Corvette ‘Not Racing Differently’ Despite Possible Title Clinch

Corvette Racing is “not racing any differently” despite having a chance to clinch the FIA World Endurance Championship GTE-Am title with two rounds to spare this weekend.

Nicky Catsburg, Nico Varrone and Ben Keating are the runaway points leaders in the Pro-Am class, considering they hold a 74-point cushion over the second-placed ORT by TF Aston Martin crew of Charlie Eastwood, Michael Dinan and Ahmad Al Harthy.

A victory or a second place in Sunday’s 6 Hours of Monza, regardless of how ORT by TF performs, will secure the title for the No. 33 Corvette crew.

But they can also do it even if they fail to score, because TF will need to finish fifth or better and the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR-19 will need fourth or better in that scenario.

Defending GTE-Am champion Keating told Sportscar365 that although Corvette Racing has a chance to wrap up the title before the end of the summer, the team is maintaining the approach that has helped it to reach that position.

“Everybody’s talking about where we finish, on how much it needs to be enough,” he said.

“I really don’t think it’s about where we finish. I think it’s about where they finish. If the No. 25 [Aston Martin] and the No. 85 don’t finish on the podium, then we only need a couple [sic] of points.

“If we finish sixth and they don’t finish on the podium at all, then that might be enough.

“If there’s some random mix-up of points, [in] the way [that] we end up getting it, then we want to celebrate. So we’re thinking about it, but we’re not racing any differently than we would before.”

The Corvette’s results have yielded a substantial amount of success ballast and this weekend sees it running 50 kg heavier than it did at the start of the WEC campaign.

That is divided into 40 kg worth of success ballast and 10 kg courtesy of a pre-Monza Balance of Performance adjustment.

Based on that, Keating reckons a podium result may be hard to come by, although Corvette Racing overcame 45 kg of success ballast at Spa-Francorchamps to finish second. The American Bronze-rated driver qualified sixth on the grid for the Monza race.

He reckons Monza’s lack of elevation change and the shorter lap compared to Spa could help to reduce the lap time deficit, although he still doesn’t expect the Corvette to run at the front.

“I didn’t expect us to be up front at Spa,” said Keating. “But we don’t have rain this time so I’m not expecting as many safety cars that kept us in the game at Spa.

“I hesitate to say it, but I feel like a fifth-place finish would be a success for us. For sure we’re capable of that. If we get better than that, something’s gone really well for us and really badly for someone else.

“The Porsches all seem to be very fast. I wouldn’t mind if the No. 86 car won and the No. 77 came second. Because every point they take away from the No. 25 and the No. 85 is good for us.”

Keating added that the season has been a “fairytale” so far as he and his co-drivers won at the 1000 Miles of Sebring, the 6 Hours of Portimao and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“You couldn’t have expected it to go this well,” he suggested. “It’s the largest lead there’s ever been in WEC, in any class. Obviously, it’s nice to have.

“For the last three years, there has been a mathematical chance that I could have went away with a podium at the last race. I would really love to go into the last race having already sewn it up.”

Davey Euwema contributed to this report