After the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, BMW must improve its reliability
Right from the opening laps of the race, BMW suffered a brake problem on the #15 that doomed its race. The sister car had good pace and was able to aim for the top 5.
Reason to have regrets. As in practically every round, BMW positions itself as an outsider ready to pounce on every opportunity. Even if the German cars are slightly behind the leading team, they are always nearby.
In Sao Paulo, this rule was not exempted, and the two hypercars of Vincent Vosse’s team could have achieved a good result. But everything was wiped out after six minutes. Kevin Magnussen, in the #15, had to pit for a brake issue and stayed there for a good fifteen laps. Race condemned.
There was therefore only #20 left, which battled extensively with the Peugeots and ultimately got the better of the two Lions to finish the six-hour race in fifth place.
In GT3, only the #46 managed to get into the points zone, but it was difficult. Right from the start, both BMWs lost significant time due to the challenges of the first corners. Valentino Rossi’s car even had to go wide and rejoined in last place. The #31 was less hindered but lost several positions.
The fifth place of the #20 is the result of an almost flawless race from our team. Even without the drive-through penalty, there was nothing more to achieve. This allowed us to be the “best of the rest” here. It’s good, but we wanted to be on the podium. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough this time. We will have to carefully analyze the cause of the braking problems of the #15. For now, we can’t say anything definitive. In the LMGT3 category, we probably had the best races we’ve ever had in the FIA WEC with both cars. Finishing tenth and twelfth says a lot, I think, analyzes Vincent Vosse, the head of WRT, which operates the BMWs.
