The 2025 European Le Mans Series has seen a few ‘firsts’ this season and two of these ‘firsts’ were provided by the crew of the no82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R. Not only did Hiroshi Koizumi score the first ELMS pole position for the American manufacturer in Portimão, the Japanese driver, along with Rui Andrade and Charlie Eastwood, went on to win the final race of the season and secure the first ever ELMS championship title for Corvette.
The dramas for TF Sport began before the start of the season in Barcelona.The silver and black Corvette that was unveiled pre-season was nowhere to be seen in the paddock as it had been destroyed in a two-day test at Spa-Francorchamps. While Hiroshi Koisumi was unharmed in the accident, the car itself was beyond repair and was replaced by one of the yellow and black WEC cars for the opening race of the season in Spain.
Qualifying was pretty forgettable for the TF Sport team, with Koizumi qualifying in 12thplace out of the 13 entries in the class. The race saw a solid performance in the replacement car, with Charlie Eastwood taking the chequered flag in sixth place and eight valuable points.
The race win went to the no85 Iron Dames Porsche crew, finishing ahead of the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari and the no60 Proton Competition Porsche, with all three cars covered by just 1.8 seconds after the four hours race in Barcelona.
The more familiar Silver and Black Corvette Z06 made it first ELMS appearance at Le Castellet. Koizumi qualified further up the order in 7th place but was nearly 1.5 seconds off the pole time set by Clement Mateu in the no59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage.
The race pace was getting stronger with the no82 Corvette running in the midfield before retiring five laps before the chequered flag.
The win in Le Castellet went to the no50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari of Lilou Wadoux, Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini, who finished just 0.3 seconds ahead of the no63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG and 1.6 seconds in front of the third placed no86 GR Racing Ferrari 296 LMGT3.
After a break in June for the annual trip to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for some of the ELMS teams, the European Le Mans Series resumed in Italy the following month for the 4 Hours of Imola.
Qualifying saw the Corvette qualify in 8th, 1.6 seconds off the pole time. However, the race pace was something else with Hiroshi Koizumi moving up the field to second to challenge for the lead before heavy rain came down, with the leading Iron Dames Porsche sliding off the track and gifting the lead to TF Sport.Rui Andrade took over the driving duties and was leading the LMGT3 category.
In the final 30-minutes Charlie Eastwood was holding off a determined challenge from Miguel Molina in the no74 Kessel Racing Ferrari, but a late penalty for the no74 car saw the pressure relieved before the chequered flag was waved, with Eastwood securing the first ELMS victory for Corvette and his own first LMGT3 ELMS win. The no74 Ferrari finished second 7 seconds down the road, with the no55 Spirit of Race Ferrari in third.
The extra ballast following the win in Italy didn’t assist the team in Spa-Francorchamps. Hiroshi Koizumi was struggling for speed in qualifying, finishing the session in 12th.
Another solid performance from the trio of drivers and the TF Sport team as a whole saw them securing 8th place and four valuable championship points. The win in Belgium went to the no59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage, with the no63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG in second and the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari scoring another podium finish.
After four races, the no82 Corvette was lying in 7th place in the championship standings but only nine points behind the leading no59 Aston Martin Vantage.
The ELMS return to Silverstone after six years was a race that was going to be savoured by the whole paddock, but especially by the British teams and drivers, such as TF Sport.
Qualifying saw the Corvette take 7th place on the grid at the end of the 15-minute session.The race itself was hampered by heavy rain in the second half, with the teams having to change their strategies as they got more information on the weather and track conditions.
There were two red flags for accidents early in the race, but once the racing resumed Koizumi was making his way up the field, taking the lead before heavy rain returned to shake up the order once again.
The race was finally red flagged for a third and final time with just over 10-minutes to go as the track conditions were too dangerous. The no50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari was declared the winner, ahead of the no86 GR Racing Ferrari, with the no82 Corvette picking up the final podium position.
With one race remaining to decide the title, no less than seven cars still had a mathematical chance of taking the championship. The main contenders were the no50 Ferrari on 66 points, with the no59 Aston Martin on 54 points and the no82 Corvette lying in third place on 52 points.
After struggling in the midfield in qualifying all season, Hiroshi Koizumi found his pace in Portugal. After a short stop when the session was red flagged early on to recover a car, the Japanese driver put the no82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R on pole, claiming the vital championship point in the process. Koizumi’s lap was just 0.006s ahead of championship rival Clement Mateu in the no59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage.
Both Koizumi and Andrade put in solid performances to hand the Corvette over to Eastwood in good shape. However, the Irish driver had to hold off a very determined challenge from Wayne Boyd in the no23 United Autosports McLaren in the final 20 minutes of the race. For lap after lap the two cars battled for the lead and when the chequered flag came out, Eastwood crossed the line just 0.3 seconds ahead to claim the second win of the season for the TF Sport crew and the 2025 LMGT3 Championship title.
For the second year in a row, the LMGT3 title was won by a crew comprised of drivers from Asia, Africa and Europe, following on from the success in 2024 by the Iron Lynx crew of Hiroshi Hamaguchi, Axcil Jefferies and Andrea Calderelli.
The final result saw the no82 TF Sport Corvette finish the season on 78 points, with the no50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari on 70 points after finishing in 8th place, with the no59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage in third place on 64 points after finishing 5th in Portimão.
CLICK HERE for the LMGT3 Championship Standings after the 4 Hours of Portimão.
NEXT WEEK: A dominant LMP3 performance secures CLX Motorsport the 2025 Title
