Dramatic doesn’t start to describe what happened during the 3 Hours of Velopark, sixth round of the 2018 Endurance Brasil season, as Daniel Serra and Chico Longo in the No. 19 Via Italia/TMG Lamborghini Huracán GT3 brought another overall win to the GT field after battling the whole race with the No. 88 JLM Racing MetalMoro AJR and securing first place only in the final moments.
The whole weekend was a battle with bad weather, as rain made the qualifying be postponed to Saturday morning, and even with this some rain appeared in the final minutes of the session. Add to it changeable period of dry and wet weather and most of the strategies in place were thrown through the window, with a stable and clear weather appearing only in the final hour.
The No. 88 JLM AJR kept it going in the lead while the GT3 crop was coming right behind, being led by the No. 8 Scuderia 111 Mercedes in second, while the No. 70 Stuttgart Porsche got rid of the No. 11 JLM AJR for third place. The No. 71 ECM MCR had an unwanted moment at the start with a spin due to contact with the No. 155 SulRacing Ferrari.
It didn’t took long for the first Safety Car entry as the No. 43 Motorcar MRX spun after the back straight and got stuck therem though with the rescue there and some repairs in the pits, the car got back to racing, but then the No. 44 AUTO Racing MRX and the No. 80 KIA Power Imports MRX stopped at the same point due to their own issues, so the Safety Car had to go back to track.
The Safety Car had a longer time on track as the rain hit the track hard and the No. 56 Motorcar MRX and the No. 96 SATTI MCR spun after the Turn 3, and although the rain stopped as quickly as it appeared, the track was really wet, so it would take some bravery to either stay with slick tires or change to wets, knowing the risk of having to stop soon for slicks again. From both sides, some issues were seen with in low grip, with the No. 155 spinning in the main straight and the No. 75 SATTI MRX spinning right after that point.
With more stable conditions and longer period under green flag, the No. 88 maximized its advantage by lapping the second placed No. 70, while the No. 19 Via Italia/TMG Lamborghini and the No. 8 Scuderia 111 Mercedes, with contact at the back straight resulting in a spin for one and light damage for the other.
After the halfway mark the No. 19 was the only threat to the No. 88, as the No. 70 Stuttgart Porsche was already lapped and the No. 8 Scuderia Mercedes was losing ground with Guilherme Figueroa losing control as light rain came to the circuit. Daniel Serra was swiftly passing the traffic and clocking way better lap times than Carlos Kray in the No. 88, so the battle for the overall lead was still on.
The P2 class was full of drama too near the final hour, as first the second placed No. 75 SATTI MRX had a suspension failure, and then the class leading No. 32 MC Turarão had an emergency pit stop due to gearbox problems.
It was known that dealing with traffic would be an important part in the race, and Daniel Serra did a good job by keeping the No. 88 stuck behind the No. 63 MC Tubarão Aston Martin and going to the lead with the No. 19. Without much more to do, Carlos Kray went to the pits and left the No. 88 to David Muffatto for the final stint.
In the final hour the failures were accumulating in different classes, with the No. 8 Scuderia 111 Mercedes leaving with suspension problems while the No. 11 JLM AJR had a gearbox issue. The No. 07 GioCar MRX was already having its problems and effectively came into a halt at the first sector, which brought the Safety Car back to track again.
The Safety Car period would bring an excellent opportunity for the No. 88 to attack the No. 19, but the car simply slowed down, and even though David Muffato tried to revive the car, it stopped near the track after the Turn 3. This made things easier for the No. 19, so it was just question of cruising to the finish line and getting the overall and GT3 class wins.
Staying safe paid dividends for the No. 70 Stuttgart Porsche as it finished second overall and in the GT3 class, with the P1 class being won by the No. 117 JLM AJR as completed the overall podium.
Despite the problems, the No. 32 MC Tubarão won the P2 class, which was the same outcome for the No. 56 Motorcar MRX. MC Tubarão also had the GT4 class win to celebrate, as the No. 64 Audi TCR had no opposition and showed consistency all race long.
The final race of the season will be at Tarumã on November 17th, exactly one month ahead of the 12 hours of Tarumã, the endurance event that ends the season in Brazil as a whole.
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