ORT, D’station Plotting WEC Futures After TF Corvette Switch

Oman Racing Team and D’station Racing are evaluating options to remain on the FIA World Endurance Championship grid after partner team TF Sport announced a switch from Aston Martin to Corvette machinery in 2024.

The Tom Ferrier-led squad announced last month that it will run a pair of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs in the LMGT3 class next year, ending a five-season WEC stint with Aston Martin that resulted in a GTE-Am title and two Le Mans class victories.

TF Sport currently operates a pair of Aston Martin Vantage GTE, one for Ahmad Al Harthy’s Oman Racing Team and a second for the Japanese D’station Racing crew that has been in the championship since 2021.

Al Harthy and D’station managing director Tomonobu Fujii both told Sportscar365 that they intend to remain on the WEC grid next season, although they are considering different routes to achieve their ambitions.

“For me it’s definitely not a negative thing,” Al Harthy said about TF’s newly announced switch to Corvette.

“It’s just another positive thing that we can build on, if it makes sense for sure. I think that whatever we decide, I think TF has an option for us.

“I’m really hoping that we can come back to this amazing championship together, but at the moment we’re focused on this season and just seeing how it progresses in the end.”

Al Harthy clarified that his loyalties lie with TF Sport as a team, as opposed to staying tied to a manufacturer.

The Omani driver has a long-standing relationship with Aston Martin, dating back to a combined program in the then-named Blancpain Endurance Series and the British GT Championship in 2014.

After seven years of GT3 racing, he first stepped into GTE competition when he debuted in the European Le Mans Series last year.

“Since 2017 it’s more about the team itself and how Oman Racing has worked with TF,” said Al Harthy.

“To me that slightly weighs a bit higher than the alliance to a certain manufacturer, for example. But there’s nothing that stops me or nothing that forces me to leave.

“In my entire [career] racing in endurance from 2013 I think I’ve only driven three chassis from different manufacturers.

“I just like that consistency. I don’t like examining and trying different things, but I think from what we’ve seen it is a competitive move.

“It’s a step up for them for sure, especially with how things are progressing in the GT3 side of things.

“So if I do get the opportunity to do something like that in WEC next year, it’s definitely going to be with TF.

“And if TF is with Corvette I’m really looking forward to that.”

In contrast, Fujii said it is a “priority” for D’station to continue its current relationship with Aston Martin Racing.

The team first operated Aston Martin machinery in the GT300 class of Super GT in 2019 after it initially ran Porsches for the first years of its existence.

“Then we had a good relationship from that year,” Fujii told Sportscar365. “Already five years with them.

“We are always happy to partner with them. All programs, including WEC, Asian Le Mans, GT World Challenge [Asia], Japanese Super Taikyu before Super GT.

“Now we don’t have Super GT. [But] always happy to partner with them.

“So for us, [one] hundred percent don’t want to move to [another] manufacturer, don’t want to change manufacturer. So we want to stay with Aston Martin. That’s our priority.”

It remains to be seen if Aston Martin will receive LMGT3 entry slots for next year, as it is the only currently active WEC manufacturer without a presence in the Hypercar category.

D’station is also not the only party hoping to move into LMGT3 with Aston Martin. The Heart of Racing team principal Ian James told Sportscar365 earlier this month that he “definitely” wants to continue in the series after debuting earlier this year.

Fujii said he did not yet know how the operational side of a D’station LMGT3 bid would look without support from TF Sport in the event the Japanese squad is allocated an entry.

“Only, of course, in Japan, in [our] Asian program, we have a big workshop just outside Fuji Speedway,” he said.

“But only [in] WEC, we partner with TF Sport. But if we can do WEC again, [we] want to stay with Aston Martin. It’s our first priority.

“And then what we should do, I don’t know. Should we partner with Prodrive, Aston Martin Racing? I don’t know.

“Our own D’Station [team]? I don’t know at this moment. But the priority for now, we want to stay WEC. That’s the [top] priority.”