Podium for new Corvette and Steller Motorsport on debut at Paul Ricard

After much anticipation and a rigorous preseason testing programme, it was finally time for Steller Motorsport to make its racing debut with its new Corvette Z06 GT3.R, a debut marked with a podium finish in the opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS at Circuit Paul Ricard, after finishing second in the Silver Cup class after a hard-fought six-hour endurance battle.

In just its first competitive outing the British squad showed impressive pace all weekend, from practice through to a fourth-in-class grid spot, before drivers Matisse Lismont, Kiern Jewiss, and Lorcan Hanafin piloted the no. 24 Corvette to a strong second-place finish in class, completing 178 laps around the 5.8 km French circuit.

Lismont took the opening stint was running fifth in class in the early stages. A double stint for the Belgian kept the team in the battle for a top-five finish before he handed over to Jewiss.

Fresh from a win in British GT last weekend, Jewiss climbed to third by the halfway stage, and, like his teammate, did back-to-back stints and remained in the fight for third. Hanafin took the final stints and remained in podium contention before gaining ground in the final hour to secure a well-earned runner-up result.

Matisse Lismont said, "It was an absolute blast of a first weekend with Steller Motorsport. We had a clean race all the way to the flag without any issues, which is a testament to the team. Kiern, Lorcan and I were consistently fast the whole race long, which ended up with an amazing and deserved result when we crossed the finish line."

Kiern Jewiss added, "I’d like to thank Steller for the opportunity to drive its new Corvette in the most competitive GT championship in the world. The team made great calls all weekend and managed to collect some useful data to help develop the car further as it’s still very early days. The whole team and my teammates did a mega job all weekend, and I believe the team has a great future with the Corvette."

Lorcan Hanafin commented, "This was a great way to start our GT World campaign. The car ran faultlessly and the team did a fantastic job on all pitstops and strategy calls. So, a massive thank you to them and to my teammates who also did a mega job. We didn’t have the pace to compete for the win this weekend but it's early days with a brand new car, and we maximised the package for a P2 finish."

Team manager Max Daymond summed up the weekend, saying, “There’s always a steep learning curve when debuting a new car, but we’ve put in an enormous amount of work in the off-season to understand the Corvette and that commitment has paid off. To come away from Paul Ricard with a podium in our first race is a huge reward for the entire team and a great foundation to build on for the rest of the season. The drivers did a great job and we're looking to use this as a launchpad to kick-off the rest of the season.”

The next round of the GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS season is the first Sprint Cup round, and will take place at Brands Hatch in the UK from 3-4 May.

Photos: SRO / Jakob Ebrey