LMGT3 class winner Daniel Juncadella admitted the great pressure on defending the win at the FIA World Endurance Championship‘s Qatar 1812 km.
“For the whole stint, for sure that was a lot of pressure in the last 30 minutes,” said the #33 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R driver.
“At beginning I didn’t think I could hold [the #59 – Gregoire Saucy] off.
“I just focused on hitting my marks. I could see where he was stronger in places.
“There were a couple of places where he could have gone for it and I think he was unsure.
“So it was good to keep him behind.
“At some point I was thinking we were going to finish second but I was focused on myself, my driving and not making mistakes. And here we are.”
The 2025 season-opener hosted a tense final hour in the LMGT3 category as TF Sport and United Autosports were spurred on by the glory of a maiden victory in the category.
As the other #81 TF Sport Corvette, which looked competitive earlier on, retired due to a broken alternator shaft pulley, the #33 entrant was the team’s sole chance to win after 10 hours.
The #33 fought their way up to contention, having qualified 13th in the LMGT3 class, whilst United Autosports’ #95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 EVO lost their winning chances.
This was due to a drive-through penalty from an unsafe pit stop release and so the #59 McLaren became hope for their desire for LMGT3 victory.
‘We had to let others take themselves out of contention’ says Keating
“I couldn’t have imagined this,” said Ben Keating, one of the other #33 co-drivers to Juncadella and a former champion in Corvette machinery.
“Even if you look at the way the race unfolded, we didn’t have the speed to win it.
“We had to let others take themselves out of contention, and we’ll take it any way we can get it! We ran a clean race and a hard race…
“The last 30 minutes of Dani staying in front of the McLaren was just epic.
“To start 13th and end up in first place after 10 hours of hard racing is not easy.”
Meanwhile the other #33 Corvette co-driver, Jonny Edgar, took on his maiden WEC victory alike Juncadella as Keating claimed his eighth.
Corvette had one existing win thus far in 2025 at the IMSA 24 Hours of Daytona on 25-26 January in the GTD category.
The next stop on the calendar for the Corvette brand will be at the 73rd running of the 12 Hours of Sebring on 15 March.
READ MORE: Daniel Juncadella fends off McLaren towards Corvette LMGT3 victory in Qatar
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