint from Varrone saw the team assume the race lead during the 21st hour, with Catsburg ultimately bringing the car home in first.

“The emotional rollercoaster of it all,” Keating said.

“It’s just crazy to think that with about three hours to go in the race, we started to do this math [and] we were off pit strategy with other cars.

“So we were going from near the lead to being in third or fourth place to being near the lead.

“Then realizing their Bronzes and Silvers still had to do more time. I’m done, for it to all come together at the end was just special.”

John Dagys contributed to this report