The 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, part of the FIA World Endurance Championship, saw Toyota Racing win their first race of the 2012 season. Their victory at Interlagos is all the more impressive considering that the Toyota-Hybrid project has been fast tracked to replace the demise of Peugeot at the start of the season.
FIA WEC 6 Hours of Sao Paulo
Toyota’s first showing was at the big one, Le Mans. It was always going to be a tough challenge for a new car. After showing impressive pace and actually taking the lead, it was racing incidents rather than reliability that curtailed their challenge. At the FIA WEC round at Silverstone, Toyota again showed their impressive pace and signalled their intent by splitting the two Audis. In Brazil they took the next step by dominating the Audis and leading from the start to the finish.
Even Audi will have to admit competition at the front of the field is good for sports car racing as a whole. Those looking forward to the rest of the FIA WEC season will be encouraged. Those looking further ahead to Le Mans 2013 will be salivating.
FIA WEC 6 Hours of Sao Paulo
Starting from pole in Brazil, the Toyota TS030 petrol hybrid, only gave up the lead during pit stop rotation and any worries about heavier fuel consumption than Audi were allayed when both Audis endured worse tyre degradation than the Toyota. The final winning margin of a whole lap, reduced by a splash and dash for the Toyota near the end, will have Audi thinking ahead of the next FIA WEC round in Bahrain.
The front runners were ahead of the early action at Interlagos. Spins at the very first corner by the LMP2 pair of Pecom Racing & Oak Morgan cars caused chaos. Contact was inevitable. The No 61 AF Corse Ferrari collided with the Gulf Racing LMP2 Lola causing considerable damage. Both cars, however, fared better than the Krohn Racing Ferrari that was forced to retire following the same collision. Brazil is a long way to travel for so short a race.
FIA WEC 6 Hours of Sao Paulo
At the front of the GTE Pro class, Aston Martin had taken pole, but lost this lead initially to the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche. The British team were pushed further back by the Ferrari of AF Corse who went on to take the lead. The superior fuel consumption of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage allowed them to re-challenge for the lead after each round of pit stops and it was these two cars that fought on different strategies right through to the chequered flag.
Back at the front the initial stint by lapierre gave Toyota a healthy lead. The Audi challenge was being led by the diesel hybrid with the R18 Ultra not able to keep pace. The LMP1 privateers followed behind these three, where Rebellion Racing had the advantage of two cars in the race. The No 12 Rebellion Racing Lola had an untroubled race and eventually finished fourth overall, but the other Rebellion endured a hard fort battle with the Strakka Racing HPD. Iniitally Primat caused problems in the Rebellion car with an ill-judged passing move on the Strakka car. Although delayed by this incident Leventis kept the Strakka in contention and it when the car was passed on to Johhny Kane, it was a charge for the flag. In the last minutes of the race (with all the TV eyes on the Toyota crossing the line) the Strakka re-passed the Rebellion Racing Lola to claim 5th overall.
FIA WEC 6 Hours of Sao Paulo
The LMP2 class put on another close race. The spins on the first corner for two of the cars was only the start. The ADR-Delta Oreca also caused problems on the track when it lost a wheel. Although the car pitted, this unscheduled stop ended their challenge in this class. The American Starworks team were to show their quality, with ex-Peugeot driver Stephane Sarrazin, clearly the fastest driver on show in this class, and went on to take the class honours. The No 24 Oak Racing car looked to have taken second in class before a stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane promoted Pecom Racing. Greaves Motorsport would finish fourth ahead of the now four wheeled ADR-Delta.
There was ultimately disappointment for local driver Fernando Rees, who finished at the front of the GTE Am field in the Larbre Competition Corvette. However the car was disqualified after the race for a regulations breach. This promoted the Porsche of Felbermayr-Proton to the class win. There was not much consolation that the other Larbre Competition Corvette was also promoted to second place.
FIA WEC 6 Hours of Sao Paulo
The 6 Hours of Sao Paulo will, however, be remembered most for the victory of Toyota. Their win in Brazil is a result of a lot of hard work in not much time by the whole Toyota Racing team. It has been a great effort and one that they must sustain as the FIA World Endurance Championship moves on to Bahrain on the 29th September.
FIA WEC 6 Hours of Sao Paulo
Not only that, but the challenge for the Le Mans 24 Hours 2013 may just have begun here.
Report: Richard Webb
Photography: FIAWEC.com