Frijns to Skip Sao Paulo Round Due to FE Clash

BMW driver Robin Frijns is set to skip the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship season in Sao Paulo due to a clash with his Formula E commitments.

Frijns is one of a number of drivers impacted by the clash between the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo and Formula E’s visit to Berlin, which both fall on the weekend of July 11-13.

Four manufacturers are impacted by the date conflict, with BMW, Toyota, Peugeot and Cadillac all with one or more drivers racing in Formula E.

Vincent Vosse, boss of the WRT operation that runs BMW’s Hypercar program has confirmed that Frijns will skip the Sao Paulo round to be present in Berlin with the Envision Racing team.

However, it remains unclear whether the Bavarian marque will rope in one of its drivers from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to plug the gap alongside Rene Rast and Sheldon van der Linde in the No. 20 BMW M Hybrid V8.

“Robin’s priority is Formula E, so he will miss Brazil,” Vosse told Sportscar365. “It’s an unfortunate situation, but many teams were considering using just two drivers for the full championship, so it won’t be a problem.

“Whether we do Brazil with one of the IMSA drivers or we do it with two drivers, it is not decided yet, but we are in a comfortable situation.”

As well as Frijns, Toyota drivers Sebastien Buemi and Nyck de Vries, Peugeot duo Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne and Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA’s Norman Nato are all affected by the clash between WEC and Formula E.

While Buemi, Frijns’ teammate at Envision, has always prioritized his Toyota WEC duties over the all-electric series, the fact that the clash falls after the 24 Hours of Le Mans creates a different situation to last year’s clash with the Spa round.

Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director David Floury explained that the Japanese marque is open-minded towards Buemi and de Vries, who races for Mahindra in Formula E, missing Sao Paulo, depending on how the WEC season evolves.

“Normally we have priority with them,” said Floury. “But we will be sensible [and consider] whether there is something at stake in one series or the other.”

Peugeot Sport technical director Olivier Jansonnie stated that the French marque is braced for Vergne and Vandoorne to miss the Sao Paulo race.

The pair skipped last year’s Spa round in favor of racing for sister brand DS in Formula E last season, with Peugeot opting to contest the race with two drivers in each car.

Asked if he anticipates a similar scenario this year, Jansonnie replied: “That’s what we plan, yes. But anything can happen.

“We know it’s possible to do it with two drivers, the downside is if anything happens to one of your drivers, you are in trouble. We need to cover for that.”

Jansonnie added that the squad’s reserve driver Theo Pourchaire will have be pressed into service for the Sao Paulo round to provide cover against any of the remaining Peugeot full-timers being impacted by illness or injury.

As for Nato, JOTA Sport co-founder Sam Hignett was clear that the Frenchman, who races for Nissan in Formula E, will be present in Sao Paulo.

“WEC is his priority,” Hignett told Sportscar365 when asked about Nato’s situation. “We will have the same six drivers for all events.”