Overboost beats MC Tubarão in thrilling race at Tarumã

Less than a second was more than enough for Ian Ely and Daniel Claudino to put the No. 71 Overboost MRX on top at Tarumã, having two wins out of two races in the 2022 Gaúcho de Endurance season, beating a strong of the No. 32 MC Tubarão MRX of Tiel Andrade and Paulo Sousa, which returned to action this weekend.

The state of the track when the race started would no signs that there was torrential rain during the Friday until early Saturday at Tarumã, with only a few wet spots being visible at the main straight and at the Tala Larga corner, which meant that within the reliability capabilities of the field, a high paced race was expected.

16 cars aligned split into four classes - P2, P3, P4 and GT1, which makes pretty much the front running classes of the championship before the hiatus, and while the number of cars present at the track was higher, some were unable to align in the grid while others barely made it.

One of the few cars on the grid that still races in the Império Endurance Brasil, the No. 74 LT Team MRX was the polesitter, with the Guaporé round winner No. 71 Overboost MRX alongside in the front row, and the top placed cars were quickly in their particular duel for the lead once the green flag was waved, with Leandro Totti having Ian Ely right on his rear wing, and while Ely did move to first, Totti didn’t take long to get it back, getting a bit physical in the process.

Everything was going smoothly for Totti until nearly 10 minutes into the race, when the No. 74 spun at the Laço corner, leaving the No. 71 in a lone run in first place, while the No. 17 Mottin Cruze SC was keeping the second place despite the pressure of the No. 18 FTR Lamborghini, but the No. 56 Motorcar MRX and the No. 32 MC Tubarão MRX were in the mix, leaving the No. 18 behind and chasing the No. 17 with relative ease.

With the No. 54 HotCar Sonic SC stopped in the grass at the home straight, the Safety Car was called and the No. 71’s gap disappeared, but Beto Giacomello was gradually losing contact with Ely and falling into Paulo Sousa’s clutches as the No. 32 MC Tubarão MRX was clearly faster in the corners, while the No. 17 Mottin Cruze SC was countering purely on straight line speed.

The right rear corner was Overboost’s nemesis in the first pit stop, costing some extra time and even the first place for a brief, but once Daniel Claudino put the No. 71 back on track, he was able to compensate and regain the top position from Tiel Andrade in the No. 32, with pace being quite similar between the two cars when the first hour was completed, with traffic playing a part into the fight in favor of the No. 71.

Tire set limits meant that the No. 71 was on used slicks for Claudino’s second stint, while MC Tubarão let the new rubber for Paulo Sousa to enjoy some clear advantage in pace, with the No. 32 being more than a second faster per lap, which eventually gave the lead back to Sousa with less than 30 minutes to go. What wasn’t into Sousa’s plans was that the third placed No. 17 Mottin Cruze SC would get the dirt from the outside at Turn 1 and go straight to the tire barriers, neutralizing the race with 20 minutes to go.

5 minutes were more than enough to clear the track and bring back the green flag, and 5 seconds were what Daniel Claudino needed to put the No. 71 back in the lead, but despite the Overboost machine being on top, the used tires were the drawback, with the No. 32 staying close in every corner of the circuit. The only thing left to do on Claudino’s side was defend in every way possible, leaving the outside line to Sousa while trying to create some cushion at the home straight.

This cat and mouse game between Claudino and Sousa lasted during the final 10 minutes, and thanks to Claudino’s smart defense and the straight line speed advantage, the No. 71 Overboost MRX was brought home first after 93 laps completed. As consolation for MC Tubarão, the No. 32 MRX was the P3 class winner with two laps ahead of the No. 56 Motorcar MRX, which finished third overall.

Gaúcho de Endurance - Tarumã race result

Despite losing the third place overall in the final minutes, which caused the final yellow flag of the race, the No. 18 FTR Lamborghini of Arthur Caleffi and Paulo Poeta were gifted with the GT1 class win, and the No. 8 Scuderina Macchina MRX, which was one of the many cars that returned to action after years being parked, conquered the P4 class with Luis Machado and Elton Giacomello being 3 laps ahead of the No. 118 RS Sports Aldee.

According to the mastermind behind the return of the Gaúcho de Endurance and driver of the No. 7 Sette Car MRX, Aldoir Sette, discussions are in place for the third round to be hosted at Guaporé again during this third quarter of the year, trying to avoid clashes with the Gaúcho de Super Turismo and Endurance Brasil to maximize the number of entries.

PHOTOS: Minamoto Graphics archive