6 Hours of Sao Paulo – Race (H+4): The Toyota No.8 took the lead, the Iron Dames have lost everything

We were approaching the halfway point of the race and Toyota was maintaining its lead in the overall standings with a performance worthy of its golden age.

The Toyota No. 7 was now driven by Nyck de Vries after 2 hours 10 minutes. But this car seemed to have a fuel delivery problem, and a long pit stop was waiting for it (over three minutes). A godsend for Toyota No. 8, but also for the competition, represented by Porsche and Ferrari, who were only waiting to take advantage of the Japanese team’s troubles. The race, at this point, was lost.

And with the pit stops, Alpine No. 35 temporarily found itself in the lead of the race just before its stop. While Ferrari No. 83 sent BMW No. 20 spinning at the first turn.

The fight for the overall victory was happening rather at a distance, as Michael Christensen had a lead of over 20 seconds on Toyota No. 8, the only Japanese car competing for the win.

In LMGT3, the podium was extremely close after two and a half hours: twelve seconds separated the Porsche Manthey Team from the Aston Martin of Heart of Racing, with five seconds between the two leading cars, including the Iron Dames.

The Hypercar ranking experienced a little agitation when the Cadillac had to come into the pits: according to its drivers, car N°2 was making a loud noise when braking. The American car, not ridiculous in terms of performance, was now at the back of the pack, along with Toyota N°7.

The LMGT3 class proposed a fantastic battle between two surprising drivers: Ahmad Al-Harty, despite being a Bronze driver, managed two fantastic overtakes on the outside of Esteban Masson’s Lexus, who was well placed in 4th position. The first one was at turn 10, where the BMW No. 46 was passed by Masson, before having the last word with a huge braking at turn 1.

The surprises were not lacking in the Hypercar category: the Peugeot No. 93 driven by Mikkel Jensen was clinging to a very good 6th place, fairly. And the Lamborghini No. 63, which was rarely mentioned, was holding on to 8th place. As if it was building on its points earned at Le Mans last month.

In any case, it is far from Toyota No. 8: the GR010 may be the heaviest car on the grid, but it remains the most performing. This car was on its way to become the 5th winning team in five races.

H4: the crazy comeback of Peugeot, the fall of the Iron Dames

What made the Sao Paulo 6 Hours so special was the immense strategic variety. No need to impose any (right?) to have the right mix of spectacle and uncertainty.

The gap of Peugeot N°93 allowed it to take an unlikely 3rd place after Toyota N°8 stopped. Who would have thought after the disastrous qualifications of the Sochaux team?

Toyota having only one car left, Ferrari could place a second pawn in its game: No. 50, 4th provisional, in order to contain the Japanese No. 8 and protect No. 5, then 2nd after 3 hours 10 minutes. Porsche No. 5, in the lead, made its pit stop, as did the unfortunate Toyota No. 7. Nyck de Vries was following Paul Di Resta, in the Peugeot No. 94, and had to “slam on the brakes” to avoid contact.

The battle for victory in LMGT3 has calmed down, as the 18-second gap between Manthey’s Porsche No. 92 and the Iron Dames has stabilized. Only Aston Martin No. 27 remained in ambush.

The Peugeot N°93 was heroic with a Mikkel Jensen absolutely impossible to overtake: Oliver Rasmussen, in the Jota N°38, remained stuck for a long time behind the 9X8, while the Ferrari N°50 struggled to keep up with this battle. Rasmussen eventually found the opening: he passed Jensen on the outside in turn 11, before crossing back for the long straight. The response from the Peugeot did not succeed.

The Toyota N°7 continued its way to score points by overtaking Yifei Ye’s Ferrari N°83 and Nicolas Lapierre’s Alpine N°36. Nyck de Vries took the 10th place and Lapierre was able to pass in front of a completely struggling Ferrari.

And suddenly, plot twist: the Iron Dames’ Lamborghini was brought back, smoking, to the garage, while Michelle Gatting had just taken over. There seemed to be a leak at the radiator. But this incident took the WEC women drivers out of the race, just as the leading LMGT3 Porsche No. 92 stopped at the pit. A real blow for the car that started from pole position.

And just after, Valentino Rossi took over from Maxime Martin on the BMW No. 46 from WRT, which was now in 2nd place. The hunt for the Porsche could be ambitious, but you never know. Just before the last two hours of the race, the Corvette No. 82 from TF Sport was stopped on the track at turn 5. The second full course yellow was deployed.