Chaves Set to Complete Season in TF Sport Aston Martin

Henrique Chaves is set to complete the FIA World Endurance Championship season with the TF Sport Aston Martin squad, according to Bronze driver Ben Keating.

The British team started the campaign at Sebring with Keating and Marco Sorensen joined by Florian Latorre as the designated Silver-rated driver, but Chaves was brought in for last weekend’s TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa where he contributed to a class podium.

The Portuguese driver, who drives for TF in the European Le Mans Series, was also placed on the entry list for the 24 Hours of Le Mans although his status for the remaining rounds after that was unclear.

Keating has since confirmed that the No. 33 Aston Martin Vantage GTE’s Spa lineup is poised to run the races at Monza, Fuji and Bahrain International Circuit.

“Yes, currently the plan is to have Henrique for the rest of the season,” Keating told Sportscar365.

“Because of Henrique’s heavy involvement with TF Sport in ELMS, where it’s the same car and same team, he just has a lot more time in the car and familiarity with it. We tested him way back when, in the very beginning.

“I wasn’t there, but we tested a bunch of Silvers before the season started.

“He was one of the Silvers. We went with Florian for the first race, and then after Henrique tested here with the ELMS team, doing the ELMS race… having that much more time in the car and with the team, it just made it really easy to say that we think he’s really good.”

Chaves won the 2020 International GT Open title sharing a Teo Martin Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 with Miguel Ramos.

The Portuguese compatriots then joined Lamborghini squad Barwell Motorsport and combined to seal last year’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup Pro-Am class championship before Chaves went on to join TF in the WEC.

TF Sport team principal Tom Ferrier said that decisions on the driver lineup largely rest with Keating who is providing the monetary backing to the No. 33 entry.

“Henrique comes with a lot of advantages of doing ELMS as well, so he’s used to the car, he’s in it for 12 weekends, not six,” Ferrier told Sportscar365.

“A lot of experience in longer 24-hour races and stuff. So yeah, let’s see how we get on but ultimately it lies with Ben.

“Obviously we need to try and win a championship, so Ben wanted the best possible option he could have. There’s nothing standout to the changes, just to try and arm ourselves with the best that we could have.”

Davey Euwema contributed to this report