Corvette No. 81 wins at Fuji in LMGT3: “We didn’t see the victory coming”

Charlie Eastwood shares the name of one of the greatest film directors. It's no coincidence, then, that the trajectory of the No. 81 Corvette's season could have come straight out of a Hollywood film written by the great Clint Eastwood. After struggling at the start of the year (no points in Qatar and Imola), the crew of Rui Andrade, Tom Van Rompuy, and Charlie Eastwood has been one of the very best in this second half of the season.

This was confirmed by a victory in Fuji – the first of the year – under the noses of the Ferrari No. 21 and BMW No. 31. “I had no idea what was going on!” » Charlie Eastwood, the last torchbearer, is surprised. “It was one of those races where half the field was on one strategy and the other half was on another. They had fresher tires, but we didn't know what the gap was, so I was just told to push non-stop. I pitted fourth, came out second, and on the last lap I was told there was a five-second penalty and I thought maybe we'd win! What a performance from the team, really good race from everyone.”

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Victory on the gong for Corvette

This victory was decided in the final moments of the race: it was the Ferrari 296 n°21 which crossed the line in first, in the hands of Alessio Rovera, but it was given a five-second penalty, which allowed the Corvette Z06.R n°81 to win. “I have no more voice!” "I'm having fun," said Rui Andrade, who shouted at the finish line to celebrate the victory. "We didn't know if we were going to finish fourth, third... In the end, we felt that second place was within reach and at the last minute the other car was penalized! It was very difficult on the track today, the whole team did a great job, you can see the scars on the car but I'm very proud of this victory."

“It was a real team effort today,” says Tom Van Rompuy. "We didn't see the victory coming during the race, but we kept fighting. I'm very happy with my first victory in WEC, congratulations to the whole team and thank you for all the efforts made.

For the No. 81 crew, this is the third podium finish in the last four races. Third at Le Mans, then second in Brazil, Eastwood, Andrade, and Van Rompuy opened their victory tally in the No. 81 Corvette. They are now in contention for the final podium of the championship.