Hiroshi Koizumi, Sébastien Baud and Daniel Juncadella will race the #82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year, the team has announced.
All three drivers will be making their full season WEC debuts, with Koizumi the only one with any experience in the series, having raced in the 2023 6 Hours of Fuji, in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo entry. Also in 2023, he finished second in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, and won the Japanese Formula 3 championship in 2014.
“I am really proud to work with such experienced drivers like Daniel and Sébastien,” said Koizumi.
“I am looking forward to team up with Daniel Juncadella, winner of Macau and a successful DTM driver: it will definitely be a new opportunity for me. We will do our best to be the number one driver package in the GT3 class”.
Baud, meanwhile, will make his debut in the WEC. The 23-year-old returned to GT racing in 2022, racing in GT Open and the GT World Challenge Europe, and is now stepping up to the pinnacle of endurance and sportscar racing.
The young Frenchman said: “I am so excited to know that I am making a childhood dream come true! It is an honour to join a successful team like TF Sport in the WEC.
“I will be driving a Corvette Z06 GT3.R, a car that marked my inspiration in the 24 Hours of Le Mans! I am looking forward to work with my more experienced teammates, from whom I will be able to learn even more, especially from Dani. Thanks to the team for the trust!”
Finally, Juncadella will likely be a name known to many sportscar fans. After racing with Mercedes as a factory driver for many years, he’s now switched to Corvette and will also be making his WEC debut with the American manufacturer and TF Sport.
“It’s going to be an exciting season: it will be the first opportunity to race in the FIA WEC and to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which makes it all so special,” said the Spaniard.
“New team, new brand, new car, new teammates, everything is a new challenge and it’s really exciting. I am stoked to get to know the team well, to get to know Hiroshi during testing at the start of the season and also Seb, who I already know a little bit. I’m very keen to team up with them and get to work from day one: I hope we will have a strong season!”.
And finally, Tom Ferrier, TF Sport director, said: “We are very pleased to announce our full line-up for the 2024 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
It’s time to welcome Hiroshi, Sébastien and Daniel to the team: we are convinced that, together with the new Corvette Z06 GT3.R, they are a squad capable of achieving great results”.
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