Nico Varrone admitted that he had begun to feel the absence of endurance racing before making his return to the world of sports cars for the Sao Paulo round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, where he will drive the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R for the first time in four months.
This year, Varrone had pivoted to FIA Formula 2 as his main focus, while Argentina’s renewed appetite for single-seaters followed Franco Colapinto’s move back to Formula 1.
In parallel with his F2 program, Varrone had competed in the opening two Endurance Cup rounds of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in a Corvette, and now he is stepping back into the WEC to take the place of Nicky Catsburg in the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette, as Catsburg competes in WeatherTech Championship action at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The one-off outing will see Varrone reunite with Ben Keating, with whom he won the GTE Pro class at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, a pairing he says holds “really good memories and a strong relationship.”
“Honestly, I was buzzing from the moment I learned I’d be stepping in for Catsburg,” Varrone told Sportscar365. “I love this track; for me it feels like a home race next to Argentina, and we don’t get to race here very often, so this round is one of the best opportunities to be here.”
He recalled watching Le Mans and feeling that he should be part of the action there.
Varrone acknowledged that re-acclimating to the Corvette during the initial Interlagos practice felt odd, but he quickly found his rhythm and is focused on contributing to TF’s LMGT3 title bid.
He also noted uncertainty about his long-term plans, including whether he might pursue another season in Formula 2 to apply everything he’s learned, given that his most recent single-seater outing was BRDC British F3 in 2020 prior to joining Van Amersfoort Racing.
“We need to start posting some results now; it’s been a roller-coaster of a season, and we’ll see if we continue with single-seaters in the future,” he said, “but it’s been an amazing experience, and I’m learning a lot.”
“The competition is tougher than I expected. The driving style is different, the weekend format is different, and not racing FIA F3 or any ladder system really takes a toll.”
Regardless of whether he commits to another year in single-seaters, Varrone reaffirmed that sports-car racing remains his top focus.
“I love sports cars—that’s obvious from the way I smile when I’m back at it. I’m really enjoying this,” he concluded.
Catsburg’s absence has left Jonny Edgar as the only driver to have entered every WEC round this year in the No. 33 Corvette, after Keating sat out the first two events with a shoulder injury.
Edgar said he was glad TF could call in another proven rider to fill Catsburg’s seat.
“Nico races the car in IMSA, and the engineer he works with in IMSA, Tyler, is the same engineer who works on our car here, so it’s the same setup,” Edgar told Sportscar365. “We even use the same seat as his IMSA car.”
“I haven’t had to worry, which is nice. Nico has been fantastic, and in FP1 his first lap was already up to speed.”
“He hasn’t driven this car since Sebring, and he’s been focused on his F2 program, which is a very different animal, but you wouldn’t know he hadn’t driven it for four months.”
“It’s great to have teammates you can trust to deliver, no questions asked,” he added.
Varrone’s best time across the opening two practice sessions in Interlagos was a 1:35.749 in FP2, a touch quicker than Edgar’s best in FP1.
