WRT BMW Defeats Ferrari, Cadillac For Second Win - Sportscar365
WRT BMW achieved its second victory of the FIA World Endurance Championship season at the 6 Hours of São Paulo. The No. 15 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8, driven by Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello, and Dries Vanthoor, finished 2.254 seconds ahead of the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P.
The Ferrari, piloted by Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and James Calado, secured an unexpected podium finish at Interlagos. The Hertz Team JOTA Cadillacs, which started from the front row, encountered several issues during the race, with the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series.R of Will Stevens and Norman Nato ultimately taking third place.
Early Race Dynamics and Cadillac’s Challenges
Stevens initially maintained the lead from pole position, with Magnussen in the No. 15 BMW making an early charge. Magnussen quickly overtook the No. 36 Alpine A424 of Frederic Makowiecki at the first corner and later positioned his car between the two Cadillacs during the first hour.
The race began to unfold for the JOTA team as both Cadillacs experienced extended first pit stops. The No. 38 Cadillac crew faced issues when Earl Bamber locked up while entering the pit box, causing mechanics to adjust their positions. Subsequently, Stevens encountered a wheel nut failure on the No. 12 car, resulting in a loss of nearly 10 seconds and allowing the BMW to take the lead.
Magnussen and Marciello held the lead through the middle stages of the race, apart from brief periods when the No. 35 Alpine A424, which had pitted early and was on an alternative strategy, was ahead. The Cadillacs continued to struggle, with Stevens receiving a penalty for contact with the No. 87 Lexus RC F GT3, and Nato experiencing a spin at Turn 7.
These delays, coupled with traffic, allowed the No. 51 factory Ferrari to move into contention. Calado briefly took the lead in the fifth hour during pit stops, despite making contact with the barriers when exiting the pit lane. However, Vanthoor in the BMW overtook him during the final round of stops, securing the German manufacturer’s second win of the season.
LMGT3 Race Outcome
In the LMGT3 category, TF Sport Corvette secured its second consecutive win, following its success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The No. 34 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, driven by Salih Yoluc, Peter Dempsey, and Charlie Eastwood, finished 8.108 seconds ahead of the No. 69 WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Anthony McIntosh, Parker Thompson, and Dan Harper.
The Corvette team employed an alternative strategy, with Yoluc, an FIA Silver-graded driver, starting the race before handing over to Dempsey, a Bronze-graded driver. Other teams typically began with their Bronze drivers. The early stages of the race saw the No. 87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 in the lead, but the Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 EVOs soon took over.
The No. 88 Mustang of Stefano Gattuso initially led its sister No. 77 car. However, the teams’ strategies diverged, with Gattuso exiting his car after completing the minimum drive time, while Eric Powell remained in the sister car. The No. 34 Corvette moved into the lead towards the end of the third hour, with Eastwood guiding it to victory.
Seb Priaulx in the No. 77 Mustang attempted to complete fewer stops but struggled on used tires and was passed by Harper in the No. 69 BMW with approximately 20 minutes remaining. Priaulx then fell behind the No. 92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Richard Lietz and the sister Mustang of Logan Sargeant, further compounded by a drive-through penalty for track limits.
Lietz secured a third third-placed finish of the season alongside Ricardo Pera and Yasser Shahin. The sister No. 91 car overtook Sargeant in the final minutes to claim fourth, leaving Proton with a fifth-place finish. The points-leading No. 33 Corvette of Ben Keating, Nico Varrone, and Jonny Edgar finished eighth.
Post-Race Penalties and Other Incidents
There was a tense finish for BMW as rain threatened, with darkening skies. Vanthoor managed to maintain his lead over Calado, while the Cadillacs settled for third and fourth. The Cadillacs briefly swapped positions in an attempt to catch the Ferrari, but this proved unsuccessful, and they returned to their original order with a few laps remaining.
Late drama unfolded behind the leaders when Robin Frijns in the No. 20 BMW attempted to pass Antonio Fuoco in the No. 50 Ferrari. Frijns’ move resulted in the Ferrari spinning, allowing the No. 83 satellite AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica to pass both cars and finish fifth, sharing the car with Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson.
The BMW of Frijns, Rene Rast, and Sheldon van der Linde initially finished sixth but received a five-second post-race penalty for the incident, causing the crew to drop to eighth and lose the points lead. The No. 50 Ferrari also slipped to eighth, behind the No. 007 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie, before both were promoted a place due to the BMW’s penalty.
The top ten was completed by the No. 009 Aston Martin and the No. 35 Alpine, whose offset strategy did not yield the desired result after experiencing a late slow puncture. Toyota had a challenging event, with the No. 7 TR010 Hybrid finishing 12th after multiple penalties, and the No. 8 machine losing 12 laps in the pits for repairs to a broken toe rod following contact from the No. 17 Genesis GMR-001 of Andre Lotterer.
Source: sportscar365.com
