Better than expected debut for P2 spec Sigma P1 G5

Sigma P1 Engenharia always has an interest in aligning a car under the current Brazilian P2 endurance spec, with some efforts coming to life with the second and fourth generations of the car, and now that the P1 spec is a tried and trusted package, the Ivoti based constructor sets the efforts back to a P2 spec Sigma P1, as the Gen5 car competed in the Tarumã round of the Campeonato Gaúcho de Endurance.

It would be worth an explanation that this car isn't totally new, as the mother of all Sigma P1s was used in this case. The very first chassis built and used in 2017 was refitted to the P1 G5 configuration, which means a new Ricardo gearbox and all the safety items needed, like the crash box at the front and the impact absorbers around the cockpit.

Since the Sigma P1 G5 P2 was designed to be a cost-effective option, some of the extras in the P1 class car aren't present or simplified, with the lower rear wing having no DRS, being a unified two layer piece linked to the body by the central support, with the endplates being significantly smaller.

With the absence of DRS at the back, the frontal device also goes away, and so does the winglets right after the splitter, which exposes the brake ducts more to the clear air. While there's a massive loss compared to the big sister, it still produces enough downforce to negotiate most corners smoothly.

Out goes the big, throaty Chevrolet V8 prepared by Motorcar Racing and in goes a 1900 cc Audi engine prepared by Overboost, basically a return to the origins as the whole idea of the Sigma P1 was to have a small engine.

The car had its final touches added this week and was able to finally make a shakedown on Thursday before the CGE schedule begins. While trying to add more mileage to the car, the Friday rain gave a new scenario to discover more about the new car, while Saturday was the day to face the competition for real.

The surprise then started to appear on Qualifying, cause four laps were needed to score pole position, and Jindra Kraucher could have settled for either a slightly slower pole position or a top-5 time as he had both before he scored a 1:00.854, nearly a second ahead of the No. 71 Overboost MCR. Consider that the No. 12 still had some issues in the engine to be solved, although not exactly game breaking stuff, which is why it skipped the Warm-up session right after.

For the race there was no need to leave the Sigma P1 off the leash as the goal was to bring it home after the two hours in the best condition possible, and with lap times staying between 63 and 66 seconds, it was more important to stay on frontrunner pace and negotiate traffic as best as possible. If not for a power steering issue that made Kraucher struggle to turn left, it would have been able to keep battling for the win, although it was less of a worry than any engine issue appearing in the car.

The idea around the new Sigma is to make more adjustments to finally lock the spec and start building more units to make it available for customers, and the chat in the paddock revealed that the new car might be in the center of a reformulation of the regulations regarding the P2 class in order to put it back into the Império Endurance Brasil grid while also keeping the class as the top spec in regional championships.