Mottin turns recovery into win at Santa Cruz do Sul

The Império Endurance Brasil left November behind with at least one visit to Santa Cruz do Sul, and despite the problems and workarounds needed for the race to go along, everything went quite smooth on Saturday (26) and had the No. 26 Mottin Racing JLM Racing AJR of Lucas Kohl and Vitor Genz on top in what was an open battle all the time. Such was the intensity of the battle that Osvaldo Scheer was predicter to finish the race in the winning car, but relinquished of his drive time to boost its winning chances.

This round had a peculiarity that was the start at 7 A.M. instead of the usual noon due to a highly deteriorating asphalt that was put in the latest maintenance works done at Santa Cruz do Sul, which was promised during the last visit to the circuit. The high temperatures were making matters worse, and with the possibility of the deterioration reaching unsafe levels, the start was brought earlier to take advantage of the cooler hours of the day outside of night time.

The No. 444 Motorcar AJR kept the lead only during the main straight, with the No. 99 RSports AJR taking the lead, which was equally short lived as Gustavo Kiryla took it back at the end of Lap 1, in time for the first Safety Car intervention as the No. 46 Mottin AJR stopped on track.

The earlier start would offer a more interesting scenario compared to other races, as the temperatures in the first hours would allow everyone to extract more pace without worrying about overheating and breakdowns. The No. 444 had the No. 99 hot on its back wing for most of the time, but the No. 117 BTZ Ligier was keeping a close watch in the top two, reducing the gap once the backmarkers appeared.

With nearly 30 minutes of racing, the No. 50 Team RC Mercedes was on the defensive from the No. 17 Pole BMW, and at the chicane after the first corner, the BMW touched the rear of the Mercedes, with both cars being speared to the tire barrier, with the area of impact being totally destroyed while the cars kept their integrity, while drivers Marco Billi and Leo Sanchez left their cars on their own power, with only Sanchez needing some assistance as his door was stuck. The race was red flagged as the cars would need to be taken out and the barriers would need major repairs and assembly in the area.

Between the interruption and Safety Car, nearly 30 minutes were spent in neutralization until the green flag was waved again, with the top two staying where they were while the No. 117 BTZ Ligier dropped out of contention with cooling issues. Between the leaders, the No. 99 was relying on cornering to beat the No. 444, and with 15 minutes to end the first hour, Pietro Rimbano finally passed Kiryla.

Further down, the No. 18 Blau McLaren didn`t appear to have had an early contact, as the recovery in the first hour paid dividends as it passed the No. 55 Stuttgart Porsche for the GT3 lead. Unlike the GT3 class, the P1 leader had no threats on the radar, as the No. 444 fell to third with the traffic getting in the way, opening the door for the No. 35 JLM AJR.

With an hour and a half of racing, the No. 99 briefly pulled off track after a Safety Car period and allowed the No. 35 to take the lead, with the GT3 lead also changing as the No. 55 passed the No. 18 again, and to make matters worse for the McLaren, a huge crash ten minutes later due to a mechanical failure ended the day for Blau Motorsport.

Being in the lead wasn`t certainty of the win as the No. 35 dropped off after another Safety Car, with the No. 444 leading again an open fight full of JLM Racing AJRs. The No. 35 flew back to second place while the No. 99 was left behind, but the No. 26 Mottin AJR was coming late to the party, with Vitor Genz putting the black machine in the podium as it overtook the No. 175 JLM AJR.

The third pit window scrambled the order again, although the No. 444 was keeping the top spot before the start of the final hour, but Vicente Orige soon got company as the No. 26 Mottin AJR gained terrain with Vitor Genz before the pits and with Lucas Kohl after it, but Orige wasn`t giving up so easily, passing again and opening the gap with 45 minutes to go.

Behind them, the No. 80 KIA Power Imports AJR was in a promising third position after driveshaft problems hit the No. 99 RSports AJR, but a broken rear wing hindered massively the pace of the prototype, which opened the way for the GT3 class leader at the moment, the No. 55 Stuttgart Porsche.

The No. 26 was stuck behind the No. 444, but skill under traffic proved to be useful by Kohl to pass Orige, and a Safety Car intervention with nearly 30 minutes to go for track cleaning would settle things down in favor of the No. 26. An already 17 minute long Safety Car period had an extra time due to a crash from the No. 63 Tech Force Mercedes, with only front end damage to the car while Guilherme Ribas was OK.

Three minutes was the time left when the green flag was waved again, which would be the time that Kohl needed to hold the No. 26 Mottin AJR in first. Vicente Orige tried hard, but Kohl had enough pace to defend his place, keeping the winning spot after 155 laps.

4 Hours of Santa Cruz do Sul II - Race results

The No. 55 Stuttgart Porsche had the No. 27 Team RC Mercedes on the pursuit in the final moments of the race, but in the end the long time GT3 class leader secured the win, just outside the overall podium, while the No. 21 Stuttgart Porsche had a slightly more comfortable run to the win in the GT4 class.

The final rounds of the 2022 season were confirmed to Interlagos on 17 and 18 December as a peculiar double header, with a three hour race on Saturday and a four hour race on Sunday.

PHOTO: Endurance Brasil/MS2