Corvette Scores Comeback Win at Le Mans | CorvetteStoreOnline.com

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the ultimate test of man and machine. Two trips around the clock at this 8.5 mile, 38 turn beast requires resilience, speed, and teamwork. The #33 Corvette C8.R Team with drivers Nicky Catsburg, Nico Varrone and Ben Keating exemplified those characteristics in an unlikely and inspiring comeback win in this year's historic 100th 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Adversity found the Corvette Racing Team before the race even started. In the closing 5 minutes of practice for the event, driver Nico Varrone lost control of the #33 Corvette C8.R in the Tetre Rouge Corner, backing it into the tire barriers and effectively decimating the machine.

An incredible scramble followed with the Corvette Racing Team replacing nearly every chassis and aerodynamic component on the car. Following an impossible series of repairs, the #33 Corvette C8.R returned to the grid for qualifying with driver Nicky Catsburg taking the pole position in the GTE Am Class by over a full second.

With the impossible seemingly behind them the Corvette Racing Team was dominant early. Despite adverse monsoon like conditions, Catsburg lead the opening stint of the race in dominating fashion until an early full course yellow and pit stop sequence would shake up the running order.

Disaster would strike again shortly after the race resumed, this time in the form of a Damper failure that would send the C8.R to the garage area for repairs. Hot off a brush with near disaster earlier in the week, the Corvette Racing Team was quick and efficient in their repairs only losing 2 laps with over 21 hours remaining.

The #33 C8.R Corvette navigates Le Man's tight turns. (Photo Credit: Richard Prince/Corvette Racing)

Over the course of the following hours the #33 team was focused on damage control. Conditions worsened as day turned to the night with steady rain all but blinded the drivers post sunset. A brilliant overnight performance by driver Ben Keating allowed the #33 to climb the standings while their competitors fell out of the race one by one in what would become a war of attrition.

By morning, only 9 of the 21 entries in the GTE Am Class remained and the #33 Corvette had regained both lost laps. In an incredible, and extremely unlikely comeback, Corvette Racing continued to press on, reassuming the race's Top Spot with 5 hours remaining.

In a performance for the ages Catsburg, Varrone and Keating wouldn't relinquish the race's lead for long, the trio going on to win the GTE Am Class by a full lap over their competitors in an unthinkable comeback. The win was Corvette's first since 2015, and the 9th for Corvette overall in the 24 Hours of Le Mans