In what was an emotional weekend for MC Tubarão, winning the 12 Hours of Tarumã wouldn’t only mean that the title would stay with the team led by Carlinhos Andrade, but also would be a fitting way to end what started with honors paid on Saturday (15), and Tiel Andrade and Julio Martini delivered it in the No. 5 MC Tubarão IX, conquering what they barely missed in 2017.
Concerns about rain were obvious as a light shower fell on Saturday, but after that and only an hour for the track to become totally dry, the whole race was without a single drop of water, instead turning into the annoying heat in the final hours, as expected for this time of the year.
The raceday started with track day sessions followed by demo laps of historical icons in the local endurance scene, as the first two MC Tubarão cars were present on track, followed by a speech from Carlinhos Andrade and homages to Paulo Trevisan, who takes care of them and of other historic cars from the team. The usual Copa Classic RS triple header brought an end to the support program and brought the night time with them as the midnight of Sunday was coming.
Once the 12 P.M. came and the race start, a rather scary moment came in form of a dog that appeared on track and ran from the start line to the Turn 1 right on the green flag moment, but fortunately the animal racer gone away unscathed, as were drivers and cars.
The car count was unfortunately low as only 18 cars took part, being spread into seven classes, but this was compensated with rather clean runs, good pace and only a few interferences of the Safety Car. The No. 5 MC Tubarão kept the lead while the No. 18 Mottin MCR was stuck in second place, with the No. 46 Mottin AJR coming from last place to third and improving in pace.
The No. 5 and the No. 46 then starting exchanging blows during the night, as they were the fastest on track, though some periods of really slow pace appeared here and there. Some of the P1 class contenders weren’t matching their pace and were left behind, and this somehow opened the way for the No. 75 SATTI MRX to establish itself in the overall top 3 as the P2 class lead was secured, as oil leak halted the progress of the No. 32 MC Tubarão MRX, overall winner in 2017, and the car came to a full stop with 5 hours and a half of racing as the leak would turn into bigger problems, which wasn’t worth the risk. MC Tubarão also lost their No. 177 Volvo due to gearbox issues, so there was not TS class representative on track.
When the sunrise arrived the No. 5 MC Tubarão was already without immediate threats as both Mottin Racing cars fell in pace and the No. 75 wasn’t exactly in position to fight for overall honors, and the No. 46 was knocked out in the early morning with gearbox overheating. The No. 75 wasn’t the only one taking advantage of its consistency, as the No. 95 MC Tubarão that was leading the P3 class eventually rose to third overall, meaning that the prototype leaders were locking the podium.
Things were pretty much settled, though the late stages of the race are known for messing the table as issues would plague the competitors, so for those on track and trackside, the thing was nervously hope for the best, which in fact happened to the No. 5 as they managed to turn their long run in the lead into victory, with the No. 75 in second, winning the P2 class, and the No. 95 completed the podium and won the P3 class.
Completing the winners list, the No. 118 AMPVW Aldee won the GT4 class, the No. 7 RS Sports Voyage won the T1 class, being the first class winner outside of the overall top-10. The No. 99 MP Racing Corsa won the TL class by being a really late addition to the grid, being confirmed minutes before the race, while the retired No. 177 MC Tubarão Volvo was the sole representant of the TS class.
The race was also a record breaker itself as the No. 5 beat the mark of more laps run in the 12 Hours of Tarumã, with 591 laps.
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