Brazilian drivers join FIA WEC grid for 6 Hours of Sao Paulo
The first provisional entry list for the WEC 6 Hours of São Paulo on Saturday 15th September has been released with 28 cars entered for the South American round of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship. The grid includes nine Latin American Drivers from Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela and, of course, Brazil.
Larbre Competition Fernando Rees is the only Brazilian full season entry in the team’s LMGTE Am class No.50 Chevrolet Corvette but he will be joined on the grid by Lucas di Grassi in the No.2 Audi R18, while Francisco Longo, Xandi Negrão and Enrique Bernoldi who will form an all Brazilian line up in the No.61 AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari.
The other Latin American entries all feature in the highly competitive LMP2 class. Venezuela’s Enzo Potolicchio has taken LMP2 class wins at Sebring and at Le Mans and will be looking for win number three in São Paulo in the No.44 Starworks Motorsports HPD-Honda. The No.41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan of Mexico’s Ricardo Gonzalez and Ecuador’s Elton Julian will be hoping for a good race at Interlagos, while Argentina’s Luis Perez Companc is competing in the No.49 Pecom Racing Oreca-Nissan.
As they did in the last round at Silverstone, the Audi Sport Team Joest will field one Audi R18 e-tron quattro for Andre Lotterer, Benoit Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler and one Audi R18 Ultra for Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen, the pair being joined by Lucas di Grassi in the diesel-powered car.
After a superb competitive podium finish at Silverstone the Toyota Racing team will once again field a single TS030 hybrid for Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre, who will have their sights firmly set on pushing Audi off the top step of the podium in Brazil.
A total of 18 Le Mans Prototypes will make the trip to Brazil with 7 LMP1 and 11 LMP2 entries due to take the start on Saturday 15 September.
In LMGTE Pro, Luxury Racing will be missing from the grid, so four cars will compete for GTE honours at the 6 Hours of São Paulo. As they did in England earlier this month, the GTE Pro class is still expected to provide some of the best racing action during the six hour race with the two AF Corse Ferraris taking on the No.77 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche and the No.97 Aston Martin Vantage.
In LMGTE Am six entries will fight for class honours with two Ferraris taking on two Porsches and two Corvettes, making this a mouth-watering battle around the 4,309km Interlagos track.
“We are happy to announce a high quality 28 car grid for the 6 Hours of São Paulo. The event in Brazil marks the start of the second part of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship and provides the perfect backdrop for the WEC's first adventure into South America,” said FIA WEC CEO Gérard Neveu. “The entry list features several well known Brazilian drivers who will join us for their home race and their presence will help us attract a large crowd for what will be one of the most exciting races of the season in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.”
The full list can be viewed here
Jeff Carter
PHOTO: TOWCESTER (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, UK), SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT, 26TH AUGUST 2012. MULTI-CLASS RACING WILL BE SEEN IN THE 6 HOURS OF SAO PAULO ON 15TH SEPTEMBER.