Sigma P1 wins at Interlagos as Motorcar becomes Endurance Brasil champions

In its second race in the Império Endurance Brasil, the newly built Sigma P1 G5 conquered a result worth of its promise, with Sergio Jimenez and Aldo Piedade guiding the No. 12 car from Scuderia Chiarelli on top from green to checkered at the 4 Hours of Interlagos, while Motorcar Racing celebrated the title for Vicente Orige and Gustavo Kiryla, gifting the consistency shown during the whole year by the duo in the No. 444 JLM Racing AJR.

A new entry for this round came in the return of the No. 19 Via Italia Ferrari 488 GT3 as the team prepares for a full season return in 2023, while Stuttgart Motorsport revived its Porsche 911 GT3R 991-spec to replace the current 991.2-spec car, which was too damaged to return following the race ending crash during the seventh round on Friday (16).

While the Sigma P1 G5 kept the lead from its deserved pole position, the No. 444 Motorcar AJR kept the second place as Gustavo Kiryla wasn’t measuring risks to shut the door on the No. 117 BTZ Ligier to attack the leader. Sergio Jimenez was able to open a gap to the immediate contenders, with Gaetano di Mauro recovering the lost ground and putting the No. 117 in second.

Fuel calculations didn’t cover the first window, forcing a number of cars to do a splash and go to minimally be able to get into the window, which even got the No. 12 Chiarelli Sigma, making it lose its lead to the No. 117 BTZ Ligier, but luckily the loss was minimal and the recovery was quick, with Aldo Piedade being several seconds per lap faster in the No. 12 than Guilherme Bottura in the No. 117. A gap that was of nearly a full lap was smashed to nothing in around 20 minutes, with traffic playing a part in the position switch that put the No. 12 back in first, and the same ease to reduce the gap was seen to stretch it compared to the No. 117.

A desperate struggle for Guilherme Bottura got even worse during the second pit window, as the No. 117 left the pits 0.5 seconds before the minimum pit time, with the penalty being a massive hit added to the pace deficit to the No. 12, and the final blow was dealt when a drive through penalty for crossing the pit exit line threw it out of contention and promoted the No. 99 RSports AJR, which passed the No. 35 JLM AJR before getting the second place.

Despite the pace drop in the final hour, the No. 12 Chiarelli Sigma was quite safe as the second placed No. 99 RSports AJR was a lap behind and the title contender No. 35 JLM AJR had an off track moment that stretched the distance to the precious points needed to beat the No. 444 Motorcar AJR. The status quo lasted the whole hour and not only the No. 12 had the first win, but also the No. 444 conquered the title with fourth place finish for Vicente Orige and Gustavo Kiryla.

4 Hours of Interlagos - Race results

An early lead for the No. 9 AMattheis Mercedes didn’t last long past the first hour, but losing the GT3 class win to the No. 27 Team RC Mercedes didn't take the class title away from Xandinho Negrão. The No. 73 LT Team MetalMoro was the best P2, while a GT4 win for the No. 31 AutLog Mercedes also sealed the title for Marco Pisani, Leandro Ferrari and Renan Guerra.

The competition returns in 2023 with the calendar to be defined, but with lots of promises on a possibly increasing field, as more cars will be seen in most of the classes, like the possibility of extra examples of the Ligier JS P320 LMP3.

PHOTO: Endurance Brasil/MS2