The 4 Hours of Velo Città was the last race of the 2018 Endurance Brasil season outside the Rio Grande do Sul state and marked the halfway point of the competition, and this time Scuderia 111 was the responsible to bring the GTs to overall glory, in a flawless race done by Xandy and Xandinho Negrão in their No. 09 Mercedes AMG GT3.
One key point for their win was the number of breakdowns and issues to most of the potential winners, specially the quartet of MetalMoro AJR machines and the TMG Via Italia Lamborghini Huracán GT3, with the intense heat at the circuit being a factor.
The Metalmoro AJR front row lockout was kept untouched in the initial moments as the No. 65 NC Racing car started opening the gap little by little while the No. 88 JLM car was keeping the second place, even though it deemed some effort by Carlos Kray. The first issue seen was an electrical problem in the No. 5 MC Tubarão IX, forcing the team to work early in the car.
While Xandy Negrão was leading the GT3 class with the No. 09 Scuderia 111 Mercedes, it doesn’t meant that he was comfortable in just keeping a class lead, passing the No. 88 JLM AJR for second place and then assuming the lead when the No. 65 had fuel pressure loss and went to a forced pit stop. At the same moment the first retirement and the first Safety Car period appeared, as the No. 71 ECM MCR slammed the barriers due to a brake problem and came to a halt.
The first pit window didn’t change the scenario on top immediately, but once Vicente Orige got at the wheel of the No. 88 AJR, he was quick to get into striking distance to press the No. 09 Mercedes. The problem for Orige was that the No. 19 TMG Via Italia Lamborghini was coming closer, and while trying to find a way into second place, the Lamborghini punted the AJR, with the prototype ending in the grass while the GT3 had damage in the right front corner.
The curious fact is that near the second hour of racing the P2 class leader, the No. 75 SATTI MRX, was just outside the overall top-5 and the P3 class leader, the No. 151 Delta Sports Spyder, was scoring a top-10 finish, all of this due to the issues that affected the front runners until this point.
The No. 09 Mercedes was totally in control of the race while the No. 70 Stuttgart Porsche was comfortably in second, and behind them the MetalMoro AJRs were switching places in the P1 class fight, with the No. 26 JLM car passing the No. 88 JLM one, and with the crash of the No. 43 Motorcar MRX and another Safety Car intervention, the prototype was able to catch up with the GTs in order to fight for overall honors. It could be the sign of oncoming battles but the No. 26 had brake issues and stopped for a while, leaving the No. 88 again in the P1 class lead.
The final hour practically a race against time for the No. 90 Porsche and the No. 88 AJR as both were quicker than the No. 09 Mercedes, but with big gaps and not much time left, it would be a hell of a mission for the chasing cars. As the much awaited Safety Car period didn’t appear, the No. 09 Mercedes kept the lead going and won the race with authority, as well the GT3 class.
The No. 88 JLM AJR had to settle for third overall but won the P1 class at least, the No. 75 SATTI MRX won the P2 class with certain ease, and so did the No. 151 Delta Sports Spyder in the P3 class, while the No. 888 GR Racing Dodge.
Now the competition goes to a stop until the end of the month, as Santa Cruz do Sul is the first stop of the tour through the south of Brazil on September 29th.
PHOTO: Endurance Brasil - Bruno Terena/MS2
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