Manthey PureRxcing has won the six-hour race at the Autodromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, clinching its second and the overall fourth victory of the season for Manthey in the FIA WEC Endurance Championship. Alex Malykhin (Great Britain) took the lead after just 90 minutes of racing, which Joel Sturm (Germany) and Klaus Bachler (Austria) defended until the end of the race after 214 laps. The number 91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R, which started from fifth on the grid, finished the race in twelfth place after two collisions and resulting penalties. Manthey PureRxcing once again leads the LMGT3 team and drivers championships with 100 points, while Manthey EMA remains in second place with 75 points.
At 11.30 local time, Yasser Shahin (Australia, #91) and Alex Malykhin (#92) started the six-hour race at the 4.309-kilometre Autodromo José Carlos from positions five and two. While Malykhin in the starting number 92 maintained second place at the start, Shahin in the sister car had to give up several positions in the first hour of the race. A collision on lap seven and the resulting drive-through penalty temporarily dropped the car to the back of the field. After slowly working its way back up the field, a second collision involving Shahin and the subsequent repairs to the front of the car in the pits, as well as the one-minute stop-and-go penalty, dropped the Porsche back to 16th place and an unrecoverable four-lap deficit.
A quarter of the way through the race, Alex Malykhin took the lead from Sarah Bovy in the Iron Dames Lamborghini with an overtaking maneuver in his second stint. Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler defended the lead in their stints in the Manthey PureRxcing nine-eleven – also thanks to a good pit stop strategy and flawless execution by the Manthey pit stop crew – and clinched their second win and fourth podium finish of the FIA WEC season after 214 laps. Morris Schuring (Netherlands) and Richard Lietz (Austria) also completed their race laps flawlessly in the number 91 Porsche and, despite being laps down, improved by four positions to twelfth place by the time the checkered flag fell on the Brazilian GP circuit.
This is Manthey’s fourth win in five races in the World Endurance Championship. With this result, Manthey PureRxcing again takes the lead in the LMGT3 team and driver standings, extending its lead to 100 points. The Manthey EMA sister car is second despite the points-less race in São Paulo and thus secures the double lead in the championship.
Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director of Manthey Racing GmbH
“I am very happy and proud that we have been able to win four out of five races in the FIA WEC Endurance Championship so far. This is something very special in this highly competitive championship. It’s a shame that the 91 was involved in the collisions at the start and also received the corresponding penalties, so we weren’t able to score any points there. As we concentrated on making optimum use of the tires over two stints, the Manthey EMA car was still fast in comparison over the entire race distance, and without the incidents at the start of the race, we would have had a chance of a podium finish or even a one-two. Nevertheless, we remain first and second in the LMGT3 championship and can draw a positive conclusion. Of course, it would be nice if things could continue like this – but with the strong competition, this is certainly not a matter of course,” says Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director of Manthey Racing GmbH, summing up the six-hour race in São Paulo.
Quotes on the six hours of São Paulo:
- Richard Lietz, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: “Unfortunately, it was not a good weekend for us. We had a good car, but we had too many incidents in the race that prevented us from achieving a good position. We are still second in the championship, but we have definitely lost some ground. But we’ll keep fighting – next time in Austin in September.”
- Morris Schuring, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: “The six hours of São Paulo could have been a good race for us. It’s a shame we had the two collisions. The team did an excellent job with both cars and without the incidents and penalties, we could have clinched a one-two victory.”
- Yasser Shahin, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: “It was a challenging day for the 91. We are disappointed with the result, but we remain second in the championship, and we look forward to coming back stronger in the next round. We have lots of lessons to take forward, and the overall pace was promising.”
- Klaus Bachler, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: “What a great feeling – thanks to the whole team. It was a really tough race, and the Aston Martin behind us fought hard at the end, but with our pit-stop strategy, we finally won the Six Hours of Brazil. We are now back at the top of the LMGT3 championship. I’m very proud of the whole team. Now I’m looking forward to a short break before we continue in Austin, Fuji, and the finale in Bahrain.”
- Alex Malykhin, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: “With second place, we had a good starting position and a clear tactic for the race. A clean start without any incidents was important. After my first pit stop, I had to be careful in the right-hand corners with the new right-side tires, but I was able to get the maximum out of the left-hand corners with used tires on that side. After my second pit stop, I was able to quickly see which corners I had an advantage over Sarah [Bovy] with the same pit stop strategy and which corners she was faster in – I used this for my overtaking maneuver and was able to hand the car over to Joel in the lead.”
- Joel Sturm, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: “We are very happy to be back on top after Le Mans. The race was very demanding and more difficult than we expected. My stint went well, I managed the tires well and was able to get a good gap to the Iron Dames behind us. I’m also very happy for the team, everyone did a great job again – the mechanics, the engineers, and all the other team members. In the end, everything came together: our tire and fuel strategy, the team performance, and many other factors. We can be very proud of this weekend.
Results 6 Hours of São Paulo:
LMGT3 Class
- Bachler/Malykhin/Sturm (AT/GB/DE), Manthey PureRxcing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92
- James/Mancinelli/Riberas (US/IT/ES), Heart of Racing, Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 #27
- Caygill/Pino/Sato (GB/CL/JP), United Autosports, McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo #95
- Lietz/Schuring/Shahin (AT/NL/AU), Manthey EMA, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91
Above content © 2024 Manthey Racing GmbH reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee
