Jonny Edgar secured the LMGT3 drivers' championship after a dramatic season-ending race in which his TF Sport Corvette teammate Ben Keating's penalty threatened to derail their title hopes before a late recovery sealed the crown.

The race win itself went to the Manthey Porsche 911 LMGT3 of Yasser Shahin, Riccardo Pera and Richard Lietz, the final LMGT3 victory of the season, but it was not enough to deny Edgar the championship. Edgar shared the #33 Corvette with Keating and Nicky Catsburg, and their title bid looked in jeopardy when Keating picked up a penalty in the second hour for an infraction committed under Virtual Safety Car conditions, dropping the car outside the points-scoring positions.

A string of penalties for rival contenders combined with strong stints from Edgar allowed the Corvette to climb back through the order as the race progressed, ultimately confirming Edgar as LMGT3 world champion. The result also handed TF Sport the teams' title, adding it to the squad's 2022 WEC LMGTE Am championship.

The opening phase of the race had been dominated by a close battle between the Proton Competition Ford Mustangs and the Akkodis ASP Lexus entries, with cars from both camps trading the lead before running into trouble. The #77 Mustang of Eric Powell passed the pole-sitting #78 Lexus of Tom Van Rompuy after five laps, but both drivers were hit with penalties — Powell picking up two drive-throughs for track limits violations and Van Rompuy penalised for a pair of VSC infringements.

That opened the door for the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus to spend a lengthy spell at the front, before Giammarco Levorato took over in the #88 Proton Mustang, a car that had earlier been penalised for power overuse. Meanwhile, Clemens Schmid was forced to stop his Lexus on track after debris punctured the radiator and caused overheating.

A fourth VSC period reshaped the fight for the lead, benefiting the #92 Manthey Porsche and #33 TF Sport Corvette — the two title contenders — as the only cars yet to make their pit stops, putting them first and second. Ben Tuck then produced a spectacular move in the #77 Proton Mustang to snatch the lead from the Porsche in the fifth hour, but the American squad's hopes were ended when Sebastien Priaulx made contact with the #7 Toyota, damaging the Mustang and forcing a pit stop for repairs.

That left the #92 Porsche, now in the hands of Lietz contesting his 100th WEC race, clear to take the chequered flag 0.270 seconds ahead of a charging #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage, shared by Eduardo Barrichello, Gray Newell and Jonny Adam. Third place went to the TF Sport Corvette, enough for Edgar, Keating and Catsburg to complete the championship-winning campaign.

Source: FIA WEC

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