News cover

TF SPORT CROWNED 2021 FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP LMGTE AM VICE-CHAMPIONS

Three podium finishes, including a dominant victory, and two pole positions led the #33 TF Sport trio of Ben Keating, Dylan Pereira and Felipe Fraga to claim second place in the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship LMGTE Am standings. It was not the year-end the team wished for, after heavy contact during the 8 Hours of Bahrain ended any championship title hopes for the #33 Aston Martin Vantage. Nevertheless, it was another strong season for the TF Sport crew. After a hard-fought eight hours for the #777 D'station Racing GTE, Andrew Watson took the chequered flag in Bahrain, to claim eighth position at the season finale and secure ninth in the 2021 LMGTE Am rankings. It was a superb debut season for the D'station Racing crew of Watson, Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii, in the FIA World Endurance Championship. With strong showings at every round, including the team's first WEC podium at Monza and finishing sixth at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. TF Sport has already confirmed a championship return, with Ben Keating in 2022 and further announcements will be made in due course.
Tom Ferrier, TF Sport Team Owner - "Yet again we came so close, and despite the contact during yesterday's race, we just couldn't compete on speed. Nevertheless I'm proud of every member of the TF Sport and D'station Racing crews on another successful year. I'm really looking forward to having Ben back with us next season and the aim will be to run multiple cars in the LMGTE Am class in 2022."
Ben Keating, TF Sport Bronze Driver - "The final race was disappointing, but I need to take it as another learning opportunity. Dylan and the team did an unbelievable job getting us back up in a relatively good position. All three Astons has a difficult race, but I think the fact is we were just trying incredibly hard because we were not competitive on speed, so aimed to make up for it on effort and that's a really tough way to try and win a race. It was a great year, I really enjoyed driving the car and working with the team, but I really feel like it was a season of lost opportunities. We should've won Spa, Monza and Le Mans, but I can look back at each one and learn from it, to work on for next season. We clearly have unfinished business and I'm looking forward to improving on our results in 2022, in hope to winning the Championship."
Dylan Pereira, TF Sport Silver Driver - "The last race of the season didn't go how we wanted. We fought really hard, but unfortunately it didn't work out. In the end, I'm quite happy to finish P2, but if the luck had been on our side, it could have been just that little bit better. On the whole, it was a really good year and hopefully I can drive again with TF Sport in the future."
Felipe Fraga, TF Sport Gold Driver - "It was a very good year for my first full season in WEC. I am happy that we finished second in the World Endurance Championship, we need to be proud of it. We were very close to winning it, but the incidents were out of our hands, it was just bad luck. It was a pleasure to drive the Aston Martin, it's a really good car, especially in Le Mans, and it was a pleasure to drive for TF Sport. I have driven for many teams and the way that Tom and the whole crew operate, works very well. I have felt at home since the first race with them and that means a lot to me. Of course I wanted more, but we can't complain, that's racing. For now, we will celebrate and I hope to come back again next year."
Andrew Watson, D'station Racing Silver Driver - "Looking back on the whole season, I think the D'station Racing crew can be really happy with their performance. Obviously the highlight was the podium at Monza, we were really competitive and a good strong run at Le Mans was a great experience. We just had some bad luck at a couple of races which hurt our championship points tally, but we improved every weekend and had some great speed. For our first year I think it was really solid and a good foundation to move forwards. Thanks to Hoshino-san and Fujii-san and the whole D'station Racing team for having me involved this year, I really enjoyed it. Thank you also to TF Sport for all of their hard work and professionalism."
Tomonobu Fujii, D'station Racing Gold Driver - "We finished the final round of the World Endurance Championship at P8, which concludes our first year in the series. We had some great highlights this season, namely our podium finish at Monza and P6 finish at 24 Hours of Le Mans. Thank you to all of our team members, and our fans."