WEC | 6h Sao Paulo: Toyota dominates Porsche, Ferrari without podium

Toyota literally dominated the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, the fifth seasonal event of the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship, which saw Porsche complete the overall podium.

If for the Japanese manufacturer it is a nice redemption after having suffered defeat for the second time at Le Mans, for the Weissach manufacturer it is a further step forward in view of the world titles, also with regards to the LMGT3 class given that once again a 911 triumphs.

It’s a very hard day for Ferrari to digest, given that the 499Ps have never been able to fight for the top, except in the first hour and in certain moments seen gritting their teeth against rivals who at times were evidently faster, even some unsuspected ones like Alpine and Peugeot.

HYPERCAR: Toyota for better or worse

As we were saying, Toyota called the shots at Interlagos, starting with its head down in its unchallenged solo. After having complained for the umpteenth time about a negative Balance of Performance (which in fact at the beginning of the season had been objectively terrible), this time the GR010 Hybrids can have nothing to complain about in this regard.

The one-two finish slipped away only due to a control unit problem affecting the #7 of Kobayashi/Conway/De Vries when it was already uncatchable, losing time in the pits to fix it and then having to fight back towards the end to fourth place, which was then taken back tooth and nail by the Japanese Team Principal/driver.

And so the success was taken home without any worries by Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa, who once they inherited the leadership only had to manage a situation that was completely downhill for them, leaving only 6 cars at full speed.

The podium is completed by the official Porsches managed by Team Penske: the #6 of Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor precedes the #5 of Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki despite having been forced to return to the pits in the first hour due to a puncture following contact with the #12 Porsche.

And speaking of Jota’s 963: apparently today was not the day for its drivers, given that the penalty received for the aforementioned contact (caused by Will Stevens), at the last pit stop it was Callum Ilott who threw away a potential overall podium by spinning on cold tyres and destroying the rear bodywork, finding himself 18th.

This had allowed the twin #38 driven very well by Rasmussen/Button/Hanson to move up to fourth overall in the wake of the two official cars, but an infringement found during a final Full Course Yellow (to clear the track of debris) caused a 5″ Stop&Go which dropped it to seventh in the order, but it consoled itself by winning the category reserved for private teams and confirming that today the German LMDh were the second force.

Departure

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

After the triumph at Le Mans, Ferrari suffered the same fate as last year, seeing the cards on the table changed and finding itself having to sweat to reach a top-five finish with a lapped car.

This was topped off in the finale by the slap that Kobayashi gave to the 499P #51 of Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi, which he reached and passed with 4′ to go, taking fourth place. It is true that the trio from Maranello had a Drive Through on their backs, making them lose contact with their rivals initially, but then without being able to do anything to worry them, despite their efforts.

Behind them is the Rossa #50 of Molina/Nielsen/Fuoco, long entangled in fights in the middle of the group and at times not even able to pass rival cars that were theoretically very affordable, such as Peugeot, Alpine and BMW. Having started well by fitting two hard tyres on the right, the Prancing Horse LMHs were no longer able to hold their own, despite reshuffling the cards and strategies with the tyres.

Eighth is the Peugeot #93 of Vergne/Muller/Jensen, which at times showed good form and even managed to fight for a few more advanced positions, followed by the BMW #15 of Vanthoor/Marciello/Wittmann and the Alpine #36 of Schumacher/Vaxivière/Lapierre, completing the top 10, outside of which remains the twin #35 of Milesi/Chatin/Habsburg.

A race to forget also for the AF Corse Ferrari #83, 11th at the finish line with a final overtaking of the aforementioned A424, and at least taking the second step of the private podium, but with the Kubica/Shwartzman/Ye trio more or less in the same conditions as their official colleagues and also embroiled in contacts and brawls in the middle of the group.

Once again Cadillac saw a chance to make something good slip away due to a brake issue that forced the V-Series.R to make an extra stop, sending Lynn/Bamber to 13th, at least overtaking the #20 BMW and the #94 Peugeot in the final stages.

Third among the privateers is the Porsche #99 of Proton Competition (Andlauer/Jani), there is great regret in Lamborghini Iron Lynx for the 17th place of the SC63 of Mortara/Bortolotti/Kvyat, who even managed to appear in the Top5 before collapsing again due to a puncture.

The Isotta Fraschini race ended in the fifth hour after 149 laps: the Tipo 6-C engine, which had not been overhauled since Le Mans due to the short time available, suffered a problem, stopping the good performance of Vernay/Bennet (Serravalle had not yet got on).

#92 Manthey Purerxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Aliaksandr Malykhin, Joel Sturm, Klaus Bachler, #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman, Yifei Ye

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

LMGT3: Another Manthey PureRxcing Solo

After the setback at Le Mans, the #92 Porsche of Manthey PureRxcing returns to have its say with a real solo. Great job by Malykhin/Bachler/Sturm not to make any mistakes, taking the lead after a couple of hours and extending their lead over everyone without giving their rivals the chance to worry them.

Of these, another premature KO should be noted for the Lamborghini #85 of the Iron Dames Gatting/Bovy/Frey, betrayed by a water pump failure in the last two hours of the race, so second place goes to the very solid Aston Martin #27 of Heart of Racing.

Nice redemption for Mancinelli/Riberas/James with the Vantage after the accident at Le Mans, albeit with a final thrill for a Drive Through served in extremis due to an infringement at the last FCY.

A furious battle behind them and the last step of the podium went to the McLaren #95 of Caygill/Sato/Pino (United Autosports), ahead of the #59 of their colleagues Cottingham/Costa/Saucy, who were able to resist the assaults of those arriving headlong behind them.

First of these, Martin/Al/Harthy/Rossi (an excellent performance by Valentino), completed the Top 5 in the #46 BMW of Team WRT, followed by the #55 Ferrari of AF Corse in the hands of Heriau/Mann/Rovera, with the usual great driver from Varese climbing back up the order in the final stages.

Seventh place went to the #77 Ford Mustang of Robichon/Hardwick/Barker (Proton Competition), holding off the #81 Corvette of Andrade/Van Rompuy/Eastwood (TF Sport) and the #777 Aston Martin of D’Station Racing in the hands of Mateu/Bastard/Sorensen.

Closing the Top 10 is the #31 BMW of Team WRT with Leung/Farfus/Gelael on top, getting the better of Masson/Lopez/Kimura in the #87 Lexus of Akkodis-ASP.

Left empty-handed were the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche of Le Mans winners Shahin/Schuring/Lietz, the #88 Proton Competition Mustang (Ried/Pedersen/Olsen) and the #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini (Schiavoni/Cressoni/Perera), as well as the #54 AF Corse Ferrari (Flohr/Castellacci/Rigon), which returned to action after a long pit stop due to a couple of early incidents.