FTR wins rain-shortened 12 Hours of Guaporé

New machines and old known faces and cars from the Endurance RS scene gathered to re-open the state endurance championship after a brief hiatus, and also to revive the 12 Hours of Guaporé, but with the rain also appearing during most of the race, the No. 80 FTR Motorsport Maserati Trofeo of Arthur Caleffi, Claudio Ricci, Fernando Poeta and Rafael Biancini just had to stay in place to receive the checkered flag in an incredibly dominant performance, with it being the team’s second big endurance race win in 2022 as they also conquered the Mil Milhas in their Sigma P1.

30 years separated the last edition of the 12 Hours of Guaporé from the race done last weekend, and the Endurance RS, which served as the base for the Império Endurance Brasil, was returning to action after three years, and this brought not only competitors already racing in the Gaúcho de Super Turismo, but also some old cars that didn’t fit in the regulations or in the budget of the national competition. The result was the traditional class format that’s also seen in other endurance races in Brazil, where home built prototypes, old GTs and small touring cars share the same track in the quest for supremacy, and those who can keep trouble out of the way may be fortunate to prevail.

After the support package that saw the Copa Classic RS start its 2022 season on a dry track with Leovaldo Petry and José Valentini sharing the wins after heated battles, the rain started to fall lightly during the night, making the teams ponder which compound was the right choice, although most of them switched to rain compounds to keep it safe.

The first two hours of the race also counted as the start of the Endurance RS season, the Guaporé Summer Race, and the No. 7 Sette Racing MRX took the top spot from the go signal, but with no time to rest or breathe, as Ian Ely was in a charge in the No. 711 Overboost MRX, staying during 30 minutes within a second behind before finally making the move to take the lead.

From this point to the finish, Ely wasn’t even threatened due to the car’s normal advantage and also due to not having to pit as the No. 711 having only one driver and resources to finish in one go, being a full lap ahead of the No. 7 at the moment of the finish, with the No. 2 MRX completing the overall podium. With the long run being the priority, the new No. 5 MC Tubarão MC40 finished the two hour segment in fifth while on the routine pit stop.

After the second hour, the No. 80 FTR Maserati was leading the field with the No. 71 Mottin Maserati in second and the No. 2 MRX being the best prototype in third, while a fourth placed No. 5 MC Tubarão MC40 was in a recovery drive that saw the team jump to as high as second, only for disaster to fall over them as an object hit the engine bay and caused the blow that took the car out of contention at the fourth hour, one of the brief moments of dry track in the race. The rest of the dark hours saw the No. 71 in a desperate struggle to discount the 3 laps behind the No. 80, which not only was proven unsuccessful but also made them lose even more laps at the halfway part.

A damp morning showed the No. 71 being 16 laps behind the leader, so it was more of a question of taking the car to the finish, just like the No. 80 due to its comfortable advantage, which proved to be welcome as the rain just got hard from around 7 A.M. onwards.

With two hours to go, the track got soaked to a point where multiple points of the asphalt were filled with puddles, and the slippery condition even made a victim in the frontrunners, as the No. 2 MRX spun, slid off track and stopped in the barriers.

After 50 minutes of Safety Car neutralization, it was decided that the track was too unsafe to keep any sort of green flag racing, and as more than 75% of racing was done, at 8:50 A.M. it was decided to give the checkered flag to the No. 80 FTR Maserati, one hour and 10 minutes before the scheduled time. The Italian red machine also conquered the Class 3 win.

12 Hours of Guaporé - Race result

The overall third, the No. 13 Spyder, was the Class 2 winner, while the No. 97 Chevrolet Corsa was the Class 5 winner. Despite the race ending crash, the No. 2 MRX was eighth overall and the Class 1 winner, eight laps ahead of the Class 4 winner, the No. 56 Chevrolet Onix.