After falling short last season, TF Sport has unfinished business in WEC

It feels like the TF Sport-Corvette combination has unfinished business in the FIA WEC to tend to this year.

In 2025, the British team’s Z06 LMGT3.Rs were competitive, but ultimately fell just short in their title ambitions. The No. 33 won the Qatar opener and remained in contention for most of the season, while the No. 81, which won at Fuji, was still in with a chance of glory at the Bahrain finale. But it didn’t quite pan out, and they finished fifth and sixth in the standings, in the knowledge that a better outcome had been left on the table.

There's plenty of change to Tom Ferrier’s line-up for its third trip around the globe in LMGT3, though the ultimate goal remains the same for the highly-regarded outfit from the south of England.

Originally, Ben Keating and Jonny Edgar were down to return to the No. 33 for the season, joined by Corvette factory driver Nicky Catsburg in the wake of Dani Juncadella’s move to Genesis. But the team was forced into making a late change for the opening rounds at Imola and Spa when Keating injured his elbow while mountain biking.

It was hugely unlucky. Had the season started in Qatar as planned, the Texan wouldn’t have been out on a trail, and therefore would have been busy preparing to race in Italy. As it turns out, he’s still on-site this week, but in a supporting role only.

In his place is another American, Blake McDonald, who steps up to the WEC for the first time and earlier than he expected. Thankfully, he was able to shift his travel plans for the early tranche of the season, during which he is also taking on the start of the European Le Mans Series with TF aboard its title-defending Corvette.

A win at Fuji provided a high point to last season. ames Moy Photography/Getty Images

He may be new to the WEC paddock, but he knows the car and the team, so the expectation is that the No. 33’s prospects won’t take a hit. The major downside is that for Keating, his Drivers’ title hopes have evaporated before the campaign gets underway.

“It was an immediate ‘yes’. I’m extremely excited,” McDonald, who over the past year has competed in GT World Challenge America and the Asian Le Mans Series with the Z06 GT3.R, explains to RACER.

“It’s come together very late, but because of my ELMS programme, I was in Europe at this time anyway, so I’ll now just stay out here for five weeks (to compete in the first two WEC and ELMS races).

“It’s been a dream of mine to do WEC; I just didn’t think it’d happen early. It’s going to be valuable for me; it fits perfectly into my whole grand plan of racing.

“And I’m thankful it’s with TF, as they’re a very good race team from top to bottom, and the Corvette is a car I fell in love with immediately when I first drove it. I feel comfortable with it and take a lot of pride in driving an American race car. It means a lot to my family and me.”

The sister car, meanwhile, sporting No. 34 this season, sees Charlie Eastwood as the only returnee, with fellow Irishman Peter Dempsey signed for his WEC debut and Turkish racer Salih Yoluc returning to the team after two years away.

"The budgets are huge, there aren't many people in the world who can afford it, but the demand is somehow high,” Ferrier tells RACER about the challenge of putting together a line-up. “It's all about putting the pieces of the jigsaw together.”

Leaving aside the last-minute tweaking, Ferrier believes both of his crews have come together nicely, and can afford to dream big.

"Last year, I don't think we were a million miles away from winning the championship. Both cars were evenly matched but had issues,” he continues. “We gave up a lot of points. If the No. 81 finished Qatar and the No. 33 dug out one more result somewhere, it could have been a different story.

“Ben moved forward a lot last year, I think, over the season. The second half of his season was much, much stronger than the first half. Yes, they won Qatar, but his own personal performances were a lot stronger, so when he’s back, I believe we’ll see him on a different level. Jonnny, I think the second year will be really strong. Everyone knows how good he is. And Nicky, I've not yet worked with, but I’m looking forward to it.

"Then, in the Team Turkey car, it's lovely to have Salih back. He first joined us at the end of 2015, and he's been with us solidly until 2024; now he's back. It's no secret he's not a ‘super Silver’, but he can do a good job, and Mr Dempsey is very strong. He's done a bit of testing in Bahrain, Dubai in January, Qatar in February and Spa in March. He's still got bits to learn; there will be tracks he doesn't know, but he'll get on with it really well. I think we should be at the sharp end.”

Adding to TF Sport’s confidence levels is Goodyear's decision to retire the Hard tire and utilize the Medium all season, in the wake of the increase in allocation for LMGT3 teams at each race. The Medium was better suited to the characteristics of the Corvette, according to Ferrier.

“I’m not sad to see the hard tire go, to be honest. I just hope that the strategic elements of the formula we love so much remain,” he said. “There’s a fear from a lot of teams that we don’t want it to be like GT World Challenge, where you run to the fuel light and change four tires each time.

“The beauty of the WEC has always been strategy and teams making a difference. It’ll depend on stint lengths. We’ll have to see how it plays out and see what strategic options remain on the table.”

It all starts this weekend in Italy, at an Imola circuit which has proven to be a happy hunting ground for the team in years past. Just last year, it claimed ELMS class wins in LMP2 Pro/Am and LMGT3 at the venue, kick-starting the team’s double title bid.

“I’m happy we’re starting the season this week, and with a Prologue,” Ferrier says. “The Qatar delay has wiped out a lot of European testing opportunities. So having a Prologue squeezed in is really useful because it’s a track you can’t get to easily. It’s also a track I love, not just because of the wine and pasta. We’ve got a lot of trophies from there!”