6 Hours of Sao Paulo – Race (H+6): Toyota triumphs without competition
Toyota got its revenge on Ferrari: car N°8 won the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, becoming the 5th different car to win in as many rounds this season. Porsche, with car N°92 from Manthey Pure Racing, won the LMGT3 class.
The final third of the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo saw Isotta Fraschini in turn affected by technical issues. The N°11 was parked in the garage.
After 4 hours and 45 minutes of driving, Peugeot No. 94 once again found itself in 3rd provisional position before its pit stop. The French manufacturer’s endurance program was inevitably more or less questioned with lackluster results. But even though the Interlagos circuit is bumpy, the 9X8 seems to finally be finding some performance.
The LMGT3s always had the Porsche No. 92 as their leader, which was heading towards victory and the top of the teams’ standings. It must be said that in the absence of No. 91 and BMW No. 31, the operation was perfect for Manthey PureRxcing.
The two McLarens actually finished in 3rd and 4th places, which were their starting positions. United Autosport’s N°95 was on the podium. A great way to open the point counter for this crew. McLaren was chasing its first podium since its return to WEC, through the LMGT3, this year.
In Hypercar, the fight was becoming clearer between Ferrari No. 51 and Porsche No. 5 for 3rd place. Porsche No. 6 was around 50 seconds behind Toyota No. 8, with lap times consistently slower than the leading GR010.
The Toyota N°7 was easily moving towards the podium and was closing in on Ferrari N°50, with whom it is battling in the championship, with 1 hour and 15 minutes of racing remaining.
This final phase of the race was also still open for the fight for victory in GT3. The Aston Martin No. 27 of Heart of Racing, the team overseeing the future Hypercar program, was gradually catching up with the leading Porsche, with the same number of pit stops. Once entering the final hour, there was only a five-second gap left.
No match for the win
Just after that, the Porsche Jota No. 12, which had a great story at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, was sent into the wall at turn 4. Callum Ilott lost the rear and his rear wing. It was put in the garage and it felt like an abandonment. A contrast with the sister car, No. 38, which was leading the race temporarily with Jenson Button at the wheel.
In LMGT3, the Aston Martin N°27 was gradually catching up with the Manthey Pure Rx Porsche: Alex Riberas had a much better pace than Klaus Bachler. Unfortunately, the international coverage was hardly interested in it, even though victory seemed assured in the Hypercar class.
Peugeot No. 93, with one last stop to make, pointed on the provisional podium one last time: Jean-Eric Vergne extended his penultimate stint for as long as possible to secure a good place in the points. No. 94, on the other hand, was barely approaching the points zone.
After the last pit stop, the Peugeot No. 93 virtually finished 8th and was finally able to secure some points, after a disappointing 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The last few minutes were relatively calm, except for a slight contact between Cadillac No. 2 and Peugeot No. 94. Some debris flew in turn 11, without causing a puncture. The full course yellow was triggered one last time during this race to remove some parts.
Alessandro Pier Guidi (Ferrari N°51) gained far too much time when the procedure was initiated, behind the Porsche Jota N°38… which itself received a stop and go penalty for a technical infraction. The Toyota N°7 made an extraordinary overtaking move on Pier Guidi’s Ferrari and confirmed an incredible comeback from the depths of the standings.
Toyota and its No. 8 were able to roll to the finish: Sébastien Buemi, Rio Hirakawa, and Brendon Hartley secured their first victory since the 8 Hours of Bahrain last year. This is the 5th winning team in as many races this season. In LMGT3, the Porsche Manthey 92 (Malykhin/Bachler/Sturm) was ultimately not caught up by the Aston Martin No. 27. This one was penalized anyway for an infraction during the full course yellow.
The good result of the championship is signed by the Porsche No. 6 (Laurens Vanthoor/Estre/Lotterer), 2nd, which increases its lead in the World Championship. Toyota No. 7 and Ferrari No. 50, its direct rivals, finished in 6th and 7th places. The Porsche Manthey Pure Racing also had a great performance and soars to the top of the LMGT3 team standings, in the absence of the BMW WRT No. 31 and the Porsche Manthey EMA No. 91.
Among the pleasant surprises, Lamborghini (No.63) did not confirm its good pace displayed during the first half of the race and finished 17th. Peugeot scored points for 8th place and Alpine concluded its race in 10th position: No.36 scored its first point of the season with Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxivière, and Mick Schumacher. In between them, BMW No.15, despite a very difficult race, managed to score points for 9th place.
