Tech Force commands wet race at Guaporé

Considering the sudden rain that fell at Guaporé this Saturday (24), it was like a miracle that the second round of the Campeonato Gaúcho de Endurance had its full race length, and in between the ebb and flow of the field, only one entry remained constant during most of the time and when it mattered the most, being this the No. 12 Tech Force Sigma P1 of Jindra Kraucher, who bounced back the accidented start at Tarumã and imposed his pace in mixed conditions.
 
With the imminent threat of rain as the clouds already covered the whole circuit and the forecast of heavy rain and strong wind until Sunday, the race start was broght forward in three hours, and the No. 46 Mottin AJR and the No. 110 Overboost DTR were neck on neck until Ian Ely spun, not only losing positions due to the spin, but also due to the difficulty to regain speed, eventually dispatching the slowest cars as the time passed.
 
But it wasn’t like Adriano Baldo had room to breathe, as the No. 12 Tech Force Sigma was matching the pace of the No. 46, and to increase Baldo’s worries, the No. 110 was already in fourth with similar lap times when compared to the leaders, but this became nothing as the No. 46 went to the pits with problems, which eventually handed the lead to the No. 12.
 
The No. 23 stopped on track, calling the Safety Car, and when the green flag was waved again, the rain took more and more points of the circuit, although most of the field carried on the slicks as the final sector still had some dry points and the standing water was doable for some time. Some of the corners in the first sector are slightly banked, and a miscalculation in the needed speed would throw anyone into a spin, just like it happened with the No. 25 Absoluta ABS01 and the No. 5 MC Tubarão GeeBee, and with the No. 43 Dallara finding the barriers, it was the final factor to call the Safety Car, so the cars that remained on slicks went to the pits to finally change to wet tires.
 
A broken suspension for the No. 28 Vettore and brake damage for the No. 50 MC Tubarão BMW, the Safety Car had extra time on track, and with the race already past the halfway point, the green flag was waved again, but not only the track was fully soaked, but there was some fog in the first corner, and with the track getting too sketchy that the wet tires couldn’t handle and a stopped No. 36 Spyder, the Safety Car was called for track clearance.
 
The green was waved again but another caution was called as the No. 121 Tech Force Sigma spun under acceleration and Gerson Zarpelão lost the rear, going straight to a head on collision with the main straight wall without injuries for the driver. While the No. 12 Tech Force Sigma kept the lead, with No. 121 out of action, the P3 class racers were appearing in the overall podium before the final stop, but with a drive through penalty imposed to the No. 7 Sette Car MRX, the No. 110 Overboost DTR climbed one step in the order, while the other step came on pure pace over the No. 2 MRX, putting Eduardo Dieter effectively in second overall and in the P1 class.
 
Even though Dieter was faster than Jindra Kraucher, the No. 12 Tech Force Sigma had about a full lap ahead, so the rest of the race was done at a reasonable pace to just bring the car home, scoring the first win of the season and bouncing back from the race ending crash at Tarumã.
 
Gaúcho de Endurance - Guaporé race results
 
The No. 25 Absoluta ABS01 was the P2 class winner while completing the overall podium, with the No. 7 Sette Car MRX winning the P3 class behind them despite the late penalty, outpacing a clearly faster No. 5 MC Tubarão GeeBee.
 
The GT2 class went to the No. 777 Overboost FIAT Linea, while the No. 101 Vettore got P4 class honors. The No. 38 Suzuki got the GT class top spot and completed the class winners list, with 16 of the 20 cars entered finishing the race, while the No. 80 Power Imports AJR crashed in the qualifying session and was the only absence of the grid.

The competition will stop for nearly three months and will return to Tarumã for the third round of the 2025 season, with the race set for 16 August.

PHOTO: Sigma P1 Engenharia / William Inácio