After wrapping up the series’ biggest race in Le Mans, the WEC paddock heads south to the Autódromo José Carlos Pace. The last time time WEC still held the 6 Hours of São Paulo was back in 2014. Now a decade later, WEC heads back to South America to start the second part of the season. In the both the classes, the competition is close as ever. Thus, there is a lot to look forward to. Here is the DRC preview for the 6 Hours of São Paulo.
The Title fight – Porsche X Ferarri X Toyota
Perhaps the biggest point heading into São Paulo is just how close the championship is at halfway through the season. In the manufacturers, Porsche is sitting at 108 points, 9 ahead of Ferrari (99), who themselves are 3 ahead of Toyota (96). Ferrari had a strong showing the last time out in France. (Click here to read our Le Mans report.) But the Italian brand is yet to win a race outside of La Saarthe. In order to win the overall championship, they would surely be looking to win on Brazilian soil.
Porsche had qualified at pole for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but they struggled keep up with the pace come the race end. Porsche has had success at this track, in a very different car nevertheless. With a total of 104 points still up for grabs in the 2024 season, its anyone’s championship for the taking.
TOYOTA-Conway returns to #7
Mike Conway, the regular driver of the no. 7 Toyota hypercar was forced to sit out the 24 Hours of Le Mans after a cycling incident. Now, nearly a month later, He is completely fit and ready to jump back in the #7. His crew of the no. 7 car is still in the competetion for the drivers championship, and he will be working this weekend to get closer to that trophy.
The other Toyota, #8 was robbed of a podium finish in Le Mans after the #51 Ferrari nudged them into a spin in the closing stages of the races. This weekend, they would surely be looking to do themsselves one better and top the leaderboards.
BOP changes incoming for Brazil
Incoming this weekend is BOP changes. In the Hypercar category, the Isotta Fraschini has shed the most weight while teams like Ferrari and Toyota have taken up weight. However, when you take into account the ‘Power Gain’ system used by WEC to manage power beyond 250Kph, Ferrari and Toyota have managed to enter into increased power figures overall.
Ferrari and Toyota have gained 1.8% and 2.8% respectively. Meanwhile, Lamborghini, Alpine and Cadillac have each lost 1%, 1.3% and 1.5% after the threshold of 250kph. Isotta, Porsche and BMW have 0 gain or loss after 250 kph.
LMGT3 – Championship fight in full swing
If the Hypercar category is showing a close championship, the LMGT3 is not behind either. The top two teams (Manthey EMA and Mathey PureRXcing) sit on the exact no. of points, 75. The third placed team is Team WRT #31 placed just 2 points behind the table toppers.
The other team under Team WRT is the no. 46 BMW piloted by Ahmed Al Harthy, Maxime Martin and Valentino Rossi. They had a particularly difficult Le Mans as they crashed out in the Dunlop Chicane. They were showing good pace until the crash and surely they would be hoping to replicate atleast their racepace here in Brazil.
The other fan favourite team, Iron Dames is in good form as well. They have recently won in class at the 4 Hours of Imola in European Le Mans Series (ELMS) held durng 5-7 July.
At Interlagos, a track which is comparitively narrow for multiclass racing, it will be very thrilling for us fans to watch how different races unfold amongst different classes.
The Track
The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, or Interlagos as it is known amongst fans, is a track that tests every aspect of a car. The first 3 corners flows one into another effectively tugging at the downforce of the car. Coming immediately after is a straight that will be the hotspot for clearing backmarker traffic. Interlagos is a track where every corner flows into another, and with modern machines capable of eye watering speeds, the drivers will hardly get any time to rest. Setting up a car for this track will also be a workload as it requires both downforce and low drag conditions for the best performance. Hitting that sweet spot between the two will be important for the best results.
When and where to watch
In India, Eurosport will be broadcasting the races on TV.