WEC makes long-awaited return to Sao Paulo this weekend

The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is back this weekend after another stunning Le Mans 24 Hours has passed, with a long-awaited return to Brazil via the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, whilst Ferrari also brings an upgrade for its 499P, as well as a BoP weight gain.

WEC Sportscar fans have all needed to take a few breaths after Ferrari knocked off its second straight Le Mans victory in June, and now after ten years in the WEC wilderness, the short and sharp Brazilian track makes its popular return.

The Interlagos’ Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace represents the shortest track of the season at 4.3 km, with its 15 turns (5 right/10 left) set to challenge a big Hypercar field, with speeds somewhere in the region of 305 kph, with close to 50% of the lap at full throttle.

19 Hypercars will take to the track, whilst a field of 19 LMGT3 machines will also be going head-to-head.

After the ACO and FIA seemingly got the revolving Balance of Performance correct at Le Mans, this time it’s Ferrari to have been given the biggest weight gain.

The 499P’s will carry an extra 17 kg, putting it on par with the GR010 Toyota hypercars, with Toyota also receiving a marginal power boost over their Italian rivals.

It’s a big weekend for the two De La Sarthe podium/winning Ferrari 499P LMH machines, as they bring their first upgrade of the season.

Its win at Le Mans saw the #50 team storm back into the title calculations, only nine points in arrears of the leading #6 Porsche 963 machine – which took pole at Le Mans, but could only manage a fourth place finish behind the #51 Ferrari.

Ferrari’s Head of Endurance Race Cars, Ferdinando Cannizzo, spoke about the developments that have essentially been in the balance since the 2023 season.

The #50 Ferrari 499P on its way to capturing an 11th Le Mans title. Image: LAT

“Despite the car’s excellent performance during the 2023 season, we encountered limitations in brake cooling,” the Italian engineer said. 

“We therefore defined and developed a new cooling duct design in the wind tunnel and on the track to modify the flow distribution and offer greater efficiency.

“This modification impacted the balance of the 499P, which we restored to the desired value by adjusting other areas of the car…More specifically, we modified the underbody, adjusted the height of certain “Gurney flaps” and introduced a “flap” under the front headlights. 

“The upgrade allowed us to maintain the 499P’s position within the “performance window” specified by the technical regulations. We do not expect improvements in lap times, but greater versatility and easier adaptation of the car on circuits where braking performance is more demanding and decisive.”

Only 12 points separate the top three manufacturers – that being Porsche, Ferrari, and Toyota – all of which have taken a win this season, with Porsche leading the score with two victories.

Next best in the chasing pack of 2024 newcomers and returnees, is surprisingly the Alpine outfit, whose V6 A424 machines suffered a double blow-out at Le Mans. 

But their consistency in the three rounds prior to the French classic sees them just ahead of BMW, who had a year’s head start of race running in IMSA in 2023, whilst Peugeot is the next best – and again as a surprise – they sit above Cadillac, who have a superior machine in the form of the wonderful sounding V8 Cadillac V-Series.R.

Porsche leads the way in both the hypercar drivers and manufacturers point scores in 2024. Image: LAT

Will Brazil be the round that Aussie Matt Campbell gets his breakthrough WEC win? 

Porsche are again bringing the baulk of the manufacturer machinery with 5 hypercars, three of which will be represented by customer teams Jota and Proton.

Campbell is still adjusting to the WEC after a stellar 2023 year in IMSA driving the 963 machinery, taking one win and two podiums.

The two factory 963 machines have been rebuilt since Le Mans, where they just didn’t have the straight line speed to mix it with Ferrari and Toyota, but Sao Paulo offers a bit more of everything – fast passages, narrow parts, as well as undulating sections.

Yasser Shahin also enters this fifth WEC round as part of the LMGT3 leading driver team in the #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) run by Manthey EMA.

Shahin and the team have been on a streak since Spa, following it up with an historic Le Mans victory alongside Richard Lietz and Morris Schuring. 

They share the points but take the top spot via their two victories, equal on 75 points with the sister Manthey PureRxcing Porsche, but both will have to contend with a marked weight increase under the BoP system, with both Porches to carry the max 45kg increase under the success ballast penalty.

The Le Mans winning #91 Porsche GT3 is unloaded in Brazil. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI

Race Timetable (Local time) – live on Stan Sports

Friday 12 July

10:45 – 12:15: Free Practice 1

15:15 – 16:45: Free Practice 2

Saturday 13 July

10:30 – 11:30 Free Practice 3

14:30 – 15:40: Qualifying + Hyperpole

Sunday 14 July

11:30 – 17:30 Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo

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