Corvette Racing is off to an auspicious start in this year's FIA World Endurance Championship. On Friday at Sebring International Raceway, the Team Chevy trio of Nicky Catsburg, Nico Varrone and Ben Keating drove the team's No. 33 Corvette C8.R to a dominant GTE Am class win in the opening round on the 2023 WEC calendar.

Keating qualified on the GTE AM front row for the 1000 Miles of Sebring in his first race with the team, then stayed near the front of the class through three stints before handing the controls to Varrone.

Varrone, also competing as a Corvette Racing driver for the first time, moved into the lead when the team's nearest competitor had trouble. Varrone maintained the top spot as he soldiered through a triple stint on the notoriously bumpy and physical, 3.74-mile, 17-turn road course in central Florida.

The No. 33 car was well out front when the team's Pro driver Catsburg took over the controls to finish the race. He continued to grow the lead as the sun set over the track. Catsburg ultimately took the checkered flag when the event reached its eight-hour time limit before the entire 1000-mile advertised distance could be completed.

The Corvette team drove mistake-free and stayed out of trouble, the pit crew executed flawlessly on pit road, and the engineers showcased a strategy that paid dividends. With GTE Am regulations stipulating that each team must run a variety of driver ratings as determined by the FIA, Corvette Racing put increasingly quicker drivers in the car throughout the race. Each met their minimum drive times during a single period behind the wheel.

"I'm really proud of the way we won the race today," Keating said. "If you look across the field and you look at how we got to be two laps up on the field, it wasn't because we were the fastest car. It was because we stayed out of trouble. Almost everybody had some sort of issue, and it was really tough with all the traffic. I'm sure (the other winners) would say the same thing. Especially as the race wore on, it really got into one line and the track got more difficult. I'm just really proud of all three of us that we were able to have a clean race.

"It's really special for me to be driving something I sell, and to be representing an American brand and winning the only American race for the World Endurance Championship and taking advantage of what I feel like is a home-field advantage. It was a really great job by everyone at Corvette."

The win was the 14th overall for Corvette Racing at Sebring since 2002 and its second as a full-time WEC entrant. The team has now increased its win total to 123 worldwide.

On Saturday in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Tommy Milner led much of the 71st running of the historic Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in the No. 3 Corvette C8.R. However, the team ultimately finished fifth in the GTD PRO class after suffering damage late in the event and then being caught up in an accident with just a few minutes remaining.

But with its dominant performance in the WEC race and dozens of laps led in the IMSA event, the Corvette Racing team has put the world on notice that it is going to flex plenty of muscle during its 25th anniversary season.

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