Season two of LMGT3 in the FIA WEC has a remarkably different feel to it, despite the fact that the vast majority of the teams have returned. If you scratch beneath the surface, it becomes apparent that the balance of power looks poised to shift, after Manthey and Porsche dominated the 2024 season with its EMA and Pure Rxcing 911s.
Balance of Performance will clearly play its part, as will the introduction of Goodyear’s Medium Plus compound, which is expected to debut at Interlagos and be utilised at CoTA and Bahrain. However, it’s arguably the driver lineups that make the biggest difference here, and there’s been plenty of movement over the winter.
Finding a Bronze-graded star in this ruleset is vital, as well as a Silver-graded racer who, as one team source puts it, “should have been made Gold in the off-season.” Thus, keeping tabs and analysing the rosters coming together in the off-season is key to getting a sense of which manufacturers will be in contention in a category that promises to be so close. So who deserves the attention?
Ben Keating’s return to the WEC full-time is a clear headline. The veteran Texan, who lest we forget cleaned up just two years ago in GTE Am with Corvette Racing winning the title and Le Mans, is back with the GM brand and TF Sport. He will campaign the No. 33 Z06 LMGT3.R with two new teammates, Jonny Edgar and Daniel Juncadella.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and that’s the story here. After a year in IMSA LMP2 with United Autosports and one-off races at Le Mans and CoTA in the WEC, he’s now flipped to a full WEC campaign with an appearance at Daytona last month.
“The reason I’m with this program is a big series of little things,” he told RACER. “I love being with TF Sport, I love running the Corvette, I really appreciate the WEC rules, the way it races, my drive time matters. I love IMSA, the paddock, the people, but I don’t like feeling my time doesn’t matter.
“So I’m here and it’s the first time ever I’ve had my name on the side of the car with Keating Chevrolet, and it’s a big deal for me to race something I sell. It’s key to my racing. It just all came together, I could even return to get my number, 33.”
There’s work to be done to get up to speed and score points early in the season, though Keating has full confidence that TF is now on top of the car and that his teammates will help secure strong results.
“This championship starts off with a race that’s worth points and a half, so with only eight races, it’s going to be extremely important to score big here,” he pointed out. “You can’t finish outside the top 10 and expect to come back from that.”
The Corvettes ran fast and reliability in the Prologue and Edgar, he told RACER, looks to be a particularly hot prospect. The 21-year-old Briton, who won the 2024 European Le Mans Series LMP2 title with AO by TF, is new to GT racing but made the most of a shot at the drive on the back of a recommendation by team owner Tom Ferrier.
“We tested 10 Silvers, at two tracks, and two of them stood out to me, Jonny was one of them. He was dialled in immediately. It was impressive,” Keating added.
Is it notable that after a one-off appearance with Proton Competition in a Ford Mustang last year at CoTA, he hasn’t returned to race with the Blue Oval in 2025? He does sell Fords as well as Chevrolets in his role at the helm of the Keating Auto Group outside of racing after all.
“The characteristics of the GT3 Corvette are that it’s easy to drive. It makes everybody look good. That means it’s also that you rely less on tire performance. I can be more consistent with this car than the others. I enjoyed CoTA last year, but it was tough and the Ford doesn’t quite feel ready yet.”
Elsewhere, the atmosphere at McLaren partner team United Autosports compared to the 2024 Prologue 12 months ago is completely different. The deal for last season came together late and testing opportunities were limited. It made for a tough start to the year, but momentum did pick up for the Anglo-American after Le Mans.
The hope within the camp is that the upward trajectory continues into its sophomore campaign with Papaya and black-liveried GT3 Evos. The addition of Darren Leung to its driver roster is a reason to be cheerful and feels like a statement of intent. The former British GT Champion, who impressed in his Rookie WEC season last year with WRT and was part of BMW’s only win in LMGT3 at Imola, has made the move after much deliberation.