Redhill-based TF Sport, who won the LM GTE Am class at the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans, has announced a two-car entry for the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship.
The first of the entries, in the GTE Am class, will be driven by Ben Keating, Felipe Fraga and Dylan Pereira.
Ben Keating from Texas, owner of The Keating Auto Group, began his racing career in the 2010 Dodge Viper Cup and competed in the 2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship with Team Project 1, finishing 18th in the drivers standings. Keating Motorsports campaigned a Ford GT at the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning on track but later being disqualified for a fuel tank irregularity.
“I am very excited about 2021!” said Keating. “The whole programme, Daytona and the WEC, came together at the same time and joining TF, along with Aston Martin, meant that I had great options for many of my goals. I have always enjoyed working with Tom Ferrier and once 4 Horsemen Racing came along as a partner for the WEC program, it was an easy decision. This will be my seventh year in a row at Le Mans and it will be my seventh different car to drive!
“This sport, this series and this class is so awesome! It is the only place I know of where a guy like me can compete on the same field, at the same time, in the same game with the best in the world and still be crowned world champion, which is the ultimate goal this season!”
25 year-old Brazilian Felipe Fraga, who drove alongside Ben Keating in the 2019-20 FIA WEC, began his karting career in 2009. He moved to car racing in 2012, competing in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup. Fraga began racing GT cars in 2015 and has since competed in the Intercontinental GT Challenge and the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup (now the GT World Challenge Endurance Cup), winning the Silver Cup drivers series in 2019 alongside Nico Bastian and Timur Boguslavskiy in the AKKA ASP Team Mercedes.
Dylan Pereira from Luxembourg has seen most of his GT racing experience in Porsches. The 23 year-old competed in the 2020 Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East finishing 7th in the standings as well as the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup where he finished second.
The second of two cars which TF Sport will be campaining will be the D’Station entry. The #777 car will be driven by Tomonobu Fujii and Satoshi Hoshino with a Silver driver yet to be announced.
Tomonobu Fujii is Team Managing Director of D’Station Racing while Satoshi Hoshino is Team Owner. D’Station Racing debuted in 2013 when Satoshi Hoshino entered the Porsche Carrera Cup Japan. From 2017 the team has focused on Super GT and Super Taikyu in domestic racing series as well as one-off participations in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Tomonobu Fujii is looking forward to the team’s full-season participation at the highest level of GT racing.
“I am very excited to announce our entry for the FIA World Endurance Championship and the 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans” said Tomonobu Fujii. “Being able to compete in the FIA WEC has been a major goal for D’Station Racing since it’s inauguration.”
The 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship season gets underway at Sebring on March 13 – 14 with a pre-season test followed by the ‘1000 Miles of Sebring’ on March 19.
