With titles secured in LMP2 Pro/Am and LMGT3 during yesterday’s ELMS finale in Portimão, TF Sport has further solidified its partnerships with Corvette and AO Racing.
The statistics tell a story. It’s two titles in a row for AO by TF, the team following up its LMP2 success last year with a Pro/Am tilt 12 months later, and TF’s first championship with Corvette as well as the GM brand’s first in the ELMS with the Z06 LMGT3.R. It was a double title win built on perseverance in both sides of its garage.
In P2 Pro/Am, the Spike-liveried ORECA fielded in tandem with PJ Hyett and Gunnar Jeanette’s fan-favourite outfit, AO Racing, clinched the class championship with a second-place finish for Hyett and his teammates, Dane Cameron and Louis Deletraz.
For Hyett, it was all about securing that first win. Early in the season, when his speed and consistency behind the wheel began to hit a sweet spot, it felt inevitable. And that moment, remarkably, came at Le Mans, with a triumph in the toughest race of the year that caused the metaphorical dam to burst.
Hyett and co went on to win the next ELMS race at Imola, plus IMSA races at Mosport, Elkhart Lake, en route to an LMP2 title across the pond, which he sealed at Petit Le Mans last week.
“We were trying to encourage him at the start of the year, he was getting itchy to get the first win,” Cameron told DSC after yesterday’s race. “It’s a huge time and financial commitment, so it can be frustrating if you don’t get results. But once he got that first one, and like we promised, once he got that, it would keep coming. Now he knows he can get it done, and we have momentum. He has room to grow, too, with this AO programme.”
The title win ranks high up the list for Cameron and Deletraz, too. Deletraz now has four ELMS titles in five years, while Cameron achieved his aim of winning a championship in Europe.
“This is something I wanted when I left IMSA and went to WEC,” Cameron continued. “I wanted to race in Europe and push myself somewhere new. I know the states, all the tracks, and I just wanted to do something different. So it’s really cool to have success here. My WEC adventure didn’t go so well, but it gave me experience over here. It was hard, but it all came together, and to have TF, Louis and PJ here, it was a combination that meant we were always in contention to win races.”
As for the Corvette side of things, TF’s success was the first title for General Motors in the ELMS and secured a fourth spot on the grid for the brand at Le Mans via the auto entry gained by winning the title. In the broader sense, it also served as validation that the Z06 GT3.R is a versatile package that’s as capable in the hands of the Pratt Miller factory team as it is with a privateer.
The title was captured in dramatic circumstances, after a nail-biting final hour in which factory driver Charlie Eastwood was forced to hold off a hard-charging Wayne Boyd in United Autosports’ McLaren while dealing with a drop off in pace from the car. The seven-car title showdown was essentially reduced to a two-car duel by the end of the race with the #50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 296, which could only muster an eighth-place finish.
“It was a very stressful stint to say the least. We had something we were trying to manage, and with that, it was super-difficult,” Eastwood, who now has a title with Corvette to his name, said. “The pace of the McLaren and Wayne has been unbelievable all year.
“Coming into Turn 5, I could see him behind, and then as I came out, he was getting closer and closer. Fortunately, as the sun started to go down, we gained a little bit of grip. But he was right there for the last 10 or 15 laps. My engineer came on the radio, saying there were six laps to go, and he was literally right behind me and significantly faster.
“I had to stay in front because there was a queue of Ferraris behind and I didn’t know whether they’d let the #50 Richard Mille car through to help them with the title if I fell to second.
“I was all-out to make sure we got it to the line. What an achievement for the whole team. I’m going to remember this one for a while.”
For Tom Ferrier, both titles feel oh so sweet for his Sussex-based team. Tonight, the celebrations continue at the end-of-season ELMS awards night in Portimão. Tomorrow, attention shifts to the FIA WEC finale in Bahrain, where it is still alive in the championship with its two-car effort, and putting together a programme for 2026.
“It was a big day for us. It felt like a relief more than anything, but it showed off our strengths. With AO, it’s been a pleasure working with them again, and we definitely plan to be back and defend the title in 2026,” Ferrier revealed.
“Then with Corvette, it’s massive for the brand and what we’re trying to achieve together. Bahrain is going to be tough, but you never know, we’ve been there before with a big lead and lost it. So we have hope that we can clinch another title with the Z06.
“Either way, it’s been a great year. The car has come on in leaps and bounds in a short space of time, and the speed and results came together after a tough start. It’s nice that, finally, we have an ELMS GT title as a team too; it’s been a long time coming.
“We have big plans with Corvette to keep growing. We are putting together a plan that will see us back in WEC and ELMS with the car next year, and trying to get a second Z06 on the grid in Europe.”
