Fresh from his maiden class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month, Jonny Edgar has arrived in Interlagos in an unusual position. The 22-year-old Briton has momentum, confidence, and the chance to leave Brazil as the outright leader of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s LMGT3 standings.
If the #33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R scores points in Sunday’s six-hour race, Edgar will move to the top of the championship on his own.
It is an odd scenario, created by a series of enforced driver changes within the TF Sport line-up. Bronze-rated driver Ben Keating missed the Imola and Spa rounds after suffering an elbow injury and was replaced by Blake McDonald, while regular team-mate Nicky Catsburg is absent this weekend due to a clash with his IMSA GTD Pro commitments for Corvette Racing at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Nico Varrone, a previous WEC champion with Corvette, steps into the car alongside Edgar and Keating for this one.
Despite the revolving cast, TF Sport’s title challenge has barely skipped a beat. Edgar holds a 32-point advantage over the Vista AF Corse #21 crew of François Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera. Curiously, Keating sits second in the drivers’ standings despite contesting only one race, thanks to the Le Mans victory that earned him 50 points.
“It’s very odd,” Edgar tells DSC. “Obviously, it’s a shame Ben missed a race, so he’s alone in the championship now, too. But still, the plan is just to try and score some good points here for the championship. But if we do score points, it’ll be weird being the only one in the lead. It’s a strange way that it works. I would love to win the championship personally, but more as a team.”
While the championship picture is beginning to take shape, Edgar knows there is a bigger prize potentially on offer than silverware. His standout performance at Le Mans, particularly during the closing stages of the race, reinforced his growing reputation and strengthened his hopes of securing a full-time factory programme in the future.
“At Le Mans, it was such a good experience, and I was really happy with my pace,” he reflects. “It was the perfect race for me to showcase what I can do, especially when I was in for the end of the race. I’m hoping that it helps me achieve my goal of being a works driver.
“Compared to last year, I feel I’ve made a big step; everything’s felt easier, I feel more comfortable in the car, and it feels more natural. Ideally, I’d want to work with Corvette. I really enjoy working with everyone here. Things need to fall into place, but I feel happy. There’s not been much from my performances that I would go back and change, which is a good situation to be in.”
Friday’s running at Interlagos offered little indication of a clear favourite in the class. Teams spent much of the opening practice sessions learning the characteristics of Goodyear’s Medium compound, replacing last year’s Hard tyre, while the circuit continued to evolve throughout the day. Adding another variable, the forecasts suggest heavy rain remains a distinct possibility for race day.
TF Sport’s #33 crew also arrives carrying the maximum Success Ballast burden. It has an extra 36kg onboard this weekend – 18kg for leading the championship and another 18kg for its Le Mans victory – a handicap that will make life tougher for the drivers around Interlagos’ undulating layout.
Should the conditions play into Ferrari’s hands, Vista AF Corse may sense an opportunity to reduce the deficit. Rovera believes the switch to the Medium Goodyear compound could suit the Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo far better than the Hard tyre used 12 months ago and potentially put the team in contention for its first WEC victory since Spa last season.
“In the last three years, we’ve had so many opportunities to win races, but in the end, we have not delivered,” he admits. “Here, it helps to be on Medium tyre, because we struggled with it so much last year on the Hard. Degradation is not a big issue for us; it’s much worse for other brands.
“Rain, could be a different story. We are preparing as best we can, trying to find a compromise between wet and dry setups. But we haven’t had much time in the Evo 296 in the wet, so it may feel like a bit of a shakedown!”
The championship battle is also being shaped by uncertainty away from the circuit. Four races remain after Interlagos, but the WEC has yet to confirm whether the scheduled visits to Qatar and Bahrain will go ahead.
Should the series require replacement venues, Monza and Barcelona are considered the leading candidates, with an expectation that any substitute events would run to six hours rather than the planned eight and 10-hour formats.
Fewer race hours would almost certainly mean fewer points on offer, making it more difficult for Edgar’s rivals to claw back the current deficit.
Even so, Edgar is refusing to look too far ahead.
“Obviously, we’ve got quite a big lead, but still, even with the uncertainty, if the car closest wins one race, it’s close again,” Edgar says. “In GT racing, you have good and bad days. It comes and goes, so you have to make sure you score consistent points on the more difficult weekends. I think we’ve done that so far, and last year, when we were in the title fight for a while, we didn’t do as well.
“It’s never easy. Getting a podium on a weekend you’re fast is easy, it’s when you get a P7 finish when the car only has the pace for 12th, that’s what will win you the championship.”
Images courtesy of DPPI
