Fourth Row Start for No. 81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R at Sao Paulo

Tom Van Rompuy and the No. 81 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R will start on the outside of the fourth row in Sunday’s Six Hours of São Paulo for the FIA World Endurance Championship. The TF Sport driver ended Saturday’s LMGT3 Hyperpole session in eighth in the Corvette that he will share with Rui Andrade and Corvette factory driver Charlie Eastwood.

Van Rompuy advanced to the Hyperpole session for the top-10 qualifiers in class for the third time in five races. He was sixth-fastest in the 15-minute qualifying session at 1:35.744 (100.662 mph) and posted a lap of 1:35.931 (100.476 mph) in Hyperpole. 

His run was compromised by a red flag in the first half of the session that sapped some of the energy from his Goodyear tires but more critically by a slower car for the remaining eight minutes of green-flag time. Nevertheless, the pace of both TF Sport Corvettes has been strong and consistent in the first trip to the Interlagos circuit for the team and the first for the WEC since 2014.

Hiroshi Koizumi’s No. 82 Corvette Z06 GT3.R will start 13th after missing the Hyperpole session by just 0.143 seconds – a razor-thin margin in a very difficult class – with a lap of 1:36.169 (100.227 mph). He will drive with Sebastien Baud and Corvette factory driver Daniel Juncadella, who is the only of the trio who has previously raced at Interlagos.

The Six Hours of São Paulo is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, July 14. MotorTrend TV will air live television coverage with streaming coverage on the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans also will stream audio coverage of the race.

TF SPORT POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES

TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – Qualified eighth in LMGT3: “Today was a good day. I think I did quite well in qualifying with P6 and had a purple sector in Sector Two. In Hyperpole I struggled to get a good gap to the car ahead of me, but at the end of my push lap and four corners from the end. At that point you have to commit to it otherwise the peak of the tires is gone. So I lost a bit of time. Then again it’s a long race and I feel confident about tomorrow. We have a good setup for the race, and I think it will be a struggle for everyone to keep the tires alive because this track is very rough on them. I have a good feeling. I’ll try to do a good double-stint to try and gain some places so we can contend for a top-five or even a podium tomorrow.”

HIROSHI KOIZUMI, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – Qualified 13th in LMGT3: “The gap to 10th place in qualifying was very small. I’m hoping to find some tenths of a second to move up in my stint. It was a good run for Tom in the other car. I want to make sure I can follow and stay close to the cars in front of me and hopefully gain some positions before my teammates get in the race.”