Wittmann Replaces Frijns at BMW for Sao Paulo

Marco Wittmann will return to the FIA World Endurance Championship for next month’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, deputizing for Robin Frijns in BMW’s No. 20 car.

Confirmed by the entry list for the Brazilian race, Wittmann steps in the vacancy left by Frijns alongside Sheldon van der Linde and Rene Rast in the No. 20 BMW M Hybrid V8, with the Dutch driver instead set to race in the Berlin ABB FIA Formula E World Championship round on the same weekend.

As well as Frijns, Peugeot duo Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne are both missing Sao Paulo, as well as Toyota’s Sebastien Buemi, as reported by Sportscar365.

Toyota’s No. 8 GR010 Hybrid will tackle the race with a two-driver lineup comprising Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, although the sister No. 7 crew will be at full strength with Nyck de Vries skipping Berlin to be present at Interlagos.

Norman Nato, the other driver affected by the Formula E clash, is listed in his No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R as usual.

A total of seven cars will race with two-driver lineups: as well as the No. 8 Toyota and both Peugeot 9X8s, the two Aston Martin Valkyries as well as the Porsche Penske Motorsport cars are not running with third drivers, as originally planned.

Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor share the No. 6 Porsche 963 as a duo for the first time this year, while Michael Christensen and Julien Andlauer team up in the No. 5.

In LMGT3, Anthony McIntosh replaces Derek DeBoer as the designated Bronze-rated driver aboard the No. 10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

The entry list also confirms that Toyota-contracted Yuichi Nakayama will replace Ben Barnicoat — on IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship duty — in the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3, as anticipated.

However, the other driver who was expected to miss Sao Paulo due to a clash, Martin Berry, is listed as normal against the No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, even though he faces a clash with GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS’s Fuji round.

Berry previously told Sportscar365 he planned to honor the Fuji commitment with EBM.

As things stand, Michelle Gatting is scheduled to return to the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R following the injuries that ruled her out of the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as the following week’s WeatherTech Championship race at Watkins Glen.

The 6H Sao Paulo will take place on July 11-13.