Daniel Juncadella and Charlie Eastwood change jerseys for the 2024 season, in which they will be official Corvette Racing drivers.
After the years that saw the Spaniard at the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the Belfast native driving the Aston Martin, both are preparing to face a totally new challenge by climbing into the brand new Z06 GT3.R.
Juncadella’s main one will see him in action in the FIA World Endurance Championship, where the General Motors car will debut in the newly created LMGT3 Class, also taking part in the GTD PRO of the IMSA SportsCar Championship as regards the Endurance Cup together with Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims with the car prepared by Pratt Miller Motorsports.
“I’ve witnessed what it means to be a Corvette driver in the United States, with a big fan base. It’s pretty exciting, to be honest. At every autograph session at IMSA where I sat next to the Corvette tent, there ‘It was a queue of 100 people waiting to get a signature from their drivers, and we were just sitting!’ commented Juncadella.
“It’s really exciting to see the popularity that Corvette Racing has created in the United States and the amount of awareness of the brand is really exciting. It makes me proud and unique to be a Corvette driver.”
“I’ve never been to Le Mans, but I watched a lot of this year’s race. I was already in talks with Corvette, so I knew it could be one of my possibilities for next year, and that made me more interested in the “event. This year was obviously important for Hypercars and for all the brands that joined with the new regulations. It was an interesting year with many things: the Centenary, the last of the GTE, etc.”,
“I have to say I was a little worried about Corvette winning again, because I thought about how difficult it would be for me next time, given its great success. But it made me realize how good the brand is, how good the team is, how good it is. the situation changed. It was very emotional.”
In the WEC we will also see Eastwood at work as a PRO driver on one of the two Corvettes entered by TF Sport.
“It’s definitely a big deal for me to join a brand like Corvette and an organization like GM. It’s what a lot of drivers want their entire careers,” he said.
“It seems to be a great place, and it shows because many drivers stay there for a long time. I look forward to the opportunity to learn from the best in the industry and continue to work together to achieve great things for many years to come “.
“It’s also nice to be back collaborating with TF Sport, really advantageous. Obviously it’s a brand new car, with new regulations that pass to the GT3 from the GTE, so already knowing the whole team and the engineers I feel that this can give us a a step up in terms of how quickly we can develop a brand new car.”
“The time between receiving the car and the few days of testing before arriving in Qatar is short. We need to make sure we make the most of what we have available. Knowing all the staff and engineers, I hope this puts us in a very good position to face the first round in Qatar.”
Corvette then confirmed Nicolas Varrone, who became FIA WEC Champion in the LMGTE AM Class and is now ready to make the leap to the continent to get into the AWA Z06 GT3.R in the IMSA GTD Class together with Anthony Mantella.
“First of all, it’s a great honor to be a factory Corvette driver. It’s also great to be back in IMSA next season with all the AWA members. They’re people I got to know this year and in endurance racing in LMP3, it’s going to be a great challenge with the new car, not only for our team but for all members of the Corvette program,” says the Argentine.
“But this is also a completely new class for AWA: it will be a challenge, but we will be ready to make the most of it to try to get some victories with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R and have a great season.”
Finally, the duo formed by Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg could not be missing, who we will see on the second GTD PRO car with Earl Bamber as an endurance addition, ready to share the tasks he already has in the FIA WEC with Cadillac.
“When I first tested at Road America, you could see why Corvette has been so successful. I’ve driven the Z06 GT3.R and I think the package is really great. These guys have built fantastic GTLM cars over the years and I don’t see why the Z06 GT3.R should be any different,” underlines the New Zealander.
“It’s a well-balanced car even though we’re just starting out, so I think it will be a force not only in IMSA, but also when this program lands around the world. I think it will be one of the reference cars for the future “.
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