AMattheis Ligier wins in hot Friday race at Goiânia

Goiânia is hosting a double header Império Endurance Brasil weekend, and the 3 hour Friday race just confirmed that BTZ Motorsport rules the place as resource management under the intense heat gave the edge to those with the Ligier JS P320 model, with the No. 117 car of Gaetano di Mauro, Guilherme Bottura and Gustavo Kyrila coming out on top ahead of the No. 9 entry from AMattheis Motorsport from Marcos Gomes and Xandinho Negrão, but conceding it after a post-race inspection as the car was underweight.
 
Motorcar Racing acted quickly at the start and established command from the go signal, with the No. 11 Sigma leading the No. 444 Sigma while the No. 28 JLM AJR on the chase. While things were initially looking good for them, the No. 444 had an emergency pit stop due to fuel pressure issues.
 
Part of the problems might come from earlier sessions, but the No. 2 Tech Force Sigma and the No. 444 Motorcar Sigma were punished with mechanical issues just before the first hour is done, while the No. 11 Motorcar Sigma lost ground to the charging No. 28 JLM AJR, as it sprinted before coming for its first stop.
 
While it took around 40 minutes to work on the maneuver, but the No. 9 AMattheis Ligier passed the No. 28 JLM AJR without problems as the No. 28 was in a more tame pace in order to conserve equipment, and since a slow puncture appeared, JLM Racing opted to bring it earlier to the pitlane to check a fault in the DRS.
 
Thanks to a Safety Car visit near the final of the second hour, an all-Ligier battle for the lead heated up things, and Gaetano Di Mauro had no restrictions to put the No. 117 BTZ Ligier in first as Marcos Gomes was losing ground in the No. 9 AMattheis Ligier. To make matters worse for the No. 9, the power steering was becoming an issue, though the last pit stop was done in usual fashion.
 
In the GT3 class the table was flipped too, as the No. 3 KTF Mercedes was controlling the field but lost terrain to the No. 55 Stuttgart Porsche and the chasing No. 15 Pole BMW, but Leo Sanchez wasn’t matching the pace of Ricardo Maurício, and ended falling prey of the No. 27 Team RC Mercedes, with Cacá Bueno having only to apply pressure to get the second place in class.
 
With the persistent power steering issue in the No. 9 taking at least 2 seconds per lap, the No. 117 BTZ Ligier kept a string of fast laps to finally score the win at the end of 122 laps. The No. 11 Motorcar Sigma completed the podium in the debut race of the car, having also the fastest lap of the race as an extra consolation.
 
Endurance Brasil - Goiânia Round 4 results
 
The No. 55 Stuttgart Porsche did the whole job to win in the GT3 class in the final hour, as Ricardo Maurício broke the dominance of the No. 3 KTF Mercedes and never let go of the top spot in class, finishing in fifth overall.
 
The GT4 class was won by the No. 31 AutLog Mercedes despite a consistent run from the No. 21 Stuttgart Porsche, with the No. 718 Stuttgart Porsche being also in close pursuit.
 
The second race of the weekend will be held at 2 P.M. local time (6 P.M. GMT).
 
PHOTO: BTZ Motorsport, RR Media/Rodrigo Ruiz