Corvette Racing Claims 2023 FIA WEC GTE Am Championship

Corvette Racing put another exclamation point on a stellar 2023 season on Sunday when the team wrapped up the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) GTE Am class title with two rounds remaining.

Coming off a victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the No. 33 Corvette C8.R entered last weekend’s 6 Hours of Monza at Italy’s Monza Circuit with a variety of scenarios in which Team Chevy drivers Ben Keating, Nico Varrone and Nicky Catsburg could become champions.

They could clinch the title with a first- or second-place finish, but ultimately, a fourth-place result was good enough when the Corvette came home ahead of its closest competitors on the 3.6-mile, 11-turn circuit.

Thus far this season in WEC competition, Corvette Racing has won the 1000 Miles of Sebring, Six Hours of Portimao and 24 Hours of Le Mans, and finished as runner-up in the Six Hours of Spa. The result was the famed yellow Corvette had a healthy lead in the standings entering this weekend’s Italy round.

Interestingly, this weekend the No. 33 car carried an additional 40 kilograms of “success ballast” per GTE AM sporting rules thanks to its Le Mans victory, Spa runner-up and championship lead, along with an additional 10 kilograms added  by rules-makers before the Monza event began.

But even with the added weight, the stout Corvette was able to keep its closest championship challengers in the rearview mirror.

"Congratulations to Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone on their championship in the first year for Corvette Racing in the World Endurance Championship’s GTE Am class,” said Mark Stielow, Director, Chevrolet Motorsports Competition Engineering. “This was not an easy accomplishment despite the results this season. The strategy and execution by the entire Corvette Racing team – the drivers, the crew and the engineers – has been excellent throughout the season. This was a deep and competitive class and we are grateful that Corvette Racing has come out on top. It gives us great momentum going into the end of the season and 2024 when the Corvette Z06 GT3.R customer program arrives in WEC.”

Indeed, this season is the last for GTE machinery in WEC competition before they are replaced by cars meeting GT3 technical specifications in 2024 and beyond.

On Sunday, Keating started the race from the sixth spot, and as has become standard practice this year, handed the controls to Varrone at the end of his stint. Catsburg then drove to the checkered flag. Despite leading in the second half of the race, the Corvette was unable to score a podium result for the first time this year due to a safety-car period in the last hour that benefited the team’s challengers.

Still, the championship more than made up for not being among the top-three finishers.

“Honestly, this season might have been one of my nicest in motorsport,” Catsburg said. “It has been so cool, right from the start. It was always very relaxed with not a lot of pressure. Somehow the results just kept coming. I cannot deny that we have a great car, a great team and we have an awesome lineup. But we still need to execute, and I feel like we did that really well.”

Keating called 2023 “a magical season,” while Varrone said it still felt “a bit weird” to call himself a world champion.

When it all finally sinks in, Corvette Racing will understand it celebrated the team’s 25th anniversary season with a dominant style no one saw coming, but one which was also not the least bit surprising.

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