MOTORSPORT – THE FIA World Endurance Championship’s (WEC) 2024 season continues this weekend with the Six Hours of Sao Paulo at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Brazil.
The race is the fifth of eight rounds on the WEC calendar and it will be the first time the series returns to the Interlagos track since the 2014 campaign, when Porsche were the overall winners.
The venue features the shortest circuit length of the year in the WEC at just 4.309km. It has 15 turns – five right and 10 left, and Hypercars reach speeds in the region of 305kph, where approximately 50 per cent of the lap is travelled with a fully-opened throttle.
A total of 37 contenders, including 19 Hypercars and 18 LMGT3 cars, are set to line up on the grid in the WEC’s lone South American event.
All eyes will be on the increasingly close battle for the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship. Only 12 points separate the top three manufacturers Porsche, Ferrari, and Toyota.
Porsche are in first place with 108 points, but Ferrari are not far behind on 99 points following their sensational victory last month in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the WEC’s crown jewel. Toyota are third with 96 points. There are more than 100 championship points (104 including pole position points) still available from the remaining WEC rounds in Brazil, the US, Japan, and Bahrain.
Heading into Brazil, there is also a tight title race in the LMGT3 class, with the top three teams separated by a mere two points. Manthey PureRXcing and Manthey EMA are both tied with 75 points apiece atop the standings, followed by Team WRT on 73 points.
Racing action commences tomorrow with two practice sessions, while the qualifying and Hyperpole sessions are set to take place on Saturday. The green flag for the six-hour race will be waved at 5.30pm, Bahrain time, on Sunday.
The 2024 WEC season will be wrapping up in the kingdom later this year with the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain on November 1 and 2 at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.
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