Sao Paulo 2 Hr Report: No.7 Toyota leads; Manthey PureRxcing heads LMGT3 class
Photo: WEC
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Sao Paulo 2 Hr Report: No.7 Toyota leads; Manthey PureRxcing heads LMGT3 class

Below are the main headlines after the first two hours of racing at the Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, round five of FIA WEC.

HYPERCAR

  • Mike Conway in the No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid Hypercar leads the field from the start and stretches useful 10-second lead in the first hour
  • That lead is from the sister Toyota Gazoo Racing entry driven by Brendon Hartley, who survives a lurid lock-up at the first corner of the first racing lap
  • But the lead changes after 1hr35mins of racing when Conway is forced to serve a drive-through penalty for a full course yellow infraction in the first hour
  • That allows Hartley through into the lead but only briefly as Conway goes back through in to the lead shortly after he re-joins after serving his penalty
  • Hartley pits just before the third hour arrives and hands over to Ryo Hirakawa
  • Leading the chase of the leading Toyota is the No.5 Porsche Penske 963 started by Frederic Makowiecki
  • The experienced French ace though loses third to the No.51 Ferrari AF Corse 499 of Antonio Giovinazzi after the first pit stop as tyre strategies start to play out
  • But Makowiecki finds his way back through in to third after tracking the Italian in opening phase of second stint 
  • Giovinazzi then serves a drive through penalty for a full course yellow infraction and drops down to fourth position before climbing back up to third after two hours
  • Cadillac Racing mirror its Spa performance by electing to burn off its used tyres early on as they drop back from the front group before Earl Bamber paces back in to contention in the second hour and place solid fourth
  • The No.83 AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica places had been fifth after entertaining early race battle with the No.36 Alpine A424 Hypercar with Mick Schumacher at the wheel
  • Kubica loses time after being tipped in to a spin at the Ferradura right-hander by the Julien Andlauer driven Proton Competition Porsche
  • Schumacher also engages in a tight and entertaining battle in the second hour with Phil Hanson in the No.38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche
  • Disaster early on for the points leading No.6 Porsche Penske 963 driven by Laurens Vanthoor as the Belgian is forced to pit with a puncture following contact with Will Stevens in the No.12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche. The drama drops Vanthoor to the rear of the Hypercar field but he fights his way back impressively up the field, but is out of sequence, as the third hour arrives and Andre Lotterer takes over and runs 17th in Hypercar
  • Stevens received a 30-second stop and go penalty for the incident which took place on the entry in to Turn 4. The sanction drops the No.12 outside of the top ten

LMGT3

  • Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan started by Sarah Bovy enjoys an impressive opening to the Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paulo as Bovy opens strong gap to the chasing LMGT3 class field in the opening hours
  • Aliaksandr Malykhin chases down Bovy in the No.92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche and manages to grab the lead after 90-minutes of racing and start to slowly open a gap which stands at 4.2 seconds after two hours
  • Third in LMGT3 was the No.55 VISTA AF Corse of Francois Heriau but Ian James in the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin puts a move on the French racer to claim the position
  • Heriau is then forced to complete a drive-through penalty for an FCY infraction and drops the Ferrari down to ninth in class
  • But that doesn’t last long as Maxime Martin overtakes James to gain third before the second scheduled pit stops which then re-promotes the Aston to third over the BMW
  • United Autosports run competitive fifth and sixth as No.95 leads No.59 with Joshua Caygill and James Cottingham complete double stints
  • Dramatic start to the race for the joint points leading No.91 Manthey EMA Porsche as Yasser Shahin has contact first with the No.81 TF Sport Corvette of Tom van Rompuy and then the No.54 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari of Thomas Flohr
  • The second of these incidents sees Shahin penalised with a 60-second stop/go penalty while the first warranted a drive through penalty 

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Track
Brazil
July 12th

Rolex 6 Hours of
SÃO PAULO

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