12 hours ago
- Automotive
- Belfast Telegraph
Charlie Eastwood toasts ‘faultless' effort after podium finish at 24 Hours of Le Mans
The Gold-rated driver laid the foundations for third place at the twice-around-the-clock meeting as he completed half of the event distance in the No.81 Z06 GT3.R.
Starting from sixth place on a packed grid, Eastwood, Tom Van Rompuy and Rui Andrade kept in touch with the LMGT3 pack before breaking into the top three when darkness fell.
The charge continued as Eastwood lapped Circuit de la Sarthe and he became the new class leader around 5am French time, and despite the Corvette lacking straight-line speed, its pace through corners and ability to preserve its tyres better paid dividends.
Despite surrendering top spot and finishing 71 seconds behind the victorious LMGT3 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 of Ryan Hardwick, Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera and 38.451 seconds in arrears of the AF Course Ferrari shared by Simon Mann, Francois Heriau and Alessio Rovera, Eastwood said he had no complaints with coming home in third.
'I am delighted with the podium,' said Eastwood, who now has three Le Mans 24 Hour podiums to his name.
'It was a tricky week all week for us as we struggled for straight-line speed which, at a track like Le Mans, tends to come in pretty handy, but it was probably one of the most faultless 24-hour races I have been a part of.
'There were no mistakes from the drivers' side, every pit-stop was perfect and there was not a single touch of damage on the car for the entire race, and those were the things that put us into contention for a podium place.
'It is my first podium in a Corvette – and what a place to have it. Hopefully, it is the first of many at Le Mans – and hopefully I will get even more chances to step even higher on it in future – but right now, I am absolutely busted.'
He added: 'Again, like most previous years, I ended up doing just under half of the race whereas the other two guys completed six hours each as their minimum driver time.
'So, I am pretty tired but extremely satisfied with our performance and the team's as a whole.'
Meanwhile, a retrospective time penalty by stewards at Rali de Castelo Branco cost Kris Meeke a fourth victory from five starts in the 2025 Portuguese Rally Championship.
The Dungannon man thought he had taken top spot – and maximum points – from Dani Sordo by 14.5 seconds only to be punished after he was found to be in breach of the rules.
The College of Sports Commissioners said he failed to adhere to the road book as per the International Sporting Code, saying the integrity of the course must always be respected.
'It is very tough to lose a rally like this,' said Meeke, who finished runner-up. 'However, I am very happy with the performance.
'The fight with Dani was excellent, he is one of the best drivers in the world on asphalt, so I really had to give it my all to stay ahead of him.'
