WEC News: Toyota wins 6 Hours of São Paulo race in Brazil
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing won the 6 Hours of São Paulo to ignite its 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) title challenge on a dramatic day at Interlagos.
At the scene of Toyota’s first-ever hybrid-powered WEC victory in 2012, World Champions Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa earned their first win of the season in the #8 GR010 HYBRID in front of a passionate 73,205 Brazilian crowd.
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, in the pole position-winning #7 GR010 HYBRID, were on course for victory until a long pit stop for a technical issue dropped them down the field. However, a stunning fightback delivered fourth place and 12 valuable World Championship points.
A hard-earned second victory of the year, courtesy of flawless driving, strong team work and a superior tire strategy, earned maximum points for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing and reduced the gap to leaders Porsche to only four points in the manufacturers’ standings with three races remaining in the season.
For the first time since Bahrain last November, an all-Toyota front row led the field away at the start. Conway made a clean getaway and began building a cushion over the chasing pack. Brendon recovered after running wide into the first turn and settled into second.
For the first time since Bahrain last November, an all-Toyota front row led the field away at the start. Conway made a clean getaway and began building a cushion over the chasing pack. Brendon recovered after running wide into the first turn and settled into second.
Interlagos Circuit, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Conway took care to preserve his medium compound tires in hot temperatures on the abrasive Interlagos track surface and plotted a safe course through the traffic. In the opening hour he built an 11-second advantage over Brendon, who was successfully holding the #5 Porsche at arm’s length.
The #7 Toyota was still comfortably in control at the 90-minute mark but suffered its first blow when a drive-through penalty for a full course yellow infringement wiped out Conway’s advantage. A more significant issue came early in the third hour when repairs were needed on a control unit and Nyck resumed in 18th.
By then Ryo was at the wheel of the #8 to take up the team’s victory challenge and he soon moved to the front. By half distance he had extended his lead to 30secs and he pitted for new Michelin tires on the right-hand side only; a strategy to maintain tire temperature and manage degradation.
Ryo put in a fast stint on his Interlagos debut to build a lead of over 40 seconds going into the final two hours before handing over to Sébastien. Nyck’s battling performance brought the #7 Toyota back into the fight for points and Kamui took the wheel for the final two stints.
Sébastien maintained the #8 Toyota’s consistent speed at the front, making a final fuel stop with an hour remaining and resuming with a clear lead. He protected that until the checkered flag, finishing 1min 8.811secs ahead of the #6 Porsche.
The #7’s determined fight back continued until the flag and Kamui hunted down the #51 Ferrari in the closing laps, forcing his way past with a breathtaking overtake for fourth place inside the last five minutes.
Manthey PureRxcing Wins Again in LMGT3
In the LMGT3 class, Manthey PureRxcing took its second win of the season with the No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler, and fourth as a whole for Manthey.
A pass by Malykhin on the class pole-sitting No. 85 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Sarah Bovy laid the foundations for the No. 92 car’s victory, its path eased when the Iron Dames car retired with fluid pouring from the car.
Bachler came under pressure from the Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in the latter stages of the race, with Alex Riberas coming within three seconds of the race-leading Manthey PureRxcing Porsche at one point.
However, a late drive-through penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement effectively ended Heart of Racing’s victory bid, with Riberas bringing home the No. 27 car he shares with Ian James and Daniel Mancinelli a lap down.
United Autosports scored its first podium of the season with the No. 95 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Marino Sato, Nico Pino and Josh Caygill, with the sister No. 59 car of Nicolas Costa, Gregoire Saucy and James Cottingham finishing one place behind in fourth.
The top five was completed by the WRT BMW shared by Maxime Martin, Valentino Rossi and Ahmad Al Harthy.
The only other retirement besides the Iron Dames Lamborghini was the No. 82 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which caused the second of three FCY periods when Daniel Juncadella came to a stop on his out lap.