Sao Paulo 4 Hr Report: No. 8 Toyota takes over at front; Manthey PureRxcing pulling away in LMGT3

HYPERCAR

• Drama strikes the front of the field just as the fourth hour of the race arrives as Mike Conway in the No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid Hypercar pits with a fuel system problem losing over three minutes for the former leaders and dropping the car to the rear of the Hypercar class field
• That allows the sister Toyota Gazoo Racing entry driven by Ryo Hirakawa through in to the lead and the Japanese driver builds a 40-second lead
• Tracking the leader is the No.5 Porsche Penske which sees Michael Christensen take the mid-phase portion of the race, stabilising the second place over the No.51 Ferrari AF Corse entry in third position
• But the recovering and out of pit stop sequence No.6 Porsche Penske of Andre Lotterer runs third before dropping down as regular stoppers dive for the pits
• In a net fourth place is the No.38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche of Oliver Rasmussen who battles intensely with the No.93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 Hypercar
• Jensen continues strong work by Nico Mueller earlier in the race to run solidly in the top six on merit
• No.12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche gets back in to contention after strong double stint from Norman Nato and runs sixth
• The No.83 AF Corse Ferrari loses time after serving a drive-through penalty for contact with the No.20 BMW M Team WRT of Robin Frijns at the Senna ‘S’ curves
• Completing the top ten is: 7th No.7 Toyota; 8th No.50 Ferrari AF Corse; 9th No.15 BMW; 10th No.36 Alpine 

Iron Dames up in smoke!!

There has been no confirmation of what the problem is and the crew are trying to fix the issue.

Will the Dames make it back out for the last 2 hours? 🤞

Watch LIVE on https://t.co/IPZa0nvsLu.
#WEC #6HSaoPaulo pic.twitter.com/KPu9qOUgPd

— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) July 14, 2024

LMGT3

• No.92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche asserts authority in mid-section of the race as Joel Sturm takes over strong early work from Aliaksandr Malykhin
• Sturm builds lead to the chasing pack and enjoys 22-second advantage as he hands over to Kluas Bachler for the final two hours of the race
• Iron Dames Lamborghini is usurped by the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin entry as Daniel Mancinelli pressures Rahel Frey in tight battle for second position but the British LMGT3 design drops slightly behind as Frey digs deep
• But it is to no avail after the car pits and leaks fluid on the pit apron causing the car to be pulled back in to the garage as repairs start to be looked in to
• That issue promotes the No.59 United Autosports McLaren driven by Nico Pino in to third position ahead of the No.46 Team WRT BMW with Maxime Martin having his second stint at the wheel
• The second of the United Autosport McLaren LMGT3 car with Gregoire Saucy behind the wheel places fifth
• Rounding out the top six in LMGT3 is the No.87 Akkodis ASP Lexus with Jose-Maria Lopez gaining on the McLaren as fifth hour arrives
• Second full course yellow of the race comes just before the end of the fourth hour as Daniel Juncadella stops the No.82 TF Sport Corvette at the Ferradura Corner after hitting a mechanical issue
• Fierce battle between No.46 BMW of Ahmed Al Harthy, No.87 Akkodis ASP Lexus of Esteban Masson and TF Sport Corvette of Rui Andrade and entertains large crowd 

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