The 32-year-old Spaniard is one in every of 4 new drivers to have been added to the American marque’s works pool for the primary season of competitors for the all-new Corvette Z06 GT3.R, together with Earl Bamber, Charlie Eastwood and Nico Varrone.
Juncadella makes the transfer to Corvette after three seasons as a manufacturing unit Mercedes-AMG GT3 driver, and can contest the complete eight-round WEC marketing campaign for companion group TF Sport within the new-for-2024 LMGT3 class, together with the Le Mans 24 Hours.
He may even contest the Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours and Petit Le Mans rounds of the IMSA SportsCar Championship in one of many two GTD Professional-class Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette entries, alongside full-season pairing Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims.
“I’ve been a witness to what it means to be a Corvette driver within the U.S,” commented Juncadella, who received 4 IMSA GTD Professional races this 12 months alongside Jules Gounon.
“Which means a very large fan base. That’s fairly thrilling, to be trustworthy.
“At each autograph session in IMSA that I’ve been sitting subsequent to the Corvette tent, there’s a queue of 100 folks ready to get an autograph from their drivers, and we had been simply sitting round!
“That’s very thrilling, I’ve to say, to see the legacy that Corvette Racing has created within the U.S. and to see the quantity of consciousness in regards to the model could be very thrilling. It makes me proud and it feels fairly distinctive to be a Corvette manufacturing unit driver.”
Juncadella’s departure from the Mercedes fold follows right this moment’s affirmation that Raffaele Marciello will also leave the marque after the FIA GT World Cup in Macau.
Photograph by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
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Belfast-born Eastwood joins Juncadella as one of many two professional drivers that may signify the two-car TF Sport squad full-time within the WEC subsequent season.
Just like the group itself, he ends an extended affiliation with Aston Martin with a purpose to make the transfer. He has raced with TF Sport since 2018, and in 2020 received the Le Mans 24 Hours GTE Am class.
“This actually ranks up there for me, becoming a member of such a model like Corvette and an organisation like GM,” mentioned Eastwood, additionally the reigning Asian Le Mans Sequence LMP2 champion.
“It’s what so many drivers want for his or her complete profession. It appears to be a tremendous place to be, and you may see that as a result of so many drivers keep for therefore lengthy.
“I’m actually wanting ahead to that chance to be taught from the most effective within the enterprise and push on collectively to realize nice issues for a few years to come back.”
Bamber will share the sister GTD Professional Corvette with Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg at Daytona, Sebring and Street Atlanta on prime of his full-season WEC commitments with sister model Cadillac.
“Once I did my first take a look at at Street America, you may see why they’ve been so profitable,” mentioned the New Zealander.
“I’ve pushed the Z06 GT3.R and I believe the package deal is admittedly good. These guys have constructed improbable GTLM vehicles over time, and I don’t see why the Corvette GT3 ought to be any completely different.
Photograph by: JEP / Motorsport Images
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“It’s a well-balanced automotive already simply in its infancy, so I believe they are going to be a formidable drive not simply in IMSA but additionally as this program seeks out to go all world wide. I believe will probably be one of many benchmark vehicles into the long run.”
Varrone was a part of this 12 months’s title-winning marketing campaign within the WEC with Corvette alongside Catsburg and Ben Keating, and can proceed his journey with the American marque in IMSA as a part of the AWA group within the pro-am GTD class.
“To start with, it’s an enormous honour to be a manufacturing unit driver for Corvette,” mentioned Varrone, who will share a automotive with Anthony Mantella.
“It’s additionally good to be again in IMSA subsequent season with everybody at AWA. These are those that I do know from this 12 months and doing the endurance races in LMP3.
“It is going to be an enormous problem with the brand new automotive, not just for our group however everybody in the whole Corvette program. However that is additionally a very new class for AWA.
“It is going to be a problem however we can be ready to benefit from it and get some wins with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R and have a fantastic season.”