Motorcar prevails in dramatic 4 Hours of Curitiba

Motorcar Racing keeps the momentum going in Império Endurance Brasil, and the latest victory in the series at Curitiba just puts more gold in their effort, with Gustavo Kyrila and Vicente Orige in the No. 444 JLM Racing AJR doing their show on track after some dramatic periods.

The mood was good as usual in the paddock, but the fact that this race was probably the last one at the Curitiba circuit hit hard all involved people in the competition, as the venue was one of the homes of the championship. Once the year ends, the circuit will close and will be replaced by business buildings as the current owners didn’t find the venue in its current state a financially sustainable thing.

The first hour can be considered a repeat of what was seen at the VeloCitta, with the No. 11 Motorcar AJR taking the lead all to itself as Renan Guerra was again with the duty of pushing it really hard. Behind them top pack, the GT3s were in the fight as the No. 3 Racing M3 Mercedes lost the early lead to the No. 16 Blau McLaren, only for the situation to get even worse for the Mercedes as it found the barriers, which was the Safety Car trigger during the initial hour, along with the No. 42 AutLog McLaren also finding the barriers.

Recovering from an early spin, the No. 2 FTR Sigma was in steady pace and jumped back to second place on the second hour, but with the No. 444 Motorcar AJR coming hot later on, it conceded the runner-up position. Another class with a big clash was the P3 class, as the No. 72 Dobilas MetalMoro was a constant threat to the No. 56 Motorcar MetalMoro and the No. 74 LT Team MetalMoro, but an off and a heavy crash for Carlos Antunes took the No. 72 out of combat with visible suspension damage.

Near the halfway mark another big player was out of contention, as the No. 113 JLM AJR risked too much to overtake the No. 2 FTR Sigma, all while the No. 42 AutLog McLaren was alongside, and with lack of room, the No. 113 found the way to the grass with severe bodywork damage caused by this crash and another contact with the No. 26 Mottin AJR. The No. 2 also had its share of bodywork damage and a bit more, basically ruining its charge to the lead.

Going into the third hour, with the amount of damage dealt to the front running prospects, Motorcar Racing was in a 1-2 monopoly of the top, as the No. 11 AJR was followed closely by the No. 444 AJR, and as the race was for those who stayed out of trouble, the No. 99 RSports AJR was in an incredible third place, even though the gap and pace wouldn’t favor further climbing in the table at the moment.

The negotiation through traffic from the Motorcar pair was enough of a thing to favor a push from the No. 99, with Edson Coelho finding his way past Marcelo Vianna and started chasing Gustavo Kyrila as the trio was equally paced. Vianna then took the traffic to his favor as the top two got stuck behind GT4 machines, restoring the order was Coelho was sent back to third due to oil pressure issues, but Kyrila wasn’t eager to concede, so Kyrila and Vianna started exchanging blows lap after lap.

With the No. 113 JLM AJR losing a wheel, the final hour had a generous dose of Safety Car on track, all while the teams were actually looking to the cloudy sky and getting the wet weather tires ready in case a downpour comes in an unpredictable manner.

There was only the final 30 minutes left of green flag, and although the No. 99 was comfortably in second, constant traffic and a final push from Vicente Orige in the No. 444 were keeping Leandro Romera at bay and without a single chance to counter.

Behind the P1s on top, the GT3s were in a big scrap, as the No. 27 Team RC Mercedes was hot in the chase of the No. 16 Blau McLaren, all while the No. 9 Mattheis Mercedes and the No. 55 Stuttgart Porsche were appearing as contenders until a late Safety Car entry neutralized the field.

After the spectacular crash of the No. 7 Sette Car MetalMoro, another P3 found the barriers, this time being the No. 74 LT Team MetalMoro with 10 minutes to go, which left a lot of debris near Turn 1. Five minutes of cleanup were needed to bring the green again, but neither of the leaders under threat lost their positions, meaning that the No. 444 Motorcar AJR just had to cross the line to celebrate, while the No. 16 Blau McLaren had a tighter margin when beating the No. 27 Team RC Mercedes for the GT3 win.

4 Hours of Curitiba - Race Results

The No. 18 FTR MCR had better luck than the Sigma and won the P2 class practically without flaws, while the junkyard in which turned the P3 class favored the No. 56 Motorcar MetalMoro. The No. 155 SulRacing Ferrari had the same fate of the sister Lamborghini, but the clock saved the team as they won while stopped on track in the final minute, and the No. 22 AutLog Mercedes confirmed dominance in the GT4 class, while the No. 121 EV Racing Ginetta.

The Endurance Brasil circle returns to action on 6 November at Santa Cruz do Sul, which returns to the calendar after being left out in 2020 and postponed in 2021. Due to the advances in the vaccination process in the Rio Grande do Sul state, there’s the possibility that this round will be the first to receive spectators on site this year, given that they present proof of being tested or vaccinated.

PHOTO: Endurance Brasil/MS2