FIA WEC at COTA: Corvette Racing Winning Streak Struck Down In Texas

The green flag waved at the Lone Star Le Mans at the formidable Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, marking the FIA World Endurance Championship’s only race in America. Spanning 3.426 miles of unrelenting asphalt, this world-class road course tested the grid with 20 distinct challenges, including the steep, blind uphill climb into Turn 1 and the rapid, tire-shredding esses of the first sector. It proved to be a grueling six-hour day under the blistering Texas sun, where track limits and aggressive racing combined to deliver a brutal afternoon of endurance racing. The No. 34’s Peter Dempsey summed up the weekend perfectly when he said: “It’s unfortunate but it’s one of those weekends where you take it on the chin and move on.”

The Circuit of The Americas is a daunting track. Photo Credit: Reddit

Rising Above a Heartbreaking Start In Texas

The race for the championship-leading No. 33 Corvette came undone in the opening hour, after early race contact forced the car into a recovery drive that ultimately left them outside the points. Yet, despite the setback at COTA, a fierce wave of optimism powers the Corvette Racing contingent as they look toward the final three races of the season. In the LMGT3 Drivers standings, Jonny Edgar, Nicky Catsburg, and Ben Keating still spectacularly sit 1-2-3, with Keating tightly tied for third heading into the final trio of rounds. With the championship timer officially ticking, the No. 33 crew still holds a commanding 22-point buffer in the teams’ title race, meaning the destiny of the global crown remains squarely in Corvette’s hands.

Unmatched Global Dominance On The Horizon

As the program pivots to the final stretch, the bigger picture points to a banner year for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R on the world stage. Corvette Racing continues to assert its global dominance across both the FIA WEC and IMSA series, showcasing the bulletproof speed and reliability of the new GT3 platform. Between both premier sports car championships, the brand has locked down an incredible four IMSA podiums and three FIA WEC podiums, alongside three spectacular P1 victories. With momentum, championship leads, and a proven winning pedigree, the Bowtie brand is fully primed to close out the year at the top of the sports car racing world.

♦ What’s Inside CorvSport’s Corvette Racing Coverage:

CorvSport’s Corvette Racing Dominance Tracker
The Official Lone Star Le Mans Press Release From Corvette Racing: Authored by Ryan Smith
The Post-Race CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER QUOTES From Corvette Racing
Bonus Coverage: Join TF Sport After A Hard-Fought Race

This coverage is free, and you can enjoy an ad-free experience, get exclusive content, and support CorvSport for only $2.92/month!

1 — CorvSport’s Dominance Tracker: The Z06 GT3.R Kicking Butt

♦ IMSA 2026:

Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring | 3rd Place (P3) | No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports
Monterey SportsCar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca | 2nd Place (P2) | No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports
Chevrolet Detroit SportsCar Classic | 1st Place (P1) | No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports
Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America | 3rd Place (P3) | No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports

♦ FIA WEC 2026:

6 Hours of Imola | 2nd Place (P2) | No. 33 TF Sport
24 Hours of Le Mans | 1st Place (P1) | No. 33 TF Sport
Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo | 1st Place (P1) | No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette

2 — The Official Lone Star Le Mans Press Release From Corvette Racing: Authored by Ryan Smith

CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: “You Can’t Win Them All”

Separate contacts sideline Corvette points challenges in WEC U.S. stop

AUSTIN, Texas (September 6, 2026) – TF Sport and its two Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs missed finishing in the points Sunday in the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship’s only race in America.

In-race contact set back both Corvettes in the first half of the race at Circuit of The Americas. The yellow No. 33 TF Sport Corvette of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Texan Ben Keating finished 12th in the LMGT3 class with the red No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF entry of Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc and Peter Dempsey in 14th.

Photo Credit: TF Sport for Corvette Racing

Fortunately the championship points picture still favors TF Sport and the Corvette camp. The No. 33 Corvette provisionally leads the Teams standings by 22 points – still nearly a full-race advantage with three rounds to go. The No. 34 Corvette – class winner in the previous round at Interlagos – is provisionally eighth in Teams points but well within range of the top-three.

In the Drivers standings Edgar, Catsburg and Keating still sit 1-2-3 but with Keating tied for third heading into the final trio of races.

The race for the championship-leading No. 33 Corvette came undone in the opening hour. Keating began 17th in class but was hit by a Ferrari GT3 car on the first green-flag lap. The hit didn’t result in significant damage to the Corvette, but the Ferrari was handed a five-second time penalty.

The next run-in between the two cars resulted in much more severe consequences as the same Ferrari spun Keating at the first corner as the Corvette stopped on the track. The Ferrari received a 10-second time penalty for causing the incident.

The Corvette fell off the lead lap before the end of Keating’s first stint with Edgar driving a single stint before Keating finished his drivetime just shy of halfway.

That came shortly after disaster struck the No. 34 Corvette, which suffered a mechanical issue at the right-rear that forced Dempsey into the pits for seven minutes. The Corvette re-emerged three laps down to the leader with Eastwood driving the final two race stints.

The next race in the FIA WEC for TF Sport is the Six Hours of Fuji on September 25-27 from Japan’s Fuji Speedway.

3 — The Post-Race CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER QUOTES From Corvette Racing

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“We knew that this was going to be tough. The taps on Ben from the Ferrari didn’t help. After that it was trying to get it to the finish line and always being ready to jump if there was an opportunity to score some points. I think we got lucky today with some of our opponents not scoring. Only the 21 Ferrari had a decent points haul. For me, it was an amazing day if you look at the dollar per lap ratio! I was ready in the pitlane to jump in for the last stint but Jonny didn’t make his drivetime so the VSC (virtual safety car) timing made my day very, very short.”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Home race for me and for the Corvette… unfortunately you can’t win them all. We had won the previous two races in a row, and the success ballast and some other things made it really tough this weekend in the Corvette. I still think we would have a decent race if we hadn’t been hit twice by the same Ferrari driver. It’s a shame that one individual can make the same mistake twice and basically take us out of the race.”

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It was a busy race for everybody and trying to keep your nose clean. Only seven cars finished on the lead lap which was no problem for us. Early contact broke the toe link… it just seemed that kind of race that was quite aggressive and unfortunately we got caught up in it. Frustrating but I don’t feel like we missed a win or anything like that. When all of our championship rivals were a lap down early on, that was kind of our time to capitalize but we didn’t. Frustrating again but we’ll bounce back in Fuji.”

PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It didn’t feel quite right once I got in, but I think that was from earlier contact with Salih and a Ferrari at the last turn. I got in and the steering was already off to the right, and the car had an imbalance going from left to right. So I don’t know if the imbalance put more stress on something or not. Obviously once it broke at Turn 15 I had a fair idea what it was and relayed to the team before getting back to the pits as safely as I could. It’s unfortunate but it’s one of those weekends where you take it on the chin and move on.”

4 — Bonus Coverage: Join TF Sport After A Hard-Fought Race

♦ From TF Sport:

“Chequered flag on a tough 6 Hours of COTA 🇺🇸🏁
Not our easiest weekend, and the race definitely kept us busy! You can’t win them all 😄 but the whole team kept pushing right to the end. 💪
A big thank you to our crew and drivers for all the hard work. Heads up and onto Fuji!”

Click anywhere on the post to give TF Sport an encouraging word heading into Fuji.

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