As various drivers change grading, focus and allegiance, it’s increasingly rare that crews in the Pro/Am classes of endurance racing maintain stable from year-to-year.
It’s all the more impressive, therefore, that Tempesta Racing’s trio of Chris Froggatt, Jonathan Hui and Eddie Cheever are entering their eighth consecutive 24 Hours of Spa together, this year piloting the Ziggo Sport-backed, Herberth Motorsport-supported Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) sporting the team’s traditional #93.
Across this spell, they’ve experienced pretty much everything the race can throw at them beside victory, with three podium finishes, but also that crushing sensation of not reaching the chequered flag.
Rather than being a carefully crafted trio, Froggatt credits good fortune as for them having clicked so well as a line-up.
“I think it’s the pure luck around us having gelled,” Froggatt highlights to DSC.
“When we started this adventure all together in 2019 we didn’t really know what it was going to hold. We were lucky that the three of us really did get on the way we do. We share very similar characteristics in terms of driving styles, which has made it easy up until now.
“In terms of setting a car up, we’re all quite happy. Okay, if Eddie or I am happy with the car, we’re all happy with the car. If I’m happy with the car, everyone’s happy with the car, because we have very similar driving styles, and that’s all been lucky.
“I think we’ve continued for so long because of the way we’ve gelled, and I don’t think there’s a particular routine in what we do that has meant we’ve gelled that way. A lot of that is down to character, personality, and just sheer luck that we all met each other when we did, and actually have that connection. I don’t think there’s a really easy, measurable way to define that.”
Although the drivers have remained stable, one key factor at Tempesta Racing has proven to be slightly more volatile. Namely, the manufacturer it is running with.
Porsche is the fourth different brand that the team has competed with at Spa, with it joining Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes-AMG in a run of four different marques, and partner teams, in the past five years.
The switch to the 911 GT3 R has partially come about off the back of a one-off outing with the car in 992.1-spec at last year’s Creventic 12 Hours of Spa, which Froggatt and Hui won alongside Loek Hartog.
“When we experienced the car last year in Spa as a non-Evo, I found the car to be really playful, a very fun thing to drive, and a little bit more involving than some of the other cars I’ve driven,” Froggatt explains.
“It’s physically tougher, you are doing more in the car, but it’s also quite rewarding. It feels quite nice. It’s definitely a car that can be hustled and you play around with, and you really feel the balance quite immediately.
“It’s always been a car that we’ve liked the look of, and the idea of getting behind the wheel of. I think Spa last year was a nice taster of that.”
This switching of car means that adaptability has gone on to become a key pillar of Tempesta Racing’s success, although Froggatt is keen to highlight that not all changes are equal.
With the sheer variety that GT3 has to offer, some cars are closer to one another than others, with engine position playing a key role in determining how much the Briton has had to adapt his style.
“I do think there’s a difference with the easiest and toughest changes we’ve had,” he says.
“For example, changing from the McLaren back to the Ferrari was quite straightforward. The cars’ dynamics were very similar, I would say. In many ways they feel like very similar cars, just the systems work slightly differently, so it’s more about calibrating to that.
“The Porsche definitely has a different feeling of driving dynamic, but then it’s also very familiar. In the end, the cars have a very similar sort of aero profile, weight, and they run on the same tyres, so it’s not a drastic change.
“I think the hardest thing for us was when we moved to the Mercedes, being a front-engined car that was very different to the McLaren or the Ferrari, and even to some extent, the Porsche, which doesn’t feel not mid-engined. It has its tendencies around having to hold the brakes a bit more to keep the nose in, and potentially that sort of gives its rear mid-engine configuration away, but otherwise I wouldn’t say this car has been very difficult to just step into and drive.”
Although still a trio at the major 24-hour races, Tempesta Racing’s full-season GT World Challenge Europe faces the challenge of Hui’s absence for the majority of the season, with the 45-year-old having downsized his schedule to just Spa and the preceding Endurance Cup event at Monza this year.
An inconsistent driver line-up is never ideal, especially for a team which has found its strength through consistency, but is a necessary compromise to keep Hui involved without compromising the team’s title aspirations.
“We have different teammates shifting through the year,” Froggatt states. “A lot of that stems down to obviously our crew has been running previously for many years with Jonathan as our designated bronze, if you will. As he’s taken a decision to step back a little bit out of full-time racing, we’ve had to try and find an appropriate substitute.
“I think our success for years has been one of consistency, not necessarily just outright results.
“If you look back at ’24, when we won the overall championship, it was a case of very consistent results. In endurance, we came fourth every race. So I think we’re very much a team that really works around consistency instead of single results. Obviously, it’s nice to win things sometimes, and we’d like to get back to that, but ultimately, in the end, our goal is to win championships, not just to win races.”
And in GT World Challenge Europe’s Bronze Cup, season-long consistency comes with one of the biggest prizes in motorsport: an automatic invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is awarded to the best-performing Bronze entry across the full nine-round campaign.
Tempesta Racing won this in 2024, enabling the team to make its 24 Hours of Le Mans debut last year, and its focus is firmly set on returning to the French endurance classic in 2027 and building on its 14th-place finish.
“That’s absolutely the goal!” Froggatt declares.
“That is what we’re going to do our best to try and achieve, and we’d love to go back and fight at Le Mans in a clean race this time, with no technical issues.
“It was sort of disappointing for us, having gone to Le Mans for the first time last year, and, having the sort of race that we did, we didn’t feel like we got a proper showing, because it’s such a difficult race to get an entry to. But it is what it is, and we hope to be able to prove our same consistency and performance this year throughout the season to win ourselves an invitation to have a better showing at Le Mans next year.”
And with the 24 Hours of Spa awarding up to 50 points, the most of any event on the calendar, this weekend will likely play a key role in establishing Tempesta’s title aspirations, with the team currently at an early 26-point deficit after retiring inside the final hour at the season opener at Circuit Paul Ricard.
With points awarded at the six-hour and 12-hour marks as well as the finish, being competitive through the 24 hours creates an interesting strategic dilemma for Tempesta, which will need to manage the drive time of pro driver Cheever, Silver-ranked Froggatt and Bronze-rated Hui, as well as Mex Jansen, who has joined the team as its additional fourth driver for Spa.
20-year-old Jansen, another Silver, is new to Tempesta, with the Dutchman having earned the opportunity to complete the team’s quartet through Ziggo’s ‘The Drive’ contest, where he triumphed over several other young Dutch talents.
After a consistent qualifying, Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing will start its quest for a maiden 24 Hours of Spa victory from seventh on the Bronze grid.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
