Not putting a wheel wrong during the whole weekend, the No. 113 JLM Racing AJR was the dominant force at the 3 Hours of Santa Cruz do Sul, seventh and penultimate round of the 2019 Império Endurance Brasil season, thanks to flawless drives from David Muffato and Pedro Queirolo.
The JLM Racing AJR was dominant right from the qualify, with a 1-2-3 being led by the No. 113 car with a record time of 1:11.912, just 0.043 seconds faster than the No. 65 car from NC Racing. The No. 43 from JLM Racing was expected to take third place in the grid, but terminal engine problems in the warm-up pulled the car out of competition, which turned the No. 20 Ebrahim Ginetta G57 the next in order.
The race was threatened by the possibility of rain that was over the Rio Grande do Sul state during the whole day, but despite the presence of clouds around the circuit and precautionary measures being taken by the teams regarding wet tires and setups, what we had was an incredibly hot race day, with temperature at the 30 degree mark and cooling solutions used in its full power.
The fastest two in qualifying were also the first to increase pace at the start while the No. 11 JLM AJR took third position. The other AJRs soon took place leading the pack, which left the GT3 class pack bunched up to fight for positions, so the No. 9 Scuderia 111 Mercedes snatched the class lead from the No. 19 Via Italia Ferrari.
Constant yellow flag periods knocked out some cars and hindered the race progress, but the No. 113 JLM AJR was still in command, and in a good green flag period, the No. 175 JLM AJR jumped to second, with Luiz Floss holding ground as the No. 20 Ebrahim Ginetta was in pursuit. Most of the AJRs were in top spots, bit then the second car suffered a huge hit, as the No. 11 from JLM Racing retired with a gearbox problem, which called another yellow flag period, again right in the middle of a pit window.
What the No. 20 Ebrahim Ginetta couldn’t do on track was done in the pitlane, as better work put the car in front of the No. 175 JLM AJR, going to second place in the process. With the No. 113 miles ahead the competition, the fight was between the No. 20, the No. 175 and the traffic, which included the battle for GT3 honors.
A mission that was hard for the No. 20 Ginetta became almost impossible as the car had its emergency mode activated due to high temperature, and the cooldown process needed an entry into the pits, and although it didn’t lose position at that point, the gap for the car in front was simply too big. A yellow flag due to engine breakdown and fire in the No. 89 RealDrive Radical was by coincidence during a pit window, so the leader No. 113 JLM AJR came conveniently to serve its final stop, as well many other cars.
Things looked settled behind the first placed car, but the table was turned with 15 minutes to go, as the No. 20 Ginetta had another visit to the pits, and with work taking longer than expected, the No. 175 JLM AJR and the No. 65 NC Racing AJR appeared in the remaining podium positions, and despite the best efforts from José Roberto Ribeiro, young gun Luiz Floss had the upper hand and kept his place, all while the No. 113 JLM AJR cruised to victory.
Just outside the overall podium was the GT3 winner, the No. 9 Scuderia 111 Mercedes, which only got room to breathe after the halfway mark, with the No. 12 NAFTA Sigma being the other class winner into the overall top-10, getting P2 class honors with a clean race.
The No. 555 Stillux Ginetta conquered the GT4 class just outside the top-10, which also gave them the class title. The No. 63 MC Tubarão Aston Martin scored a win in GT3 Light, and the No. 14 IMPA;MC Tubarão Audi TCR scored the GT4 Light, giving the class title to Junior Victorette and Marcelo Karam.
Working its way out of persistent trouble, the No. 7 Sette MRX left Santa Cruz do Sul with the P3 class win, and also with the class title. And although not having a win, the No. 32 MC Tubarão secured the P2 class title, and with it came the decision from driver Mauro Kern to step out of Endurance Brasil after back to back titles, with his focus switching to regional and historic racing.
The final event of the 2019 Império Endurance Brasil season will be the 6 Hours of Curitiba, on December 21st, which will decide the overall title and some class ones at stake.
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